Simple, Quiet Traditions Want To Enjoy Christmas More? Slow Down, Select Basic Celebrations With Family, Community
Ask Neil Terry, a Spokane resident since his birth in 1912, about the meaning of holiday spirit and he’ll take you back to 1929. That’s the year the Lewis and Clark High School Tiger Club sponsored a variety show that brought in more than $1,500.
“That was a lot of money back then,” he says with pride. They used the proceeds to buy holiday food baskets for 150 area families.
“Those days, things were done personally, family to family,” Terry says. “There was a close connection.”
He also tells of dazzling lights at The Crescent, once a cornerstone of Spokane’s downtown business district and his employer for more than two decades. And of city-sponsored sledding hills, with his favorite at Seventh and Ash. Each hill had its own bonfire and an attendant who kept it well-stoked. There was rarely trouble, he says, as a 9 p.m. curfew was well-enforced.
Ninety-three-year-old Martha Eaton wonders if life has grown too lush, too material for children to develop a sense of adventure and creativity, especially during the holidays. She recalls years on a homestead, 12 miles outside of Chewelah. Life was meager, she says, but it was always good, always satisfying, like her mother’s freshly baked bread. She tells of making skis out of strips of lumber and of games she and her four sisters would play for hours, sans toys. “I don’t think kids today have as much fun as we did,” she says.
The charms of simplicity, of community and connectedness are still possible to find. It requires a conscious slowing down, a return to the basics and a little ingenuity.
Here are some ideas to get you started, ranging from a sampling of activities in the community to a few traditions honored by area revelers.
Consider a bake-off.
DeAnne Barrett recalls whipping up holiday delights in her family homestead, established in 1876 and still in operation near Reardan. “If we were snowed in, we made maple bars. So, snow was never bad news,” she says. Although she’s lived in Spokane the past 35 years, she continues to bake fudge, peanut brittle, pull taffy and dipped chocolates. And she finds time to share her talents with the residents of Hawthorne Manor in North Spokane, where she works as an administrative assistant. “This year, it’s blackberry jam,” she says.
If you’re not a baker, try your hand at cookie decorating with premixed cookie dough from the grocery dairy section. Or, for $10, children ages 6-10 can bake and decorate cookies at Corbin Art Center on Monday, 3:45-5:45 p.m. Call 625-6200.
Savor a musical celebration.
St. John’s Cathedral offers “A Candlelight Christmas Concert” Dec. 19 at 4 and 8 p.m. Tickets are $10, $8 for seniors and $5 for children 12 and younger. Or experience the classic “Nutcracker” at the Opera House with the Alberta Ballet and Spokane Symphony, Dec. 7-10. Call 624-1200.
Anna Rolphe of Coeur d’Alene is a traditionalist in her holiday celebrations. Yet, she and her friends put a twist on the common caroling party, lip-synching door-to-door with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. It was hilarious, she says. “People would open their door expecting this mass of people and there we were.” They brought cheer, nonetheless.
Bring the past home
Despite a fire that destroyed family heirlooms 10 years ago, Leslie and Bill Love, owners of Love’s Victorian Bed and Breakfast in Deer Park, decorate a half-dozen 10-foot trees with antique ornaments. Many of their ornaments were discovered at Goodwill, says Bill. They also have theme trees, like the dining room “tea” tree, inspired by “A Cup of Christmas Tea” by Tom Hegg (Waidman House Press, $10.95). And always, there are fires burning in the dining, parlor and garden rooms and hot tea and cookies to enjoy.
Join in a community celebration
Venture to the heart of a small town to view unique shops and festive displays, like the giant community greeting card posted in Reardan. Or revel in a snowy venture, like a 40-minute sleigh ride with Kim and Chip Lamb, for $10 a person, $50 minimum. They’re about a mile south of Schweitzer Mountain Resort.
For information, call (208) 263-3344.
For some, like Leslie and Monte Slinkard of Coeur d’Alene, returning home makes the holiday complete. They’ll trek to Sandpoint where they were high school sweethearts and three generations of family ran the Rosholt Shoe Service. It’s a place where memories from the past are cherished and memories in the making flourish.