Welcome to the very special Christmas issue of The Quite Frankly Bulletin! If this is your first time reading our newsletter, we hope you make yourself at home and stay around for future editions. If you are returning, thank you for joining us again. 

Each month, we set out to bring our readers timely yet evergreen articles and behind-the-scenes glimpses of the nightly show and life itself, written by members of our growing community. We hope you find something interesting, entertaining or educational to take away from each Bulletin.

For the month of December, we have filled the issue to the brim with holiday cheer and Christmas splendor. In addition to getting into the festive spirit, we have thoughtful reflections from familiar Franklies. Please take the time to read each piece and view each photo submission from our wonderful audience, talented guests and dedicated team of contributors. We have so much to be thankful for as we close this year and look ahead with optimism and hope for a brighter 2025.

Merry Christmas!

Frank’s 2024 Year End Review

This time last year, even though everything was feeling warm and cheery for the first time in a few years, with travel restrictions and anxieties eased to nearly pre-2020 levels, and many spending money again on Christmas gifts and parties, there was still something dangling over our heads that was hard to completely ignore...2024. I was taking calls and collecting emails all December long leading up to New Year’s Eve, archiving predictions for what this now nearly-finished year was going to bring us.  

It did not disappoint from a personal and a planetary level. No, 2024 lived up to its billing.

A Festive & Fun Season

Lauren Shares Some of Our Special Holiday Traditions

Though we come from similar backgrounds - Italian-Americans raised in neighboring towns - Frankie and I had somewhat different Christmas experiences growing up in the 90s. But one thing I now know for sure that we share is an adoration and respect for the “reason for the season” - Happy Birthday, Jesus! Some of our classic traditions, like all the fishes on Christmas Eve and midnight mass seem to have passed along with the elders of our families, so, as new families tend to do, we have come to create some of our very own new traditions, we are so happy to share with you!

• Decorate early and lots! You can never have too many LIGHTS!

• Watch all the movies! We have been loving showing Aurora the classics especially films like The Snowman, a film I hadn’t seen myself until last year.

• Drive around to check out your neighborhoods lights! We love seeing how creative our neighbors can be and are always keeping an eye out for especially beautiful houses - we have pretty high standards thanks to Grandpa Tony Val!

• Create your own fun, new traditions… Who knew we would have a Christmas Parrot, yes, I said PARROT, deliver presents on Santa’s behalf to Christmas Eve celebrations? Thanks to Frank’s Dad’s creative and fun thinking, now we do! On my Dad’s side - a group of people who aren’t necessarily musically inclined like Frank’s family - we have a long standing tradition of singing “The 12 Days of Christmas” late into the evening - everyone groups up to take a day, and I can just hear my sister Jenn belting “5 GOLDEN RINGGGSSSS!” already.

Homemade Gifts & Crafting Projects

My mom, Pam, is probably the most crafty person I know. Growing up I can remember my elementary school hosted a craft fair around the holiday season. Every table was filled with crafts and baked goods from all the school families and everyone from the neighborhood seemed to come out to “shop local”. My Mom still has many of the ornaments and decorations she created hanging on her tree. From ornaments, and crocheted blankets for every cousin in the family, to batches and batches of her “Pam’s Pop Caramel Popcorn” - my Mom used her talents and sometimes minimal resources to make Christmas magical and all of us feel special. What is more thoughtful than a handmade gift? When I became a mom, I knew homemade Christmas gifts were going to be one thing I passed along to Aurora.

This year my sisters and I got together with our girls and made these super simple salt dough ornaments. After baking them and letting them dry for a day, Aurora and I got to painting and decorating them with our favorite crafting accessory - glitter!

Gingerbread House Competition

Nothing says “family at the holidays” like some cut-throat Gingerbread House decorating! This is always a fun night with our family as we celebrate December birthdays, make some homemade pizza, pop the Prosecco and get to decorating! TIPS: make sure you buy EXTRA candy and icing - you can never have enough. (This year we even saved the rejected Halloween candy to reuse!) Build the houses in advance so they have plenty of time to dry. Have fun!

