Traditional French-American Christmas December 6 at Pierre Menard Home
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[The season will be celebrated the traditional French-American way during the Christmas Open House scheduled for Sunday, December 6 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Pierre Menard Home State Historic Site in Ellis Grove, Illinois. The event is free and open to the public.
The home will be decked out in all of its finery with the sights and scents of an old fashioned mid-19th century French Christmas. Greenery from boxwood, holly, cedar, and magnolia leaves will festoon the outside of the home. In addition the home will be colorfully decorated with brightly colored apples, pears and pineapples as candles brighten one of the shortest days of the year. Inside the home you will find more fruit, greenery and candles as well as a nativity scene in the parlor with all of the traditional elements that can be found with this symbol of the Christmas season.
However, the one thing you will not find is a Christmas tree decorating the home. A Christmas tree inside the home can be traced back to 16th Century Germany. There were Christmas trees in America with Hessian Troops during the Revolutionary War and with the Moravians in their settlements in the east and south, but Christmas trees in general did not make an appearance until after they were showcased in the 1850 issue of Godey's Lady's Book. After their appearance in that December issue there was no stopping the progression of this now widely recognized symbol of Christmas.
As is tradition with the French Americans in this country, the celebration of the Christmas season will be bright, warm, scented with wonderful smells but subdued. However you can expect the Friends of the Menard Home will be on hand, dressed in 19th century historic clothing to welcome everyone to the Menard Home with a cup of warm cider and something sweet to eat as they show visitors through the home of the first Lieutenant Governor of the State of Illinois.
The Christmas Open House is cosponsored by the Friends of the Menard Home. All monies collected by the Friends during special events stay on site and are used to help the home and to put on other special events throughout the year.
The Pierre Menard Home State Historic Site, administered by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, is an early 19th century French-Creole style home and is open to the public Wednesday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The home is located north of Chester, Illinois on Kaskaskia Road just off of State Route 3. For more information, call the Pierre Menard Home at (618) 859-3031 or visit: http://www.friendsofthemenardhome.blogspot.com.