Image provided by: Friends of the Sandy Public Library; Sandy, OR
About Sandy post. (Sandy, Oregon) 1938-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 21, 1978)
K ♦ *M irfW S n ^ T » * • * WHWWi SANO Y (Or«., ROST Thucv Oac 2». 1S7S ( S t 3) Pioneer Post Sandy Union High School, District No. 2 Norwegian lass anticipates Busy baker creates United States Christmas by Orinda Anderson and Pam Ague A Norwegian girl, Marit Skille, is experiencing her first American Christmas this year The cheerful Scandinavian is a sophomore at Sandy High. Marit, from the northern part of Norway, is visiting relatives in Redland. She isn't sure what to expect of an American Christmas but she is excited about it. In Norway, children imagine Santa in his jolly red suit being pulled by his flying reindeer Rudolph is not included in their tradition. Santa comes down the chimney and places presents under the decorated tree but no stockings are hung by the fire place. On Christmas Eve, the gifts are handed out by the youngest child and the bubble of suspense is popped. Christm as celebration lasts about a week, starting on St Thomas’s Day, December 21. The housewives bake cakes especially for St. Thomas on Christmas Eve The family spends the week visiting their relatives A custom is “ shooting in Christmas," which goes back to the an cient belief that witches appear on Christmas night. When young people go visiting, they creep up to the house and shoot a gun to frighten any witches A traditional meal consists of boiled fish. “ The boiled fish tastes terrible, looks ugly and stinks!” M arit admits. The baking and eating of cookies is a fa vo rite tra d itio n a l tre a t of all Norwegians A Norwegian Christmas pudding contains an almond The people say Oriental guest tells of holiday traditions by Julie Gould What is Christmas like in Japan? Do the Japanese believe in Santa Claus'* These are some of the questions that were asked of the Japanese guest staying w ith E llie Hermanson, journalism teacher at Sandy High. Her name is Hisae Matoi, and she lives in Tokyo. Coming over here was a really exciting experience for her, and the American celebration of Christmas is just as exciting. Most Japanese people do not believe in the celebration of Christmas because only six percent of the 112 million people are C hristians. Instead they celebrate New Years starting December 25, the New Year festivities being just as important as Christmas is to us. Before New Year’s Eve, the people try to clear up all th e ir debts and clean everything up, such as their traditional kimonos to visit and Japanese dancers. They have elaborate meals with lots of food, but they don’t decorate their houses as we do. “ The Christmas lights and trees are very beautiful,” Miss Matoi observed. When children get off for two weeks vacation from school, they enjoy skiing in the snowy areas of Japan. Although Tokyo rarely gets snow, the island of Hokkaido and northern Honshu get plenty. People load up in trains and go there from all over to ski the sparkling hills of N ikko and Sapporo. Ice skating is also very popular in Japan, and there are ice rinks for skating all year around. Children in Japan par ticularly love the snow as children in America do. They have snowball fights, build snowmen and slide on the that the person who gets it in his portion w ill be the next to be married The older generation en joys telling their experiences with Santa Claus to the young They keep the young wide-eyed with belief that Santa is only waist high and runs joyfully through the fields in his bright red suit. While running through the fields, he stops to eat food left out for him. M arit is living with her cousin, Ruth Hodges, in Redland. She w ill be here until next summer. Italian relates v O O llC lH V C U S tO m by Connie Swinford “ Christmas in Italy isn’t much d iffe re n t than Christmas here,” Walter L azza rin i, AFS student, believes. Unlike many European countries, Italy doesn’t have any set traditions, according to the amiable young man. They got shopping and ex change presents between fam ily and friends. The greatest tradition is connected with the Christ mas day meal. They serve a special cake from Verona, Italy, which is very light and sweet They also have a big dinner with champaign. In Italy, school vacation lasts from Dec. 23 to Jan. 4, but Jan. 5 is very important to Italian children because La Befana, a kind of aged fairy queen, comes down the chimney with gifts for the children on the eve of Epiphany, Jan. 6. Children listen eagerly for the bell she is supposed to ring. During Christmas vacation from Sandy High, 'W alter plans to visit an AFS fam ily on the coast and attend an AFS meeting Dec. 29 He would also like to go skiing, if he has the time. For Christmas, Walter is getting himself a stereo, but he doesn't believe that