As the Winter season rolls around, a festive and jolly mood sets in, bringing everyone together for this joyous time of year. As excitement builds and school comes to an end for the semester, snow starts to fall, and Christmas songs become regular on every radio station, some Noblesville students prepare for different traditions than the others and many students represent their culture in different ways.
Magical Memories
Christmas is a time for family, fun, and traditions. NHS Sophomore Karma Lewis, celebrates Coptic Christmas, also known as the Egyptian Christmas. Like any other family, her’s has their own set of customs.
“For dinner we always have seafood from December 25th all the way until January 7th because January 7th is the Egyptian Christmas,” Lewis said.
For Egyptian Christians, they use the Julian Calendar. In this culture and with this calendar, Christmas Day is celebrated on January 7th. Lewis honors both days of Christmas.
“We have two Christmases, so like I said January 7th and December 25th,” Lewis said.
Lewis’ favorite Christmas memories involve family. The holiday activities help to connect and spend time with the people she cares for. At one of her Mother’s holiday work events, she spent time with her brother and built fond memories.
“One of my favorite memories was when my brother and I went to one of those events, and we got to decorate cookies and make our own little ornaments and spending time with my brother,” Lewis said, “it made me really happy because me and [my brother] Jayson fight a lot and Christmas is just a time for family to get together.”
However, her brother isn’t the only one she bonds with during the holidays. Not only does gift giving spread joy, it can create those nostalgic moments that will never be forgotten. Lewis never will forget the gift from her father that brought them closer.
“When I was younger, on December 25th, I woke up and got to open presents early and my dad got me a guitar that I really wanted. I’d been wanting it for so long and my dad actually used to play the guitar and he taught me a little bit,” Lewis said.
Delicious December
Hanukkah is one of the most widely celebrated holidays in Jewish custom. And for sophomore Lyllian Rhoades, Hanukkah is a big deal to her and her family’s winter festivities. Like most holidays, Hanukkah brings about a set of traditions for the Rhoades.
“Last year we got all matching ugly Hanukkah sweaters, and we made challah bread. It’s like a beautiful braided loaf and it’s absolutely phenomenal”, said Rhoades.
Similar to most family holidays, a feast is a big part of Hanukkah, especially for Rhoades. However, eating the holiday meal isn’t the best part, getting to express her culture through food is very important to Rhoades.
“I’m a really big foodie when it comes to [Hanukkah], it’s probably my favorite part about the culture so I’m always in the kitchen with my mom,” said Rhoades. “We make latkes, challah and my favorite dessert, it’s called sufganiyot. It’s these little donuts, normally with jelly but I don’t like jelly, and we’re not orthodox so we kind of don’t follow every little rule in the book.”
Along with the food, according to Rhoades, another essential piece to a happy Hanukkah is the feeling of togetherness. As with every holiday, the traditions and special events bring family and friends together, and Rhoades has started some fun traditions and made many memories with her family throughout the years.
“It might be a silly one but my dad for two years in a row, he lost our Menorah, so each year we’ve been having to buy a new one and it’s just been this really big joke in our family that dad keeps losing the Menorah,” said Rhoades.
While many of those that celebrate Hanukkah know that Christmas is a central holiday around this time of year, it doesn’t stop them from celebrating in their own unique ways and feeling the same amount of joy as any of their Christmas celebrating counterparts.
Rhoades said, “It’s really just that same nostalgic feeling there that people get for Christmas, I get the same feeling for Hanukkah so it’s exciting.”
Nifty New Years
New Years is a beloved holiday for millions of families throughout the world to symbolize a fresh start as they enter a new year. While many people light fireworks or watch the ball drop together, NHS junior Peyton Kauzlick, has a special new tradition.
”We just started this tradition a couple years ago. So, two years ago we went to Perfect North, and we went tubing and stayed in a hotel, so that was really cool. And so we’re doing something like that this year, but we’re going to Michigan”, said Kauzlick.
Holidays for many people means a big meal surrounded by friends and family. While New Years doesn’t involve slaving away in the kitchen, for Kauzlick, it brings about a warm meal surrounded by friendly faces.
”We always order pizza. It’s like a big thing. Everytime we get together, it’s always pizza”, said Kauzlick. “We like to try different pizza places, but most of the time it’s Papa John’s or something.”
And even though the family doesn’t spend their holiday cooking a big meal together, Kauzlick still finds time to bond with her family members over a simple recipe.
“We always make cookies, my mom and I do, and then we get to eat them as we’re watching the ball drop and that’s pretty cool too”, said Kauzlick.
Food isn’t the only thing that makes New Years a special holiday for Kauzlick. With this new tradition came many wonderful memories with the people she loves, and it makes each New Years feel even more special than the last.
“Last year we were playing Yahtzee and it started to snow outside,” said Kauzlick. “And we were on a lake, and the lake was frozen so the snow started to collect on the surface of the lake. And it looked like a picture.”
The games and the food are exciting for Kauzlick. However, what’s more important than any meal or any Yahtzee championship, is getting to start the new year surrounded by her favorite people, and getting chances to make new, incredible memories.
“I just really love ending the old year with my family and starting a new one with them too”, said Kauzlick. “It means so much to me that we get to enter into a new year of our lives together.”
Culture and Unity
Kwanzaa is a winter holiday celebrated in African-American culture annually from the 26th of December until the first of January. This holiday is used as a chance to represent and embrace African culture and unity amongst families. While not heavily celebrated in Noblesville, many people gather together all over the world to celebrate their culture together on December 26.
Kinara- An important piece of Kwanzaa is the kinara, a special candle holder that holds 7 red, black, or green candles, for each day of Kwanzaa. Each day is meant to represent one of the principles the holiday is used to signify; unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith.
Karamu- Karamu means feast or celebration in English. The Karamu Feast in Kwanzaa takes place on December 31, the sixth day of Kwanzaa. The feast is celebrated with piles of food and friendly faces surrounding the table, coming together to share a heartfelt meal. It serves as an opportunity for those observing the holiday to commemorate the community, and resilience the holiday symbolizes.
Unity Cup- The Unity Cup is a tradition that some celebrators of Kwanzaa chose to take place in, in which the cup is raised and then passed around to every participant to take a sip. A common part of this tradition is creating your own unity cup together by building a beaded bodice for the goblet in many different shapes and colors.
