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PAGE 6A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. DECEMBER 24. 2020
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Trees that remain green all year have long held symbolic importance to cultures
around the world, particularly when winter nights were longest and sunlight was in
short supply. Ancient Romans who associated the winter solstice with the pending
return of green farmlands decorated their homes and temples with evergreen
branches to mark the occasion. Druid priests likewise decorated temples with
evergreen boughs to represent eternal life. Christians in 16th-century Germany,
however, are credited with bringing decorated Christmas trees into the home,
beginning the tradition we know today. According to Encyclopedia Britannica,
a fir tree strewn with apples first appeared as the main prop in a popular play
about Adam and Eve, prompting some Germans to set up “paradise trees”
of their own at home in celebration of the Christmas season. Additional
symbolic decorations like wafer cookies and candles were added to rep
resent the Eucharistic host and Christ as “the light of the world.”
100 Feet
The size of the tallest tree
displayed at Rockefeller
Center in 1999
RE NAS ANT
BANK
Jasper Office:
251 Highway 515
Jasper, GA 30143
678.454.2250
renasantbank.com
Marble Hill Office:
90 Steve Tate Road
Marble Hill, GA30148
770.894.8200
The name Santa Claus evolved from Sinter Klaas, a shortened
form of Saint Nicholas in Dutch. Saint Nicholas was a monk in
what is modern-day Turkey, known for his generosity and dedica
tion to helping children and the needy. His feast day was eventu
ally celebrated across Europe on the anniversary of his death,
December 6, each year. The History Channel reports that Dutch
settlers eventually brought the tradition to New Amsterdam (now
New York City), and when stores began to advertise Christmas
shopping in the 1820s, newspaper advertisements often featured
images of Santa Claus. Clement Clarke Moore’s 1822 Christmas
poem entitled “An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas” (also
known as “’Twas the Night Before Christmas”) helped cement our
modern-day image of a jolly and generous Santa Claus traveling
on a sleigh led by eight flying reindeer.
The ninth reindeer, Rudolph, first ap
peared in 1939 when Robert L. May, a
copywriter at the Montgomery Ward de
partment store, told his story to help
generate holiday traffic for the store.
Love it or loathe it, eggnog is a holiday season tra
dition that has stood the test of time since the early
medieval years in Britain. A PBS food blog reports
that the drink, originally known as “posset,” fea
tured a number of pricey ingredients - milk, sherry,
eggs, sweeteners, spices and even figs - that
made it popular with the upper classes and often
used in toasts to good health and prosperity.
Colonists in America carried on the tradition, using
milk and eggs from their own farms and replacing
sherry with more accessible whisky or rum.
Merry '?<yat/UlO
Christmas! “TTCaUzet
For all your holiday needs
including deli, bakery and floral
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Not-So-Fun Fact
One cup of eggnog weighs in at
343 calories with 19 grams of fat,
according to Self Magazine.
Good Samaritan
HEALTH & WELLNESS CENTER
Medical, Dental, Behavioral
Health, & Pharmacy
175 Samaritan Drive 706-253-4673
Jasper, GA 30143 www.goodsamhwc.org
GGwn a//of~ us,
Parish Lowrie
Agent
to a// off/^ ou ...
Uttem/
360 W. Church Street
Jasper, GA 30143
706-692-6920
www.ParishLowrie.com
^State Farm•
Traditions
shared by
Progress
readers
Kenzie Williams - Hot
chocolate, cookies (leaving
some for Santa, of course),
matching p.j.’s, and Christ
mas movies on Christmas
Eve! My family and I have a
Star Wars marathon every
Christmas.
Sharon Shipman - We put
on matching pajamas on
Christmas Eve and go to
family members’ houses.
Tammi Sorrells - We just get
together with family and eat
a lot of food.
Michelle Tilson - When I
was little, my father always
played the first Christmas
music of the season on
Thanksgiving Day. As an
adult, I have tried to carry on
with this tradition. It makes
me feel closer to him, now
that he has passed on.
Also, Christmas cookies!
Each year, I try to get to
gether with family members
(and sometimes close
friends) to make cookies
using my mother’s old
recipe. This year, we gath
ered at my sister’s house,
since my children do not live
close by. Her daughters, her
mother-in-law, and the two
of us enjoyed Christmas
music and conversation as
we mixed and cooked. Her
husband even joined in for
the decorating!
Tom Carberry - We have a
pickle ornament. Whatever
child can find the pickle or
nament gets a special gift.
Mike Chastain - Years ago
we used to have a family
skeet shooting tournament,
guys and girls. What better
way to celebrate in
Jerusalem than shooting
guns on Christmas!
Tara Gibson and Melissa
Jordan - On Christmas we
go to our mom and dad’s for
supper, and before we eat or
open presents we all sit to
gether in the living room
while our dad (James
Thompson) reads the Christ
mas story to us from Luke
2:1.
Leslie Long - My family and
I have a Star Wars marathon
every Christmas.
Carole Mull Cox - My hus
band and I drink hot choco
late, wrap the last of the
presents while watching It’s
a Wonderful Life on Christ
mas Eve.
Christy Myerscough - On
Christmas Eve, we always
read the account of Jesus'
birth from the second chap
ter of the Gospel of Luke.
Cami Fowler - A big part of
Christmas for us is breakfast
for dinner - pancakes,
bacon, and ham on the grid
dle! Breakfast food just feels
like Christmas!
Jennifer S. Guinn - Reading
"The Night before Christ
mas" to the children on
Christmas Eve.
Stacey Godfrey - Dinner in
Atlanta and then The Nut
cracker at The Fox. They
aren’t having it this year but I
found a ballet studio that is
doing a virtual performance
so we will still get to see it.
Barry N Stephanie - We like
to make Christmas edible
crafts an Christmas orna
ments and watch Christmas
shows and drink hot choco
late.
Crystal Merrell - My Christ
mas tradition is working with
my mom and our guest dogs
at the family kennel since I
was 14. Actually last year me
and my girls were alone for
the first time (my mom and
dad were in Knoxville with
my grandfather who was ill,
and would pass away on De
cember 26), so we invented
a new tradition - we ended
up at Waffle House at 4 a.m.
and made a wonderful mem
ory. My girls insist we do it
again this year.
April Lirpa - We watch A
Christmas Story all day.