Mike and Sharon Pendergrass grin brighter than the polished chrome on their Russian Ural motorcycle.
Even German shepherd Gypsy smiles from the sidecar.
You can’t tell by their holiday card that the Lynnwood couple has had a tough year fighting breast and lung cancer.
Their fun-loving side is frozen in time and perseveres.
“We’re a family of pranksters,” said Sharon Pendergrass, 66. “We haven’t had out-of-the-box Christmas card for I don’t know how long.”
They’re not alone. More than two dozen readers of The Herald proved there’s no cookie-cutter answer when it comes to finding the joy of the season.
The Pendergrass’ card received the second highest number of votes in The Herald’s unscientific, unofficial holiday card popularity contest.
More than 1,000 votes were cast. Like power voting on “American Idol,” there was no limit to the number of votes cast per person. Some cards, including the winner from Douglas Moening of Clearview, drew votes at a rate of six per minute.
His photo “Goats for Christmas,” included the family and goats Smucket, Birdy, Sally and Merlin.
“This Christmas season is especially joyous for us because of our recent addition of the goat herd to our family,” Stephanie Hagarty-Moening said.
The array of cards are sweet, silly and intensely personal, and cater to the impulse to slap a pair of antlers or a Santa hat on the family pet.
The Lilleys of Everett put their cat, Lady, in silly costumes for 17 years. In 2004, Lady donned an Everett Silvertip jersey.
Lady died earlier this year, leaving behind a holiday card career that included a variety of punny costumes: Hairy Purrer, Lady-Lou Who, Sugar Plum Feline, Y2Kitty and the Lion Queen.
“Ever since that first picture, our friends and relatives expected a photo of our cat in costume at Christmas,” Jean Lilley said.
Third place was a touching smooch between sisters Emma and Abigail Doleshel of Lake Stevens. The girls are 10 and 4.
There’s also the iconic snapshot of 16-month-old Aubrey Ingvarsson of Everett, who wails at the site of bearded men. Santa joined in, in empathy.
The Cashmans of Mukilteo kept the fire of the holiday spirit alive by setting dad’s hand ablaze.
“The theme for our pictures usually has something that involves Dad getting burned, maimed or otherwise tortured,” the family wrote. “We have years where we don’t send out Christmas Cards; mainly because Dad’s injuries from the previous year’s Christmas card have not yet healed.”
Some couples, such as Annette and Cory Koch of Sultan, have been making their own cards for decades.
“The cards help make the season special because it provides an opportunity for us to sit down together and write a personal letter to each of our friends and family to let them know how special they are to us,” Cory Koch said. “We know using a pen to write letters is ‘old school,’ but it sure brings back memories of how Christmas was for us when we were kids. Moments shared with friends and family are what makes the season so magical.
“Besides, its the only time my wife will let me drag a tree in the house!”
Reporter Jeff Switzer: 425-339-3452 or jswitzer@heraldnet.com.
And the top vote getters are …
“Goats for Christmas”: 244
“And Gypsy Too”: 234
“Sisters”: 187
View the cards online at www.heraldnet.com.
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