Longtime Homer resident and Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly member Milli Martin was born and raised in Los Angeles, but her family’s holiday traditions have their origins in Germany, the birthplace of her parents.

A beautiful tree was one of those traditions. It was cut by her aunt and uncle in Donner Pass, Calif., wrapped in burlap and shipped via the U.S. Postal Service. The tree would sit in water in the basement for about a week until Christmas Eve, when it was brought into the living room and decorated.

Writes Martin: “Daddy spent hours putting the electric lights in, carefully wiring them to the branches with old hair pins, so the wires would not show. Momie and he would then place on the outer branches the snap-on German candleholders and candles. ...

“The few glass balls were treasures, carefully packed away in tissue paper each year. When they were purchased, they were a luxury. And to those we added the pretty silver walnuts, of which we had many. Momie and Daddy had made them their first Christmas when there was no money for other decorations. Daddy had carefully halved them; Momie then threaded buttons, which they then put inside before gluing the halves together. Painted silver, I thought they were beautiful. … There were also pretty straw stars that Daddy had once painstakingly crafted. The final touch were bits of cotton and just a few silver icicles.

“By this time, it would be dark out, and we turned on the electric lights just long enough to be sure they worked, and the tree looked so beautiful. Then it was time for a light supper and to get ready for St. Nikolaus to come. Daddy went to great pains to move the upright piano from the living room to the kitchen, so that I could entertain St. Nick when he came, in the hopes I could convince him I deserved his presents. …

“It all happened so fast, the loud knock on the door and a quick dash into the kitchen, and I heard Daddy welcome St. Nick into our home, and I trembled at Nick’s deep and booming voice. I heard him ask me to play for him, and very nervously I did. To this day, I could not tell you if I did it well or not. There was a lot of noise in the living room as I played, and he asked me to play one more, which I did, and then he asked a lot of questions about how good or bad I’d been. It seemed like he knew an awful lot about the things I’d done that year. And then he was gone, and Daddy came into the kitchen, all smiles.

“Together we walked through the swinging door, and in the darkened room, the tree had come alive. No colored lights, only the candles, the living light, gave an aura of life unequalled by modern electricity. I was absolutely spellbound. Under the tree were pretty packages, and around it ran an electric train.

“The lighted tree, the train, the presents — I don’t believe I have ever seen a prettier sight before or since.”

Paula Setterquist is hoping one of her family’s winter traditions will become a community tradition. For more than 20 years, when the temperature has dipped to under freezing, the Setterquists have made ice candles.

Like ice skating and skiing, making ice candles is “another activity to play with winter a little bit,” says Setterquist. “If it’s going to be cold, we might as well not sit and moan about it. … I think it would be fun for everyone to start them.”

While other northern communities have their wintertime festival of electric lights, Setterquist believes a community tradition of lighting the winter night with ice candles could be unique — and a lot cheaper than electricity.

The only cost is the cost of the candle, and the activity doesn’t require any special expertise, she says.

“It’s a great way to be greeted,” says Setterquist of ice candles lining one’s driveway or deck.

While the idea of burning candles may sound like a fire waiting to happen, Setterquist is assuring about the activity’s safety: “We’ve been doing it since the 1980s and never burned anything down.”

So, if you’re ready to start your own tradition of making ice candles, here’s what to do:

Take a five-gallon bucket and fill it with water.

Let it freeze long enough to form ice that extends at least an inch and a half from the edge of the bucket.

Turn the bucket over gently, so the top now becomes the bottom.

Take the bucket off the form, make a hole in the top of the ice and pour off the excess water.

Set a lighted candle inside the ice cavity.