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THE GENCLASS NEWSLETTER - November 2007
http://www.genclass.com
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TOPICS:
= Tip of the Month: "My Family Health Portrait"
.
=Our
Favorite Holiday Traditions
By GenClass Instructors
=
Upcoming classes: December and January
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Welcome
to the latest issue of the GenClass newsletter!
If this is your first time reading this newsletter, welcome!
Our
monthly newsletter includes a featured article
by an expert GenClass instructor, a tip of the month,
and a list of upcoming courses.
The
holiday season is now in full swing. If you’re looking
for a gift for
your favorite genealogist, consider the gift of a GenClass
course!
And if your family and friends never know what to buy for
you,
why not add a “GenClass Course” to your wish list
—
ask them to purchase a class for you. At the reasonable price
of $29.95 per class, this is definitely a gift that will keep
on giving
— helping you to build your family tree!
The
instructors at GenClass would like to extend their appreciation
to all those who came on board with us for our first year!
We are planning to add some new courses in 2008 and hope to
see
many familiar faces, as well as first timers, as we work to
make
the online learning experience even better for our students!
We
have a new instructor, Alexandra Goldberg, who will
start in January with "Genealogy for Kids"!
For
this newsletter, a few of our instructors have written about
some of their favorite holiday memories. We hope you enjoy
reading them.
Have a safe, healthy and happy holiday season! See you next
year!
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Tip of the Month: There’s no better time to investigate
your
family’s health history than a holiday gathering. Sure
it may seem
a bit awkward, but take some time to talk about these issues
with
your relatives. It may save your life — or a loved one’s.
For
guidance use “My Family Health Portrait,” available
from
the Department of Health and Human Services.
<www.hhs.gov/familyhistory/download.html>.
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Our Favorite Holiday Traditions
By GenClass Instructors
..........................
Lisa A. Alzo
Holidays,
especially Christmas and Easter, were always about
food and family. My Slovak grandma (Baba) worked tirelessly
to carry out the traditions of her heritage. In the Slovak
culture,
food is richly entwined with tradition and religious teachings,
especially for Christmas and Easter, when special dishes are
prepared and rituals observed. For example, on Christmas Eve,
we celebrated with a meatless Vilia Supper (to honor the Christian
practice of fasting). During this supper, we ate foods like
bobalky,
perfectly baked little balls of dough browned in butter and
mixed
with sauerkraut, and pirohi, ravioli-like pillows of dough
filled with
cabbage, cottage cheese, potato, or prunes. All of these recipes
are included in my book, Baba’s Kitchen: Slovak &
Rusyn Family
Recipes and Traditions (Gateway Press, $11.95).
Christmas
centers on the celebration of the bountiful
Christmas Eve Supper (holy supper), "Stedry Vecer"
(Vilija) in Slovak.
While the foods and customs regarding the Christmas Eve meal
differs from family to family, village to village, and even
county to county,
it is the importance of gathering as a family to share the
solemn meal
and reflect on its religious meaning that matters most.
Many of Slovak Christmas traditions brought to America by
the immigrants
from Eastern Europe have been perpetuated through the generations.
I still try to honor as many of these deeply-rooted holiday
traditions
as I can in my own home each year.
..........................
Barbara
Benge
My
grandmother always made a very special fruitcake- don't say
“ughh.”
She baked an applesauce cake recipe that she had from WWII
with
ingredients from her ration coupons adding the different dried
fruits to it.
It was baked on the day after Thanksgiving and loving applied
brandy to
the cheese cloth twice a week until Christmas day. When she
went in
to assisted living a few years ago I took up the "chore"
and make it each
year for my Aunts and Cousins. Not all of them are fans so
I just bake it
for the ones that are and send it off to them so they can
have it to share
on Christmas. Though almost all of us will say that we horde
it to ourselves.
I never argue with my husband when he looks at me and says
"Fruitcake!!!"
The
fruitcake not only is truly great it has a lot of meaning
to it once I learned
how much time is involved and the history of it within our
family.
