HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2001-12-24, Page 10*
aSavior is Born
c*
"And she brought forth her first
born son and wrapped him in
swaddling clothes, and laid him
in a manger; because there was
no room for them in the inn."
— Luke 2:7
May you experience the peace of
Jesus as you celebrate His birth.
Sincere appreciation for your
patronage in 2001.
1E:Stryker
CONSTRUCTION
R.R. #4 Brussels 887-9291
II
Blessings At
Christmas Time
May our prayers for peace and
goodwill add spiritual depth to
the celebration of Christmas,
and may you, and those close
to you, be blessed with the
true meaning of this holiday.
We are truly grateful for your
kind friendship and generous
support.
I\ Brussels
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DOORS
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01,1r. I recii 4.1 8 Mid
Warm Holiday Greetings
to our special friends
& customers.
Thank you for making this
year so enjoyable for us.
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Happy New Year
The management & staff of
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Ltd.
Brussels
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And a pile of best wishes to all our
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All the best from everyone at
Construction Ltd.
887-9061 Fax 887-9999
PAGE 10. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2001.
A look at Christmas traditions
remembered from other places
Tradition
The nativity is a traditional celebration of the birth of the Christ Child.
By David Blaney
Citizen staff
Ask any local child about
Christmas and they can tell you
about Santa Claus, gifts on Dec.25,
and turkey for the family dinner on
Christmas Day. These are the tradi-
tions that we take for granted in
Huron County - the highlights of a
`normal' Christmas.
Older residents and those who
came to Canada from other countries
have different memories of
Christmas. Regardless of your age or
where you grew up memories of the
season centre around food, family
and gifts.
Hank and Agnes TenPas of
Brussels immigrated to Canada after
the Second' World War. Their early
Dutch Christmases were split into
two celebrations.
Dec. 25 was a religious occasion
with families going to church and
Sunday school. Music was a large
part of this occasion with most
churches having a band to provide
music for the carols.
Gift giving occurred on Dec. 5.
On the night before, Nicholas Eve,
children put out a wooden shoe,
which they hoped would be filled
with candy and small gifts. They also
left a carrot for the white horse that
Saint Nicholas always rode.
Gifts in the Netherlands are not
distributed by Saint Nicholas but by
Black Peter, who comes with him.
He is a completely black figure who
judges whether children have been
good or bad.
Agnes TenPas remembers being
scared of him because if you were
bad he put you in his sack and car-
ried you back to Spain from whence
he had come.
Although she doesn't remember
any particular meal at Christmas
TenPas does remember the candy.
Marzipan was a particular tradition.
Small houses, slippers, clocks and
almost anything you could think of
were made from it. Also, children
received a chocolate shaped like the
first letter of their name.
In Belgium gift giving happened
on the Dec. 6. If you spoke the
Walloon language St. Nicholas first
came on Dec. 4 to see if you had
been good or bad. He returned on
Dec. 6 to reward those who had been
good.
If you spoke French your visitor
was Pere Noel and. his companion,
Pere Fouettard who visited and
asked if you had been good. In both
cases the good children received
candy and chocolate while the bad
were liable to get nothing but a hand-
ful of sticks.
Friedhelm Hoffmann is a relative-
ly recent immigrant to Canada who
now lives near Bayfield. His memo-
ries of Christmas in Germany indi-
cate it is a more religious occasion
than here.
The tree was decorated on
Christmas Eve and before that the
only decoration was an advent
wreath of holly. This wreath tradi-
tionally had four red candles. A can-
dle was lit each Sunday with the last
being lit on Christmas Eve.
Hoffmann said that the traditional
Christmas Eve meal in his home fea-
tured game, often venison and that
the dinner on Christmas day was
goose. Spiced cakes and cookies are
also part of the German Christmas
tradition.
The traditional German Christmas
visitor is the Christkindl who is the
Christ Child's messenger. This figure
is represented as a beautiful fair-
haired girl with a shining crown of
candles who visits each house with a
basket of gifts. There is also a less
religious figure called
Weihnachtsmann or Christmas Man
who looks like Santa Claus and also
brings gifts.
Hoffmann particularly enjoys the
Christmas music of great German
composers such as J. S. Bach and
Handel, which was played by his
mother, the organist at a Lutheran
cathedral.
The English too, have a tradition
of Christmas music. The boys choirs
from places like King's College have
become world famous for their carol
services on Christmas EVe.
The giver of gifts to English chil-
dren is called Father Christmas and
dresses in long red or green robes.
He shows up the night before
Christmas to fill the stockings that
children have hung at the end of their
beds.
Traditional English Christmas fare
was goose or venison but that has
given way to the roast turkey.
However, one English food tradition
that is still observed both there and in
Canada is the plum pudding.
In the Middle Ages the English
used to observe a partial fast on the
day prior to Christmas. They would
eat nothing but a kind of porridge,
called Frumenty, made from corn.
Over the years the recipe changed to
make the mixture more interesting.
Fruit, spices, eggs, meat and plums
were added and the mixture was
wrapped in cloth and boiled, result-
ing in today's plum pudding.
Fred and Hanny Mier arrived in
Canada from Switzerland about 50
years ago. Hanny remembers Dec. 6
as Santa Claus Day when small gifts
and fruit and candy would be given
out with marzipan particularly com-
ing to mind.
Hanny's early Christmas memories
are from the war years and there
were several meatless days each
month. Christmas dinners might be
goose or duck, but she said that pork
roast was more likely in those years.
Both Meirs remember the tradi-
tional Christmas caroling and the
music of recorders which often
accompanied it. Fred mentioned that
although his was only a two-room
school they would put on a
Christmas concert for parents and
relatives.
In the German-speaking areas of
Switzerland, as in much of Germany,
the Christmas tree was only decorat-
ed on Christmas Eve and the lights
were actual burning candles. A more
modern tradition in Switzerland is
bell ringing and it can be heard in
cities and villages all, over the coun-
try as the bells call the faithful to
Continued on page 11