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The Wingham Advance-Times, 1974-12-19, Page 19per chains By ALICE MOOR=. I received a ktter from a lady* New Mand, who ro. quested that I not use her name,, but her letter was so delightful f decided ria►; use it even though she shell reit anonymous. �,y,»When 1 was a small child," writes,, "there would mya-, ter.iously 'appear a small .fir tree on our front porch, This happened every Year amid the and week in December, ft was usually about three feet:; tall, and was in a " wooden bucket. My Mother and Dad would come 'out to look at it and exclaifn, `How on earth did . i , get there?' and Tad would say, `Well, well, guess it needs some decorating," and carry it .off to my room. "My time after school and homework would be spent In making paper chains, string- ing dogwood berries, collect- ing acorns, (always with the capon) to tie to the: tree with thread. As I grew a bit older I would save all year long tiny little things I' found for my lit- tle tree. I decorated and re- decorated my tree many times before Christmas and loved every minute I worked to collect and make my little tree beautiful.:.." "As I look back on it, my parents were very clever peo- ple. That little tree kept me occupied ant) out from under foot at a very busy time. Col- lecting and making decora- tions made the days waiting for Christmas seem to fly." When I read that letter I im- mediately thought of the yards and yards of paper chains we made in school. We used to hang4:them around the doors, windoivs and across' the tops of blackboards. My sec- ond thought was I haven't seen a paper chain in years. With the advent of plastics and Set101001 the simple paper c h►ain has probably been for. gotten. With so may :beauty pa pers available now, maybe it would be fun again to make the est of all. decora- tions, paper 'chain, You need- paper, glue,, :scis- sors and thread or fine wire (for hanging the f itiished chain), To make a chain cut out strips of paper about '4 inch wide and 6 inches long.. Allow Va inch for overlap. Glue the two ends together by overlap• ping one o n top of the° other. Take another strip, push it J 4 easy ti,Wough the first and, glue it together Wig. ,1)m Contin this manner un- til you have a chain the length you dewire. Tie a thread or wire around the end loop* and fasten it to the tree, Chain only four or five loops to bang straight down, or make three different -sized loops by cut- ting longer or wider strips, then gluingone e oth- er, inside olh er When using metallic paper, cut the strips twice the width you desire, fold in the middle lengthwise and then form the loop in the usual way. Another idea : Cut circles or Fit;.' 1 FiG. 3 FiG, diamond ,�y s ( :l sew aim) of metallic paper. Tim glue two together threada _, hed Wive** • glue several on one thread and hang on the tree or in wise Bowe, clearways, etc, There are equite attractive . where they catch flashing lights (Fig. 2). For those rainy days, this winter why net make a large paperiree by folding a sheet of newspaper in half, cutting it in traditional shape (Fig. 3). and thumbtacking it to the wall? Let the children make decorations and attach with plastic. tape. To make a more elaborate tree, cut it of felt,. glue to a large piece of card- board, and straight pin the decorations in place. This may help while away a rainy afternoon for the small members of your family and whet the imaginative appetite of some of the older members, Experiment and have fun.' Firemen start a fire of their own The village fire brigade of Tonypandy, Glamorgan, rushed off to quench a chim- ney fire and in their enthusj- asm, forgot to turn off the burner under a frying pan in the station kitchen. Within minutes smoke was billowing out of the station. and a passing bus driver broke into the building and threw the pan out the window, causing the' fire chief to say, "The whole incident is most embarrassing. Our men . did exactly the sort of thing we warn the public against." — .CAROLS Tp. cARDs t Yule CU5t4 c,,s nc.iIion'mos By JO !Y FREEMAN jf you were to Choose, the eight customs which are most associated with Christmas what would; they be? In 1940, Horace J, Gardner listed these in his`let's Cele - bate Christmas,' They were the .shame, he said, as the ones he had, listed 25 years previ- ous to that: "First and forep most is its religious signifi- cance;" then came hanging the mistletoe and burning the Yule log; 'the Christmas tree, the, Christmas carol; the greeting card; the Christmas stocking, and Santa Claus himself, In U..3, these remain con- stant atnong fickle humans. The pace has quickened, but, with the energy crisis, ft may wow down. Where children are concerned, customs may differ from country to coun- try, but Christmas remains the same.