holidays – JNPA Blog

If you’re a cold-hardy adventurer, there’s no better way to experience the magnificence of snow-draped landscapes than with a winter visit to Voyageurs National Park. This stunning 218,000-acre park in northern Minnesota offers numerous ways to enjoy its natural splendor: from snowmobiling, cross-country skiing, and hiking to ice-fishing, sledding, and snowshoeing. And for less athletically inclined visitors, there’s always driving your car on the park’s ice roads!

Snowmobilers flock to Voyageurs every winter for the park’s 110 miles of groomed trails. However, since many of the snowmobile trails cross frozen lakes, it’s imperative to pay attention to the ice thickness on many bodies of water. A mid-December report showed there is not enough solid ice to open the frozen lakes to vehicle traffic. The park lists current conditions on its website.

Cross-country skiers can enjoy a number of beginner- and intermediate-level loop trails through pine and birch forests, some with a view of an active beaver pond.

The park offers ski and snowshoe rentals at the Rainy Lake Visitor Center and also accepts advanced reservations by phone (218-286-5258) and online. Kids’ sizes are available.

In case you’re wondering if kids enjoy these winter sports, check out this park video of a recent showshoe class.

Just as with snowmobiling, these activities are also reliant on adequate snowfall and ice formation. Park crews have been clearing and grooming trails through the woods and open land but are waiting for adequate ice thickness on the lakes before tackling those areas. Visitors can pick up this fold-out National Geographic map at JNPA’s park stores, which lists most of the park’s trails.

More “mild” activities at the park include sledding and driving the park’s ice roads. The two main ice roads begin at the visitor centers, but the routes vary from year to year. Cars and trucks weighing less than 7,000 lbs. are allowed, but the speed limit is 30 mph.

Naturally, safety is the prime consideration for every outdoor activity at Voyageurs. The park offers a comprehensive list of important safety tips for all winter sports, and urges visitors to consult rangers before setting out and to be on the lookout for posted signs throughout the park.

How do YOU celebrate the holidays? Your answer may depend upon your religious practices or your family traditions. But if you’d lived in the French colonial village of Ste. Geneviève in the 1700s, chances are you and your neighbors would have commemorated the winter holidays in very similar ways.

The townspeople of 18^th-century Ste. Geneviève were predominantly Catholic, having brought their religious and cultural traditions from France. One of their most festive seasons of the year was December to mid-January. The four weeks prior to Christmas was Advent, a time of reflection, fasting, and merriment. The culmination of Advent was Christmas Eve, when most of the community attended midnight Mass.

After the church service ended, the townsfolk gathered with their extended families for a feast called La Réveillon. This special breakfast would start in the early hours of the morning and proceed well into the next day. La Réveillon featured traditional breakfast foods such as eggs, sausage, and breads along with non-traditional items like puddings, stews, and cakes. Christmas Day festivities would continue throughout the day with more feasting, church services, and in some households, balls or parties.

During this time of year the Frenchwomen of Ste. Geneviève were able to show off their cooking skills, using the new foods they found available in the New World, and incorporating African and Native American influences.

In 1811 Henry M. Brackenridge wrote that “The table was provided in a very different manner from that of the generality of Americans. With the poorest French peasant, cookery is an art well understood. They make great use of vegetables and prepared in a manner to be wholesome and palatable. Instead of roast and fried, they had soups and fricassees, and gumbos…”

The Kings Ball featured finely dressed participants like those seen in this sketch of the “Bal de la Courtille”
from 1820. Library of Congress)

The next holiday celebration, La Guiannée, took place on New Year’s Eve. On the evening of December 31st, a troupe of male singers dressed in costume went door-to-door throughout the community. As they sang, they asked for donations from each household for the upcoming Epiphany feast. The group collected things like lard, poultry, eggs, wheat, and candles to feed the community and decorate for the Epiphany Celebration. (The 250-year-old tradition of La Guiannée is still celebrated in Ste. Geneviève to this day.)

As the years went on and the village changed, the holiday traditions for the French Catholic residents of Ste. Geneviève ebbed and flowed. With the arrival of new residents from American and German backgrounds, new traditions emerged, and old traditions adapted to suit the growing community. The changes have allowed for many of the French Catholic traditions to continue into the present-day community.

If you haven’t yet visited the town, or our park partner Ste. Geneviève National Historical Park, winter can be a great time to stop by. Be sure to check the park’s website for upcoming activities before you go.

Tag: holidays

Brrr! W-w-winter F-f-fun in the Great Outdoors!❄️

Celebrating the Holidays in Colonial Ste. Genevieve