Photos Shared

 Patty Conly and I did a short video at KATV in St. Johnsbury talking about just a small sampling of pictures from our book, West Danville, Vermont, Then and Now, 1781-2021, and it is on Youtube, at least for a short time. You may enjoy a glimpse into the book and what it covers, if you don't already have a copy. Each photo in the book is fully captioned and credited. We were very fortunate to have so many photos donated. There were actually many that we either couldn't use because of the quality, or that were similar to others, so we had to make some tough decisions. Space and page count were also important considerations. We managed to include about 300 images, so you won't find many pages that do not have an image of some sort on them.

I expect everyone is pretty well recovered from their holiday celebrations - and I hope you are all safe from Covid, flu, or any other bugs. We are all looking forward to the New Year, although celebrations will be minimized again due to the upsurge of Covid infections. Please be careful; even if you are fully vaccinated, there are plenty of breakthrough infections happening, and while most are not awfully troubling, it depends on each individual how seriously ill they will be. Those who are not vaccinated are much more likely to be seriously ill, whichever variant they get. Doctors are saying that for people who are not vaccinated, it is only a matter of when they get infected, no longer a question of if they will be. Get your shots.

 I was just reading about the tradition of celebrating the new year. I did not realize that so many different cultures celebrate the New Year not only differently than we do, but at entirely different times. The earliest New Year's celebration recorded was in Babylon, and celebrated when the first new moon after the vernal equinox signaled the beginning of a new year. January 1 as the first day of the year came about when Julius Caesar's Julian calendar was introduced in 45B.C. Now, we celebrate according to the Gregorian calendar, and begin on December 31st, New Year's Eve.

In China, the Lunar New Year is celebrated in the spring, and the traditional Spring Festival lasts 15 days. Decorations are red, symbolizing good luck and good fortune, and fireworks ward off bad luck; and there are parades, traditional food, dancing, and dragons.

New Year's tradition in Denmark finds residents smashing unused dinnerware against the doors of their families and friends to ward off bad luck. They also leap off chairs at midnight, signifying their enthusiasm for jumping into the new year. The Danes also enjoy having Kransekage, which is a cake of marzipan rings stacked around a bottle of wine.

Ecuadorians burn effigies in the likeness of politicians and other icons at midnight to symbolize cleansing the bad energy from the past year and bringing good fortune in the coming year. That tradition began in 1895 during a yellow fever epidemic that forced infected clothing to be burned. The present-day tradition is far more optimistic and celebratory.

In Greece, the New Year is celebrated as the Festival of Saint Basil, founder of the Greek Orthodox Church. One of their customs is to hang an onion on the door of their homes as a symbol of rebirth. They also have a cake, Vasilopita, or Saint Basil's cake, that has a gold or silver coin baked inside; whoever finds the coin in their slice will enjoy extra good luck in the coming year.

In Japan, the Japanese New Year is called Oshogatsu, and throughout December, "year-forgetting parties" are held. On December 31st, gongs in Buddhist temples strike 108 times, representing the 108 earthly temptations one must overcome to achieve nirvana and dispel wrong deeds and ill luck of the past year. On New Year's day, the traditional food is soba noodles, which signify longevity.

In Holland, New Year's celebrations include fireworks and explosions, often lasting hours at a time. Sometimes cars and Christmas trees are burned to signify cleansing the old year and welcoming in the new. The Dutch also have a favorite New Year's delicacy called oliebollen, or "oil balls." These are bite-sized balls of dough fried in oil and dipped in powdered sugar. The finale of their celebration is for swimmers to jump into the frigid North Sea on New Year's Day.

When Oliver Cromwell reigned in Scotland, he declared a ban on the Christmas holiday. This lasted during the 16th and 17th centuries. Because of that, the Scot's poured their enthusiasm into Hogmanay celebrations that include street festivals with entertainment, fire spectacles, concerts that served as an outlet for citizens to chase away darkness with light, warmth and festivities. They also observed "first-footing" in which it was customary for the first person to cross a home's threshold in the New Year to bring a gift for luck. Traditionally, it was a piece of coal for the fire or shortbread for the table.

Spaniards traditionally eat one grape for each toll of the clock at midnight, signifying good luck for each month of the coming year.

The Swiss drop a dollop of ice cream on the floor at midnight to encourage good luck, wealth, and abundance. There are also ceremonies on the streets by colorfully costumed performers to symbolically dispel negative spirits.

In the early 20th century, fireworks were banned in New York City, and that was the beginning of the ball drop that we watch each year as the final seconds of the old year are counted out. Singing "Auld Lang Syne," (translation: "old long ago") came originally from Scotland, and signifies fellowship. In southern U. S., a popular New Year's dish is "Hoppin' John" which is primarily black-eyed peas and rice, often cooked with smoked pork and onions and paired with collard greens and corn bread, signifying "peas for pennies, greens for dollars, and cornbread for gold." 

And that's only a few of the interesting celebrations and customs I found when I did a quick search. I'm sure most of you have your favorite customs on New Year's, and favorite foods. I used to serve pork pie years ago. I had a recipe a lovely French lady in St. Johnsbury gave me. It was her family recipe, and oh, so good! New Year's used to be a big deal in the 50s and 60s. There were house parties everywhere, and if you didn't get invited to one, it didn't matter. Crashing a party was no big deal; everyone was welcome after a few drinks. There were lots of dine and dance spots in our area back then, with live bands and enthusiastic crowds eating and drinking as they waited for the New Year to arrive. For many years, Fred and I went to wherever son, Bob, was playing, either with the TANK band or later as BB and the Phantom Band. I don't remember the last one, but I do remember the first time the band played on New Year's. It was at the Catholic Central School in St. Johnsbury, probably about 1979 or 80. I was surprised and very concerned when they ended the evening with pyrotechnics. But it was ok - the school officials knew ahead of time and fortunately, it all went off without an serious damage - just a lot of residual smoke.

This is a picture of the TANK band from about the same era - From left to right,  that's Bob Dimick, Rob Gourley, Gordie Gourley, Pete Henault, and Al Douse. 

These boys are all men with wives, children, and some even have grandchildren now. They are still all good friends and get together from time to time; yep, you guessed it - to play music. They had a reunion at our Joe's Pond camp in 1994 with the original five members, plus others who

had either played or worked with the band over the years. But they didn't bring their instruments, and I was disappointed. This picture was taken at that reunion. I cannot identify everyone in this picture, but that's Bob, third from left in the back row, and Rob with his signature blonde hair next to him; Gordie is third in front and Jamie (Dimick) who did lights and/or sound sometimes is fourth in front. The others I'm just not sure about, but they are in there somewhere!