Ice house hosts annual tradition: ‘Festivus: for the rest of us!’

A local ice house is throwing a party with origins stemming from Seinfeld, the hugely popular sitcom from the 1990s.

Jody Bailey Newman Newman runs The Friendly Spot Ice House. “I am the Chief Friend,” she explained.

She and her staffers are huge fans of the show and specifically of the fictional holiday.

On Friday, they’ll use inflatable screens to share that love with their customers.

“We play this season of Seinfeld that includes the Festivus episode,” she said. “We encourage friends to wear their ugly Christmas sweaters. We have friends that bring signs of their favorite Festivus line.”

Lines like “A Festivus for the rest of us!”

They’ve been doing this for the last 10 years.

“December the 23rd, we do Festivus night, and it includes all the things [part of] Festivus. You have the Festivus pole. We air our grievances. We have the feats of strength,” Newman said.

So while others around town are indulging their Christmas spirit, Festivus is what reigns at the Friendly Spot.

But Newman notes that feeling bah humbug about the season is not a prerequisite for dropping by.

“We’ve already had several Santas. We’ve had Grinch a couple of times,” she said.