— a time of joy. And through these customs, they can learn much history, both religious and temporal. At probably no other time will teaching be so easy aihd de- lightful. Gardner called Christmas "One of the two most solemn events of all history" for Christians. Lengthy prepara- tions in the season of Advent can be proposed as an imita- tion of Mary's long wait for the Christ child's birth. Early Christians did not celebrate His birthday due to their distaste over the orgy celebrations held by the pagans. But as Christianity spread and paganism de- clined, Christ's followers set u Shatter Your Family's Future Drive LikeYou Care forThose Close toYou This Holiday Season Think how much you. love them. Now, before you take them on the road. Remem- ber that your dear ones look to you for safety. If YOU don't care, nobody else will. And when you get right down to it, caring makes all the difference ... Care for your car: Is it ready for Winter? Snow tires on? Anti -freeze in? Defroster and hewer working well? Flash light and flares on hand in case of emer- gency? Responsible driving begins with a well-maintained automobile. Care for your passengers: see that they're warm and comfortable. Insist that everyone use seat belts. Don't overcrowd the car. Don't be in too much of a hurry. Make it a leisurely drive with plenty of time for rest stops. Remember this is a holiday trip — not an endurance test. Care for yourself because your car is only as safe as its driver. Don't try to drive if you're tired ... and NEVER if you've been drinking. Don't even take the wheel if you're angry or irritable. Keep your holi- days happy, and your family safe. up a search to determine the date .Ie was born. St, Cyr ire the search for Pope Julian who chose Dec, 25 in the year 350 A.D. — snot the date celebrated by the .Eastern Church. This was "also the date of the festival of the winter solstice . . when the retreati sun turns again `and renews the earth' ,- and shows the wedding of old .to new custom's, so typical of our Christmas, The new Chris - dans would celebrate the day as the corn* of "The light of the World." Two• .other pagan rites which were "adopted" were the mistletoe and the burn- ning of the Yule log. The Druids, Celtic priests in Ancient Britain and Ireland before their Christianization by St. Patrick, venerated the mistletoe: The Yule log was burned by the Scandinavians at the feast of the winter solstice in honor of their god Thor. In England, it burned Christmas Eve. In their big halls, they let it burn to just a remnant and then p t it away until the next yea t� when it would be used to light the new log. The Christmas tree custom dates back to German origins. There are many stories, songs and legends Which children can read or hear about the Christmas tree: It may date back to heathen tree worship; to the medieval custom of greeting guests with trees of lighted 'candles; or to Martin Luther, who was inspired by the stars on Christmas Eve to place lights 'on a tree. ' In England, the first tree was ir1 Queen Victoria's time. rated poputai... inAmerica, the German , i rants brought the cumin from Europe and the early settlers quickly took it .up. Some of the carols: we ; date back to the fifth Century and young, cabling mops keep the atom wive year af- ter year. History dates the mid -16th Century as the beginning of the custom of sending' Christ- mas cards to. friends and as- sociates. Card art ss often' a reproduction of great paint- ings or original art by ccs. ternporary .artists. Children can take in the old and the new, the serious and q whimsical, the sacred and profane, the flights of aisruagiT nation. A house hung with Christmas cards is different from their everyday one. Sud- denly, it is filled with other people's forms of self-expres- sion, elf'e pres-cion, When it comes time for hanging the Christmas stock- ings, the story of how the good, children are rewarded by Santa Clause gets told and re-' told. Wooden shoes are used in parts of France, Holland and Germany for the. same pus} pose -- gifts from Santa to "good" boys and girls, Woe to the naughty child. He gets lumps of coal. Santa himself arrived in New York, brought there by Dutch settlers. He was a thin and ascetic bishop until Cle- ment Moore changed .him for all time in "The Night Before, Christmas." His popularity spread throughout America_ to Europe and remains steadfast to this . day - ;a feat un- matched nmatched by any modern hero. EJICitillifi in T "From. Tollgate to tronuitile lit the tom ofan exciting flew` trams. portat oo exhibit** crested by Toronto's North York Ilae'iesf- die inconjimetion with the Toronto Historical trd- On dispflaY are'' tie verb modes of t.