Homewood-Flossmoor residents gathered on a cold, rainy New Year’s Eve to participate in the village’s nightly candle-lighting ceremony in honor of Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. 

Larry and Nancy Burrows, who have lived in Flossmoor for 39 years, lit the menorah and led attendees in the blessing for the evening. The couple reminisced on their long-standing traditions of celebrating Hanukkah with their children and now with their grandchildren. 

They also explained the significance behind lighting candles and eating traditional foods cooked in oil such as latkes, which are potato pancakes. 

“Hanukkah has always been a special holiday in our lives,” Nancy Burrows said. “When we had our three sons, we continued the tradition of candle lighting and eating latke. Today, we light candles with our kids and grandkids sometimes via FaceTime.” 

Shannon Pelote, a primary co-teacher at Flossmoor Montessori School, had the opportunity to light the candle for day six of Kwanzaa while celebrating the holiday with her family for the first time this year. 

“During Kwanzaa, we sit at the table and we discuss each principle of the day and we just talk about how we’re being creative and how we’re giving back to our community,” Pelote said. 

Pelote explained the sixth principle of Kwanzaa, Kuumba. which is the Swahili word for creativity. The principle of Kuumba challenges community members to use their creativity to improve their community for the future.