December 21, 2006

By Virgil Hervey and Lauren Heaton

In honor of the holiday season, News staffers asked villagers to talk about meaningful memories of the season, as well as past and current cherished traditions with family and friends.

Jerry Holt: These days, we try to celebrate with people of as many different faiths, persuasions, and orientations as we can find. Yellow Springs is a good place to do that — and it makes the holiday experience so much richer. From childhood my biggest memory would be my late father’s electric trains: he had them running all over the house.

Call us crazy, but we like snow. If it falls, a Glen walk is always in order, followed by cider in front of the fireplace. If there is no snow, the illusion can be created with snow movies: March of the Penguins is good, not to mention Ice Station Zebra, Shackleton, and, of course, The Gold Rush. Or there’s always the box set “Northern Exposure” festival: that’s snowy too.

Nick Cunningham (born in Ireland, raised in Canada): We have Christmas Eve parties and Boxing Day family gatherings.  We place the star on the Christmas Eve night by the youngest family member. Now that I live in America, there is no Boxing Day celebration. Everyone here goes back to work.

For New Year’s we always celebrate it twice. Once we celebrate for the Irish New Year — we have a huge dinner and we call all of the relatives in the United Kingdom and drink champagne on the phone with them. Then we celebrate again with dessert and champagne here at Eastern Standard Time. 

Len Kramer: My favorite memories of Hannukah are of making and eating potato latkes — the best ones are when grating the potatoes and frying the latkes is a group effort.

Now we visit family and friends in Los Angeles, which is special for the people and the warmer weather.

John Booth: Our family celebrates Christmas and Kwanzaa. I have a handmade Kinara that holds seven candles, and we light the candles and have the youngsters recite the seven principles. They are umoja (unity), kujichagulia (choosing your own destiny), ujima (working together), ujamaa (cooperative econommics), nia (purpose), kuumba (celebreating creativity) and imani (celebrating your own faith). Our daughter Malaya’s middle name is Imani, the faith.

On New Year’s Eve my family has a feast, except for last year instead of a feast we had a baby. I normally make sweet potatoes and ochra, which are traditional African foods, along with other family favorites.

Miracle Elam: My favorite family tradition was getting a live tree every year that was far too big for our house — we had to cut the trunk down, the top off, and shove it (literally) into a corner, where it still took up too much floor space. We made the same mistake every year and I loved it.

My holiday is made special each year by experiencing this season through my children’s eyes -— who still find magic in everything and inspire me to do the same.

Julia Davis: We do the regular thing, celebrate with family for Christmas and Thanksgiving. It depends on how I feel. I’m 81, but this Christmas I think my son, his wife and their kids will come to my house. As far back as I can remember we’ve always had a prime rib roast for Christmas dinner. I grew up in the Depression, and we didn’t have a whole lot of fancy stuff like that, but my kids always lived well; they’re Air Force brats. We spent many holidays abroad in Germany, Spain and North Africa, where we would often go to friends’ homes, especially when we were living in Italy and Spain.

Nance Parent: As a Jew this time of year is always a struggle because of the huge commercial holiday surrounding us. In the religion itself Hanukkah is a minor holiday. It’s really more of an introspective time. My friend Estelle lights her menorahs in the window so people walking by know this floating holiday is happening. For me the importance is an emphasis on light in the season that is dark. It’s based on a huge battle, which is moronic because Hanukkah is a time of quiet, but it had to do with a group of people who revolted against a huge force, by holding out with this light that lasted eight days. It’s also about looking at yourself and saying do I have everything within myself aligned. It’s like as each candle is lit, you’re reminded of a growing need for patience, and it’s like, “Ooh, I hope I got it by the time the last one is lit.”

Kim Kuramoto and Tim Edwards: Our holidays are chaotic, and it varies from year to year, but this year our daughter Jessica is home with our first new grandbaby, Juliana Torres, born Nov. 9. And our other daughter has another little girl on the way. It’s a combination birthday party, Christmas and New Year’s.

