Christmas in Sardinia

From the Sardinia Standard  December 2008

Christmas In Sardinia

The following are brief anecdotal reminiscences of Christmases past.

Christmas Programs at the Old Sardinia School

 By Virg Domes

One of my favorite memories from almost 60 years ago are the Christmas plays that we put on at the Sardinia School Building. The building was part of the Arcade Central School and is now the Community Center on Savage Road.

Each one of us would have a part in the Christmas program. Sometimes I had a big part and other times a small part. But I would always learn everybody’s part just in case someone got sick.  The teachers Mrs. Dabolt, Mrs. Watson, and Mrs. Rice along with Ida Sporman from the cafeteria and AC Rupert, the janitor, all worked with us getting ready for our big night. We all helped making the scenery and all of our mothers would get involved with making our costumes. There was always a real Christmas tree loaded with our handmade decorations.

Most of us back then were farm kids so when the big night came, my family would rush around to get the chores done so that we could get to the school on time. The thrill of being on stage doing my part and seeing all of our families in the audience made this a memorable and joyful experience that I will always cherish.

Earl Northrup, Owner of Earl’s Restaurant

I grew up in the thirties and forties. We lived on our farm on Northwoods Road and Michigan Roads.  I went to school in a little one room school house at Punkshire Corners. That school had grades 1-6 and there were about 10-12 kids that attended.  We were farm kids.

I remember that we had a wood stove and a Christmas Tree in that little schoolhouse. Someone would bring in the tree and we would all exchange gifts. Santa Clause would be there.  Mostly we exchanged baked goods like cookies and such. Sometimes other little gifts. Our Teacher was Mrs. Kohl. Both her mother and sister were teachers in other area schools, over in Curriers or Strikersville I think. We were all like a family. We had some big winters back then.  I remember that sometimes it was almost impossible to get our dairy milk to the trucks to get to wherever it was going.  Once I remember this big snow and all the adults and some of us kids helped to shovel a kind of trench because the plow truck, which had a big V plow on it, couldn’t get through.  We dug this trench which allowed the plow to get going on this deep snow which was a lot higher than the plow. The truck would keep going back and forth and hammering at the snow.  Eventually it got through. We needed desperately to get our milk to market, -that was part of our income you know. Sometimes we would get a horse and sleigh and bring these milk cans down to the railroad crossing at Chaffee Couriers Road and Olean Road.   There would be a truck there to take the milk to market.

These were the war years and I remember Mrs. Kohl had a new Dodge Car.  She would drive it to the school and at noontime we would gather around the radio in the car and listen to war news. Everyone knew someone that was in the war.

One winter I got a little mischievous and on the pathway to the school the snow was very deep.  I decided to make a little trap for the teacher so I dug a hole and kind of covered it up. I was about 10 or 11.  The teacher fell in that snowy hole and we all had a big laugh!

Lou Domes, Owner of the Highlander Forest Christmas Tree Farm

I grew up in here and I remember that we had a parlor room in our house. That parlor room was a special room and you only used it on special occasions.  That was where we put our Christmas tree.

 I had an older brother and I remember that we used to go out and look for a Christmas tree. Sometimes we would end up with a Hemlock Tree for a Christmas Tree. Have you ever used a Hemlock tree for a Christmas Tree?  It is kind of scraggly and may only have 4 or five branches, but sometimes that’s what we ended up with.

My brother ended up getting into the Christmas Tree Business and he convinced me to get into it also. About 20 years ago I started my Christmas Tree place up on my property on Warmer Gulf Road.  We grow a lot of good trees there, and we don’t sell any Hemlock for Christmas Trees!

Christmas at the Cabin, by Dan Degolier

In the early 1960’s my parents purchased the old district no.11, one room school house on Middle Road. At the time the building was about a half mile from our family farm on land now owned by Gary Franklin.  The School house was mobbed down to the farm and eventually moved down in the woods on the banks of Hyler Brook and became a hunting cabin. Over the years a kitchen was added to the front and a bunkroom to the back, but otherwise the original school house remained the same.

