This past weekend I saw Pittsford Musicals' very good production of "Annie." Although the play is set in the 1930's, parts of it sound an awful lot like 2010. The country is suffering through a severe economic depression. Millions are out of work. A Democratic president is being pressured to miraculously fix the destructive policies of the preceding Republican administration. Sound familiar?

The play's characters sing about the sorry state of the country in the face of the impending holidays ("The windows are minus the dressing / The children don't grin / The Santas are thin"), but there's still a happy ending, and everyone has a merry Christmas. Granted, it's a musical, and the titular orphan gets adopted by a billionaire, which is not likely to happen to you or me. But you don't need Daddy Warbucks' cavernous pockets to have a happy holiday. You just need to be a little more creative when it comes to spreading the holiday cheer.

The good news: the Rochester area has many opportunities for getting into the holiday spirit, and a bunch of them are dirt cheap, or free. You can listen to hundreds of tubas blast out carols during Merry TubaChristmas. Or go ice skating after the lighting of the Liberty Pole. Or smell chestnuts roasting on an open fire during the Park Ave Open House. These are just a few of the dozens of events in our holiday events calendar.

Read on for local food and drink gift ideas for the foodie in your life and how the big, bad internet can help you find and support the work of some amazing Rochester-area crafters and artists. Oh, and don't forget about Krampus.