My son Scott leaves for Iraq in January, so we’re just trying to get through the cold season. He’s an H-vac, heating and ventilation specialist, and he’ll be gone for four months. He’s not combat, but I don’t know that it’s any safer because they’re there, and they’re not combat ready. He’s going back to Kirkuk, so there’s not as much action there. But he’s going far away from home.

It’s a bit subdued, but there are eight of us all together and we’ll have ham and turkey, and the required cheese ball and homemade rolls. The girls will make pumpkin and apple pies, and they might get a cream pie out of me if they’re good. Then we’ll have chitlins for New Year’s. I’m just a cleaner, Tim’s the baker. It’s his mom’s recipe, Lois Edwards. You bake them all day with onions, garlic and salt and pepper. They’re really greasy so you’ve got to have sweet cole slaw with them.

Jocelyn Robinson: I myself celebrate the solstice. I play music to celebrate the longest night and think about emerging on the other side of that with hopefulness. The solstice is about welcoming the sun back into our lives, the cycles, and it’s about having that time where things are sort of folding in on themselves, quiet, creating the space for new growth. It’s that way of looking at winter where you don’t have to do too much, besides stay warm, fed and close to the people you love.

This is the time of year you can walk along the river and the see the grace of the sycamores. There’s nothing more beautiful than being in the Glen when snow is falling. You can’t be at odds with what’s going on. This time of year makes you step back and be more in the moment, to stay warm, fed, and to share what you have.

There are a lot of things to be grateful for in my life, and at this time of year I’m more aware of it than ever.

Zac Katz-Stein: Generally we do two main things for the holiday. One is Hanukkah, where we light one candle and open one gift every night for eight days. And then we usually buy chocolate coins called geld and play a game spinning the dreidel and adding and taking away the chocolate coins in the middle. The pot grows and shrinks, and when you decide you’re done, you keep what you have.

We used to go through a big whole thing of cooking potato latkes, which is the traditional thing. But now Mom doesn’t have lots of time because she’s working a lot, so we got these microwavable latkes from Trader Joe’s that we eat.

Becky Eschliman: I have wonderful memories from my childhood growing up in Yellow Springs. One was the special treat of Dad taking me and my brothers shopping on Christmas Eve Day in downtown Dayton. Also very much a ritual was the annual drive to my Dad’s boss’ home in Centerville before the days of interstates and when outside holiday decor was sparser and more special. Another was the selection of a Christmas tree in the School Forest — the hiking, the hot chocolate, the other families -— that’s the mosaic of Christmas.

I played the angel Gabriel every other year in the medieval plays at the Presbyterian church. Besides the pleasure of the company, it was amazing to think I was sharing an experience centuries old.

Dayna Foster: When I was growing up, we often wrapped gifts in deceptive packages. One year my Mother put a brick in a box containing a sport coat for my Dad. Every time he shook the box, it clunked, and he could not figure out why. Another year I sent my dad on a scavenger hunt all over the house to find the power saw my mother bought for him.

Leigh Duncan: Growing up, each year we read the story of the birth of Jesus by the light of the Christmas tree with all other lights off in the house. One year I received an honest-to-goodness lump of coal, wrapped in pretty paper under the tree. I think our family friend was commenting on my behavior as a child.

Pam Conine: Christmas always meant my Grammy Doble — a hearty Vermonter — would make her suet pudding, which emerged so steamy and warm from the oven. It wasn’t until years later that I found out what artery-clogging ingredients it actually contained!

Karen Swinger: Both when I was growing up, and with my own children, the stockings come first on Christmas morning. My children have often told me that their stockings are their favorite part of opening presents. I made each of them in quilt patterns, with different fabrics and colors, and they have had these from the time they were babies. My judgment wasn’t too good about it, because I made them big (actually big enough to put on) and so it takes a lot to fill them up! Although I always put in the standard edible treats, I also put in small useful toiletry items and try to hide at least one really nice, but small, present in each stocking. As we’ve added significant others and a grandbaby to our family, they have each gotten their own unique stocking.

