The Citizen, 2010-12-23, Page 19THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2010. PAGE 19.
The Holiday Season is a time for family and
friends to gather and celebrate the joy this season
has to give. At Clinton Public Hospital, St Marys
Memorial Hospital, Seaforth Community Hospital
and Stratford General Hospital, we believe in the
importance of family, the pursuit of good health
and working together to provide the best we can
for our communities.
The Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance, Alliance
Board and Local Advisory Committees,
Physicians, Staff, Volunteers, Auxiliaries and the
Foundations wish you a happy and healthy
Holiday Season.
At this time of year, Emergency Departments can
be busy. As always, patients will be seen in order
of urgency. YOUR PATIENCE IS
APPRECIATED DURING THIS BUSY
HOLIDAY SEASON.
VISITORS: If you have a fever, cough or
diarrhea — please, consider the patient — and
do not visit.
“Thank you for caring for us, as we care for you”
Clinton Public Hospital
St. Marys Memorial Hospital
Seaforth Community Hospital
Stratford General Hospital WE WISH YOU WELL!
HURON PERTH HEALTHCARE ALLIANCE
Lee's Service Centre
348 Dinsley St., Blyth 519-523-9151
• Repairs to all makes &
models of Cars & Trucks
• Air Conditioning
• Welding
Have a very
Merry Christmas!
Here’s hoping everything runs smoothly for
you this holiday season. I thank you
for your patronage and look forward to
serving you in the coming year!
Brussels principal has memories of late-night mass
Carr’s Christmas
Brussels Public School principal John Carr has some
intriguing Christmas stories to tell from growing up in
Northern Ireland. (file photo)
John Carr, principal of Brussels
Public School, lost some Christmas
traditions in his youth due to the
fighting and strife in his home
country of Ireland, and while those
days are now behind him, he still
remembers the practices of his
youth.
Carr grew up attending traditional
late-night masses, but those
eventually had to be cancelled due toviolence as tensions rose with thestrife in Northern Ireland.Originally, Carr’s family would
skip lunch on Dec. 24 in preparation
for the Midnight Mass and the
following feast, which would begin
in the late evening and often run
until early the next morning.
“We would put the turkey on in the
evening,” Carr said. “Then we
would go to Midnight Mass, come
home and have our Christmas
dinner. Sometimes we wouldn’t goto bed until 2 a.m.”Unfortunately, violent attacks inthe early 1970s became a daily
reality for the Emerald Isle, and
churches were considered prime
targets and an unsafe place to be so
late at night.
Midnight masses were
discontinued and were replaced by
afternoon-to-early-evening masses,
forcing the Carr family to reconsider
their Christmas schedule.
After years of not being able to
pursue the tradition of the Christmas
Midnight Mass, the chance to attend
once more came when Carr moved
to Canada and met his wife-to-be
Kathleen, a Francophone.
“I married a Quebecois, and they
[have the same practices],” Carr
said. “When we first met and
married, we had a sizable meal at
midnight.”
Along with the Midnight Mass
practice, Carr says that the
Quebecois have certain foods that
they associate with the late meal,
including tourtière.
Tourtière are meat pies originally
from Quebec that are made with a
diced meat, typically pork, beef
and/or veal as well as vegetables.
Carr eventually let go of the
practice once more, however, stating
that being a kid and attending the
mass is different from having
children and taking them to one.
“We haven’t continued to go to the
Midnight Masses,” he said. “We let
that tradition die when we had our
own children.”
The late-night meal has also gone
away, however the Carr family still
keeps some link to their traditions.
“We still sometimes have tourtièreto keep that link to our past,” Carrsaid. Christmas is celebrated fairly
similarly in Ireland and Canada,
according to Carr, so, aside from the
Midnight Mass, which is more a
religious practice than one of a
specific nation, his practices didn’t
really change.
The one thing he does remember
about Christmas that changed when
he married and had kids is the time
he spent with his family.
After Carr had moved to Canada
he returned home to Ireland for
Christmas until he was married and
had kids, and he “vividly”
remembers the family time that
comprised his holidays.
“I remember how importantfamily was,” he said. “I remembermy sister, a nurse in Belfast [whichwas at least an hour away] being
single and on duty on Christmas Eve
and Christmas Day. She didn’t want
to drive home then go back to work,
but she did end up coming home to
touch base with the family.”
Carr also said one of his fondest
memories was falling asleep on his
father’s winter coat, or against him
during the mass.
“I remember being exhausted
from all the excitement and just
resting on my father’s big winter
coat,” he said. “Sometimes I’d fall
asleep on it, and my family would
wake me up before we went home
for dinner.”
Merry Christmas
to You and Yours from
Chauncey's Hairstyling,
Suntanning &
Catch The Cougar Lingerie
211 Dinsley Street, Blyth
Established in 1982.
Wishing you all the very best gifts
of the season.
I appreciate your patronage
and thank you for your
kindness and support
this past year.
Looking forward to seeing you in 2011!
By Denny ScottThe Citizen
See videos from the
Brussels Santa Claus
Parade
on our website at
www.northhuron.on.ca