by Linda Heistman
With Christmas coming and commercialism blasting red while we spend our green, the Senior Health, Activity and Recreation Program (SHARP) participants recently took time to reflect on Christmases past.
(Note: I promised our participants to keep all quotes anonymous.)
Imagine living in a house with a patched roof and decorating a real Christmas tree with burning candles.
“We had no electricity until I was about eleven years old,” one of our participants said. “We also put candles in every window, so everyone would know their way home.”
Other traditions were making cookies and decorating with items that they had on hand such as holly, popcorn or other homemade items.
Christmas and/or Thanks-giving were (and still are) spent with family and other guests.
“There were lots of people and lots of food…pies, turkeys, potatoes…”
The Thanksgiving pies were always apple, pumpkin and mincemeat.
Also common were plum pudding and blood (back) pudding.
Blood pudding is a sausage made of a blend of chopped onions, pork fat, oatmeal, other flavorings and, yes, blood, usually from a pig.
One senior said she often had three Thanksgiving meals in one day: one at home, and one at each set of grandparents.
Christmas time was spent trimming the tree. One person remembers having a dog whose wildly wagging tail would keep them from decorating the bottom of the tree.
Some traditions they enjoyed as small children have been continued with their own children and grandchildren.
“Santa would come right to the house, knock on the door and produce presents for the children. I remember getting a doll that had the same hair color as mine and a dress that looked just like one of my own.”
“We’d get all dressed up and go to church and come home and have a buffet of all the things we didn’t get during the year.”
We talked more about gifts. “Things were simpler then. Children now have everything…fifty to one hundred dollar toys!”
“A piece of fruit was a big treat and everything was homemade.”
Someone said she received pictures to paint. Another said, “One time I got a sled, but mostly I got things like clothes and books.” Yet another described getting “a box of candy that you could carry like a small suitcase.”
One woman remembers always getting pajamas for Christmas. She said, “They were always too big” because her mother could never get her size right.
A doll was a common gift for a girl while a boy might get toy cowboys and Indians. “We used to have heroes like Roy Rogers, Dale Evans and the Lone Ranger. They (today’s chil dren) don’t have heroes anymore… What do they have?” one asked.
Someone else replied, “Well, they have Minions!” Everyone laughed.
One woman remembers taking just one dollar and being able to carefully buy eleven gifts with it.
Some holiday traditions mentioned included always putting money into the Salvation Army bowl, ice skating, building snowmen, and playing checkers.
The seniors admitted that the holidays can often be a sad time remembering those who have passed. It was agreed that one way to reduce sadness and loneliness in one’s life is by giving to others.
SHARP has taken four names from the Christmas tree located near the pharmacy at Kinney Drugs. The tree holds names of seniors who live at Sunset Nursing Home in Boonville. We will be getting some small gifts for these seniors to help make their Christmas a little more cheerful.
During this month, we will be sharing a few of our SHARP recipes so you can enjoy some of the same holiday dishes our seniors grew up with!
SHARP is a free program offered to all independent senior citizens from Woodgate to Raquette Lake. We meet at Niccolls Memorial Church in Old Forge from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Wednesday. Lunch during our regular Wednesday sessions is provided by the Community Health & Wellness Fund (formerly the Town of Webb Health Center Fund.)
For more information, call or text (315) 225-7553, or email activitiescoordinator4seniors@yahoo.com. Check our Facebook page anytime for updates. Search: SHARP