Bruce Bradtmiller and Carol Cottom: Bruce’s family continued the German tradition of going to church on Christmas Eve and having the decorated tree and gifts magically appear while they were gone. That is pretty amazing when you are 5 or 6! Santa always came to Carol’s house on Christmas Eve during dinner. Somehow we never noticed one of the men missing from the table just as Santa came with sleigh bells.

Now we decorate our School Forest tree while listening to a recording of the “Messiah.” During the holidays we like to go caroling and sing with the local “Messiah” sing. We have a rule that no one goes downstairs on Christmas morning until we are all ready and then the filled stockings are opened first.

Florence Randolph: We would always spend Christmas Eve wrapping gifts and putting them under the tree after all the younger children had gone to bed so that they would not see the gifts until Christmas morning.

I remember that I am celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. I am sharing hope with those who still do not know that we must accept the gift of Jesus Christ to really celebrate the occasion.

Jane Baker: With parents of different nationalities, I grew up with visits from both the Dutch Sinterklaas (on Dec. 5) and the English Santa Claus on the 25th. I also remember long expeditions to find the perfect Christmas tree; every tree in the lot had to be carefully examined before my father made the final decision

I do all my “Christmas shopping” through the Heifer International catalog, hoping that by honoring family and friends by helping to fight poverty around the world I will encourage them to give to worthy causes instead of spending their money on material gifts. To some degree I am succeeding in this!

Bruce Cromer: Carol, Charlie, Toby and I spent three years doing A Christmas Carol with the Human Race Theatre Company at the Victoria. Charlie eventually played Tiny Tim. Now I’ve done the show, without them, for 10 years at the Cincinnati Playhouse: I played Bob Cratchit for eight years and now I’ve done Scrooge for two. One year I did the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre production, while the rest of the family was in Seattle.

Being in the Playhouse Carol means being away from my beloved quartet for most of December, but I love being a part of such a fine production of Dickens’ much-needed tale. The audiences are always hungry for it, though most have seen it many years running.

Marybeth Burkholder and Gary Zaremsky: We celebrate Hanukkah and do things like lighting the candles for eight nights, eating potato latkes with sour cream and applesauce, and if possible we enjoy gathering with our Jewish friends who all bring their menorahs for a mass menorah lighting. We also put out the dradles and sing the traditional songs, the dreidel song, “Hanukkah Oh Hanukkah” and “Ma’oz Tzur.”

We keep the gift-giving to a minimum. The main purpose is to celebrate Hanukkah as one of the first victories for religious freedom. Jews had to fight to keep that freedom, and they won through the miracle of the eternal lamp that burned for eight days.

Then we travel to Wisconsin to celebrate Christmas with my family. We haul presents, and my mother, who is now 90, waits until my kids get there to decorate the tree. We have the traditional Christmas dinner she’s been cooking for 70 years: turkey, dressing and pumpkin pie.

Barbara Forster: Growing up we always had an Advent wreath, and we lit the candles and said the prayers as specified. We are much less religious now...some years we don’t even get the tree up. But Christmas mornings are still the same. We get up early and open presents, then sit around in pajamas eating cookies and playing board games.

The taste of Russian tea cakes has reminded me of Christmas for more than 50 years.

Staffan Erickson: We have traditional Scandinavian Christmas smorgasbord on Christmas eve. This smorgasbord includes the Jansson’s Temptation consisting of potatoes, anchovies, onions, and cream. Other dishes include ham, meat balls, lingon berries (from Current Cuisine), herring, sardines, European hard and soft breads, cheese, beets, dill pickles, and boiled new potatoes. During dinner there are sporadic interruptions of traditional holiday songs with toasts (skol) of aquavit. For dessert there is the Ris-a-la-malta (rice pudding with strawberry sauce). One blanched almond is mixed into the rice and the person who gets the almond is the next person to get married. Later, Tomten (Santa Clause) arrives and distributes presents.

Dawn Buchwalder: This year we’re remodelling our kitchen, so it’s not a normal Christmas for us. Our fridge is going where the Christmas tree normally goes, and we’re going to package it and put magnetic ornaments on it. We’ll put our presents around the fridge for Christmas.

