Thursday, December 25, 2025

Merry Christmas! On this day in 1931, Organized Charities, led by author Harold Bell Wright, distributed 1,200 Christmas baskets to Tucson’s poor.

Many of our readers shared heartwarming holiday memories, and we’re excited to highlight a few in Top Stories. We hope they brighten your Christmas morning!

Today is the one day of the year when our whole team takes the day off to spend time with family, so there will be no Arizona Flyover tomorrow. Today’s edition is a bit shorter as well. The full edition returns on Monday.

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Take The Flyover with you. Busy day? Listen to🌤️ our daily 15-minute podcast while commuting, cooking, or walking the dog—your Flyover fix, anywhere.

Time Passes, Memories Remain

There are so many warm memories and traditions from Christmas—mostly from childhood—like getting a real tree and decorating it, or my mom baking orange, pecan, and cinnamon rolls as a special Christmas morning treat.

My grandmother would arrive early from Youngtown on Christmas morning, and I’d greet her at her car in excited anticipation of the day!

Let’s not forget the spiked eggnog! Oh yes, even an 8-year-old (me) had some. This was back in the ’60s, when Scottsdale was still a sleepy little town east of Phoenix. At the end of the road from our Hallcraft home were cotton fields and dirt roads.

Even with decades gone by, grandparents and parents gone, and family members scattered across the country, new traditions have been established with new family members. And that little girl from so many years ago is still inside me, because we always carry our dearest memories close by.

—Geri, Pine

‘Tis the Season for Giving

Back in the mid-’80s, on Christmas Eve, my husband drove from Denver to Alamosa (four hours each way) and back after finishing a swing shift, in a snowstorm … in an IROC Camaro (the worst kind of car in inclement weather) just to get my brother in time for Christmas!

It’s not uncommon for him to shower me with this kind of love; we’ve been married 42 years.

In the late ’90s, my boss (Dr. Mike) gave me his Jeep—which was due to be turned in as a trade-in at the end of his lease—so my family could travel safely from Arizona to Colorado for Christmas. He then gave me a very warm Columbia jacket, knowing I didn’t have a coat suitable for winter.

Best boss ever, and one of the kindest and most generous people to my whole family.

—Lisa, Rimrock

Christmas Magic at a Motel

We were on a 1959 Christmas family trip to Grandma’s in Oakland, California, from El Paso, Texas, when car trouble forced us to stay overnight in a motel on Christmas Eve.

Mom bought a small Christmas tree and decorated it with candied gumdrops so Santa would know where to leave our gifts.

It was the most magical, beautiful tree I’d ever seen, and we were overjoyed on Christmas morning to find our gifts under it from Santa.

—Carolyn, Glendale

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➤ Phoenix Valley: An interactive map highlights the region’s 2025 holiday light displays along with festive events. (Map)

➤ Flagstaff: USA Today readers continue to rank the Weatherford Hotel’s Great Pinecone Drop as among the nation’s best drop celebrations on New Year’s Eve. (More)

➤ Statewide: Arizona State Parks and Trails will host First Day Hikes on Jan. 1, offering free guided hikes at 18 state parks statewide. (See List)

➤ Camp Verde: The fourth annual Touch A Truck will take place Feb. 14 at the Sports Complex, letting kids explore trucks, tractors, and emergency vehicles. (More)

➤ Statewide: Financial planners recommend several important year-end strategies, including maxing out your retirement and health savings account contributions. (List)

➤ Gilbert: Keith Urban will headline the Boots in the Park country music festival at Gilbert Regional Park in March, joined by Dustin Lynch, Mitchell Tenpenny, and others. (More)

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