Students from St. Theresa Middle School spent a lovely lunch hour visiting with their partnered seniors from Bedford Village at Greenland Garden Centre. They walked amongst the beautifully decorated trees, while doing a scavenger hunt. To witness and hear the stories that were shared by our seniors, of the differences of Christmas’s past, was so rewarding. One senior remarked that she has never seen such elaborate Christmas trees – her family only had a small tree and they placed homemade cookies on the tree for Santa.
While a lot of ancient cultures used evergreens around Christmas time, historical records suggest that the Christmas tree tradition was started in the 16th century by Germans who decorated fir trees inside their homes. … So, some collected evergreen branches or trees and brought them to their homes, in secret. The first decorated trees were adorned with apples, white candy canes and pastries in the shapes of stars, hearts and flowers. Glass baubles were first made in Lauscha, Germany, and also garlands of glass beads and tin figures that could be hung on trees.
linkinggenerations.ca 