Two friends exchange same Christmas card for 50 years

HOLLANDALE, Wis. — The holidays are typically a time of traditions. Two lifelong friends in Hollandale have a tradition they’ve been keeping up for the past 50 years.

“I just wonder how many more years we can keep it up,” said Jackie Gempler.

Gempler and her friend, Evelyn Weier, have been exchanging the same Christmas cards for the past 50 years.

“They’re getting kind of beat up. They look like they’re 50 years old,” Gempler said.

Gempler and Weier have been exchanging the cards since their early 20s.

“We were doing everything together,” Weier said.

Both are now in their early 70s and they’ve managed to keep the tradition alive without skipping a single year.

“[Jackie] was like, ‘I am sure you will lose that Christmas card. I’m willing to bet you a six pack of beer that you will lose that card,'” Weier said. “For the first few years, I even put it in my lock box. I was not going to lose that card. I had a six pack on that thing.”

All for a six pack of beer, the booze made it worth the trouble of never buying a new card.

“You’re too tight to buy new ones,” Weier jokingly said to Gempler during the interview.

The cards hold years of memories, keeping track of growing families, and even list the names of all their pets throughout the years.

Gempler and Weier said they plan on continuing the tradition until there is no more blank space left on the cards.

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