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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1988-12-21, Page 19THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1988. PAGE 19. Gifts opened on Christmas eve Continued from page 18 trees. Tradition is that the Christmas tree and the Christmas gifts are brought into the home secretly by the Christ Child. In Theresa’s home the tradition has changed slightly because it was too difficult with several children in the home, for the tree and presents to be secretly put up in the evening, so they magically appeared instead the next morning when the children awoke. Arnold’s home followed the tradition and the tree and gifts came on Christmas Eve. Sometimes, as in Theresa’s hometown, the evening is helped out by a community children’s play to which the father takes the children while the mother is at home to work her magic. Of course the children never knew who really brought the gifts. In some households the children would just be hurried off to a bedroom and there would be noises of a window or door opening down below and when the children came out of their room the tree and presents would be there. For many families Christmas Eve begins with a big meal just for the immediate family and ends with midnight mass at church (“mid­ night’ ’ mass can be anytime from 10 p.m. to 12 midnight). Christmas day itself is tradition­ ally a day for families gathering. Before Theresa and Arnold came to Canada, they’d visit with both their families that day, taking year-about in staying for the big Christmas dinnerat noontime. (In Switzerland, thebig meal of the day is at noon year round). It was quite an adjustment for the family to come to Canada where the big meal is in the evening and children can’t get home from school at noon). Some people will go to church on Christmas morning. The children, of course are busy playing with their new toys which keeps them occupied for the day. There is no traditional food for Christmas day in the area of Switzerland that the Eglis come from, just an extra special meal for the day. After the meal, people sit around and talk, catching up on family news, since it’s traditionally a time when family members come home for the holiday. In the afternoon the family may go for a walk since the Swiss are great walkers. After a big lunch and an afternoon of sitting too much, drinking too much coffee and sampling too many treats, the evening meal is generally pretty informal with people snacking on leftovers. The Christmas tree stays up from Christmas eve until after Ephi- phany, the coming of the Three Wise Men on January 6. Trees in Switzerland are traditional ever­ greens, not artificial trees. They’re also decorated with candles instead of electric lights. Electric lights have made their way into outside decora­ tions but not the multi-coloured lights of Canada. Lights are gener­ ally white, in Switzerland. Like Canada, gift giving in Switzerland has become more ex­ travagant over the years. Where once children would be glad to get two or three presents but now they usually get many more. The Eglis now straddle two Christmas traditions with their memories of their homeland and the celebrations of their new land. They have four sons of their own: Marcel, 12, Phillip, 10, Daniel, 8 and Thomas, 6, and now they try to combine the best of both traditions. Every year, Theresa says, the If you’re planning a holiday trip to “grandmother’s house’’ or else­ where be sure you and those riding with you arrive alive ... leave sooner ... drive slower ... drive with the traffic - not against the clock ... and make sure everyone is buckled up before the car moves. celebrations becomes a little bit more Canadian. Theresa says she likes Christmas even better now that they put the Christmas tree (they still always use a real tree) up about a week before Christmas and put the presents under it a few days before the big event. They use electric lights instead of the candles, on advice from Canadians, and says that with children she likes the electric lights because you can plug them in and let them burn until bedtime. Candles can only burn for a few minutes before they burn down too much. They still keep in touch with friends and relatives back home. Every summer they host visitors from the old country. The visitors are astounded by the space of Canada, particularly the farming operations. It was lack of space that led the Eglis to come to Canada. Arnold and his brother and father operated a 600-sow operation in Switzerland on only one acre of land. The government decided it wanted the largest pig operation to have only 120 sows so it was obvious all members of the family couldn’t make a living from the smaller operation. A brother had moved to Quebec and Arnold came over to see the country. A friend from Goderich knew of the farm in Morris township and they finally bought it. Their visitors are amazed, when they come toCanada, how much land is used up in lawns that would be used to more practical uses in their crowded homeland (Switzerland is about the size of Southern Ontario but about one quarter is mountains, one quarter forest and one quarter unusable land such as swamps so the six million people and the farming operations all vie for the remaining one-quarter of the country.) At the same time, many visitors are surprised to see that neighbours are so close and that they live so close to town, having visions of Canada from the Canadian west where the nearest neighbour may be miles away. MERRY CHRISTMAS LYLE AND YVONNE YOUNGBLUT ' AND FAMILY BLYTH 523-9585 O Come Let Us Adore Him May peace on earth and good will to all mankind prevail as we celebrate the miracle of Christmas. Season's Greetings from Ken, Murray, George & Wayne HAMM’S CAR SALES Blvth