People’s Memories from Ukrainian Christmas

People’s Memories from Ukrainian Christmas

Rosanne Fortier - News Correspondent

Citizens of Vegreville and Area shared their memories of pleasant times they had for Ukrainian Christmas.

Georgina Frankiw said she is Romanian, but they celebrate Ukrainian Christmas the same way that people who are Ukrainian do. “I remember when I was a little girl and we went to my grandmother’s place for Christmas Eve. We went with a horse and the cutter. It was cold and snowy outside. My father even had a heater on the cutter and it was covered. We tipped over on the snow bank and it started burning. But my dad put out the fire.

Then when we arrived at my grandmother’s house, she had all the 12 meatless dishes ready for us to eat for Christmas and she also had a lamp burning with the mantle. This was very special to me. We only received a gift of a bag with Jape oranges and candies and nuts in it. But it was so exciting to get that for our Christmas present.

Later, we sang Christmas carols in Romanian. Romanian and Ukrainian language isn’t the same, but the traditions they follow are the same. The Romanian language is Latin and the Ukrainian language is Slavic. This occasion meant a lot to me when I was young because it wasn’t just about presents, it was remembering Christ was born, and it was about praying and going to church.

I also remember the first Christmas I was married and I had to go and live with the in-laws. My mother-in-law had the table all set with the 12 meatless dishes, and her son George came from Edmonton and he played a tape of Mickey and Bunny Sheppard’s, a Ukrainian-Canadian duo on an 8-track tape player. These singers sang Christmas carols and they had the most blended voices I ever heard in my life. Their singing took my breath away. I wanted to sing someday like that,” Georgina said.

Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk said when she was younger; they used to go to her Baba and Gido’s house, Mike and Annie Huley, near Chipman. Jackie’s Baba was a Pylypiw, a descendant of the first Ukrainian settlers in Canada.

“We were going out to visit their farm and I remember as a young child waiting in anticipation for the first star to show up in the sky so we could have Baba’s delicious perogies. I would only have the blueberry ones.

They had a two room house; it just had a small upstairs. It was basically a kitchen/living room/bedroom, and I, and my 24 cousins would all be lined up. My mother had nine brothers and sisters and they all had spouses. We would be on the floor, on their bed, we would be everywhere. I don’t know how everyone fitted into the house but for some reason, we were able to fit in it.

I also remember my Gido used to put wheat under the table and he would explain how this would depict the manger.

I used to help make the blueberry perogies and they would come apart where there were blueberries floating in the pot afterwards. I also remember one year my uncle dressed up as Santa Claus. Since there were so many of us, they used to give us $2 or $5. But this time, they gave us oranges and ribbon candies in a bag.

I also recall going to midnight mass and being so tired, but it was so nice to get together with everyone,” added Jackie.