Published in the December 9 – 22, 2015 issue of Morgan Hill Life
The joy of the winter holiday season has descended upon South Valley. Families and friends are celebrating Thanksgiving, Hanakkuh, Christmas and New Year’s Eve with parties and other festivities. And Morgan Hill truly is a place to celebrate an old-fashioned month of merry-making mixed with spiritual contemplation.
The Holiday of Lights Parade, put on through the volunteer work of the Morgan Hill Kiwanis Club Dec. 5 this year, is always a pageantry of fun floats, marching high school bands, politicians on antique fire trucks and local nonprofits all doing their bit to welcome Santa Claus who comes in on the Magic Ship of Christmas at the end of the parade. Mayor Steve Tate helps jolly Santa light the holiday tree at the Community and Cultural Center, followed by residents enjoying the spirit of the night with songs sung by local children from The Music in Motion classes.
Starting Thanksgiving weekend, it’s common to see fresh-cut pines topping vehicles rolling through South Valley as residents come from a visit to one of the several Christmas tree farms or the Home Depot lot. The fun of placing treasured ornaments on these yuletide boughs keeps this ancient tradition alive, with a modern twist of family members taking selfies with the decorated tree.
Many residents have learned to avoid the hassles and frustrations of outside malls during the holiday shopping excursions. They find one-of-a-kind and hard-to-find gifts at local retailers, especially the selection of boutiques in Morgan Hill’s downtown. And many people go to Morgan Hill’s Guglielmo and Morgan Hill Cellars wineries to browse for special gift items — especially ornaments and cooking items. For toys and games, many families head over to Thinker Toys which stocks items not found in the retail stores and franchise toy merchants. And there are many nonprofit boutiques held to get people well on their way in their gift shopping — such as at Community Christian Church, the Morgan Hill Historical Society, and United Methodist Church. Several public schools hold boutiques — including Jackson Academy of Math and Music and Nordstrom School — to raise money for educating our city’s young people.
Speaking of children, this is a marvelous time to take the youths in your life to experience the holiday season through the performing arts. Lana’s Dance Studio and the South Valley Dance Arts are both putting on their own fantastic version of Tchaikovsky “The Nutcracker,” a holiday favorite for families in the region who are really into the magic of sugar plum fairies, princesses and a wood soldier brought to life. The South Valley Symphony will put on its popular “Holiday Panorama” concert at the Gavilan Community College Theater 4 p.m. Sunday Dec. 13. The performance is free to children accompanied by paying parents and students with identification. (Get your tickets as soon as you can because this annual concert sells out fast.)
What makes the several weeks of the holiday season such a special time for the South Valley region? Perhaps it’s how this season marks a period where the entire world can celebrate the good and the joy and laughter in the human spirit. The winter with its cold and dark days can dampen the mood of people, and perhaps the ancient people who came up with the notion of community feasting and frivolity as the days grow short and the night grow long had the right idea. Among the various cultures who came up with the winter solstice traditions, we must include the ancient Romans. It is their season of Saturnalia from which our Christmas celebration was conceived.
Historians tell us that Saturnalia started as an agricultural festival marking the autumn planting season to honor the god Saturn (“satus” means sowing). It evolved into a seven-day public holiday starting Dec. 17 and climaxing Dec. 25 celebrated by Roman families, a time of goodwill, singing and story-telling, giving generously to the poor and the exchange of gifts such as dolls, candles and fruit. The Roman poet Catullus in the first century called the winter solstice festival “the best of times” because mirth was encouraged. People drank wine and ate heartily.
Saturnalia grew in popularity in the Roman Empire, competing with a religion that emerged from the Middle East region that honored a divine being born Dec. 25 of a virgin and creating a festival devoted to dies natalis solis invicti, “the birthday of the unconquered sun.” The cult of the god Mithras spread throughout the empire, effectively becoming the state religion in the year 274 by Emperor Aurelian, with emblems of the religion appearing on Roman coins of the time.
In 312, Emperor Constantine converted to the faith of Christ, ending Roman persecution of the Christians and giving imperial patronage to the churches throughout the empire. Christianity became the state-sanctioned religion of the Roman Empire, but people still loved their ancient celebration of Saturnalia and the feast of the sun. These celebrations were eventually brought into the fold of Christianity by the various churches, celebrating the birthday of the “unconquered son” upon whom the faithful dedicated their lives.
And centuries later, the story continues with the celebration of good will and joy and laughter through the ongoing December festivities in Morgan Hill and the rest of the South Valley.
