With Thanksgiving 2025 now past, it is truly the holiday season and Genea-Santa will soon be visiting. To get everyone in the spirit of the holidays, Randy Seaver has a most appropriate challenge for Saturday Night Genealogy Fun this week:

1)   Today’s challenge is to share memories of December holiday gatherings and celebrations with your families (as a child, a young adult, a parent, a grandparent, a great-grandparent, an aunt or uncle, a nibling, a cousin, an in-law)!  

2)  Pick two or three questions from the list in my blog post:  Ask AI Gemini:  “What questions can I write about concerning family gatherings and celebrations during the December holidays?”  This is a new list of questions somewhat different from last year’s list.

Here are my replies:

Question:  Where was the most memorable holiday gathering location (a specific house, town, or country)? Why did that location hold special significance?

49 Summer Street in Passaic, New Jersey definitely held the most memories. Although my maternal relatives were all in Massachusetts, Nana lived upstairs in our two-family house. She would come down for the festivities of checking out the stockings, opening presents and Christmas dinner.

My grandparents bought the house in 1925 and my father was born in the house. I lived there from birth until almost age 12, when we moved to Wayne.

Unlike Randy’s family, my mother hid all the gifts in the basement and I was told in no uncertain terms that if I snooped down there, any gifts coming from Santa would be replaced by a lump of coal. Needless to say, I behaved and went nowhere near the basement!

Question: Is there a special holiday recipe that must be made every year? Who originally created it, and do you know what part of the world it comes from?

My maternal grandmother, Hazel Coleman Adams, made the most exquisite turkey stuffing ever. Everyone loved it. My mother continued using her recipe when I was growing up and I still prepare it each holiday season. It’s a favorite with my husband and son, too.

I’m sure the recipe is North American-based as my great grandmother was from Denmark. She died when my grandmother was fifteen.

It’s possible my grandmother found the recipe in a magazine or else learned it from her Canadian-American grandmother.

Question: How has the scale of your family gathering changed over the generations (e.g., from an intimate few to a massive reunion)?

My family and my husband’s immediate family were small and with the passing of time, there are only six of us in the area who get together for the holidays – Dave’s brother, sister-in-law and niece and Dave, me and our son.

That’s it for my answers. I wonder what Part 2 will bring? Thanks, Randy.