St. Nick

THE TRADITION OF
SAINT NICK!

Everybody in Dryden knows who Saint Nick is and most even know the proper night to hang their stockings, December 24^th. Right, or … did you know that many people hang their stockings on the night of December 5^th? Traditions are funny things, as time passes, we forget exactly how and why we follow certain traditions while allowing others to merge into new traditions, or to be forgotten altogether.

My dad came from the old country, depending on the maps and boundaries, Hungary and Czechoslovakia , or Slovakia . His family came to this land with traditions. As the years go by, many were lost but a few were not. Sometimes it’s nice to hang onto the “old” ways!

My stocking was always hung on the night of December 5^th and early on the morning of December 6^th, I would wake and rush downstairs to see what Saint Nick had left me. Must be I was “basically good” because more often than not, Santa left me an overflowing stocking of goodies, chocolates, oranges, tangerines, some lifesavers, one of those huge candy canes, and a few of the little toys similar to those that were found in Crackerjacks. In later years, he even left me an HO train car or two to go with my train set. That Saint Nick was a sharp guy! He never forgot that I was allergic to nuts and always gave me a few more Hershey Kisses while the other kids got those yucky nuts. Not a bad haul for a kid in the fifties with Christmas still coming in a couple more weeks. And, yes, we still received the bigger gifts on Christmas. Sort-of. Our family had our own tradition of holding a Holy Supper on Christmas Eve following which we opened our packages before heading off to Grandma’s in our trusty sleigh (actually, it was an old Nash, the kind with the big, plush folding seats).

Some traditions die hard. My kids continue to hang their stockings on December 5^th and always get rewarded on the 6^th! Things change though. The stockings keep getting bigger and bigger. And, today’s kids are a little sharper than we were. They figured out that Saint Nick is a heck of a good guy and he just can’t pass up an empty stocking, even on December 25^th, and even though that stocking was already filled a couple of weeks earlier. I guess Santa’s a little softer than he used to be, or times might be a little bit better.

I was raised in a home full of love, family, and tradition. My parents worked hard. My dad passed away at the great age of 92 and my mom at 82. I'll miss them always but we still hold that traditional Christmas Eve Holy Supper, even with just our small family of four. And, as the years pass, I’ve come to realize that they might be the best parents in the world. My dad came from the old country, with old country work ethics. He worked in the shoe factories. We were never hungry, but on occasion the possibility of coal, carrots, and onions in the stockings might have been closer to reality. As I was growing up, I didn’t understand these things, but as I’ve grown older, I’ve decided that there are a few traditions that are worth keeping, even for just a little longer. As my kids leave home for their own adventures, I can only hope that they will carry with them a few of our past family traditions. Whether they fill those stockings on Saint Nick’s Day or not, I can only hope that we have passed onto them some values from those earlier times.

Traditions don’t have to come from the “old Country”. Things your family does today may well be your kid’s “traditions” for tomorrow and for them to share with their own kids. Think about it.

Tom Trencansky, Dryden , NY

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