The story below is from our November/December 2021 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!
Locals share their favorite holiday traditions.
Courtesy of Mary Jo Fassie
Editor's Note: Read our online extra, featuring additional content we couldn't fit in print, here!
Whether you know it or not, Roanokers hail from cultures and countries all over the globe, a fact that feels particularly special during the winter holiday season, when many of us make time to remember our roots and put our own unique spin on family traditions.
No story could adequately represent the rich tapestry of cultural influences that makes up the Roanoke Valley, but we think the folks featured here reflect a beautiful part of that tapestry. And while none of them serves as a catch-all representative of their respective background, each of these individuals is dedicated to sharing their experiences, history and heritage with others. We hope their stories inspire you to try a new tradition of your own this year or to share an old favorite with someone new!
A Festival in Gleaming Light & Color
By the time you’re holding this copy of The Roanoker, Dhimant Sheth and his family are likely deep into their five-day celebration of Diwali, a festival of light celebrated by millions from around the world.
In India, where Sheth grew up, the holiday is grand and nostalgic–a season of sparkle and shine. And while the religious emphasis on different deities may vary from region to region and family to family – the holiday is significant in Hinduism, Sikhism, and Jainism, and among some Buddhist communities, as well–one thing is for certain: “It marks spiritual victory of good over evil and light over darkness,” explains Sheth, who has lived in Roanoke for nearly 20 years and currently serves as chairman for the India Heritage Society.
Anyone who has visited India during Diwali is quick to notice the visually stunning ways that this festival of light is celebrated. Rows of oil lamps glimmer in homes; brightly colored rangoli – a form of powder art – are carefully created on the floor; and families busy themselves mixing, kneading and frying up a vibrant lineup of traditional foods, which vary from state to state.
In his own home, Sheth’s family–hailing from the western state of Gujarat–prepares ghughra–hand pies stuffed with a variety of fillings–and mathiya papad, a crunchy flatbread made from lentil flour. “It brings back memories of the days we used to eat them carefree growing up in India,” Sheth says.
Part of the fun, of course, is swapping dishes and recipes with others, and that’s particularly special in the tight-knit community of Sheth’s local temple in Roanoke, where families from all over India mix, mingle and teach traditions that may be new to one another.
“All families prepare different traditional food items, and it is sort of a huge potluck. We sing Bhajans (devotional songs), perform Dhunteras and Laxmi Puja, take blessings from elders, wish everyone a Happy New Year, and enjoy food,” Sheth explains. “If I was in India … I would have not had the opportunity to celebrate and understand people coming from other parts of India… When we are at temple [though,] everyone is equal. It is sort of a melting pot where all traditions and celebrations blend.”
A Christmas Tree & a Menorah
When it comes to the holidays, Sydney Tova Brenner will be the first to admit that her upbringing was an unusual one.
“When I was little, I believed in both Santa Claus and Hanukkah Harry,” laughs Brenner, who graduated from Roanoke College in May.
Raised locally by a mother who celebrated Christian holidays and a father who kept the Jewish high holy days, Brenner learned early that it’s important to share your traditions with others … and to learn from others, too.
“My family did holiday traditions in a special way in order to respect both of their religions,” says Brenner. She remembers growing up with a Christmas tree in the house, but also, “almost every year, my mom bought our family a new menorah, and we all said the prayers and enjoyed latkes by the shining lights.”
When Brenner left home for college, she found herself at an important juncture: she could decide for herself what holidays were most personally important to her, and how she might celebrate them.
“As I grew older as an adult,” says Brenner, “I started really claiming my identity as a Jewish woman.” She joined Hillel, an on-campus student organization that gives Jewish students a space to connect, and that creates a place for others to learn about Jewish traditions, too. Before long, Brenner was president of the local chapter, and she has fond memories of shuttling students to Shabbat services and holding small Passover Seders in the college ballroom.
These days, as a new college grad, Brenner is already thinking about the Hanukkah traditions she’ll set for herself. She hopes to include an heirloom menorah from her family–that’s the branched candelabra reserved specifically for sacred use–and to master the art of a good latke–an addictively crispy fried pancake often made from shredded potatoes or root vegetables. Most of all, though, she hopes to celebrate the holiday at home in Roanoke, with the close-knit Jewish community she’s built.
