Holidays

Omena’s own Santa on a snowy Christmas Eve arriving by Fire Engine. “They came to the little white church on the hill from all around the countryside by cutter and two horse sleighs, bundled up against the cold with lap robes tucked around them. Under the big candle-lit tree were presents for every child, Indian and white.” Before electricity, candles provided the sparkle to the Christmas tree. Did they sometimes catch trees on fire? You bet they did! Luckily, the candle-lit tree never caught the Omena Church on fire, but there were many fires from Christmas tree candles during the… Read More »

Santa arrives Christmas Eve in Omena It was, and still is in Omena, a whole community affair, the coming of Santa on Christmas Eve. Even before the church was built in the early 1850’s, Rev. Dougherty, the Presbyterian missionary, always gave the Indian children a good time on Christmas Eve. They always had a huge Christmas tree at the Mission with hand made gifts for everyone. The girls prepared for Santa’s visit by hanging up the stockings they had knitted in the Mission sewing class. Most of the gifts were hand made until the 1880’s and even after. Skis made… Read More »

Hospitality in the 1800’s depended very much on supply. You could not give what you didn’t have, even if it was Thanksgiving. One of my favorite characters from that time is a woman known only as Mrs. Gay. She was only about 15 or 16 years old, a new bride coming to the wilderness with her new husband and a 14 month old baby but she was very spunky! Mrs. Gay’s house on the Lake Michigan side of Leelanau, had only walls at first, no roof, floors, doors or windows. A lean-to, or open shed with a floor of hewn… Read More »

Although the flag of 1851, the year of the first Fourth of July in Northport, had 31 stars, Sprague mentions thirteen stars. This flag looks home-made and has, as near as I can count, 31 stars. Gathering up in Northport, whether for Fireworks, band concerts, or other celebrations over the Fourth of July, has been a tradition since the very beginning here. According to a 1903 book entitled Sprague’s History of Grand Traverse and Leelanau Counties, on the first 4th of July in 1851 “it was decided that it was proper to hoist the national colors and celebrate ‘Independence Day’.”… Read More »

It is May Day! In the past Maypole Dances took place in downtown Omena! That’s right, young and old, Native Americans, summer people and locals. They all gathered for refreshments and to weave in and out around a pole in the center of town creating a symbol of the change of seasons. Swedish scholar Carl Wilhelm von Sydow stated that Maypoles were erected simply as “a sign that the happy season of warmth and comfort had returned,” of the return of summer. It’s a custom that’s been going on for over 2,000 years. How does a Maypole get created? The… Read More »