Christmas in Truckee

Christmas in Truckee is a blast, and one of my favorite Holidays in Truckee!! Even more fun when you have young kids or grandchildren at home. The winter season officially starts in 2024, on December 21st! Holiday events are in full swing, the Ski Resorts are all typically open by now, and spirits are high with all the Truckee Winter Activities. Odds are great that it will usually be a White Christmas in Truckee!!

Simplifying Christmas is a challenge, because it is a holiday with so much history, religious significance, the amazing birth of Jesus, so much tradition, its own music, recipes, baking, decorating, entertaining, and maybe stress all rolled into one glorious day! The Stress of too much to do, or not enough money for this time of year, can be overwhelming. See Healthy Holiday Tips for some great tips related to food, habits, and tips for coping for the holiday season!

Truckee Area Christmas Events
(Coming Soon!)

There are so many holiday events, that I will just list some of the highlights here, and the rest can be found in my Truckee Event Calendar. I'm adding new events daily it seems! If you are having an Event, that I don't have listed yet, please fill out the form on my Event Calendar page, and it will become a page on my website, and I'll make sure it appears in my Calendar.

Some of the Special Annual Highlights are: (more info will be added as I find events)

Truckee Christmas Window Planter Boxes outside the Train Station - 2011

Truckee Churches - Christmas Services

Christmas is a Religious Holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus. Many churches have Christmas Eve services as well as Christmas morning services. If you have never heard "The Christmas Story", below, you can watch a video with music from Michael W. Smith, a contemporary Christian singer:

The Truckee Church service times, links to Church Websites, and any Special Christmas Events/Christmas Eve Candlelight Services can be found on my Truckee Church page as soon as they are known.

Fun Facts about Christmas

A Christmas Puppy will always be a welcome gift for your kids! (and you!) A rescue dog is always a great way to go, and the Humane Society of Truckee-Tahoe usually has some great dogs that would love to have a new home for Christmas! See their adoptable dogs! Check out my Truckee Dog Information page for everything you need to know about dog ownership in Truckee.

This holiday has lots of family traditions that are passed down from generation to generation, but it is always fun to start your own traditions. My son Ryan, and his wife Marlene started their own tradition in 2008, by throwing an annual "UGLY SWEATER" Christmas Party at their house. The winner with the most hideous sweater gets a prize, everyone brings one of their specialty holiday recipes to share, and they have a white elephant gift exchange. Start YOUR own Holiday Family Tradition this year!

Handmade Gifts are fantastic and a cost savings option! I'm not sure who in the family made these, (my niece Amanda?) but someone made George Washington & His Wife Ornaments of my Mom & Dad, and we all get a laugh out of them every year! There are so many great craft ideas, and kids especially are proud of giving their own gifts for Christmas. A theme tree with everything matching looks pretty, but our trees are a walk down the family memory lane with all the handmade ornaments!

My Mom makes fantastic Jam's and everyone in the family eagerly looks forward to her special gift bags each year with jars of her Jam! The holiday would just not be the same if she decided to stop making jam for us all!

Christmas Trees in Truckee

You can purchase Trees in Truckee at the following locations:

Info. to come!

Truckee Non Profits needing help!

The Truckee Community Christmas, an all volunteer Truckee Non-Profit Organization, coordinates a lot of the Christmas efforts for the community which start the week before Thanksgiving, such as:

• Food Collections - working closely with the Project Mana Organization, there are food collection barrels outside the Truckee Grocery Stores from (TBD). Pick up a few extra cans and boxes of food to donate.


• Toy Collections - donate new unwrapped toys at about thirty collection spots all over town at area banks, Safeway, CVS, Rite-Aid, law offices, the Sierra Sun office, schools, real estate offices and homeowner association clubhouses. Look for the big red barrels. Wrapping paper is also needed. This drive is headed by the Soroptimist club of Truckee and they are always looking for volunteers to help wrap.
• Coat Drive - if you have coats that you can donate, (warm/clean/gently used) make sure they are clean, and drop them off at either Sierra Bible Church, on Brockway Road, or at the Church of the Mountains in downtown Truckee on Church Street. (See my Truckee Churches page for a Church Map)


• Senior Assistance - Truckee Community Christmas provides assistance to Seniors over the holidays, mostly food gift cards to low income seniors in the Truckee area


• Cash Donations - all donations are tax deductible, and checks can be sent to Truckee Community Christmas, C/O P.O. Box 2955, Truckee, CA 96160 or via Paypal from their website: https://www.truckeecommunitychristmas.com

In mid December, approximately 200 families receive a box of food staples, a toy for each child in the family, and warm coats.

More Details can be found on their the Truckee Community Christmas Facebook page!

Christmas Music

I highly recommend going to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra's Christmas Show at some point in your life - they usually have a show in Reno and/or  Sacramento. They tell the Christmas Story to music, and have an electric light show throughout the concert, as well as some "fire" displays. Amazing singing, dancing, and fantastic musicians! (earplugs recommended!)

See their website for concert dates!

Christmas Shopping

The day after Thanksgiving, otherwise known as Black Friday, is the biggest shopping day of the year, and traditionally kicks off the Christmas Shopping season.

Please check out my Truckee Shopping pages! Truckee has some amazing shops to find those special gifts for your friends and family members!

Truckee Christmas Shopping - one of the stores in Brickelltown - I took this during the Downtown Wine, Walk & Shop event on Oct 1, 2011

Christmas Food

See my Christmas Food page for ideas and tips to make your Christmas meal, fun, easy, and healthy!

Christmas and Pets

If you can, try to include your pets as much as you can during your holiday events, they seem to sense the excitement of the season - pet presents under the trees are not unheard of!

My son, Ryan's twin pups, Mario & Luigi Storz, (otherwise known as THING 1 and THING 2), eagerly sitting under the Christmas Tree and waiting for their gifts!