Old-time snack centerpiece of 39th version of annual McFarland Twins Christmas Card
The McFarland Twins 39th Annual Christmas Card is a doozy.
Not that the other 38 haven’t been great but this year’s edition makes use of an American icon — Cracker Jacks. The twins and their four sons have made and mailed out boxes of the old-time snack and the prize in each box is a mini-tattoo.
They made the boxes at least. The actual Cracker Jacks came from the store. And the tattoos feature the family.
The theme of the card is the upcoming marriage of David McFarland’s son, Jordan to Corinne Paczewitz on Jan. 8, 2022.
The wedding groomsmen all will be wearing one of the tattoos.
The very first card in 1983 had a Hawaiian theme and a Polaroid picture taken by their dad of the twins as students at McKendree College (now McKendree University). Since, cards have featured the Lincoln Theater, the Skyview Drive-in, Walmart, Monopoly and many others area landmarks
David and Kevin McFarland are the twins and David’s sons, Brendan and Jordan, along with Kevin’s sons, Mason and Colin, always spend a lot of time and often money on the cards.
“Postage isn’t cheap,” David said.
David is a sporting good salesman for the Eastlake Team.
Their cards have been featured many times before in the Belleville News-Democrat and they have talked to former ND feature writer Michelle Meehan so many times she almost seems like a family member.
A family scrapbook of all the cards comes out each year at Christmas gatherings and they revel in the calls and comments from people about the cards. Other people ask before the holiday if other cards will be coming.
Then there are the memories, like the fire damage in the parents’ basement when sparklers being used for a card went awry. Others mostly are good memories and it is great to have the chance to look back and watch the boys grow through Christmas cards, David said.
This story was originally published December 18, 2021 at 9:00 AM with the headline "Old-time snack centerpiece of 39th version of annual McFarland Twins Christmas Card."
