Quotes
"When life gives you pumpkins, make pie." --a play on Elbert Hubbard's words.
"I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion.—Henry David Thoreau
“There are three things that I've learned never to discuss with people: religion, politics and the Great Pumpkin.” --It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
"'Cause I'm Peter, Peter the Pumpkin Eater/And the party has just begun." —Garth Brooks
Pumpkins
In Ireland the use of vegetables to scare away evil spirits has been an ancient belief. It was believed that on October 31st at the pagan feast of Samhain, which became Halloween over time vegetables good for protection. It was belived that spirits of the deceased could return to Earth. So, the Irish found a way to keep evil spirits away.
In the 19th century, when a lot of Irish immigrated to the United States, they brought the Halloween tradition of using vegetables to scare the spirits away. In America, the Irish discovered a new vegetable, the pumpkin, was abundant and is harvested in the fall. The Irish imigrating to America began using pumpkins with faces carved into them to scare away the evil spirits.
The Founding of the Jack-o-Lantern
There is an interesting story about the carved face in the pumpkin. It seems that an Irishman made an agreement with the Devil not to take his spirit when he died. He was a mean and stingy man and when he died he was not allowed into heaven. By previous agreement he was not allowed into hell. His spirit was bound to wander aimlessly around earth, where people hated him, and with no place to go. The bad man's name was Jack.
Ellingboe
We first met Sonya Ellingboe at a concert of the Old Time Jazz club.(Dixieland Jazz) We were not sure she was the person whose picture we had seen in the Centennial Citizen. We introduce ourselves and soon we were chatting away like Sonya had known us for years. She was a completely approachable public person.
When I told her I wrote a book set in Leadville, she shared that she had children in New York who spent the summer each summer in Leadville, and she was going to Leadville soon. She took her copy of Two Miles and Six Feet Under to share with her NY.family. Probably the only copy of Two Miles that made it to New York..
We lost contact when the Old Time Jazz club folded from lack of a person who wanted to who take the responsibility of recruiting the acts for concerts. But more often that not, her column was the first .thing I read in the Citizen. She did include reviews of two of my books in her column but that was not why I was a big fan of her writing. She almost always kept us informed about entertainment and other local events of local interest.
At 93 we are curious about what career she will take up next. She will be greatly missed by the Centennial Citizens readers by her retirement..
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