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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Times Advocate, 2007-12-19, Page 2828 TIMES -ADVOCATE Wednesday, December 19, 2007 Announcements/Community Interesting facts about Christmas "White Christmas" (1954), starring Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye, was the first movie to be made in Vista Vision, a deep -focus process. "Wassail" comes from the Old Norse "ves heill"—to be of good health. This evolved into the tradition of visit- ing neighbors on Christmas Eve and drinking to their health. "Hot cockles" was a popular game at Christmas in medieval times. It was a game in which the other players took turns striking the blindfolded player, who had to guess the name of the person delivering each blow. "Hot cockles" was still a Christmas pastime until the Victorian era. A Christmas club, a savings account in which a per- son deposits a fixed amount of money regularly to be used at Christmas for shopping, came about around 1905. A traditional Christmas dinner in early England was the head of a pig prepared with mustard. After "A Christmas Carol," Charles Dickens wrote several other Christmas stories, one each year, but none was as successful as the original. Although many believe the Friday after Thanksgiving is the busiest shopping day of the year, it is not. It is the fifth to tenth busiest day. The Friday and Saturday before Christmas are the two busiest shopping days of the year. An artificial spider and web are often included in the decorations on Ukrainian Christmas trees. A spider web found on Christmas morning is believed to bring good luck. At Christmas, Ukrainians prepare a traditional twelve -course meal. A family's youngest child watches through the window for the evening star to appear, a sig- nal that the feast can begin. At lavish Christmas feasts in the Middle Ages, swans and peacocks were sometimes served "endored." This meant the flesh was painted with saffron dissolved in melted butter. In addition to their painted flesh, endored birds were served wrapped in their own skin and feath- ers, which had been removed and set aside prior to roasting. Before settling on the name of Tiny Tim for his char- acter in "A Christmas Carol," three other alliterative names were considered by Charles Dickens. They were Little Larry, Puny Pete, and Small Sam. Candy canes began as straight white sticks of sugar candy used to decorated the Christmas trees. A choir- master at Cologne Cathedral decided have the ends bent to depict a shepherd's crook and he would pass them out to the children to keep them quiet during the services. It wasn't until about the 20th century that candy canes acquired their red stripes. Charles Dickens' initial choice for Scrooge's state- ment "Bah Humbug" was "Bah Christmas." Child singer Jimmy Boyd was 12 years and 11 PICKERING / MAES Mike & JoAnne Pickering wish to announce the marriage of Chad and Cecile (Maes) Pickering on Aug. 4, 2007. Angela (Pickering) and Rene Peeters on Sept. 1, 2007. Both weddings were beautiful and enjoyed by all that attended. We wish them a lifetime of love, happiness and prosperity. PEETERS / PICKERING months old when he sang the Christmas favorite, "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus." The song hit the top of the pop charts. Christmas caroling began as an old English custom called Wassailing - toasting neighbors to a long and healthy life. Christmas Day in the Ukraine can be celebrated on either December 25, in faithful affiance with the Roman Catholic Gregorian calendar, or on January 7, which is the Orthodox or Eastern Rite (Julian calendar), the church holy day. Christmas is a summer holiday in South Africa. Children are fond of the age-old custom of producing pantomimes - for instance, `Babes in the Wood," found- ed on one of the oldest ballads in the English language. Boxing Day on December 26th, when boxes of food and clothing are given to the poor, is observed as a holiday. Christmas trees are edible. Many parts of pines, spruces, and firs can be eaten. The needles are a good source of vitamin C. Pine nuts, or pine cones, are also a good source of nutrition. Christmas trees are known to have been popular in Christmas trees are known to have been popular in Germany as far back as the sixteenth century. In England, they became popular after Queen Victoria's husband Albert, who came from Germany, made a tree part of the celebrations at Windsor Castle. In the United States, the earliest known mention of a Christmas tree is in the diary of a German who settled in Pennsylvania. Cultured Christmas trees must be shaped as they grow to produce fuller foliage. To slow the upward growth and to encourage branching, they are hand - clipped in each spring. Trees grown in the wild have sparser branches, and are known in the industry as "Charlie Brown" trees. History book selling By Stew Slater SPECIAL TO THE TIMES -ADVOCATE DUBLIN — From an initial printing of 500, only about 100 copies remain of a new book detailing the history of the Huron -Perth Catholic District School Board. The book, entitled "Our Roots ... Our Story," was compiled from contributions from about 25 different authors plus numerous photographs, and aimed to capture the memory of every Catholic school in the histories of the two counties. It was officially launched by the board Nov. 1, and can be bought by calling the board's Dublin headquarters at (519) 345-2440. "There are people calling for it every day, still," commented executive assistant Elaine De Corte after the board's 2007-08 inaugural meeting Dec. 10. She noted many retired teachers have bought copies, or else their family members have decided "Our Roots ... Our Story" would be an ideal Christmas present. One copy is even on its way to Hong Kong, where a former Huron -Perth Catholic teacher now works. De Corte added other people became interested after learning about the presence in the book of a photo of themselves or a school they attended. "It's all about the memories," commented Perth South/West Perth trustee Bernard Murray, who was named board chairperson at the meeting. "It's good for us, now, to have a record that far back. It's like with family memories. It's always a terrible thing when you find a photo from generations ago and you don't know who's in it. BROWN Laurence and Jane Brown are delighted to announce the marriage of their son, Jared Laurence to Holly Anne Dietz, daugh- ter of Louis and Becky a y Rodrigues, at St. John's Anglican Church in Leamington on April 28, 2007. Jared is the grandson of Elsie and Ken Hermann of Exeter. / DIETZ �T ` –i ' , , - '' ,' ; le - : , ..i.47.:\,- ' TUCKEY / EVERHARDUS Van and Laurie Tuckey are pleased to announce the marriage of their son, Luke, to Melissa Everhardus on August 18th, 2007 in Belleville, Ontario. Luke is the grandson of Elsie and Ken Hermann of Exeter and Bill and Nancy Becker of Dashwood. Luke and Melissa are presently attending university in Ancaster, Ontario. VAN ESCH / BUCHANAN On July 7, 2007, Shawna Christine Buchanan, daugh- ter of Stewart and Christine Buchanan, granddaughter of Elsie and Ken Hermann, married Peter Corum Van Esch, son of Peter and Gayle Van Esch, at Metropolitan United Church in London. The couple honeymooned in France and reside in London. TUCKEY / SWAIN Mrs. Trudy Swain and Mrs. Elsie Tuckey -Hermann are happy to announce the marriage of their children Marcia and Matthew. They were wed on June 1, 2007 on the Lakeshore in Bayfield.