The very earliest Europeans to our area celebrated Christmas, if they celebrated it at all, in very simple ways.

The earliest Europeans to our area celebrated Christmas, if they celebrated it at all, in very simple ways.

The first settlers had enough trouble just surviving. It was not until they were more settled that they had the time and the energy to celebrate Christmas like they had done in the old country and to even develop some new North American traditions and approaches.

One of the earliest settlers to our area were the French and, of course, they celebrated Christmas as a Catholic holiday. They went to midnight mass on Christmas Eve and continued the celebrations long into the night. The dinner that was held after midnight was called “reveillon” and it usually included meat pies, meatballs, fowl, suet pudding, stew and cakes and a few alcoholic refreshments.

One of the first Christmas Eves I spent with Lisa (nee Boileau) consisted of going to midnight mass, going back to her family’s home and consuming many, if not all, of the items mentioned above, singing Christmas Carols and staying awake until sunrise. Needless to say I was a “zombie” (long before it was fashionable) on Christmas Day. My parents had always insisted that we go to bed early on Christmas Eve.

When the French settlers celebrated Christmas, they........

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