Christmas memories and traditions best part of the season
Published 10:06 am Saturday, April 26, 2008
Every year, several North End residents take a few moments out of their busy day to share a few holiday recollections and memories, pausing to think about what makes this time of year particularly special for them.
This year’s Christmas memories span from celebrating the holiday in an uncommerical way, to television sets and family and friends in El Salvador. Here are three different recollections from North Kitsap residents.
Laurie Larson, Indianola
Not being a fan of the consumer side of Christmas, Indianola resident and Larson Casteel Landscaping Architect Company owner Laurie Larson said she and her husband started celebrating with friends and ethnic food several years ago.
“One of the things we did, we started about four years ago on Christmas Day … we have issue(s) about the consumerism and how it’s not really religious,” she said. “We had friends over and decided to do a non-traditional meal. We have a lot of fun with it.”
It started when her husband Brad’s family went to Indonesia for Christmas and loved the food so much, they cooked it for Christmas dinner the following year. Since then, they have picked a different country to highlight each year and select food and drinks from that region to feast on with friends.
“We even get wine from that country, so we can toast with the wine from that country,” Larson said.
Ethel Molina,
Port Gamble
When she thinks about Christmas, Port Gamble General Store Owner Ethel Molina said her thoughts turn to the holidays she spent in El Salvador as a child. She said all of her family would gather together to cook, sing and celebrate the season.
“I used to help my grandma,” Molina said. “We would have under the Christmas tree a Nativity thing, with different houses and horses. We would make a little downtown under the tree. We would celebrate on Dec. 24, too, at midnight with dinner.”
She said the way she celebrates now, in America, is different, but the feeling with her own children is still the same. She cooks together with her family and friends and her sisters visit to help celebrate.
“We do a big, big dinner with a turkey cooked with wine, capers and olives,” Molina said. “It’s great fun.”
Mike Bookey, Kingston
Port of Kingston Manager Mike Bookey recalls a Christmas in 1959 when he and his three sisters lived in a three-bedroom, 700-square-foot home, and all desperately wanted a television.
“For entertainment in the evening my three sisters and I fought, or if desperate, listened to the radio,” he said. “We dreamed about having a television so we could watch cartoons.”
Their father, however, could not be convinced a television was a worthwhile purchase. Around the same time, the University of Washington Huskies gained entry to the Rose Bowl, which would air Jan. 1, 1960. The game was huge and going to be broadcast in color, both of which were extremely rare at the time.
Christmas morning rolled around, and Bookey said, there under the tree, waiting for him and his sisters, was a gigantic 25-inch television set.
“We all leaped into the air screaming with excitement at this incredible gift,” he said. “All it took was for the Washington Huskies to go to the Rose Bowl for the first time in decades to convince my father that Santa should bring us a television.”