Still, if that’s not possible, she says, she looks forward to sharing her holiday traditions with others, even if they aren’t familiar with them.
“I really am influenced by my childhood,” says Brenner. “It’s important, because I carry those values with me.” If that means observing Hanukkah with those whose backgrounds are different, “I think that’s always going to be a thing, because I’ve done that since I was little … I know that they’ll feel comfortable celebrating with me, and I’ll feel comfortable observing their holidays and explaining to them the importance of Hanukkah … and what being Jewish means to me.”
Kwanzaa: a Time to Educate…and Celebrate
For Bernadette Lark, founder and creative director of CommUNITY ARTS-reach, celebrating Kwanzaa is only natural. In fact, it’s how she was raised.
“I am an Ogeechee Gullah. That means I grew up in the Low Country of South Carolina on the border of Georgia,” she says. “We would get together, sing songs, play instruments, drum rhythms and just enjoy good laughs and food … All of that has been something we honor and celebrate in our traditions as our family.”
So when she moved to Roanoke 16 years ago, it felt important for Lark to share the Kwanzaa observance in her new home–first in small groups of friends and family, and later in larger community gatherings she helped organize so people could learn more about the holiday’s significance.
“I believe this work is important,” she says. “It’s a time to educate, celebrate and empower.”
Kwanzaa celebrated its 50th birthday in 2016. Initially created in 1966 as a way for Black Americans to celebrate their history, heritage and culture, much of Kwanzaa is modeled after various African harvest festivals. In fact, the word “Kwanzaa” itself comes from a Swahili phrase that means “first fruits.”
And while the holiday might be relatively young, its roots run deep.
“It came from a place of pain,” Lark says–long decades in which the Black community in America suffered under slavery, discrimination and economic hardship. In response to that, she says, Kwanzaa offers an opportunity to do something powerful: celebrate in the face of it.
“The most powerful significance is the fact that we can celebrate,” she says. “When you can pull healing from pain, that’s worth celebrating in and of itself.”
Each year, families who celebrate Kwanzaa enjoy reflecting, gathering and learning together from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1, with a daily candle-lighting ceremony on the kinara, or candelabra. Each of the seven days commemorates a different principle, with time for groups to discuss what the day’s principle means for them.
On December 26, the observances kick off with a discussion of umoja, or unity.
“That is very important,” Lark says. “That’s the key–striving to unite.”
On day two, participants can discuss kujichagulia, or self-determination, and on day three, they learn about ujima – collective work and responsibility.
“That’s where we are working collectively and taking what a lot of people call ‘responsibility,’ but I teach my students accountability,” Lark says. “What are you doing to maintain this spirit of unity and self-determination which we celebrated on the days prior?”
On day four, participants learn about ujamaa, or cooperative economics–“building, not tearing down; supporting, not separating,” she says, and on day five, they discuss nia, or purpose. “You move past the cooperative, moving into the sense of community development,” Lark explains. “I like to look at that as infrastructure, how you restore people to their greatness that was lost, maybe, through the devastation that had occurred.”
As a community arts educator, Lark can’t help but get excited about day six’s principle, which is kuumba, or creativity – something she believes every human can access.
“We can all be creative in our own ways to make it more beautiful and beneficial than when we first got here,” she says. “If I see something as simple as me moving into a community where there may be litter, I have the power to be creative … I can grab a bag and a stick and I can go and make this beautiful.”
And on day seven, “We always end with faith. That’s imani,” Lark says. “There is a moral side–and some people would call it a righteous side–that we must hold onto to obtain victories through struggles.”
But for Lark, perhaps the most important of all of Kwanzaa’s themes is that of harvest–a motif she believes has the power to change communities in important ways.
“Most people, when you hear ‘harvest,’ they only think of planting and plucking,” she says. “No. Harvesting means that you, as a community, invest in the ground that you live on. You invest time and sweat and memories into planting seeds and waiting and watching for good things to sprout. You then unite to harvest those crops.”