Local Events & Making a Difference

One of our favorite family events to attend is the Boys & Girls Club of Greenwich pancake breakfast with Santa! If you’re like me and you grew up a “Club Kid” you know how important Boys & Girls Clubs can be. After growing up there and working our first jobs at The Club, for as long as I can remember, my sisters and I have been volunteering at the pancake breakfast with Santa. What a treat it is to now bring our own children to such a fantastic event.

Here Frank, Aurora and I are with (starting far left) - my Mom, Pam, nephew Jaden, sister Jess, niece Aubrey, niece Jasmine, the Big Man himself - Santa, brother-in-law Jeff and sister Jenn.

Vintage Frankly: Christmas Edition

"Quite Frankly Family Christmas” 12/14/2017 & “The 2019 Quite Family Christmas Show” 12/20/19

Let's throw it back to Christmases past with special Quite Frankly episodes from 2017 and 2019, respectively.

Frank invited his family into the studio to talk about all things festive and holiday-related. Be sure to check out these sentimental moments from the Frankly vault. 

Celestial Events

DECEMBER 6 – JUPITER CLOSEST TO EARTH

While still more than 370 million miles from Earth, the fifth planet in our solar system will be at its nearest point and visible in the sky all night. While you won’t need an aid to see Jupiter, using a telescope or even binoculars should allow you to catch some of the planet’s 95 moons. An added bonus, between dusk and dawn, Venus, Mars and Neptune should also be visible at varying times.

DECEMBER 14 – 15 – GEMINID METEOR SHOWER

Usually the strongest meteor shower of the year, the Geminid’s visibility will be affected by a full Moon in 2024. However, remember that meteors associated with the event occur outside of the peak on December 14 – 15, so look for meteors the week before or after.

The asteroid 3200 Phaethon and its debris field are the cause of this astronomical event.

DECEMBER 15 – FULL COLD MOON

The final full Moon of the year is December’s Cold Moon. This instance of the full Moon is named such for pretty obvious reasons. Looking to 2025, the year’s first full Moon will appear 29.6 days later on January 13.

DECEMBER 21 – WINTER SOLSTICE

The Northern Hemisphere will enter astronomical winter at 4:19 a.m. (EST) on this December day. The winter solstice marks the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.

The good news? Sunlight will be increasing daily through June 20, 2025.

Like in the summer, the winter solstice typically means the coldest days of the year lie ahead due to seasonal lag. Be sure to bundle up and start planning those spring and summer camping trips!

Celestial Events calendar courtesy of KOA.

Looking Ahead

Dashing through December

When we aren’t at the studio this month, you can find us doing the “Holiday Shuffle” bopping from one family event to the next. We love seeing our friends and families, especially this time of year, and can’t wait to celebrate with gratitude and hope for all the good things to come!

Film Club Coming in 2025!

Film Club is set to begin in February as the “off” months from Book Club. Let’s get cozy this Winter and all caught up on some of our favorites and classics. Stay tuned for an official announcement of our first film!

Book Club Returns in 2025

We kick off January with the classic Fahrenheit 451 a novel by Ray Bradbury. March brings us The Big Fisherman a novel by Lloyd C. Douglas. In June we dive into The Adventures of Tom Sawyer a novel by Mark Twain. And more to come for the second half of the year!

New Merch & QF Mug Coming Soon!

New Year Festivities

It’s probably no surprise, Frank loves to host New Year’s Eve. We keep it simple with an open door policy, come and go as you please, and serve appetizers along with cold cuts and meatballs for sandwiches, keep the coffee hot, the movies playing, and this year, now that Aurora is a little older, we may even be able to count down above a whisper! Cheers!

Note, there will be no 7PM show on the following days: 12/24, 12/25, 12/31, or January 1, 2025 - Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

And as always, be sure to refer to the guest calendar on QuiteFrankly.tv for all our fantastic December guests - you never know who may stop by!

Thank you again for joining us for this magical edition of The Quite Frankly Bulletin. We are so grateful for each and every one of you. May your holiday season be filled with joy and the new year bring peace and prosperity. See you in 2025!