We usually start the Christmas season with the feast of Saint Nicholas on Dec. 6. You put your shoes out and you get an orange and a candycane and some small gifts. If you don’t get an orange, you get a piece of coal in your shoe, and you get a month to start being good for Christmas. St. Nick was a priest who lived in Germany, who would go to orphanages to give kids clothing, hence the tradition of the shoes.

Emma Smith: On Christmas Eve we go to my grandfather’s house in Beavercreek and he always has chocolate covered potato chips. On Christmas morning we have brunch with our family friends and then in the evening we go back to my grandfather’s house. We always put a stuffed Rudolf on top of the Christmas tree. We’re Buddhist so we don’t celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday. But my brother Sam and I usually sing the “Twelve Days of Christmas” because it’s easy to do in rounds. We usually don’t have long Christmas lists. This year I asked for a cello tuner and the clip that comes with it. It’s my birthday too. I turn 12 on Dec. 20.

Bette Kelley: Normally we don’t decorate until Dec. 13, which is St. Lucia’s Day, a Swedish holiday we’ve celebrated since I was little. As Swedes, we believe in the tomtes, an elf kind of being who brings your presents each year. The whole Santa thing is a myth. The tomtes live kind of outside in the woods or out in the barn if you have one, and you’re supposed to leave food for them out on the back porch so they bring presents for you.

On Christmas Day I always have orphans day for all of our friends who are either orphans because their relatives are dead or because they aren’t getting together with their family for the holiday. Around 2 p.m. we start playing games, or we put together a puzzle, and then I cook a big dinner. Afterward we often go out and look at lights in the evening. It’s a relaxing day.

Carol and Chuck Koeller: The family always gets together. We have six children; our first son Tim died from a birth defect after graduating from Wright State, and our second son Billy died of leukemia at a young age. Our four children and their five grandchildren come to our house for a gift exchange on Christmas morning. Meanwhile, my brother and sister-in-law, Richard and Sue Dillon, have a gathering at their house with their six kids and 10 grandchildren. Then in the evening, after our separate Christmas dinners, all 29 of us will get together and visit and play cards. That’s 15 rambunctious children together at once, and they’re babies all the way up to pre-teenagers. It used to be that when Grandma Dillon was alive, the whole family would gather to exchange gifts and have Christmas dinner, and it was just wild. Our houses aren’t big enough for that anymore.

Georgia Jewell: We always do a puff pancake for Christmas breakfast, served with marmelade and maple syrup. We put up a nativity scene that was my mom and dad’s, and it came from a five and dime store — they were poor. We make the star with tin foil, and the kids always take turns putting the angel on top of the tree. It’s the Christmas angel who watches over the kids.

We rotate every year with the kids waking up at our house Christmas morning one year, and the next they’re at their other parent’s house in the morning. I like to take the kids to sing Christmas carols with the Girl Scouts. We go by Ramar Estates and do the Clifton Mill tour, and we always cut our own tree down. This is the first year one of our kids can cut the tree down by himself — Jesse did it this year. We decorate the house together, play Christmas music, and drink hot chocolate.

Helen Nehez: I live by myself, and I always go to the Christmas mass at St. Paul’s with Rosemary Powell, who drives me into town on her way. I always have gone to church since I was a youngster growing up in McKeesport, Penn. Church was the main part of Christmas, and we had a Hungarian priest. The homile, our sermons, were in Hungarian, and the singing was in Hungarian. It was beautiful. Then we came here, and I had to get used to listening to non-Hungarian singing.

My husband died three years ago, so church is the main part of my life. The church is very special to me. I have a real good feeling once I leave the church. It’s very elevating for my soul, and I feel like a closeness to God. It’s really a terrific feeling; it makes me feel happy.

Kingsley and Roberta Perry family: When all five of my kids were living at home, we got up and made a big breakfast, and the kids would open their gifts. Then we went over to my in-laws’ and opened up gifts over there. It’s more low-key now because there are just three kids at home, and the other children and grandchildren are dispersed. Natasha participates in the Kwanzaa events at the Bryan Center every year.

Contact: vhervey@ysnews.com and lheaton@ysnews.com