We gave a warm welcome to Joyce Baxter from The Evergreen Writers’ Group on Sunday, December 7th. Since this event focused on Christmas traditions, we began by asking everyone attending about their family traditions. Everything from places traditionally visited to foods traditionally made or eaten during the holidays was discussed. Traditional things received on Christmas, including the night before pajamas, were also mentioned. We also spoke about how Christmas traditions have changed over the years. Both Joyce and an attendee of the event remember that there were no decorations up until after the kids went to bed on Christmas Eve. After the kids were in bed, the tree was put up and decorated, gifts wrapped, and stockings filled. Now trees are going up as early as Nov 12th.
Joyce Baxter read part of her Christmas Traditions Piece: Reminiscing about Christmas Traditions found in An Evergreen Christmas. Joyce grew up in the 1940s in a small fishing community of Owl’s Head Harbour. Joyce brought a no-sugar, egg-free, and fat-free fruitcake made from a recipe she contributed to the book, and strawberry “Purity” syrup, made in Newfoundland, which is only available this time of year at Sobey’s.
“Joyce Baxter, a member of Evergreen Writers Group since 2016, is grateful for the support and encouragement she receives and is pleased to be included in several of their anthologies
Christmas has always held an aura of magic for her, and in (An Evergreen Christmas), she is happy to share some memories of Christmas, including a few recipes gathered over many years.
Now a great-grandmother of four, the magic continues.” Page 200- An Evergreen Christmas.
“The syrup, either strawberry or lime, used in making this concoction, was mixed with water and only ever served during the Christmas season. It was a special treat. Made in Newfoundland by the “Purity” company. It was served with a sliver of pound cake and the much-revered fruitcake.”- An Evergreen Christmas, page 12, Reminiscing about Christmas Traditions by Joyce Baxter.
“The making of fruitcake was a labour-intensive, expensive, and competitive process. The woman of the house risked her reputation as a good housewife, based on the collective reports of the mouth-watering goodness of her fruitcake.”– An Evergreen Christmas, page 12, Reminiscing about Christmas Traditions by Joyce Baxter.
An Evergreen Christmas contains short fiction, true stories, poetry, and recipes from 17 authors in the Evergreen Writers Group.
Evergreen Writer’s Group is a creative writing group that meets in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. They have varied levels of writing experience and interests in almost any genre, from historical fiction and memoirs to mysteries and science fiction. Their current group comprises poets, short story writers, novelists, and playwrights.
Their writing group draws its members from all over HRM. They meet twice a month to discuss writing ideas, read their latest work, offer constructive criticism, and support one another in reaching their creative writing goals.
They currently meet twice a month, from 10:15 am to 12:15 pm, at the Dartmouth Heritage Museum’s Evergreen House, located at 26 Newcastle Street, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.
In the summer of 2014, they completed a two-year project with the publication of Out of the Mist, an anthology of twenty-two Atlantic Canadian ghost stories written by eleven of their members. Their second anthology, Off Highway: Journeys of Nova Scotia Writers, was published in 2017, and their third, Water’s Edge: Prose and Poetry Celebrating Nova Scotia’s Aquatic Heritage, in 2020. Their fourth, launched this month, is An Evergreen Christmas: Stories, Poems & Recipes by Nova Scotia Authors.
If you are interested in joining their group, attend one of their meetings. They are a welcoming group. The Evergreen Writers Group also has a Zoom option available.
To find the group-
Facebook: https:// www.facebook.com/groups/410713765644039
Website: https:/evergreenwritersgroup.wordpress.com