[Editor’s Note: First in a series on how hometown personalities celebrate Christmas.]
In the background at last Thursday’s Downtown Christmas tree lighting in Town Plaza, folk singer Burl Ives was cranking out “Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas” one more time while Police Chief Scott Bixby recalled Christmases past and present.
When the Bixby clan gathers, often at the home of the single chief’s brother, there are two rounds of gift-openings, in the morning and in the afternoon.
This could encourage envious others to create a new tradition.
The main meal for the Bixbys is dinner.
At what hour?
Is dinner served when it is light out or in the evening?
“We eat around 1, 2 o’clock,” Mr. Bixby said. “I came from the Midwest. They call dinner at lunch time and supper is the evening meal.”
The first-year chief was born in Salem, Ohio. At an early age he convinced his family to move to Culver City, and this is where he grew up from age 5 on.
What were Christmases like in Mr. Bixby’s boyhood?
“For a short time, it was my three siblings, me, my mother and my biological father, who passed away when I was 6. A couple years later, my mother remarried.”
Was being the youngest of four children a desirable place to be?
“It was,” he said. “My siblings broke away, and by the time I grew up, my parents were worn out. I got to do what I wanted.”
Is Christmas as much fun today as it was then?
“Sad to say, but probably not. You know, as a kid you are so excited about all of the stuff that goes on. For adults, it is more stressful. You are trying to get the shopping done, the meal done, get everybody together.
“But in the end,” Mr. Bixby said, “when the family is together in the afternoon, it’s great.”
