SERVING HENDRICKS COUNTY SINCE 1847
Page A-6
The Republican
Thursday, December 2, 2021
Voices
I’ve checked out local websites and come up with a list of activities to jumpstart the Christmas Spirit. November 19-December 26: Winterland HolBy Jackie Horn iday Light Show at Ellis Park, Danville. It costs $5 during the week and $10 on the weekend per carload (got a big van?) to drive through the display. Santa will be available to take note of good children’s A crocheted angel made by Jackie’s wishes on weekends begrandmother tops the Horn Christmas ginning November 27 ($5/ tree. child) More information is on their Facebook page: Danville Winterland Holiday Light Show December 3: Holiday Fest and Cookie Walk, 4-H Fairgrounds, Danville, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. The Extension Homemakers host the event in the Conference Center, 1900 E. Main, Danville. Admission is free to enjoy the musical entertainment but bring your wallet for the cookie walk and to shop the crafts. If you need more information, call them at 317-745-9260. December 3-4: Plainfield Choral Boosters’ Freeze of Plainfield, 6 - 9 p.m. West side of Hummel Park. Visitors walkthrough this light display so be sure to dress for the weather. The charge of $10/carload funds the choirs’ programs. December 4: Pittsboro Parks Department Holiday Craft Fair, 9 a.m.. - noon. Scamahorn Park, Legion Building Entrance is free. Free make-and-take crafts for kids and shopping opportunities featuring items from local artists. See their Facebook page, Pittsboro Indiana Parks and Recreation for more information. The Horn Christmas tree has no “theme” but features treasures we’ve collected since the early 1970s. December 4: Avon Christmas Tree Lighting, Avon ____________________________________________________ Town Hall Park, 6 - 7 p.m. The lighting ceremony begins at 6 p.m. Other activities include trackless train rides, vis‘Tis the Season its with Santa, hot chocolate, cookies, and FIREWORKS! Thanksgiving is officially in the books (and around my Additional parking is available at the Avon United Methwaist) so I can now get into the Christmas Spirit. John odist Church next to the park. Fireworks start at 7 p.m. and I traditionally put up our tree while everyone else is December 4: Christmas Under the Stars Parade, Black Friday shopping. When I say “put up our tree,” I Brownsburg, 6 p.m. The parade route is on the park demean I assemble our 20+ -year-old artificial tree. John is partment page, brownsburgparks.com. (This is one event in charge of lighting which involves figuring out which I’m looking forward to, Christmas and a parade! Can it bulb is causing the blackout. We add a few beaded gar- get any better?) lands and then comes the best part, the ornaments! I love December 4 - 18: Yuletide Festival, Connection pulling each one out of the storage box, holding it up, and Pointe, Brownsburg, weekends only. Admission is free for remembering why we have it. The oldest one is a bird the drive-in movies. There are charges for some activities I received from a gift exsuch as ice skating, train ride, curling, and petting zoo. change in French Club Check out their website: connectionpointe.org when I was in 7th grade. December 11: The HenMost of them are gifts from dricks County Historical friends or souvenirs picked Museum Candlelight Tour, up during our travels. Then Danville, 5-7 p.m. Visithere are the “Special tors will be led on guided Ones.” These are carefully tours through the museum bundled in bubble wrap or decked in its holiday splentissue paper inside containdor by electric candlelight The oldest ornament on our tree dates ers inside the storage box. back to a 7th grade French Club gift ex- (no flames!) The event is I don’t take chances with change. free but donations are acthese treasures! In this box cepted. is the crocheted angel tree topper my grandmother made December 18: C h r i s t Victorian holiday decorations greet visus the first year John and I were married. Here are the mas Bird Count – Jamesitors to the Hendricks County Historical hand-painted pottery ornaments with the grandkids’ fin- town Area/McCloud Na- Musuem during the candlelight tour. on 11. Built in 1866, it was once gerprints we make every year. Oh, and we can’t forget the ture Park 8:30-10:30 a.m. December the sheriff’s residence and county jail. pickle! Whoever found it last year, gets to hide it on the Join the Audubon Societytree this year. for their annual bird count. Our tree no longer boasts the Rudolph with pipe cleaner For more information, conantlers or other popsicle sticks, googly eyes, and pompom tact Roger Hedge at 317decorations. They adorn their creators’ trees. When the 473-3222 or rogerlhedge@gmail.com kids married, I gave them all the ornaments they had made December 18: Plainfield Parks Christmas, Talon or received to use on their new family trees and to start their Stream Park, Plainfield, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. Families can own traditions. (I wasn’t sad to see the pompom Teenage have their picture taken with Santa, decorate cookies, Ninja Turtle packed up and sent to my son’s house.) make a craft, and enjoy the music at this Free event. With the tree up, it’s time to start planning our other fam- December 19: Circle City Ringers handbell choir conily seasonal traditions. There are cookies to be baked and cert, Jamestown. 6:30 p.m., Old Union Church of Jamesfudge to make. I don’t need to recruit volunteers for these town. The concert is free (donations will be accepted) and jobs, especially the taste-tester position. One of John and open to the public. my favorite things to do is drive around neighborhoods December 22: Pjs and Popcorn, The Well Communilooking at Christmas lights. If there’s music, bonus! ty Church, Brownsburg, 7 - 9 p.m. Enjoy a free movie Last year’s threat of a Covid resurgence canceled so night featuring “Elf.” The event is free but registration is many of the holiday activities. Our first Christmas season required. Visit their webpage: thewellcommunitychurch. in the area was low-key. There weren’t as many communi- com for more information and to sign up. ty-sponsored celebrations or they were modified for safety. With so many fun activities, our family shouldn’t have The usual church activities were pared down, no carry-in any problem celebrating “The Most Wonderful Time of dinner, Nativity play, or party. This year, I’m ready to ex- the Year.” perience it all!
