Advent Calendar - Dec 20th

December 20 – Religious Services
Did your family attend religious services during the Christmas season? What were the customs and traditions involved?


I grew up in a very actively protestant family.  We went to services twice each Sunday (morning and night).  We also attended Wednesday evenings.  So yes, we did attend religious services during the Christmas season.  There were usually choir or other concerts, and frequently a pageant or play as well.

As I started dating my future wife, I got to see a different tradition, as she grew up in a strongly Catholic family.  I attended Mass many weeks with her, and found it interesting to see the differences, and the weekly changes in the Mass, from the music to the decorations to the priest's vestments.

What they had in common was a focus on the reason for the season, the birth of Jesus.  Celebrated differently, but both celebrating the same joyful occasion. 


This and all other articles on this blog are © copyright 2012 by Daniel G. Dillman

Week #1 – New Year’s Memories

Week 1: Did your family have any New Year’s traditions? How was the New Year celebrated during your childhood? Have you kept these traditions in the present day?!

This challenge runs from Saturday, January 1, 2011 through Friday, January 7, 2011.

I'm a little late jumping on this bandwagon, but here goes.

Since New Year's Day happens only once a year on one day, I don't have as much memory of special traditions or celebrations as I do of Christmas, which started when the decorations go up and lasted until we headed back to school after the holiday break.  I do recall that when I was young, we usually spent the late hours of December 31st at church, including the ringing in of the new year at midnight.  It was usually a potluck gathering with crazy amounts of all sorts of food, appropriate christian entertainment and fellowship.  Not for me the Times Square noise and ball drop!  To this day I still avoid the bling-bling rah-rah of the Times Square celebrations.  I tend to spend New Year's Eve these days with family, extended family, usually.  Although others may partake of the bubbly, I do not, so I'm usually available as a designated driver for those who need it.

How do you celebrate the new year?  Share your memories in the comments below!

Edit: It just occurred to me that I totally forgot to explain where this came from!  Amy Coffin of the We Tree blog has apparently been coming up with ideas for geneabloggers (people who blog about genealogy or family history) for several years now.  This new series is her latest, 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History.  It's meant as a way to prompt the blog writer to share not only their family history, but their own story over time.  I'm excited to see where Amy leads us over the next 51 weeks!  I should also mention that I first found reference to this series over at Thomas McEntee's Geneabloggers website.  It's a treasure trove of advice and insight for anyone thinking about a blog of any sort, but especially genealogy!