Hilltowns Senior News for Friday, March 31, 2017
Tradition. It’s a good, solid word.
Tradition is turkey at Thanksgiving and Christmas, unless tradition calls for ham, or roast beef, or lasagna. Tradition is what we’ve always done. Is it tradition because we’ve always done it, or have we always done it because it’s tradition?
Like Tevye in “Fiddler on the Roof,” we don’t always know why some things are traditions, but they’re important to us nonetheless. Some say”God bless you” when someone sneezes. It’s a tradition, but most of us don’t know that we say it because centuries ago, it was believed that the soul left the body during a sneeze, so you had to bless it to keep the devil from snatching it in that brief moment.
A lot of things used to be traditional, but aren’t anymore, like slavery, and women being property, and human sacrifice. Those were all traditions, until we decided for one reason or another not to keep them. Tradition probably means quite different things to a Norwegian and a Pacific islander.
Christmas trees were a German tradition until Prince Albert brought them to Britain. Freedom and independence are traditions in the United States, but only since the Revolutionary War. So traditions can be changed. Traditions vary from family to family, and country to country. So what counts as tradition?
There are things that we might call negative traditions, but those are usually associated with a culture different from ours, or something from the past that we no longer do. Swaddling babies or treating diseases with poisonous mercury were once traditions. Bigotry can be a tradition as much as Fourth of July fireworks, but being traditional doesn’t make it automatically good.
I guess what’s traditional depends on your age, your culture, your section of the world, and how much of the past you choose to hang on to. Traditions are living things that grow, diminish, and change with the times. Ultimately, each of us has the right to select our own traditions, as long as we don’t judge someone else’s choice.
Coming up
April is a busy month! It’s ASPCA Month , Celebrate Diversity Month, Child Abuse Prevention Month, Confederate History Month, Global Astronomy Month, National Card and Letter Writing Month, and National Licorice Month.
Next week is Golden Rule Week, National Crime Victims Rights Week, Bat Appreciation Week, Ocean week, and American Indian Awareness Week. April 1st is April Fools Day. April 2nd is International Children's Book Day, and National Ferret Day. Fan Dance Day is the 3rd. Vitamin C Day and World Rat Day are the 4th, and the 5th is National Deep Dish Pizza Day and National Walking Day. The 6th is Army Day and Hostess Twinkie Day, followed by National Beer Day on the 7th, and Buddha’s Birthday on the 8th.
The Westerlo Reformed Church’s last two lunches until Fall will be Thursday, April 13, and Thursday, April 27. Lunch is at noon, and there is no fixed cost; only your free-will offering. The meal is followed by an hour of Bingo. The Reformed Church is at 566 Route 143 in downtown Westerlo; call Pastor Chris Allen at 797-3742 for more info. They also have a food pantry on site; donate or take what you need.
The first and third Thursdays lunches continue year-round, and are put on by the South Westerlo Congregational Christian Church at 282 County Route 405. First Thursday (April 6th) is most likely pizza; third Thursday (April 20th) will be a hot dinner. Call Pastor Will Balta for information at 966-5094.
Need some legal advice? Appointments with attorneys from the Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York can be scheduled at the Knox Town Hall by calling Pat Lightbody at 872-9400.
Menu
Next week’s menu for Helderberg Senior Services is still tentative, as the County hasn’t given final approval, but as far as we know, it will be:
— Monday, April 3, barbecue chicken, green beans, mashed sweet potatoes, wheat bread, chocolate pudding, and milk;
— Tuesday, April 4, roast prok with gravy, carots, mashed potatoes, stuffing, milk, and birthday cake; and
— Friday, April 7, lemon garlic baked fish, spinach, baked sweet potato, wheat bread, rice pudding, and milk.
Doors open at 11 a.m., and lunch is served promptly at noon. We also have transportation to and from lunch. Just tell Linda Hodges when you call with your reservation.
Does your Wombat Walkers club, Sunflower Girls gathering, or Red Hat Society need an easy place to meet? Why not meet at the Senior Center? Come have lunch, and then get together with your friends. There’s plenty of space, and the center is open for all of us. We already have games, dominoes, and cards after lunch on Mondays and Tuesdays, so join us.
Please call Linda Hodges 24 hours in advance to 872-0940 to reserve lunch, or email her at: , or sign up when you come in. Tell us how many are coming, your name, and your telephone number. If you’d just like to come and help out, call Linda or send an email to , and put “volunteer” in the subject line. Lunches are provided by Helderberg Senior Services, the Albany County Department of Aging, and Senior Services of Albany. The town of Berne Community and Senior Services Center is located at 1360 Helderberg Trail (Route 443) in Berne.