It is a remembrance of my grandfather's service in the WWII
as a Navy Pilot and how he went to MIT and was part of the
group
that developed different types of radar. It is a reminder
to me of
my grandmother who during WWII who had 3 little girls under
3 on the day
that Pearl Harbor was attacked. Her young dashing Navy husband
took
her and the girls that faithful day to tour Washington, DC.
The fruitcake is also a symbol of family to me. I was the
first one of my
close knit cousins to move away when I married. Washington
state felt
like it was a world away from Northern California. But most
of all it reminds
me that no matter how far away we are from each other the
love is always
there and through out our busy lives at least on one day we
stop to think
of Christmas' past.
..........................
Pat Ryan
Being
a truly nuclear family of the 21st Century, I'm afraid my
family
doesn't have many holiday traditions that have been passed
down
through the family. Instead we've started some new traditions.
Christmas Eve is a big deal in our family. Our long passed
parents
are remembered as we decorate our live Christmas tree with
the
old ornaments of our childhood. Some are the worse for wear,
but they always bring back wonderful memories, lots of laughter,
and sometimes a few tears for days gone by.
Deaths,
divorce, and distance have taken their toll and so our family
consists of whoever can be ‘home’ that year. The
newest friend, ‘partner’
and/or spouse are welcomed into the family by just being included
in
everything we do from lugging what needs lugging, and helping
prepare
the evening meal, to the afternoon ice-skating party …
if the weather co-operates.
We
gather together and have an untraditional meal of Canadian
BBQ'd steak,
BBQ'd Atlantic lobster tails, and steamed Alaskan King Crab
legs along
with lots of bubbling garlic butter, roasted potatoes, and
whichever vegetables,
salads, and desserts we’ve chosen for that year. BBQing
is a welcome treat
as our Canadian climate is usually very cold by December 24th
and the BBQ
doesn't get its normal work-out during our winters. We are
almost always joined
by one or more people who had no place to go that evening.
Before we ‘dig-in’,
each person takes the opportunity to share what they are thankful
for and to
remember those special people who are not at our table this
year.
his usually leaves each of us with damp eyes and a full heart.
It also leaves me with great pride – pride in my family’s
thoughtfulness,
and pride in how we all remember our parents and grandparents,
and those less fortunate.
Following
dinner the men clean up - also very untraditional from olden
days
– while the females visit, putter around, and discuss
the latest news.
We then appoint a Santa, usually our 39 year old son, who
sorts the
presents from under the tree and passes them out to the appropriate
people.
Once all presents are sitting at the feet of family and often
friends who drop
by to join the festivities, one person opens one of their
presents while the
rest of us watch ... and ooooh and aaaaah. It is then the
next persons turn
to open one present. We continue this until everything has
been opened,
inspected and enjoyed. Any ‘special’ wrapping has
been folded, the ribbons
rolled and saved, and the unwanted scraps of paper burned
in the wood fireplace.
Even
though we are usually still stuffed from dinner, there is
the usual
assortment of 'goodies' that require nibbling during the 'opening'
ceremonies.
I’ve been making ‘pigs in blankets’ and rum
cake for over two decades and
these two goodies are now expected to appear, year after year
on Christmas Eve.
Christmas
this year will begin another new tradition as it will be our
first Christmas
with our baby granddaughter who arrived on October 20th 2007.
Who knows what this will begin? So as we remember and celebrate
our parents
and other long gone relatives, our focus is on our family
of the present
and the future. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you
all.
..........................
Linda Rakita:
Happy
Holidays!
As this year draws to a close, memories of seasons past are
in many of our minds.
This large world has gifted us with various lovely customs.
Each family hands-down its own unique traditions --Grandma's
recipes
are used, an great uncle's stories are repeated, keepsakes
are hauled
out of storage, shared experiences and family lore are voiced.
My
own holidays, both in childhood and as a mother, were spent
celebrating
Chanukah with my small family. Hearing my sons recite prayers
over the
menorah, as I did at their age, made me beam with pride.
