Taking Holiday Traditions to the Next Level

The students and teachers of Triton have several strange Christmas traditions varying from eating fish to decorating a moose.

Kaylyn Pesaturo, a junior at Triton High School, follows the Italian tradition called The Feast of the Seven Fishes.

“On Christmas Eve every year my family buys seven different types of fish and it’s called the Vigilia,” said Pesaturo. “It’s to get my Italian roots back.”

Students and teachers have their own Christmas traditions, whether it be as simple as going to a certain family member’s house, or something more peculiar that dates back ages. The Triton Voice interviewed students and teachers to see what their traditions are.

According to eataly.com, “The ancient tradition of eating fish on Christmas Eve dates from the Roman Catholic custom of abstinence from meat and dairy products on the eve of certain holidays, including Christmas.  The number seven is rooted back in ancient times and it can be connected to multiple Catholic symbols: in fact, the seven seems repeated more than 700 times in the Bible. Also, according to the Roman Catholic Church, seven are the sacraments, the days of the Creation, as well as the deadly sins.”

Spanish teacher, Mrs. Olivia Cornell, has some Christmas traditions of her own.

“On Christmas Day we always have to have lasagna,” said Cornell. “It’s called Christmas Lasagna, which is really weird.”

However, having lasagna isn’t the only tradition Cornell follows. “We always sing Christmas carols, my cousin plays the piano, and we all sing Christmas carols together, which is like something cheesy, but fun,” said Cornell

Not all of the traditions revolve around food. Junior Natalie Wooldridge does something a little bit different.
       “We have a Christmas moose,” said Wooldridge. “My uncle got it for us a few years ago. We put it up every year and decorate it. My dad refuses to take it down.”
       The Wooldridge family covers the moose in lights, and as a finishing touch, adds a Santa hat.
       Kendale Sicard, a senior at Triton High School, also does something out of the ordinary.
       “In our family my mom and my uncle pass a sweater back and forth every Christmas,” said Sicard. “Before you gift it back to the other you have to add something to it to make it even uglier.”
       But, the tradition doesn’t stop there.
       “The rule is that you have to wear it for a full work day, and have photo evidence you did it,” said Sicard.

Ethan Tougas celebrates Christmas in an even more unique way.

“Every year we go to my great aunt’s house for dinner, and after we eat dinner we pass around this shower curtain rod with ribbons on it and we celebrate Festivus. Whoever has the pole can air their grievances and otherwise just complain about the world around them,” said Tougas.

Tougas’ family has done this since he was very young, and actually got the tradition from the hit T.V show, Seinfeld.

Festivus is celebrated on December 23, and is a way to escape the traditional commercial Christmas. The tradition was made popular after writer Dan O’Keefe introduced it on an episode of the show.

“My family has a Christmas snake,” said drama teacher Sha Riordan. “When my brothers were in third grade, we had a church bazaar where kids could go and buy Christmas gifts. One brother went and bought a five-foot long stuffed snake, and he gave it to my sister for Christmas.”
       The snake disappeared for years, but has since made a reappearance in the Riordan family.
        “[My sister] decided to give the snake back to my brother for Christmas one year,” said Riordan. “And since then, you never know who’s going to get the snake. The person who receives it has to decide who to give it to the following year.”

“Every Christmas, my family and I have this big huge Christmas dinner that my mom makes and she gets up at five in the morning to make all the food,” said junior Bonnie-Rose Durante. “Then everybody comes over at two and we all eat it. And then after we’re all done eating, nobody touches the dessert until we walk around my neighborhood and then come back and then we’re allowed to eat dessert.”

“We do Saint Nicholas Day,” said Marcella Hubbard-Brucher. “You put your boots outside of your bedroom door, and in the middle of the night Saint Nicholas comes and he leaves candy in your boots. I mean, it’s really just my parents.”

According to timeanddate.com, “St. Nicholas Day is a popular occasion for children in many parts of Europe because children usually receive gifts on this day…In the days leading up to December 6, children throughout Europe put their shoes or a special St. Nicholas boot in front of the fireplace or the front door at night to find them filled with small presents the next morning.”