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December 22, 2009

Seniors share their Christmas memories

Senior citizens remember Christmas past with family

By DENISE A. RAYMO

Many people spend the last few days before Christmas rushing out to do last-minute gift or grocery shopping or fretting about one of a thousand details leading up to the Big Event.

But senior citizens remember a simpler time when the greatest joy of the season was being with family, sharing traditions and creating memories.

Margaret Jones grew up in Montreal and now lives in Burke.

"When I was a young girl, we had a French family that came to the house, riding in a sleigh. There were seven or eight of them in there, and every one of them played an instrument.

"We could hear them when they pulled up to the house, and they would sing all the Christmas songs then go on to the next house. Then we had to go to bed and wait for Santa Claus."

Margaret has a son and daughter, grandchildren and great-grandchildren in Malone and Ontario, and all of them still look forward to a home-cooked turkey dinner and their Christmas stockings.

"The stockings, oh, they're a must. I have 55-year-old children who still want their stockings," she said, laughing.

MEAT PIE
Melita Jones of Chateaugay remembers her Christmas stocking often held a raw potato or paper crumpled up to resemble a full bounty of treats.

"We were told Santa would not be coming because he didn't have anything," the 85-year-old Chateaugay woman said.

Even so, and with the nation on the brink of the Great Depression, the few cows and the horse her father had on their farm in the 1920s provided for the six girls and one boy in the family, and everyone celebrated many warm and happy Christmases together.

Family was also essential to the holidays for Jean and Edgar Lancto.

They owned a home on Chateaugay Lake for many years, which is where their three children and six grandchildren continued to gather until the place was sold a few years ago.

Jean remembers attending church services with her parents and two sisters then going to visit relatives living nearby.

She continues the tradition of making Canadian meat pie for Christmas.

"Edgar's mother and my mother always made it every Christmas, and the children like it," she said.

Another tradition they keep is making a fresh wreath to hang at their home.

The couple travel to Chateaugay Lake to pick the boughs and bring them home for Edgar to piece together.

LOTS OF BIKES
Betty Crippen fondly remembers Christmas 1964 in Burke.

"We had eight kids, and that year we bought them all bikes for Christmas.

"We put five of them together after the kids went to bed. But we didn't put the three tricycles together.

"The weather was beautiful, so the kids got to ride their bikes outside on Christmas Day with their short sleeves on," she said. "It was beautiful out."

She said the family still gathers at her house for the holiday and that she is expecting a lot more people than the 40 guests she hosted this year for Thanksgiving.

"Some of the ones from Canada couldn't come for Thanksgiving, but they will be here for Christmas," Betty said.

Her mother-in-law's birthday fell on Dec. 24, so there used to be extra reason to celebrate when she was alive.

The woman never felt cheated because she had a birthday so close to Christmas, Betty said.

"But I have a daughter who was born the day after Christmas, and she has always felt cheated," she added, laughing.

ALL-OUT EFFORT
Steve Cook was the second boy in a family of eight children who all sneaked out of their bedrooms before their parents woke up to see what Santa Claus had brought.

"We had to wait and wait for them to get up, and we were so excited," he said. "Then we always went to Aunt Rita's and had ham."

He said his parents, June and Irving Cook, still go all out when it comes to Christmas decorations.

Their home on Maple Avenue in Chateaugay is a popular attraction for people, who come from miles away to see it all.

"Dad will be 83 in February, and every year, he tells Mom, 'I'm not doing it any more.' But she talks him into it, and every year, he's back out there, putting up lights," Steve laughed.

"I remember the first year they started doing it, I was in my teens. She still has that Santa we got at Sears. It's 40 years old, but it still works, and it's out there in the yard.

"They really put on quite a show."

E-mail Denise A. Raymo at: draymo@pressrepublican.com

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