These
days, I am no longer part of a tiny family. Traditions have
been
added as our family has expanded. One daughter-in-law brought
Christmas and Easter to our family. Another daughter-in-law
converted
to Judaism, yet we incorporate her Japanese grandmother’s
Buddhist
customs with ours. Holiday seasons at the Rakitas now include
a grandson
hanging his Christmas stocking in anticipation of Santa Claus
while a
granddaughter proudly recites prayers over the Chanukah candles.
Diversity in our family, as in the world, must be respected,
honored, cherished.
Family
and friends bring us comfort and joy. I think that is one
of the reasons
I am so passionate about teaching students how to find their
missing loved ones.
Life is short. Life can be bitter and life can be sweet. Throughout
its many
twists and turns, during holidays and all days, we need to
share our lives
and our love with one another.
That
is the greatest gift of all. Merry Everything to Everyone
of You!!
..........................
David Webster:
Modern day Christmas in Scotland is much the same as in the
rest of the UK,
but it's not that long ago that Christmas was hardly celebrated,
- I can still
recall my brother going to work as normal on Christmas Day,
albeit the morning only.
The big celebration back then in Scotland and for centuries
previously
was New Year, and the 31st December, or Hogmanay. So intense
was
the celebration that the 2nd January, for recovery purposes?!,
was a
public holiday in Scotland long before the rest of the UK.
"The Bells", - midnight on the 31st December was
the culmination of
Hogmanay, with bottles being opened, and the "First Foot"
eagerly awaited,
- the first person to cross the threshhold. So important was
it that this person
should be male and dark haired, for good luck, that someone
appropriate
was often "ejected" from the house before midnight,
so as to guarantee
a reliable first foot.
Much of the day earlier on Hogmanay was spent cleaning the
whole house.
Shortly before midnight the back door would be opened to let
the Old Year out,
and immediately after midnight the front door opened to let
the New Year in,
along with the first foot who, as well as the compulsory bottle,
would also
have in his other hand a lump of coal which he'd throw on
the fire to the words
- 'Lang may your lum reek'. [Long may your chimney]”continue
to emit smoke!]
+----------------
UPCOMING CLASSES -------------------+
Register for a class at http://www.genclass.com
DECEMBER 2007: Classes start December 4, 2007
*
Adoption Investigative Class:
Detailed search advice and assistance for successfully
locating and reuniting adoptees and birth families.
*
Basic English Research
Learn how to start researching your English ancestors -
historical background, geography, finding the "bones"
of your family.
*
Basic Jewish Genealogy:
A step-by-step overview of what you need to know to track
your family.
*
Eastern European Genealogy Research: Part 2 (Intermediate):
This class will continue on from the basic Eastern European
research class,
focusing on how to expand your research beyond your own family
into a more community-oriented protocol.
*
Lost Friends and Family Investigative Class:
Detailed search advice and assistance on the methods to use
for successfully tracing "lost" relatives and friends.
JANUARY 2008: Classes start January 1, 2008
*
Adoption Investigative Class:
Detailed search advice and assistance for successfully
locating and reuniting adoptees and birth families.
*
Canadian Research - Internet Resources - Part 1:
This course does more than get you started. It takes you deep
into
some of the country's best records - many on the Internet
*
Genealogy for Kids:
Introducing our children to family history through hands-on
projects
and joint investigations online and off-line.
*
Jump Start your Genealogy!:
Just where do you start if you are interested in your family
tree?
- detailed instructions.
*
Lost Friends and Family Investigative Class:
Detailed search advice and assistance on the methods to use
for successfully tracing "lost" relatives and friends.
*
Native American Genealogy:
Learn how to start your research for your Native American
Ancestors.
*
Salt Lake City - Part 1: the Largest Genealogical Library
in the World!:
Access the largest genealogical library in the world.
Perform searches, knowledgeably; and understand what you've
found.
*
Write Your Family History Step-by-Step:
How to write your own family history, - a detailed and step-by-step
guide.
Learn more at http://www.genclass.com
Register for a class at http://www.genclass.com
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That's
all for now, until next month!
-- LISA ALZO, Newsletter Editor
============[
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