Byron News: This is Christmas – decorations, children’s plays, the Christ Child
I heard through emails and messages that you enjoyed the column about Christmas traditions. It is always nice to get feedback from friends who read the Chronicle from far and near. John Lennon penned a tune called “So, This Is Christmas.” The first lines are “So, this is Christmas and what have you done? Another year over and a new one just begun.” It is a season of reflection.
We may look back on our childhood and feel the warmth and contentment of family gatherings. It can also be a time of sadness and longing for those who have lost a loved one during this time of the year. We celebrate the birth of the Holy Christ Child, Jesus, who lived and died for us so that we may live again. There is great comfort in that gift, however, there is pain in a loss, and grief and mourning.
Sometimes while the world is celebrating it underscores those feelings of loneliness. So, as we embrace the love and kindness that the season brings, I hope we can be mindful of those who aren’t celebrating. A phone call, a visit, a card or any gesture of love, no matter how small, can lift a burden.
Growing up, I remember helping to carefully unpack the ceramic Santa and Reindeer, which always hung over the arch between the dining room and kitchen. Santa was in his sleigh, and Mom, Dorothy, would weave thin red ribbon between each Reindeer as they “flew” across the wall. We would bring the ornaments down from the attic and carefully hang them on the tree. Before Mom was gifted the silver tree from my brother, Chuck, we had a real tree from the mountains. We never seemed to find the perfect tree.
I remember my Dad, Fay, would drill holes to stick branches in and use wire to add more branches until it looked like a storybook Christmas tree with branches evenly spaced and, unfortunately, quickly drying out. We had a tree stand that Dad had fashioned and welded out of some pipe. It was sturdy but didn’t hold much water, so we would carefully crawl under the pokey branches to add water every day.
Back then after the lights and bulbs, we hung tinsel. It was a tedious job to do it right. Right meant that the strands of aluminum tinsel had to hang down like a silver drape, not rest on any branches below. It had to be done one strand at a time to control how it hung. Glen Hopkinson remembers his mom giving him the job as a young boy. His creativity kicked in early as also his attention span or lack thereof. He found that if he took handfuls and tossed them at the tree, it would cover quickly and look pretty good. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. His mom was not amused, and he lost the job quickly.
After the decorating came to a standstill, the candy making began. I would sit on a stool across the counter and watch Mom make her million dollar fudge, caramels, divinity and pecan pralines and then on to cookies. I learned that her experience told her how to judge the sheen on the fudge as she mixed it, so she knew when it was ready to pour out. She had a candy thermometer, but her experience allowed her to test her caramels for that just right soft stage by dropping a small bit in a cup of water and feeling it with her fingers until it was just right to take off the heat. She then cut and wrapped them individually in waxed paper. Her candy and cookie making was done in the evening after she closed the Cozzens Store. It was an effort of love on her part.
She would arrange beautiful platters, some of each delicacy, and let us deliver them to our friends and neighbors. I wonder if her interest in candy making came from her memories as a young child of going to a candy store on Main Street in Lovell. This would have been around 1920. She told me of some German candy makers who had a shop next to her mom’s (Effie Beall) millinery (hat) shop. It seems like it was in the Hyart block. She would go next door and watch them make their chocolates and other sweets.
In the past, we used to put on nativity plays. That changed in schools but seems like they aren’t done in church much anymore either. Many have memories of costumes and songs and watching the kids wander around goofing up and making the play unique. A friend shared a story of their nativity play up in Canada when she was young.
Their bishop had a farm and a barn that was the perfect backdrop for a Christmas party and nativity play with live animals. The bishop insisted on playing the part of the angel because the barn had a high peaked roof and that is where the angel needed to be for effect. He didn’t want anyone to take the risk of falling, so he donned the angel costume and climbed to the roof. As the play was taking place, the cow got loose and began to run away. The bishop hurriedly climbed down from the roof, and the play ended with the angel chasing the cow through the pasture. Those are the memories that are one of a kind.
And “So this is Christmas, and what have you done?” I hope as you reflect on this past year you will remember the good, the kind, the beautiful moments in your life. This is a time of celebration of the Greatest One, a Savior to all mankind. Let us pray for peace on earth and start with our own goodwill to all.