A view of some of Hillory Oakes’ 43 Christmas ornaments, a collection that dates back to 1980. She’ll add a 44th on Christmas morning. Submitted photo
Back in 2013, Jennifer Paré of Auburn delivered a eulogy at the Basilica in Lewiston for her late grandmother, who had recently passed.
Paré said a lot about Mémère Muriel Picard, focusing on how much the woman had cared for her grandchildren.
“She made each of us feel like the favorite,” Paré told the mourners. “She made us feel accepted and important, and she made each of us feel loved.”
Jennifer Paré of Auburn tells the story of this ornament as part of a eulogy for her mémère, who passed in 2013. Submitted photo
With those lovely words delivered, Paré began to talk about Christmastime, recollecting that over the course of her life, she had spent more time with Mémère Picard around the holidays than anybody else.
It was her memere, Paré said, who taught her the value of shopping for sales and finding ways to save money. Bargain hunting, Paré said, became kind of a bond between them.
“When I was about 8 years old Memere and I played secret Santa with each other,” she said. “Memere and I would hide our gifts to each other. I was so excited to come home from school and see if Memere had found the gift I left her while she was ironing underwear, doing laundry or watching the Price is Right. This particular day, Memere was beaming when I got home from school. I searched everywhere and could not find my gift (from her). As I approached the Christmas tree she said ‘You’re getting warmer, very warm, hotter …’ and there on the Christmas tree was a gold star ornament with a little girl on it with the name Jennifer engraved on it.
“Now what makes this ornament so special to me,” Paré went on, “is not just that my memere gave it to me. What makes it so significant is that she did NOT have it engraved for me — Memere found this very special already-engraved ornament for 10 cents at the Salvation Army. And every Christmas, it is the one ornament I look forward to placing on the tree myself, because this ornament was not only a special gift, it was a great deal.”
500 YEARS OF TRADITION
When we asked our readers to share stories and photos of their favorite Christmas ornaments, we were somewhat surprised by the response. Many of those who celebrate Christmas, it seems, have special tree ornaments with personal histories.
Some Christmas trees in homes locally are sporting ornaments that go back nearly 100 years and that have been passed down from one generation to the next.
Others trim their trees with ornaments that mark important moments in their lives. Wedding anniversaries, for example, or the arrival of children and grandchildren into the family.
The use of ornaments at Christmastime apparently dates back to 16th century Germany where small evergreen trees would be taken inside and adorned with candles, nuts, berries and apples.
The tradition caught on among Christians in Europe, but it would be a while before Americans caught ornament fever. That happened, historians say, in the 1840s when those in the United States saw photos of Queen Victoria and her family celebrating with a fully decked out Christmas tree.
As traditions go, the hanging of ornaments is an old one, and those in the Lewiston-Auburn area are for sure keeping that tradition alive. Here are their ornaments and, in their words, what makes them so special.
“Caitlin Joy is a porcelain and lace angel who has graced the top of our tree since 1986,” says Lucy Packard of Buckfield. Submitted photo
LUCY PACKARD OF BUCKFIELD
“Caitlin Joy is a porcelain and lace angel who has graced the top of our tree since 1986, the year of her namesake’s stillbirth. We came across her at the former Paragon Glass (ornament manufacturing and retail outlet in Lewiston) and knew she needed to come to our home to replace the usual star topper. She was even clutching a pink silk rosebud, which was one of our chosen symbols for her. She has brought us much beauty each holiday season. Except for a bit of aging in the lace, she is remarkably resistant!”
Fern and Sylvia Bosse topped their tree with this angel ornament the first year they were married. It’s now been up there each Christmas for 63 years. Submitted photo
FERN AND SYLVIA BOSSE OF NORWAY
“Please find attached a picture of an angel tree topper we had on our Christmas tree the first year we were married. She has undergone many an adjustment and tender repair. This year she will be on our 63rd Christmas tree together. She has overseen children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and now will oversee the second Christmas with our great-great grandson. She is truly a family treasure. We bought it at Parker Hardware in Mechanic Falls in December 1960.”
