The Rural Voice, 1980-12, Page 7CRYSTAL WHYTE
did she and her brother go along, but also
an uncle and two cousins who'd come
over from Holland for the Christmas
season. It was the first time the family
had visited their Canadian relatives, and
Tanya's "Oma" or grandmother, came
with them.
The children decorated the tree,
"'which was about 12 inches taller than
me", with lights and bells, but some
years Tanya said they've added stringed
popcorn and candy canes.
Then on Christmas Day, "we always
get all our cousins over" and have " a
great big feast."
Tanya doesn't have any doubts about
the best part of Christmas - "I like it
when the cousins come over, that's the
funn-est part." Five visitors from
Holland, including an Oma learning
English so she can visit with her
Canadian grandchildren, would make any
child's Christmas a special one.
Donna Van Bakei, who lives on a
Limousin beef farm near Bornholm, also
has a favourite memory of Christmas on
the farm.
Donna, a Grade 6 student at St.
Patrick's School, Dublin, said "All my
relatives came over one Christmas and
Dad said why don't you get the pony
out." So Silver, who is 22 -years old, was
hitched up to the family's sleigh and the
family went on a ride back through the
farm fields.
Donna said the kids sang Christmas
songs and told jokes on the "snowy, cold
day." Later on, the family had a
rollicking snowball fight between the
adults and children.
The sleigh, once found on almost any
farm, was discovered in the barn when
the Van Bakels bought the farm.
David Vanderwalle, a classmate of
Donna's, lives on a farm outside Dublin
with "300 pigs and 12 fat cattle."
KIM SALVERDA
For David, last Christmas, despite it's
decidely green character, was the best in
his memory. The reason was a skidoo,
which the family found on Christmas
morning. David was given the chance to
try the new machine out first and "1
drove many times around the field."
When the skidoo had been thoroughly
tested, relatives and neighbours arrived
for the Christmas dinner. David said a
special treat for the family is
"kirketten", a Flemish recipe which
David's mother makes from potatoes.
The only time kirketten is served at the
Vanderwalle's is Christmas and Easter.
Nancy Ernst, whose family raises pigs
outside Mitchell, has fond memories of a
farm Christmas as well - on her cousin's
dairy farm in St. Mary s. After dinner one
Christmas, Nancy and her cousins got
into their old clothes and spent the
afternoon playing in the hav mow
"We made a fort. At first 1 was afraid
to go into the tunnel that led to the fort
because it was so dark but they they
showed me it was okay," Nancy recalls.
She also liked the hole in the mow that
let them peer down at the cattle below
and the fact the kids "slided on" the
ropes in the barn.
Nancy's family also have a special
Christmas food - "oliebolles" or donuts
which they make around Christmas.
Nancy, the oldest in the family, helps her
mother make the donuts, drop them in
hot fat and then roll them in white sugar.
Christmas for these children is more
than Santa Claus and presents. It's
sharing family traditions from cutting a
pine in the woodlot to a sleigh ride
through the fields. Also, it's family,
friends and good feelings.
Christmas is a time of special
memories, even for children.
MICHAEL MERNER
TANYA BOONSTOPPEL
WALTER JOHNSON
THE RURAL VOICE/DECEMBER 1980 PG. 5