The Ghost of Christmas Past

I loved the Christmas Fair at Saint Mary's Church in Dumont when I was growing up. It lasted for at least a weekend, maybe even a week.

The bedroom community of Dumont [so named because so many people slept there but commuted to New York] wasn't super exciting--my mother, a New York City girl at heart, called it a one-horse town, and couldn't wait for me to be independent enough to ride the #167 bus to Manhattan--but the annual holiday fair and June church carnival, even the potluck suppers, added a little spice and fun. Besides, we wore uniforms every day and these events gave us a chance to mingle in blue jeans and tight sweaters.

In December, the gym where we rode on those little square wheeled dollies once a week, scooting over the varnished floor, was transformed into a humble winter wonderland. Santa came, there were white elephant (rummage sale) tables by the stage, where Dad unearthed a white handheld mixer to fix, and I'd see the tall parish priests and the ladies Mom knew from the Rosary and Altar Society. I remember a food table, too, and a table where you could buy things like crocheted potholders and handmade Christmas stockings.

For the 25 years we've lived in Montclair, I have embraced Christmas Corners at Saint Cassian, our parish. It's like the Saint Mary's fair on steroids, and it's just one Saturday in early December--today from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

I went to the fair pre Figgy and for many years w little Fig and her pal Christy. Now I have gone for years w Punchy. 

We were there for about 4 1/2 hours and I'm overtired and cranky now. That doesn't sound like the Christmas spirit, but H. took the car to Boston for work, Punch and I walked home in the cold, dark evening, Sugar had tinkled on the wood floor again and I need to get some rest. Here are some snaps. It may be bigger and better than the fairs of my girlhood, but it's still held in the Catholic school gym! The Candy Cane Cafe was a highlight, with hot cocoa, coffee, sandwiches, pizza, brownies, cookies, donuts, popcorn and cold drinks served by moms, today's equivalent of my mother's Rosary Society friends, though much younger---and I just love its Christmasy name. I've always found candy canes festive and enchanting, holiday artwork in the form of a peppermint stick.