Exploring Hendricks County
A Note From Bee I did in-home daycare for 25 years. The kids loved donut holes from Hilligoss Bakery in Brownsburg. Often times, as a special treat, the parents would bring enough donut holes to share. Cody started bringing 5 or 6 donut holes every couple of weeks. I didn’t feel like I could ask him to share. I had about 5 or 6 kids at that time. The other kids got very upset that they didn’t get any. I let this go on for a couple of times and then decided I needed to call his Mom. “Cody’s Mom, could you please quit letting Cody bring donut holes?” She very hesitantly said OK, but followed up, saying, “Bee, I buy 2½ dozen. That has to be plenty to share.” Cody was old enough to come into the house through the garage by himself. He must have stayed in the garage long enough to eat about 2 dozen of the donut holes. When reminiscing about my daycare days, I have told Cody’s story so many times and gotten a big laugh. Bee Jones SHOP LOCAL ● BUY LOCAL ● READ LOCAL
JUST AN OBSERVATION By Janet Beam Thankfulness When some families are gathered around the Thanksgiving dinner table, everyone is encouraged to name something or someone for which they are especially thankful. I think that is a wonderful tradition, especially if you have small children gathered around the table, it can help teach them to be thankful. Having said that, we do not do that at our house. We do our best to be thankful every day. Even though the news is usually all doom and gloom, we have much in this country to give thanks for on a daily basis. I, for one, am thankful I am an American. And before someone gets all bent out of shape for this observation, get over it. I still believe America is the greatest country on earth; sure we have some nut balls, but what family doesn’t. After all, as Americans we should just be one big family – not black or white, not Catholic or Protestant, just Americans. And if you want to become an American, do it the right way and you will be welcomed. But this sneaking across the border has got to stop. But, as usual, I digress. I am thankful there is a God in Heaven who is in control whether people want to admit it or not. I am thankful for a warm home; food to eat; a family who gets along, most of the time; relatively good health; enough money to keep the bills paid; good memories and a God who loves me, even when I am so unlovely and unlovable. You can be thankful that He loves you too. Just an observation. ______________________________________________
This illustration shows one cover correctly set, in the dining room of the Delineator Home Institute.
The Charm of Your Table Between the worn covers of a book published in 1930 is a snapshot of American history in the midst of change. The New Delineator Recipes reflects a change in women’s roles on the threshold of the Great Depression. Put out by the Butterick Publishing Company, the recipes and tone of the book show the impact of the domestic science movement at the turn of the 20th century. “Food Facts You Should Know” shows the influence of Fannie Farmer, “the mother of level measurements” and director of the Boston Cooking School: “No. 1...It will not do to use a heaping teaspoonful, tablespoonful or cupful when a level one is meant.” The use of commerical canned vegetables and ready-toeat commerical cereals receives the author’s blessing, as does canned soup, “always ready at a moment’s notice.” The book was surely aimed at the new bride, with a chapter on “Cooking for Two.” While the recipes in the book were standardized for six persons, most could be readily cut in half. The secret to success in cooking for two depended on “the ability to use left-overs attractively at successive meals.” One suggestion was to use prepare cubes of leftover vegetables and meats “en Brochette” by placing them on a skewer and broiling. Use of canned and pre-packaged food was important “in the case of one who does work outside her home, who who makes her home in a kitchenette aparrtment...” The use of small electrical appliances for cooking at the table, such as grills, chafing dishes, waffle iorns, toastes, and coffee percoaltors “make informal entertaining a pleasure to the hostest as well to the guests.” The compiler of the recipes (and author of ten exclusive receipes) was Marie Batchelder, Vermont’s first female lawyer, poet, police reporter, columnist for The Delineator, and member of the Vermont State Equal Suffrage Club. While level measurements and convenience foods were important, appearances were also emphasized. The dining table was the center of the social life of the household that “furthers the art of gracious living.” _____________________________________________
A Squirrel About Town By Archy “Have you considered promoting carrots?” Having become accustomed to approaching Archy mid-thought stream, I replied, “No.” “We were discussing it at the Squirrel Salon and some thought it might be a dietary deficiency,” he said. I had to ask. “What might be a dietary deficiency?” The squirrel answered, “Some humans’ problem with their eyesight, of course. We’ve been hearing about many of your kind saying that they didn’t see color.” I gently tried to steer the conversation in a different direction. “That’s a figure of speech,” I explained. “Many humans say that to impy they have no prejudices toward people of color.” “Let me get this straight,” Archy said with a tone of incredulity. “If they meet a Black human, they can’t see them?” I tried to explain that was a way of saying that skin color didn’t matter. “I should think it would matter,” he said. “I’m certain that people are aware of what color they are, since birth, I would assume. Why in the world should someone deny what’s evident? Are they inferring that there’s a negative connotation to skin color?” The squirrel had me cornered. “Yes,” I answered. “Though they think they’re paying a compliment, it’s a remnant of a stereotype that’s been part of society for hundreds of years.” A grin spread across Archy’s face. “That’s what I thought all along,” he said. “I’ve always said I didn’t see you as human.”
