Dinner. Time. Get both!
ISLINGTON TIMES
4868 Dundas St. West, Toronto (at Islington Ave.)
416-354-2220
Vol u m e 0 1 • Is s u e 04 • Winter 2 0 1 3
www.supperworks.com
IN THIS ISSUE ‘Tis The Season Music Studio Presents Experience the Village Home For the Holidays Work and Play Healthy Aging Community Corner Community Corner Islington United Church Enhancing the CPP Bernard Trottier MP Heritage Groups Finance Tips
HOME IS WHERE CHRISTMAS IS
02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14
www.villageofislington.com
The early settlers of Islington Village brought many skills with them including farming and blacksmithing. They also brought their Christmas traditions and beliefs which they introduced to their new home. The Johnston, Wilcox and Montgomery families were three of the earliest families to settle Islington Village in the early 1800s. The attitude toward Christmas of the Johnston and Wilcox families would have reflected their shared British roots and the many similarities of the Johnston’s Methodist faith and the Wilcox’s Presbyterian beliefs. The Montgomery family’s Christmas customs were influenced by Thomas Montgomery who was born in Northern Ireland and was a follower of the Church of England. At that time, members of the Methodist and Presbyterian faiths did not celebrate Christmas other than with family prayers in their own homes and perhaps a special meal. The Montgomerys and many other families who were not Methodist or Presbyterian would have also celebrated Christmas with a focus on the spiritual aspect of the occasion, although they likely decorated their houses with local plants like wintergreen and cranberry branches on Christmas Eve. A Yule log might have burned in their fireplaces and perhaps a Yule candle too. Christmas was also often an occasion for visiting among friends, possibly with more than the usual amount of drinking and recreational activities such as sleighing and skating. Beginning in the mid-19th century, most Protestants, including Methodists and Presbyterians, began to recognize Christmas as a time to celebrate with those celebrations focusing on home and family. There were also several new continued on page 04
Name that mural The first person to email Info@villageofislington.com with the correct name and address of the mural below will win a gift certificate for $25 from Supperworks.