What is your favorite holiday tradition?

Dale Spell

Mia Pohlman

Dale Spale has been making candy buckeyes at Christmas for 15 to 20 years. He is known in his family as the keeper of the buckeye recipe.

“I tell my grandkids they have to be certified before [they can make them by themselves], they have to help me at least one time making them. We’ve got nine grandkids, and from time to time, they help. It’s Parkay margarine and one small jar of peanut butter and a one-pound box of powdered sugar. You mix that together, and then you form balls. We’ve got a little ball scoop that we use for that. And it’s dipped in chocolate. You have to freeze them for an hour or so, so they’re solid enough and don’t fall apart when they go in the chocolate. Mine has a little paraffin in it because that makes it harden faster, and it’s time consuming because you have to stick a toothpick in each one of them and leave the upper part of it open like a buckeye. I use semi-sweet chocolate chips, melt them and put about one-third of a stick of paraffin in it and when it gets melting good, it’s just a dipping situation. And then when they get to that, you chill them again and then when you take them out, you close up that little hole from the toothpick with the back of a spoon. And overall, it goes good when you have two or three people working at it. Our church used to have a bazaar previous to Christmas and I used to make about 500 of them. I make probably a couple hundred of them now, for friends and family. My family’s got to have them.”

Mia Pohlman

Mary Spell

“We had four daughters and we lost one — we have three now — and we have nine grandchildren and four great-grands, so there’s a lot of traditions, but mostly it’s just getting together and sharing the holidays. Church plays a big part of it. We always have the Christmas programs at church.”

Patti Beard

Mia Pohlman

“Back then [when I was growing up], we all had real Christmas trees because there were no artificial. So our Christmas tree was not up; we didn’t see it until Christmas morning. We would go to church — we were in the Christmas Eve programs — and when we got home, Mom and Dad told us we had to get to bed right away because Santa was coming, and I guess after we went to bed, poor Mom and Dad got up that whole tree. I was the oldest, and so one year, I got to help. I got to sneak back downstairs and help but not tell my brother and sisters. Christmas morning when we came down the stairs, it was just like in a Christmas movie: there was the tree. But first came that Christmas Eve program so we all knew this holiday was not about the tree and the presents, but it was about Jesus being born.”

Pat Boyd

Mia Pohlman

“My mother had a ladies’ brunch just for us gals when she quit having Christmas. So she had us, and there was usually six or eight of us. So when she died, I took it over, and I have two daughters-in-law, my sister comes — she has two daughters — and then she also has a daughter-in-law. A couple of the granddaughters come, too. Every year I make favors, and this year I’m making cross-stitch patterns with each person’s initial on it. I always make mine first. I love to stitch. And then I put them in a frame. I can make one a morning while I’m having my coffee. And then I use that in place of place cards. So that is our tradition.”