Jody Victor : One of the best known and possibly, dreaded, traditions of the New Year celebration is the making of resolutions. A tradition that dates back to the early Babylonians, resolutions might include the promise to lose weight or quit smoking. Interestingly, the Babylonian's most popular resolution was to return borrowed farm equipment.

The Tournament of Roses Parade is a New Year tradition started in this country in 1886 to celebrate the ripening of the orange crop in California. The Rose Bowl football game was first played as a part of the Tournament of Roses in 1902 and remains as the sports centerpiece of the festival.

The tradition of using a baby to signify the new year was begun in Greece around 600 BC. It was their tradition at that time to celebrate their god of wine, Dionysus, by parading a baby in a basket, representing the annual rebirth of that god as the spirit of fertility. Early Egyptians also used a baby as a symbol of rebirth.

Have a Happy New Year with all the traditions!

Jody Victor

Jody Victor : December 21st - known to most of us as the first day of winter is also known as the winter solstice. In astronomy, the winter solstice is the moment when the earth is at a point in its orbit where one hemisphere is most inclined away from the Sun.

The Ancient Persians were the first civilization to celebrate the winter solstice and called it Yalda. The Germanic festival of Yule was also celebrated at this time. Other examples of holidays, past and present, celebrated on or near the winter solstice include; Saturnalia, Christmas, Karachun, Hanukkah, Festivus, Kwanzaa, and HumanLight.

The day of winter solstice is the shortest day and the longest night of the year. But the best part is that from now on the days will get longer until at last spring comes and then the long days of summer when we can get back to our home on the Bay.

Jody Victor

Jody Victor : Christmas Bells - a poem written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow on December 25th 1864 during the American Civil War - I'm sure the words are familiar to you -

"I heard the bells on Christmas Day, Their old familiar carols play, And wild and sweet, The words repeat, Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

In 1872, when the poem was rearranged and set to music by John Baptiste Calkin, the references to the Civil War were removed.

For centuries, bells of churches have rung forth the glad tidings of Jesus' birth. In medieval times the bells tolled for an hour before midnight on Christmas Eve, and then on the hour their voices changed to joyous ringing. The tolling was to warn the powers of darkness of the approaching birth of the Savior. It was believed "the devil died when Christ was born" and in England, the tolling of church bells was called "Tolling The Devil's Knell." As a result, bells have become a part of our Christmas decorations, mostly in imitation form. Many families will adorn their Christmas tree with bells and remind their children that, "...whenever a bell rings an angel gets its wings." These words were immortalized by Clarence the angel, and Zuzu the youngest daughter, in the classic holiday movie, "It's A Wonderful Life."

Steve Victor, Joe Victor, and our entire Victor family will be listening for the bells and wishing for "Peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Jody Victor

Jody Victor : Just this past November, President Bush and the Congress amended Public Law 103-308 designating December 7th of each year as "National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day."

On this day we will honor the more than 2,400 lives lost on December 7, 1941, and the courage of a generation of Americans who devoted themselves to one of the great missions in our country's history.

We are encouraged to fly our flags at half mast and observe this solemn occasion with appropriate ceremonies and activities to honor all those during World War II who paid the ultimate price for our freedom.

Jody Victor 

Jody Victor : Candy canes are easily one of the most endearing Christmas traditions. Legend has it that in 1670, the choirmaster at the Cologne Cathedral in Germany handed out sugar sticks among his young singers to keep them quiet during the long Living Creche ceremony. In honor of the occasion, he had the candies bent into sheperds' crooks. In 1847, a German-Swedish immigrant named August Imgard of Wooster, Ohio, decorated a small blue spruce with paper ornaments and candy canes. It wasn't until the turn of the century that the red and white stripes and peppermint flavors became the norm.

In the 1920s, Bob McCormack began making candy canes as special Christmas treats for his children, friends and local shopkeepers in Albany, Georgia. It was a laborious process - pulling, twisting, cutting and shaping the candy by hand. It could only be done on a local scale.

In the 1950s, Bob's brother-in-law, Gregory Keller, a Catholic priest, invented a machine to automate candy cane production. Packaging innovations by McCormacks made it possible to transport the delicate canes on a large scale.

Although modern technology has made candy canes accessible and plentiful they've not lost their purity and simplicity as a traditional holiday food. They have always been a family treat for Steve Victor  and  Joe Victor at Christmas time.

Jody Victor