Helen Couillard won this ornament in a grade-school contest 65 years ago. “I wanted that angel very badly,” Couillard says now. Submitted photo
HELEN COUILLARD OF TURNER
“About 65 years ago, my 4th-grade grammar school class was given a Christmas contest assignment to see who could make the most words using the letters from the words ‘Merry Christmas.’ The winner would win a beautiful angel ornament. I wanted that angel very badly. I worked really hard with help from my older sister and a very large dictionary, and was able to come up with way more words than my other classmates. I was so happy to win, and I still put my angel on my Christmas tree every year. It is definitely my favorite.”
Alice Mogensen of Auburn with her favorite ornament, which was made by her mother out of a Styrofoam ball plastered with small University of Alabama stickers. Roll Tide! Submitted photo
ALICE MOGENSEN OF AUBURN
“Growing up, one of the many things my family loved was University of Alabama football. When my mom went back to school to support us four kids, there wasn’t a lot of money for the new ornament we would traditionally get each year. So that year she took a Styrofoam ball and covered it with little round red ‘Bama stickers she bought at the campus store at the University of Alabama, where she was studying. She only had enough stickers to cover about half the ball because that was all we could afford. It’s still one of my most prized ornaments and it’s filled with lots of memories of my mom and her courage to make a better life and how proud I was for what she accomplished. Roll. Tide. Roll!”
Each Christmas, Anita Austin of Sabattus places this Santa near the top of her tree. Submitted photo
ANITA AUSTIN OF SABATTUS
“My favorite ornament is a Santa Claus ornament. I always admired the ornament, along with the red velvet garland, that was on my grandparents’ Christmas tree. I believe the garland ended up being tattered. I do, however, have the ornament, and it is always placed on the front and upper part of my tree.
“One day I was visiting my mother, and she had a box of ornaments that my aunt had left for us to go through. Some of those ornaments were from my grandparent’s tree. Fortunate for me, I was the first sibling to see the box of ornaments. I was so excited to see that the Santa was in that box. Who better than the baby of the family to acquire that ornament? That was the first ornament I picked out. I wish I knew when and how it was acquired, but I never thought to ask. I do know it is at least 70 years old.
“Every year, as I place the ornament on my tree, I recall the fond mPaul Simoneau, Lewistonemories of Christmases at my grandparents’ house. Some day, I plan to pass it on to my granddaughter, in the hope that she will cherish it as much as I do.”
Paul Simoneau of Lewiston has had this ornament since 1973. It had belonged to his mother, who was given the ornament on her first Christmas in 1920. Submitted photo
PAUL SIMONEAU OF LEWISTON
“My bear ornament will be 103 years old this Christmas. The ornament was given to my mother, Marcelle Simoneau Daniels, on her first Christmas in 1920.” Simoneau was given the ornament in 1973, meaning this will be his 50th year with the special bear hanging on his tree.
This ornament is estimated to be between 70 and 80 years old and has been in Scott White’s family for generations. Submitted photo
SCOTT WHITE OF JAY
“The Christmas ornament I’m writing about has been in our family for three generations. My understanding is this was my grandmother’s, passed down to my mother and then on to me and my family. My grandmother passed away on May 8, 1965, on her 65th birthday, from a car accident involving a drunk driver a month earlier. I was born on May 6, 1965, two days prior. My aunt always claimed that her mother held on until I was born, just to make sure I was OK.
“That ornament for that reason, is very special to me. The ornament is in no way beautiful or shiny, quite unattractive to say the least, the paint has chipped away, but it glows in the dark and is always the last ornament put on the tree. We estimated the ornament to be around 70 to 80 years old. When my children were young they were always the ones to put it on the tree. They are now grown and started on their own paths in life. One day I hope one of them will take it and proudly display the ornament, being the next generation to hang it from their Christmas trees.”
Forrest Spaulding of Dixfield was given this ornament by a co-worker during hard times in December 1991. Submitted photo
FORREST SPAULDING OF DIXFIELD
“My Christmas ornament story starts in December of 1991. I was being laid off from my job at the University of Southern Maine Gorham on Dec. 31. A co-worker knew I had cats so she gave me this ornament for Christmas. It was the first ornament on the tree that year and has been the first ornament on and the last one off every Christmas tree since 1991.”
