On the list of winter holidays, Kwanzaa is the youngest, first celebrated just five decades ago. But it’s origins reach back generations. In Africa, agricultural celebrations across the continent honored the full harvest, but also celebrated the “first-fruits” as far back as the ancient Egyptian and Nubian societies. More modern […]
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In Knott County, KY, Gingerbread Is Remembered For Its Connection to Local Politics
In her cozy kitchen in Hindman, Kentucky, LaRue Laferty watches over her teenage grandson, Jaxon Conley, as he makes a fresh batch of gingerbread. All of the ingredients are sitting on the green countertop of the kitchen island. So are the necessary tools, like metal baking sheets, measuring spoons, and […]
Read MoreBoilo and Belonging: A Northern Appalachian Christmas Tradition
Stick around for the recipe below! Despite being born and raised in a Northeastern Pennsylvania coal community, I never tasted the region’s peculiar holiday drink known as boilo until the year I left home. This honey-sweetened, high-octane, mulled whiskey is traditionally enjoyed in Pennsylvania Coal Region homes over the holidays. […]
Read MorePlaces of Worship in West Virginia Grapple with COVID’s Impact on Holiday Services
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic this spring, Pastor Nancy White has shifted the way members of her congregation at the Milton Methodist Church in Milton, West Virginia, worship together. Initially, the virus closed the church, but during the summer months, White began to provide recorded sermons over Facebook […]
Read MoreCommentary: Celebrating Hanukkah in the Age of COVID-19
As Jewish holidays go, Hanukkah is not such a tough one to adapt for pandemic life. This year, the holiday starts on December 10th at sundown and continues for eight nights. Though definitely a favorite among the kids, Hanukkah is only a minor religious holiday in the Jewish faith, and it is […]
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