Serving the community since 1926
WEEK OF DECEMBER 19, 2024
VOLUME 98 | ISSUE 3
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BRDG Project to close in December BY JILL CARSTENS SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
A popular holiday tradition involves hanging a pickle ornament on the Christmas tree for a family member to find.
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Finding tradition in a pickle Local historian speaks on origin of holiday ornament BY HALEY LENA HLENA@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Passed on from one generation to another, meaningful and fun holiday traditions are part of every family’s celebrations. But sometimes, there are traditions that just can’t be fully explained. The Christmas pickle tradition has been part of many families across the country for generations. However, with numerous theories about its beginnings circulating the internet, the origins of the tradition remain unclear. Wherever the tradition sparked, one thing is certain:
hanging a pickle ornament on the family Christmas tree has a history of bringing people together during the holiday season. “It’s a way for us to find some community in fun ways,” said Dr. Kim Kilmek, a history professor at Metropolitan State University of Denver. “And finding it in a pickle — it just brings up a light heartedness to the season and to the darker time of the year.” Whether the pickle ornament is the first or last ornament placed on the Christmas tree, the tradition of the Christmas pickle involves having children find the ornament on Christmas morning. Once found, how people celebrate the pickle differs from family to family. Often, the one who finds the pickle gets to open the first gift on Christmas. Another is that the person who finds the
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pickle receives an extra gift or is said to have good luck for the upcoming year. While the reason behind why the pickle is searched for varies, some say it’s a way to encourage children to appreciate the ornaments hung on the tree rather than rushing to see what St. Nicholas had brought them. Where did it come from?
It’s commonly believed that the Christmas pickle is a German tradition. But because it is a mystery as to where it actually originated, some historians are led to believe that it is a German-American or possibly an Eastern EuropeanAmerican tradition. Klimek has been teaching history courses in Denver for nearly 20 years — including medieval history — and mainly focuses on women’s history and European history.
Klimek’s studies suggest the pickle tradition seem to have originated in the United States when the Pennsylvania Dutch were settling in the midwest. “No historians know if it was there before these people came,” said Klimek. Klimek added that many people in Germany and its surrounding German-speaking countries were not aware of the tradition and didn’t, and still don’t, take part in the tradition. History of the pickle
One theory dates back to ancient times in which the pickle was thought to represent hope and a glimmer of light. Another is a medieval tale that involves St. Nicholas rescuing two Spanish boys who were kidnapped by an evil innkeeper and placed in a pickle barrel.
After a dynamic year and a half of transforming the corner of 33rd Avenue and Tejon Street into a colorful, accessible and locally curated community art space, The BRDG Project is ending its time at its expansive location in LoHi. As accessible as the space is with its frequently open, sidewalk-facing garage doors that invite passers-by to engage with the art, it is not necessarily affordable. Tackling the now-typical high rent as a new nonprofit experiencing a dwindling amount of donations has caused BRDG co-founder Brett Matarazzo to rethink the next steps for BRDG. From the 1970s to the early 2000s, the formerly gritty North Denver area had been an affordable haven for locally owned businesses, small co-op galleries and artist collectives. Then came gentrification and sky-high rents, transforming streets such as Tejon into a high-rise mecca. Matarazzo’s vision was to attempt to revive the local arts exposure of the past, hoping some of the money streaming through the area might help support his venture. “We wanted to renew the sense of community that has changed drastically over the last 20 years and has lost many of its cultural touchstones,” he said in a recent press release. Losing those cultural touchstones has become a norm for longtime residents. Artist Arlette Lucero, who has lived just a block from 3300 Tejon for decades, said she has witnessed the transformation of her landscape. “It was so nice to have a local art gallery within walking distance again. I will be sad beyond words for the loss of this place that has provided so many wonderful shows for us this year,” she said. Lucero helped to bring back the Dia de los Muertos exhibition and Calaveras Ball to BRDG in October, which had been a yearly tradition in the nowgone Navajo Arts District. She and her SEE BRDG, P2
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