Some of Sandra Courtemanche’s favorite tree decorations are her “sister ornaments,” from her only sibling, Shirley. Submitted photo
SANDRA COURTEMANCHE OF LEWISTON
“One set of precious ornaments that I anxiously wait to take out every Christmas season are my ‘sister’ ornaments from my only sibling, Shirley. With her living across the country in Arizona, the anticipation over the years of receiving these meaningful tokens in the mail during the Christmas season was so exciting! We may have been 12 1/2 years apart in age, and 2,775 miles apart, but our hearts stayed connected throughout the years. Since her passing in December 2011, I decorate a small tree with these ornaments every Christmas in her memory. This is my way of celebrating Christmas with my dear sister.”
Paula Frenette of Lewiston scored this beloved ornament at the local Marden’s. Submitted photo
PAULA FRENETTE OF LEWISTON
“This was a special find at our local Marden’s. Believe! It means so much. Believe in yourself, always believe no matter how hard life gets it will get better!”
One of Hillory Oakes’ 43 Christmas ornaments in a collection that dates back to 1980. She’ll add a 44th on Christmas morning. Submitted photo
HILLORY OAKES OF LEWISTON
“My favorite Christmas ornament is actually 43 ornaments . . . and counting. In 1980, my mom decided she wanted to start Hallmark ornament collections for my younger sister and me. Whatever my sister’s ornament series was — trains? birds maybe? — it didn’t last more than a few years. But the style my mom chose for me, the Frosty Friends series, has continued selling — and appearing in my Christmas stocking — for over four decades. Clearly my mom is not the only person who buys these or Hallmark wouldn’t keep making them. (Research tells me that it is Hallmark’s longest-selling ornament series.)
“Frosty Friends started out simple — the first one features a child in a parka sitting with a polar bear cub, singing carols (though I doubt either of them would be able to read the music books they’re holding). Then followed the child and a (Siberian) husky in an igloo, or child and dog dangling from an icicle, or the kid ice fishing with a penguin. The child (my mom always swore it was a girl) and the animal companions have gotten into more complicated scenes over the years, like the puzzling one where Frosty is using his reindeer pal’s antlers for a snowball slingshot. And though I sometimes wonder if Hallmark will run out of ideas — how many ‘Frosty Friends Make Another Ice Sculpture’ ornaments can they make? — I never lose a little of that childlike thrill when I see the illustration on the newest box.
“A few years ago I had to stop trying to fit them all on the tree since I have many other special or beautiful ornaments that need showcasing, too. This year’s tree is a bit smaller than usual, so I’ve hung maybe half the collection after looking through them all — and I will add the 44th ornament on Christmas morning — as long as Mom remembers to send it on time!”
Amy Lachance Charest of Litchfield made this ornament when she was in the Brownies in the late 1970s. It’s still her favorite part of the yearly Christmas tree. Submitted photos
AMY LACHANCE CHAREST OF LITCHFIELD
“My favorite Christmas ornament is something I made in Brownies in the late ’70s. I’m now 50 years old and it is still my favorite part of my parents’ Christmas tree. It looks a little sad these days, but that’s only because my oldest sister threw it in the trash one December when we were kids. I was able to dig it out and recover it so we can still enjoy it to this day! I like to place it front and center and if anyone moves it, I quickly move it back so everyone can see it.”
Kelly Wade of Lisbon Falls shared a photo of a special Christmas tree ornament that’s been in her family since 2003. It was made by her aunt out of a tampon, with the halo, hair, wings and gold scarf added. Submitted photo
KELLY WADE OF LISBON FALLS
“This beauty has been in my family and on our tree every year since 2003. My Aunt Judy made one for everyone in the immediate family. I am sure you are looking at it and saying: ‘So, it is just a cute little angel.’ Well, the quirky thing about this angel and all the other ones my aunt made that year is they are made out of tampons. So yes, take another look — convenient string to hang was included.”
Martha Littlefield of Poland collects Christmas tree ornaments, but her favorite decoration of them all is this 5-foot blow mold Santa. She says if she could hang him on her Christmas tree, she would. Submitted photo
MARTHA LITTLEFIELD OF POLAND
“I have been a collector of vintage/antique Christmas decorations — primarily ornaments — since I was a teenager. I am now 70. I treat them with TLC, wrapping each in tissue paper after they have hung on my tree. After five decades of collecting, I have so many decorations that I have to mark the storage boxes by year in order to rotate them. I do have a few favs, but would not be able to locate one of them.”
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