John Sheda

School’s finally out for two weeks. Yeaaaa! The snow is falling nicely and we already have about four inches on the ground. There will be some great sledding on Ledvina’s hill and probably great skating parties on Zeman’s pond. But today it’s Christmas Eve. It’s just around noon time and Mom has a pot of chilli simmering on the stove. Boy, does it smell good. Chelsea is really bustling today. Across the street the barber shop has about four or five men waiting for their haircuts. Gotta look good for Christmas day. And at Uridel’s Tavern, there’s a couple of the Boheme “old-timers” having a few beers while their wives are out doing their last minute shopping.

Hine’s Hardware Store is really crowded today. People picking up those last minute items. I remember always buying my mom her present there because they wrapped it so nice and pretty for me. No extra charge either. They always had the perfect glass ware or plate that I knew Mom would love. And she always told me it was the best gift she could receive. Yea, I did it again!!

Almost all of Main Street had cars parked. The bank, then located just south of the railroad tracks was especially busy. Making those last minute transactions, I guess. I remember when a chunk of train metal fell off a moving train in the middle of the night and flew into the side of the bank. That was big news back then.

Christmas eve! Our grocery store was really busy, too. We already had run out of egg nog and our tub of fresh oysters was just about empty. Everyone, it seemed, had oyster soup on Christmas Eve. What a crazy tradition. Dad loved those oysters. I hated them. Actually hate is too kind a word, but it will suffice. Our Christmas trees have all been sold. St. Joseph’s Church took the last ten of them or so to be the background of the beautiful manger scene inside the church. It really was quite a Manger. Our tree was finally up and about a zillion presents under it. Every night, I arranged and re-arranged them, always counting to see exactly how many I had. At the age of nine, I haven’t understood the “better to give than receive” concept yet.

By now it’s mid afternoon and people are beginning to head home. It’s starting to get dark and everyone is so excited. Mom and Dad will be closing the store around 4:30 and then it won’t be long before Santa makes a visit to the Sheda home. But first, we gotta have supper. Who’s hungry at a time like this? I’ve already had a couple bowls of that delicious chilli in the early afternoon and now I’m just way too excited to eat. Especially that horrible oyster soup. I can’t even imagine someone chewing on one of those gritty oysters.

It’s getting close to around 6:30 and we’re all sitting in the kitchen. Mom put a blanket or sheet over the open doorway between the kitchen and living room. Now we are completely blocked off from the rest of the house. Why? Because Santa will be coming soon, through the store, I believe, since our chimney would never work. Santa would stomp his huge feet, ring bells and make as much noise as he possibly could, all the while distributing HIS PRESENTS to the Shedas. I always wanted to peek through the blanket and I always planned on doing so….but then when Santa came, I ended up hiding under the kitchen table. Not that I was afraid of course. I just figured that was perhaps the best place to be.

Within about 15 minutes, Santa Claus had come and gone. It was all quiet again and Dad would finally say, “I think the ol’ boy’s gone.” So we went out into the living room and boy, did Santa make a mess of things. But presents, toys and new clothes all over the place. Yep, Santa Claus had just been to the Sheda home. We now began opening the rest of the presents.

By eight o’clock, Christmas was pretty much over for us. Now, we had to stay up and awake for Christmas Eve Mass at St. Joseph’s Church. Boy, was that hard to do. I loved Christmas Eve Mass, especially going a half hour early and singing Christmas Carols. But it truly was hard to stay awake. Christmas Eve Mass made everything so very special. After all, Jesus is the reason for the season, right?

Well, that’s was just one year’s memories of Christmas in Chelsea in 1960. What is one of your memories like? Share with me at jsheda@indytel.com or call me at 319.327.4640.

Love to hear your memories.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!