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Happy Holidays,Friends!


The year 2020 has been plagued by an extraordinary cascade of terrible circumstances. Indeed, there is not a soul out there that hasn’t been affected in some way by these unrelenting waves of heartbreaking illness, economic hard times, and uncertainty about the future. Yet, my hopes and prayers are that moving forward, we can draw knowledge and inspiration from the many lessons that have presented themselves as a result of all of this, and from them, create a new normal that will better sustain us in both good times and bad.

Meanwhile, share with me if you will some good cheer on this special day: I have assembled a collage of images from Christmas preparations at Dromedarious from both yesteryear (“the good old days!) and today. Please take a moment and find some enjoyment, laughter, escape, solace, peace of mind and spiritual renewal by looking at these lighthearted pictures to mark the occasion!


The first image comes from the late 1990’s. A local bakery sponsored a Panettone competition, to see which country could produce the most delicious version of this holiday bread. The treat has its origins in Italy, and with the dispersion of Italian immigrants globally, the tradition has spread around the world and taken hold throughout the Americas in particular. The two finalists in this competition, both submitting giant Panettoni (to feed all of the eager spectators AND the judges of the competition), were from producers in Milan (delivering via a special Alitalia flight) and Sao Paolo (coming to Dromedarious by way of a VASP charter). Here the two delectable brioches are unloaded from their respective MD-11 airplanes upon arrival:




In this view, circa early 2000’s, these large, gummy bear balloons were just offloaded from the Finnair MD-80 (seen in the background) and inflated, now making their way (complete with police and equestrian escorts!) to the town center for the annual Christmas parade:




This gorgeous Santa Claus sculpture, made of over 1,000,000 Lego bricks, was created in Denmark especially for the Dromedarious Christmas Festival several years ago. Graciously transported to the island in several sections by this Finnair MD-11, the artpiece has been painstakingly reassembled and will be moved to the town square shortly:




Spreading the holiday cheer from the U.S.A. is this oversized snowman, made of real snow imported (via this American Airlines 789) from the recent blizzard in New York! The figure was quickly assembled by a team of specially trained snow sculptors and will be moved to a park in the city for children to jump around and play on, as it proceeds to melt in the afternoon heat:




“Frosty” waiting impatiently—he is going to melt!




Finally, the mascot for the Dromedarious Christmas Festival-2020, an inflatable polar bear sculpture, is seen here changing a beacon light on the tail of this Lufthansa 748:




Wishing all the best to everyone in the coming year with love, peace, and a commitment to making things better In 2021,


Pete