The Citizen, 2010-12-23, Page 17THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2010. PAGE 17.
14 Orchard Drive, Brussels
from
Christmas memories dominated by wartime practices
While many families prepare to
face another Christmas during an
economic downtime, some people
can recall Christmas when belts
needed to be even tighter than they
are today.
Hank and Aggie Ten Pas of
Brussels recently discussed their
Christmas memories of Holland
with The Citizen.
What the couple remembers most
about the Christmases of their youth
is the time period that many of their
childhood Christmases took place
in; World War II.
“I have limited memories of the
Christmas of my home,” Hank said.
“I was five years old when the war
started and I remember living
through that more than Christmas.
“I don’t remember having a big
celebration,” he said. “Nothing
really stands out. During the war,
there were other priorities.”
Hank’s family was very religious,
and they prayed daily regardless of
the season. The one thing he does
remember is getting together with
the Sunday School teachers and
students.
“I remember the get-togethers
we would have,” Hank said.
“The teacher would tell us a
Christmas story.”Aggie remembers more than Hankabout the specific practices, butstated that the biggest change is that
there were seldom any gifts for
Christmas.
Dutch tradition has gifts given on
St. Nicholas’ birthday – Dec. 6.
On the days leading up to Dec. 6,
children put their shoes near the
fireplace in the hopes that
Sinterklaas, or Saint Nicholas would
bring them gifts or coins.
“It made Christmas Day a nice,
relaxed event because we didn’t
have to worry about gifts,” Aggie
said. “We went to church on
Christmas day, which was nice, and
we have always had really unique
Christmas carols.”
Aggie explained that they are still
sung at Christian Reformed
churches, with many people, even
young Canadian-born members, still
knowing the original Dutch lyrics.
“After church, we would come
home for a special meal,” Aggie
said, adding that the meal would be
by candlelight. She couldn’t recall if
that was for ambience or, as Hank
suggested, due to times being tight
due to the war.
“After the meal, our Dad would
take [my siblings and I] to our
relatives to wish them a Merry
Christmas,” Aggie said.
“We did a lot of visiting,” Hank
said. “We visited neighbours friends
and family for New Year’s and
Christmas.”
Aggie said that another difference
between Christmas here and
Christmas in Holland was “Second
Christmas Day.”
“We had it instead of Boxing Day,
and it was another holiday,” she said.
“The same as Easter.”
Aggie also reminisced about the
special baking that was done around
the holidays, stating that there were
many unique dishes made by her
family. She also said that turkey, a
traditional staple of a holiday meal
in North America, wasn’t served.
“We maybe had chicken, but it
was rare,” she said, with Hank
adding that meat was scarce during
the war.
Hank said that both his and
Aggie’s families were blessed to
have had food for not only their
Christmas meals, but for every other
meal.
“It was a worrisome time, raising
kids during the war,” he said. “We
were blessed to never run out of
food.”
Aggie explained that both her
family and Hank’s lived on farms
during the war, and that, because of
that, they were somewhat sheltered
from the events. Hank agreed,
stating that the war wasn’t quite as
influential as it could have been
during his youth.
While they have become
accustomed to the two events;Christmas and St. NicholasFeastday, becoming amalgamated,and they state they have adopted
many of the ‘Canadian’ Christmas
aspects, one practice that the Aggie
has ensured survived is that of
decorating their home with many
different ornaments and artifacts for
the season.
“My mom was very artistic,”
Aggie said. “She always laidChristmas greens, and she made it sofestive in our home, which wasdifferent for her generation.”
Hank stated that he had little to do
with the decorating, but Aggie
always had the home looking and
feeling like Christmas with snowy
village scenes, a well-dressed tree
and accents throughout their home.
All the best to you
and yours wherever you
go this holiday season.
Thank you kindly for
your loyal support.
McCall Livestock
85345 Brussels Line, P.O. Box 140, BRUSSELS
Ross McCall
Matt McCall
Keith McLean
Don Sholdice
Office. . . . . . . . . . . . 519-887-9571
Fax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 519-887-9171
Brussels, ON
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& may you & your loved ones enjoy all the comforts of a very
merry & joyous season.We really appreciate your business
& look forward to serving you again, soon.
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Ten Pas recollections
Hank and Aggie Ten Pas of Brussels grew up in Holland
and have some unique Christmas traditions to share. (Denny
Scott photo)
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
Continued on page 21