As my sister and brothers families grew, Ma and Dad’s house became a little crowded for the family to gather at Christmas time. The solution was to have Christmas at the cabin in the woods and family tradition was started.

Presents were of course a big part of the celebration and Ma would usually get a little perturbed ad Dad because he like to shop and would always seem to buy way to much.  The wrapping everything seemed to take forever, but it showed that Ma and Dad would go way out of their way to make Christmas time memorable for everyone.

What would Christmas be without a tree?  We would always snowmobile or walk around the woods on the farm until the right tree was found. After getting it back to the cabin and putting it in a stand, the thing would never look as nice as it did standing in the woods.  Even thought the ceiling was bout ten foot high, the tree never seemed to fit and a big chunk would have to be cut off but finally it would end up in the corner. Finding a good side seemed like a major ordeal as the tree was turned and turned again until the best side was found.  It always seemed to have so many bare spots, but we didn’t care- it was our tree and we determined to make it nice. It was always decorated with all sorts of old ornaments that Ma had, along with all of the handmade decorations that the kids on the bus had made for our mother. A bird’s next was added for good luck and then with all the lights and tinsel the tree was done and always looked great- you couldn’t even tell that it could have used a few more branches.

When the day came for the Christmas gathering thee w3as always a fire in the old wood stove and the place was cozy- all decorated and waiting. There would be all sorts of delicious food and treats and of course, what would a family get together be without Dad’s homemade wine. Dad’s wine was very popular with everyone around the area and during the winter you could usually find the front lawn at the house loaded with 20 or 30 snowmobiles.  Everyone would be in the house getting warmed up and sampling Dad’s wine. I should say that Dad’s homemade wine was not your normal wine. - It was the kind of stuff that if you drank one small glass you automatically were way past three sheets in the wind. Everyone at our family gathering would try the wine and some of us would maybe have a little too much. Dad was usually one of them and he would start horsing around with the kids. I can still clearly hear my mother saying to Dad “Buster would you straighten up-you act worse than the kids.”

As the years passed by, the tradition continued.  As with everything in life, times change and things happen. That change for my family came in 1981 when Dad passed away. Even though Ma continued to drive the school bus and stay very active in the many clubs she belong to, her spirit for the holidays and especially Christmas was gone. Life was not the same without Dad and the family tradition of gathering at the cabin in the woods came to an end.

As more years passed by Ma hated getting old because she was no longer able to be as active and be involved in all those things that she enjoyed doing. Christmas was always a hard time and usually brought a time of sadness into her life. It was not uncommon to hear Ma make some sort of remark about those family gatherings at the cabin. There would always be a crackle in her voice and a tear in her eye as she spoke of those times when the family was all together. There was no doubt that she missed Dad and the life they had together.

When Ma passed on in 2005 the task began of going through her belongings and sorting everything trying to find things that might hold important memories to each member of the family. I ran across a small box of Christmas decorations and recognized what they were right away. They were from those Christmas gatherings at the cabin and even though they were worn and their shine was long gone, they seemed precious to me because they were part of my families past.  I decided to pack them away with the thought in mind that after I am gone and someone has the task of sorting through my things, they will find those decorations and will remember those wonderful Christmases from years ago.

My younger brother Dennis, inherited the cabin and he decided to renew with his own family the tradition of Christmas at the cabin. Now each year as I hear the news that the tree is being put up, I wait until no one is around and I sneak down in the woods. I am always curious if Dennis’ tree is anywhere as nice as the ones we put up when we were all younger. Looking at the tree I can tell a big part had to be cut off to make it fit and the branches are a little sparse here and there, and yes if you look real close you can almost find one good side. Then again with all the decorations, dried fruit, and lights, it is a good looking Christmas tree. Each year as I quietly stand there in that old one room school house, admiring my bothers’ tree, suddenly it becomes the most beautiful Christmas tree in the world as it brings back all of those wonderful memories of Ma and Dad and the Christmas family gatherings from years ago at the cabin down in the woods.