It’s approaching the time of year again when temperatures drop but spirits rise; when jingling bells and crooning carols alight in an atmosphere of pine-scented hustle and bustle; when snow, strings of festive lights, and family traditions glisten in eyes and hearts.
For many, the holiday season is a magical, yet stressful, time. Mixed within the cookie dough and hidden amongst the ornaments that adorn Christmas tree boughs is an annual dilemma: finding the perfect present.
Mayville couple Merlin and Cindy Justman have faced the same gifting pressure. For the last 21 years, the Justmans have given their ten grandchildren matching gifts that correspond to a theme.
“You can give them all money, but I just always thought kids like opening a gift. So, many years ago, I started coming up with like a theme,” said Cindy. “I know one year I did a beach theme where they all got a beach towel, sunglasses, goggles, sunblock, etc . . . After a while, it got really hard.”
Last Christmas, the Justmans found that perfect gift in the past and in one of Merlin’s passions: bowling.
“At his 80th surprise birthday party two years ago . . . I had taken his bowling shirts–I thought people would get a kick out of seeing them–and hung them all up at the party for people to look at because some people would have bowled with him or knew the places he bowled at,” stated Cindy.
Along with hanging up Merlin’s bowling shirts, Cindy also hung a jacket he had won in a contest sponsored by the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company. Merlin’s name and Schlitz were printed on the jacket.
That Schlitz jacket became the catalyst for the Justmans’ Christmas gift decision the following year, after their grandson, Wrigley, saw the jacket.
“[He] tried it on that day, and said, ‘If Grandpa ever wants to give this up, I would take it,’” recounted Cindy. “When Christmas rolled around, I had said to [Merlin], ‘You know, those bowling shirts are just hanging in the closet. I’ll count them. Maybe we’ll give them all one of your bowling shirts.’”
Having the perfect number, the shirts were wrapped up for Christmas with a gift certificate for Mayville Lanes, so the grandchildren could bowl together, where Merlin had bowled for so many years.
“When the Justman Christmas day came, of course, the kids knew there would be some countdown as usual,” said Cindy. “We handed them all out, and 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, and they all tore them open. They were like, ‘Grandpa’s bowling shirts!’ They were just elated. Some were crying. They all put the shirts on, and pretty much all of them wore them the rest of the day.”
“It was epic!” said Merlin’s grandson, Isaac. “It’s something Grandpa Merle liked, and now, we can bowl as a family.”
“It made me feel special that he thought of the idea of sharing one of his passions with his grandchildren,” stated his granddaughter, Madison. “I was also excited because we planned to do a cousins bowling day where we all wore our Grandpa’s bowling shirts. I loved the gift and thought it was very thoughtful.”
“The fact that my Grandpa wanted to give all of his bowling shirts away so my cousins and I could make memories in them means a lot to me,” said Merle’s granddaughter, Violet.
Making memories while bowling is not the only thing Merlin wishes his grandchildren to get from his bowling shirts. He also wants the shirts to remind them of perseverance.
“Whenever somebody’s down and out and didn’t get the way they thought they should get, I always tell them, ‘Practice, practice, practice,’” stated Merlin. “There, perseverance comes in. You never get anything the first time, and no matter how good you are, you can always get better.”
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