Red, white and blue are holiday colors this year

SANTA CLAUS, Ind. (AP) _ As he does each year, Gerald Wilhite used his ocean-fishing rod to cast strands of lights over the limbs of his front yard's towering oak and maple trees. He untangled coils

Monday, December 10th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

SANTA CLAUS, Ind. (AP) _ As he does each year, Gerald Wilhite used his ocean-fishing rod to cast strands of lights over the limbs of his front yard's towering oak and maple trees. He untangled coils of green wire and dangling bulbs, then nimbly wrapped them around evergreens and stretched them out to line each side of the driveway.

But the bulbs that flickered on when all were plugged in weren't the usual multi-colored variety, not the type that typically light up this town built on Christmas.

The colors were simple: red, white and blue.

``In some sense,'' Wilhite said, ``it doesn't feel quite right being all jolly and full of Christmas this year.''

So he, and everyone in his subdivision, adopted a patriotic theme in honor of Americans fighting overseas and the thousands who lost their lives on Sept. 11.

From Wilhite's street in middle America to the 81-foot spruce in New York City's Rockefeller Center, on homes along both coasts and on the boughs of indoor scotch pines in between, the red and green of Christmas have been joined this year by white and blue.

``People are wrapping their presents in it, decorating their homes,'' said Deidre Parkes, spokeswoman for Hallmark Cards Inc. ``You're just going to see a lot of red, white and blue this holiday season.''

Parkes said the five best-selling cards on Hallmark's Web site now are holiday cards with patriotic themes.

Retailers snapped up patriotic ornaments _ including a snowman waving an American flag, which the company produced after the terrorist attacks, she said. ``We sold out of it in three days.''

Visitors to the nation's largest shopping center _ the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn. _ are greeted by 50-foot-tall Christmas trees at each entrance, draped in red, white and blue ribbons and lights. Holiday banners inside the mall hang alongside American flags that had been hung after Sept. 11.

``We wanted to keep our American flags up,'' said mall spokeswoman Maureen Cahill. ``It seemed like the right decision to make, because we could incorporate it with our holiday decor. I think people really appreciate it.''

Bonnie Scott of Amarillo, Texas, says patriotic craft patterns have been all the rage this season on her craft-oriented Web site, www.NorthPoleChristmas.com.

In Nova Scotia, Sandy Hellard and Patsy Gallagher are whittling away to keep up with American customers who want their hand-carved, red, white and blue Santa figurines.

``We have certainly produced more of them this year,'' Hellard said. ``There's been quite a demand.''

But amid these displays of national pride, which have given some living rooms the look of Independence Day rather than the Yuletide, there's concern that the so-called ``reason for the season'' is more clouded than ever.

``Unfortunately, it makes sense,'' said the Rev. Michael J. Baxter, a professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame. ``There's no reason why, if we've merged Christmas with crass commercialism for years, we shouldn't merge it now with this kind of patriotism. It's already become such an amorphous cultural celebration so far removed from what the church understands and observes in Christmas.''

He said that by Christian standards, the Advent season leading up to Christmas should be a subdued time where people try to obtain purity of heart, not a time of flashing lights and celebration. It's difficult enough for a theologian to see front-yard manger displays next to light-up Santa Claus figures _ the patriotic additions are even harder to reconcile.

But, Baxter said, you can't blame people for supporting their country.

``It really is a failure of the church as a whole from long ago, for failing to help us all see more clearly the nature of God in the world,'' Baxter said. ``So who wants to go and browbeat well-meaning people?''

Bill Mayer, department adjutant for California's American Legion headquarters in San Francisco, sees red, white and blue decor as an appropriate way for citizens to express their support, and demonstrate their unity in the face of all that's happened since Sept. 11.

``The flags are all still up, flag banners are hanging in the windows. We definitely see a very flag-oriented theme to the decorations out here,'' Mayer said. ``We're gratified to see it.''

Back in Santa Claus, the Wilhites and their neighbors have lined their street with signs that, verse by verse, display the words to ``God Bless America.'' It's a long way from New York City, where 30,000 red, white and blue lights twinkle on the Rockefeller Center tree, but the tragedy of the terrorist attacks still hit this community, and left people searching for a way to show they care.

So, the neighbors say, they turned to the season that's their specialty, and let the patriotic Christmas decorations speak for themselves.