BERNE — Janice Pearson, who lives in the rolling hills of Berne along Sickle Hill Road, insists visitors not take their shoes off once they enter her house. She and her husband, Everett, she said, lived in the house; they didn’t just exist in it.

Pearson’s late husband, Everett, farmed before becoming a house painter. The two had known each other since 1960, and, in 1983, they married.
"We had a lot of fun together," said Pearson. "We had a good time."

Inside the side porch of her two-story home, a plethora of plants wind around the room. A large white milk box sits inside the doorway, and fresh milk is delivered each Friday by Meadow Brook Farms Dairy in Clarksville.

Pearson does not decorate for Christmas until after Thanksgiving. But year round, the walls of her home are decorated. A large painting of a round barn that was once located across the street but burned in 1976 is mounted on a wall in her dining room. A multitude of dinner plates, many of them given to her, hang in her dining room, a testament to her experience and to history. There’s a plate of John and Jackie Kennedy, another from Greece, and many commemorating milestones and anniversaries of local civic groups.
Pearson said her neighbors, the Beckers, a father and son who live on both sides of her home, are "the best neighbors anybody could ever have." This year, as in the past, she will join them for breakfast on Christmas Day.
"Back when we were kids, money wasn’t as plentiful as it is now, and kids didn’t get the things they do today," said Pearson. She added that she’s glad children receive the gifts they do today.
While meeting with the Beckers on Christmas Day, Pearson enjoys seeing the three Becker children receiving gifts. "And each year, they get a year older, and a year bigger, too," she said.

Pearson spends the holidays with Everett’s brother and sister, and his nieces and nephews.
"The holidays were a big family affair for them. They always got together for the holidays," Pearson said. "It’s a very close-knit family."
Now retired, Pearson worked for 25 years for Bryant’s Supermarket in Greenville when she lived in South Westerlo. She moved to Berne to take care of her mother and to "fix up" the house.
"This is where I was born and brought up. I love it up here, and Everett did, too," she said.

Pearson remains very involved, she said, in a thrift shop at the United Methodist Church of Greenville and Norton Hill, which raises money for the church.
"We’ve always had a good year. We’ve had it for a number of years, but, boy, this year, we’ve had a fabulous year. People donate the stuff, and you just can’t believe the things we have and the money we get from it," Pearson said.

Last year, Pearson, accompanied by friends, went to the Christmas Eve service in Norton Hill and to the service held jointly by the Berne Lutheran and Berne Reformed churches.
Pearson doesn’t have one holiday story that she prefers to others. "I like them all," she said. "I cherish them all."