Growing up, Lark was raised in an agricultural community, one without significant violence, and she attributes that to the surrounding green spaces. Those green spaces taught community members about collaboration, sharing, and caring for their community, she says, and it affected her deeply.
“I grew up with my grandmother. Their farm was across from sugar cane fields,” she remembers. “I could walk some eggs down to my neighbor… another group would bring back milk.”
Investing in the community and sharing the harvest are deeply important values to Lark–enough so that she recently helped CommUNITY ARTS-reach partner with Carver Gardens in an attempt to teach young people how they might (literally) seed into their neighborhood, growing food together over the course of six to twelve weeks.
“We’ve got to get back to understanding this harvesting principle, and the green spaces and what they represent in so many communities,” she says. “That might be the driving force to get the violence out… because you care about each other and you want the community to be a place of peace and unity. I so badly want that for Roanoke.”
As Lark prepares for another year of opportunities to share the importance of Kwanzaa, she’s moved by the ways she’s been able to share the principles that mean so much to her.
“I believe the greatest honor is when you’re entrusted with the gift to serve others and uplift others beyond yourself,” she says, “so I’m humbled by the work… It’s important.”
C’est Noël, Right Here in Roanoke
It would be hard to talk about Dr. Pierre and Mary Jo Fassié’s love of French culture without first talking about another love story–their own.
Pierre Fassié grew up in Southern France, and the couple met when Mary Jo came to Avignon to study French language and literature in her junior year of college.
“He was my conversation monitor,” Mary Jo remembers with a laugh. “We would eat lunch together and speak in French, and our conversations kind of continued on for the rest of the afternoon.”
The rest was history, as they say. The pair married and moved to Roanoke, where they dedicated their lives to sharing the language and culture they loved. Pierre served more than 30 years teaching French and Spanish at William Fleming High School; Mary Jo taught French for forty. Both led pen pal programs and student exchange programs, and now, post-retirement, they continue to promote cultural exchange through the Roanoke Valley Sister Cities organization, where Mary Jo serves as president.
“I think that most people will agree that a cultural exchange is a lifechanging experience,” says Mary Jo. “One learns to look at life from another person’s or country’s point of view.”
So it should come as no surprise that, during the holiday season, the Fassiés’ home is alive with the French point of view–the sights, sounds and flavors of a region that means so much to them.
“Christmas is our major family celebration,” Pierre says. That’s why, on any given day in December, you might hear traditional French Christmas carols or modern French holiday music in the background in their home. You might also spot an assortment of their favorite friandises–small French holiday candies and candied fruits–mailed specially by Pierre’s brother, just in time for the season.
“It’s hard to get that here,” Mary Jo says, “so he sends us a big box that will last us several months.”
But perhaps most special of all is the Fassiés’ elaborate crèche Provençale, which the family sets up about three weeks before Christmas. “It is a Nativity scene animated with over 60 colorful figurines from Southern France,” explains Pierre. The santons or “little saints” that populate the scene–each about two to three inches tall and hand-carved by a santonnier from baked clay–represent “nineteenth-century rural characters in traditional garments, each bringing an offering emblematic of their profession to Jesus and his family,” Pierre says.
The Fassiés have collected these slowly, adding to them from their various travels throughout France, and they include “the mayor, the village curé, who is the priest, a miller, a painter–just all kinds of different occupations,” Mary Jo says. “And they might be bringing their local garden vegetables or produce or animals or flowers as offerings to the crèche.”
Each acquisition represents a special place or memory from their travels, Mary Jo says.
These days, the couple looks forward to a time when–free of COVID concerns–they can once again hold the Dîner de Noël, or French holiday dinner, with other families in the Saint-Lô committee for Roanoke’s Sister Cities program. And of course, they can’t wait to engage in international exchanges once again.
“Exchanges let us learn how people live, eat, speak, worship and think, as well as learning about the history and customs of the host country,” Mary Jo is quick to note. “We experience the local cuisine and have fun together.”
For the moment, though, they’ll celebrate a little of the spirit of Noël Provençal, right inside their home.
The story above is from our November/December 2021. For more stories, subscribe today or view our FREE digital edition. Thank you for supporting local journalism!