You'd better watch out, and shout if you want to, but Christmas 2005 is upon us. Like April 15, we all know it comes 'round at the same time each year, but the reality is still a little stunning.

The Walking Example Group appreciates holidays, too, and this year in celebration we are hosting our fourth annual "Deck the Halls" Walking Tour of Cooperstown' s best holiday designs. Pat Thorpe, the entertaining, enthusiastic and erudite horticulturalist, will lead the tour on Boxing Day, Monday, December 26 at 1 p.m.

Walkers should gather at Pioneer Park at the corner of Main and Pioneer. Look for Santa's Cottage.

Walkers, please remember that it's winter and proper attire and shoes are necessary for a two-mile walk in the snow. Leave the tennis shoes at the gym and lace up your boots, please. Frostbite is no fun for the holidays.

Also, businesses and residents, please keep your sidewalks open and safely walkable. Clearing snow is a village ordinance and, not to mention, a darned courteous thing to do.

Still, every winter village walkers have to resort to the street because of impassable sidewalks. Snowbirds enjoying warmer climes are still obligated to make sure the snow is shoveled and the ice melted.

The focus of the "Deck the Halls" Tour is, of course, Theatricum Botanicum's incomparable holiday horticulture. While too much Christmas decor is cheap and cheerful, or even verging on tacky, Gary Barnum's artistry without excess can bolster any wilting holiday spirit.

His classy adornments grace several homes and buildings in the village and we all reap the benefit. More than once on previous tours we've heard, "I've never seen anything quite like it."

This year we will also ask our walkers to serve as taste testers for recipes WE-GO and Cornell University Cooperative Extension are auditioning for inclusion in our joint publication, "Home Plate: The Traveler's Food Guide to Cooperstown and Otsego County," due on bookshelves this spring. Refreshments will be whatever comes out of the test kitchen that day.

Join us December 26 for a little adventure on Boxing Day, an extension of the Christmas season long overlooked in the United States.

ake a walk, enjoy the natural beauty of Cooperstown's finest decorations, have a bite to eat, learn a little Boxing Day history and enjoy Christmas a little longer.

Brenda Berstler is the founder of the Walking Example Group (WE-GO) a non-profit organization encouraging walking and walkable communities. Visit their website at www.we-go.org.