~ , ga portatnon ¢.. c,rn footpaths ,it tie 206 cernd Ey Dial -a -bus to commeroor4ie ale subway Into the -borough of liortt York. Snowshoes, buffalo miltts, skates and blacksmith tom for the horses pie coaches and buggies add to its authenti- city. A private collection of liceiee plates dating from SOS sad a display .of original tree of- fences and rules of the road, de- velod ,with the coming of the automobile, have been loam by the Metropolitan Toronto Pow Museum. The Toronto Transiit Commis- sion has also provided. ;a display .. including pictures , of obuses, street ears, and the Radial Line, which used to aim along the side of Yi nge'Street to Lake ! . An original woodcarved Golden Lion once used to guard the stage coach stop at the Golden Lion Hotel, situated at the corner of Sheppard and YongeSStreets, will now protect the ;exhibition, The hotel, of coursejs: gone, but ' the Golden. Lion is now.the property of the :borough of North York. The exhibition will rug to the end of January, 1975. SUPER SPROUT • George hlobbs of Leaves - den, England;credits his suc- cess at growing a nine -foot - high Brussels .droll;plant t . his secret fertilizer conte of mothballs and crushed egg shells.. , .. YULE COOKERY Beef gives the holid a touch. of Olde En By .; FRANK MACOMBER 'w . Who 'says.you need a turkey - for a yummy Christmas din- ner? Certainly not the beef in- dustry, which has come up with a scrumptious Yule din- ner menu, including, of course, an eight -pound stand- ing rib roast of beef. The holiday meal that fea-" tures beef -rather than turkey or other fowl is called an Eng- lish Christmas ' dinner, pos- sibly because the British are partial to beef even when there are plenty of turkeys around. To produce an outstanding rib roast for your Christmas table, you'll do well to follow these kitchen ground rules: First, get an eight -pound rib roast, even if it empties your pocketbook. You'll also need 11/2 teaspoons of rosetnary leaves, crushed; salt and pep- per; two medium-sized onions, sliced; five pounds of new potatoes, parboiled five minutes and peeled; four 10 - ounce packages of frozen :Brussels sprou; three cups of hot chicken broth; nutmeg and pepper, .plus horseradish sauce to polish off the 'taste. When you have gathered all 'your ingredients, rub the beef with rosemary, sprinkle with salt and pepper, then place the roast in a large, shallow roasting pan. Top it with onion slices before roasting' the monster for four ho'ors and 30 minutes or until the meat thermometer registers 160 de- grees for medium done. During the last 45 minutes of cooking add the potatoes to the pan and turn them occa- sionally. Cook the • Brussels sprouts in the chicken broth with nutmeg and pepper for 10 minutes until they're just. tender but not mushy. Then drain off broth. For the final touch, arrange the roast, potatoes and Brus- sels sprouts on a warm serv- ing platter. And don't forget . the horseradish sauce — usu- ally a mixture of horseradish, sour cream and salt. It gives ENGLISH YULE DiNNER — A standing rib roast of beef surrounded by tempting new potatoes is what the Pilgrims ate at Christmas time before they came to the Ncw World and discovered turkeys. It's a great change of pace`from the traditional big bird, which nowadays is served the year 'round at most restaurants. If the plum pudding (top) is too rich to go wifn a sumptuous dinner, fruit ices and sugared pecans can be served instead. the beef an -ext ataste illip.'A putt of sour Cream and half a cup of horseradish is a good mixture. ' ' But your guests can't just sit around eating beef and vegetables, can they? So why not start out the Christman dinner with a tomato juice . cocktail, follow up with cream of celerysoup, green beans in wine sauce, jello, spiced a ie rings and of course sal nuts, relishes and hot rolls. Some hostesses like to serve Maraschino -Filbert pudding with a meal like that, but others insist it's too rich. So some fruit ices really would be more acceptable to most of your guests. Tea or coffee will fit in, but so will a few bottles of hearty burgundy to help wash down the beef. Just to play safe per- haps you should acquire a couple of bottles of chablis, too, for some people like white wine no matter what th y're eating. If you want to get more fancy about Yule dessert, of course, there's always sugared pecans to serve with the ices. This is how you pre- pare them: Beat one egg white and one tablespoon of water to a froth. Then mix one cup of sugar, one teaspoon of salt and a tea- spoon of cinnamon. Using a pound of pecans, dip halves in egg white mixture and roll in sugar mixture. Then put the pecans in a shallow pan and bake them at 300 degrees for 30 to 40 min- utes. You'd better stir every 15 minutes or so, to keep them from sticking. If you're planning your Christmas main event for noon or early afternoon, bet- ter figure on turning out a passel of heavenly ham- burgers early in the evening for those who are still around the house late. They're easy; Just take four pounds of ground beef, the leanest pos- sible, mix it with three- fourths cup of uncooked oats, a fourth cup of chopped onion, half a cup of tomato juice, a teaspoon of grated lemon peel, half a teaspoon of garlic salt and a little pepper. After mixing thoroughly, shape the meat to form eight patties, wrap and refrigerate them until you're ready to fire up the grill that evening. Or you can broil them in the oven if it's too chilly to barbecue outside. Your Yule guests soon will know why they are called heavenly hamburgers.