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Submitted by marye on
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Dead Heads
Over the years, a lot of Grateful Dead holiday traditions have emerged in many households. Some continuing and evolving for generations... Tell us yours! The Jerry Santa... The dancing bear ornaments... The menorah you found while on tour in the '80s and have lighted with love ever since... The GD-themed gift exchange... Who knows what you may inspire...
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Submitted by marye on Wed, 12/03/2025 - 15:34

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Which is to say the NYE runs in the '80s, the Dead Head holidays started right after the regular family ones wound down. Out of town people converged on the Bay Area, you'd see people you only saw once a year (no Internet...), and in the case of our group, we'd all gather for breakfast in between shows. Mama's Royal Cafe is still there...
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Submitted by ronmarley1 on Thu, 12/04/2025 - 03:17

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Great topic Mary!
30 Days of Dead always kicks it off for me. I've been playing since 2010, and make a compilation of the songs to listen to all year. It still amazes me that Dave and everyone give us hours of music.
I also have a couple ornaments for the tree. One is a dancing bear, like you mentioned, that I think we got at Bronner's in *ichigan. The other is a dancing skeleton that I printed on a 3D printer at school. I beleive I found the STL file on Thingiverse, if anyones wants it.
I get a couple weeks off for Christmas and New Years, and that includes my birthday as well. Especially nice this year is my retirement on 1-1. There's plenty of Grateful Dead played during that time.
Have a grate holiday season everyone!

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    marye
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    Over the years, a lot of Grateful Dead holiday traditions have emerged in many households. Some continuing and evolving for generations... Tell us yours! The Jerry Santa... The dancing bear ornaments... The menorah you found while on tour in the '80s and have lighted with love ever since... The GD-themed gift exchange... Who knows what you may inspire...

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  • #1
    ronmarley1
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    Dead Holidays

    Great topic Mary!
    30 Days of Dead always kicks it off for me. I've been playing since 2010, and make a compilation of the songs to listen to all year. It still amazes me that Dave and everyone give us hours of music.
    I also have a couple ornaments for the tree. One is a dancing bear, like you mentioned, that I think we got at Bronner's in *ichigan. The other is a dancing skeleton that I printed on a 3D printer at school. I beleive I found the STL file on Thingiverse, if anyones wants it.
    I get a couple weeks off for Christmas and New Years, and that includes my birthday as well. Especially nice this year is my retirement on 1-1. There's plenty of Grateful Dead played during that time.
    Have a grate holiday season everyone!

  • #2
    marye
    Joined:
    Back in the day
    Which is to say the NYE runs in the '80s, the Dead Head holidays started right after the regular family ones wound down. Out of town people converged on the Bay Area, you'd see people you only saw once a year (no Internet...), and in the case of our group, we'd all gather for breakfast in between shows. Mama's Royal Cafe is still there...
  • #3
    marye
    Joined:
    and let's not forget
    the holiday dinners and gatherings! With music!