Christmas is a good time to go shopping for yourself He also is getting some new clothes, the kind that they don’t sell in Italy. He would like to go to Hawaii, but has planned it for later on in the spring. by Scott M cLellan and M ark Cissna Instead of having a green thumb, Jo Hlavka, senior, has sticky fingers! She makes cakes as a hobby in her spare time. About four years ago, Jo sent away for a cake making kit that cost 35 cents, ad vertised on the back of a C and H sugar package. Since then she has taken a class at a church in Sandy and a year of classes in Portland. The cheerful young lady has made around 200 cakes all together For decorating her cakes, she has a set of different-sized tubes, around 40 colors for tinting frostings and about 50 various sized cake pans. The bedroom she shares w ith the fa m ily freezer is tightly packed with all this equipment. Jo sells her cakes at $6 for a regular cake with wedding cake prices up from that. Most of the time wedding cakes are vanilla, but the customer can have any flavor he wants. When she makes a sheet cake, she usually makes it from scratch, but when she makes layer caker, she uses packaged mixes because they are less crumbly. Jo also makes her own frosting because she thinks packaged frosting tastes funny. “ You can’t make enough money to do it for a living,” Jo said about her hobby. In the summer she can make many cakes, but during the school year, she has a lot of homework and not a lot of spare time. H er w orst experience happened when she was making an anniversary cake at her summer home near Tye Valley. The temperature was so hot that the cake fell a pa rt and the frostin g melted There was cake all over the place, she said. Decorating the sides with string work is the hardest, because if one cracks, they all crack like a chain reac- tion. Jo thinks that boys are b etter at m aking and decora ting cakes than girls because they have more pa hence. Jo says that cakes pur chased at stores are a rip-off for the consumer Most of the decorations, such as string work, are pre-made. Although Jo does not like cake much anymore because she has gotten tired of it, her father still eats it. JO H LA V K A puts finishing touches on Christmas cake. Symbols’ origins traced Symbols of the holiday season are so important to Americans, but the origins of these symbols are often shrouded in mystery. A little research provided facts for the following stories. Pat Amberg and Bret Tucker have recently been hired to teach at Sandy High School. Jo urna lism I students at Sandy High accepted the challenge of filling two Sandy Post pages with stories that they wrote and drawings and poetry from members of the student body. by Kent Reick Northern Europeans of D enm ark, Sweden and N orw ay once worshiped trees, and they adopted the custom of taking trees into th e ir homes at C hrist mastime. The Christmas tree, as we now know it, was originally a sign of Yuletide (Christmas season) that came from G erm any. It was an evergreen and thus a sign of im m ortality. The first tree in an English home was used by German Prince Albert of Sax-Coburg- Gotha after he married Queen V ic to ria . P rince A lb e rt had this fir s t decorated tree set up at Windsor Castle in 1841. C hristm as trees were brought to the New World by Hessian soldiers in 1776. German immigrants carried the tradition into wider use in the United States. by Dawn Tepllck Three bags of gold may be what started the Santa Claus tradition. During the third century A.D., Saint Nicholas was born at Patarce, Lycia in Asia Minor. When he was old enough, he was made bishop of Myra. During this time, he was credited with many miracles. He worked won ders converting nonbelievers to Christ. The story that is believed to have the Santa Claus tradition in this. A young girl wanted to be married but didn’t have the money for a dowry. So for three nights in a row, Saint Nicholas threw a bag of gold into her bedroom window. On December 6 he died and that used to be a special holiday for European people, called feast day. Gradually because of his connection with children and because feast day was so close to Christmas, the tradition was passed on to Christmas, and Saint Nicholas took on the new role of Santa Claus. by Zina Seal The sta r is used everywhere in the world today as a C hristm as symbol. It represents the star in the East that the wise men followed to Bethleham. There’s a passage in the Bible in Matthew 2:1,2 that says, “ Behold, there came wise men from the East to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews: for we have seen his star in the East, and are come to worship him ." by Karen Woods “ Silent Night,” “ The First Noel,” “ Deck the Halls,” and “ Jingle Bells.” Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas without it’s own special music. C hristm as music firs t started as hymns sung in Latin by priests in the fifth century A.D. Carols came later, in the 1400’s. People in the Middle Ages began to act out parts of the nativity, and their songs played an important part in the telling of the story. The work“ carol” means a traditional song of a joyful nature, usually associated with a religious or seasonal festival. “ 0 Come, A ll Ye Faithful,” or "Adeste Fideles" is one of the oldest and most traditional Christmas carols. It was originally in Latin and was translated by Frederick Oakley. The author of the original version is unknown. A n o th e r e s p e c ia lly traditional carol, “ Silent Night,” was written on Christmas Eve, 1818, by Joseph Mohr, a parish priest in Okerdorf, Austria. Franz Gruber composed the music on that same night, and the complete song was sung at the Midnight Mass by Rita Carpenter The tradition of burning a yule log came from the Norse and Anglo-Saxons who burned a huge oak log once a year to honor Thor, the god of thunder. After the Norse became Christians, they made a yule log an important part of their Christmas ceremonies. The Christmas word that the Scandinavians adopted is yule, meaning Christmas. In Lithuania, the word for Christmas actually means log evening. It became important in England to keep an unbumed part of the log to light the next year’s yule log. by Marc Daniel C hristm as lig h ts at Christmas represent Jesus Christ as the Light of the World. People all over the world use lights in different ways to celebrate Christmas. M a rtin L uth er was perhaps the first man to use lights on a Christmas tree. People in Ireland put a candle in their window to light the way for the Christ Child on Christmas Eve, In the Netherlands, young men in colorful costumes carry a star, or actually a lantern containing many candles, as they walk through the streets singing Christmas carols. In the U.S., many churches hold candlelight services on Christmas Eve. by Neville Loftis Mistletoe is a plant that grows as a parasite on the trunks and branches of various trees around the world. It grows most often on apple trees, but may grow on other trees such as lime, h a w th o rn e , syca m o re , poplar, locust, fir, and oc casionally oak. Mistletoe is an evergreen with thickly clustered leaves, and it has tiny yellow flowers that bloom in February and March. Hundreds of years ago, Europeans used mistletoe as a ceremonial plant. Many think the customs of mistletoe at Christmas came from this practice. Many years ago in Scan dinavia m istletoe was considered the plant of • peace. If enemies met under it, they declared a truce for the day. This could be the origin of the popular custom of kissing whoever stands under a sprig of mistletoe. Historians say the Druids, or ancient priests of the Celtics cut mistletoe and gave it to people for charms. New teachersfill recent vacancies by Bob Johns New teacher, Pat Amberg replaces Margaret Trachsel who went to Scio as prin cipal. Miss Amberg, who taught in Iowa, Kansas and Oregon in the past, now teaches speech, freshman English, American literature and Bible literature here in Sandy. She teaches only two-thirds of a day because she wants to have some free time to work on her doctoral thesis. The thesis is on the welfare of children in the U S. during the Hoover administration. Miss Amberg got her education at Iowa University and Kansas State University where she m ajored in history Miss Amberg comes to Sandy with 12 years of teaching experience. Her hobbies are photography, swimming, and investments She says she likes living in Oregon because of the good variety of scenery. by Nanette Fleischman B ritt Tucker was added to the mathematics department to fill in for Chris Hanson who recently quit. Tucker is presently teaching math and computer programing He has been teaching for five years. He taught eighth grade math and English in Cincinnati, Ohio. He also taught at an all girls school, instructing in 12 different classes but mostly history. Tucker was teaching at San Diego until Measure 13 passed in California which put him out of a job. One of his friends in San Diego knew P rin c ip a l W illia m Mac- Fa riane and had heard Mr. MacFarlane talking about needing another teacher; so Tucker applied for the job and got it. He earned his bachelor's at Calwestem University in San Diego and his master's at the University of Cincinnati. Altogether he has attended college for six years He is presently thinking about going back to college getting his doctorate. The last four months before coming to Sandy. Tucker worked on an avocado ranch that he and his brother own. The ta ll, dark-haired young man has traveled around the world a great deal, and he attended college in England for awhile He likes to golf, backpack and play frisbee, basketball, racketball and many other sports
