Category: Features

Categories
Features

Veterans Day Salute

(Courtesy of Janice Abernethy}
(Courtesy of Janice Abernethy)

My brother is a veteran, and I am proud to say he served three terms of duty in the Middle East, one as a foot soldier and two as a JAG lawyer, and still serves in the reserves. Once, I asked him if he would visit my classroom on Veterans Day and talk to my fifth grade students. He looked so confused and asked, “Why do you have school on Veterans Day? Isn’t that a national holiday? Shouldn’t you have the day off?”

I love that the school district where I taught for 23 years honored Veterans Day by NOT making it a holiday for kids. My school held that day in honor of veterans. We taught our students what it meant to be a veteran. Best of all, we allowed veterans to tell their stories.

In a small rural town in Pennsylvania, Veterans Day started the same way every year for the fourth to sixth grade students at East Elementary. It began as a solemn occasion where the kids learned early in the school year how to truly show respect for our country and those who have fought and died fighting to keep our republic free and safe from danger. It went a little like this:

Teachers lined up their students and explained that unless it is part of the ceremony, they will show their respect for veterans by not speaking until they return to the classroom. A short discussion usually ensued about what may constitute appropriate and inappropriate behavior, but these kids were ready. They had been preparing for this day for two months.

By now, they had learned about the Constitution, including the Bill of Rights and other Amendments. In my own fifth grade class, they had collaboratively made and illustrated a Constitution book. After sending it out to be copied, each student had mailed a finished copy to his or her hero and kept one for the family. By Veterans Day, we had also held a class election based on the rules of our country’s election. Today, they were ready to honor the people that made it possible to live in our great country.

Teachers and students left their classrooms in an orderly manner and exited the school to the front of the building, where there was a large flagpole. The silence was deafening and awe-inspiring, the only sounds being the footsteps of the hundreds of children and adults walking the halls. If you’ve ever been in an elementary school building, you can imagine what a rare sound that is!

Once everyone was assembled in a half circle around the flagpole, a few students (usually boy scouts and girl scouts) raised the flag, while everyone stood with their hands on their hearts. Once the flag was raised, the crowd recited the Pledge of Allegiance. Next, a small band (sent from the high school) played two patriotic songs (usually “America the Beautiful” and “The Star-Spangled Banner.”) When the music stopped, the students silently returned to their classrooms, where their teachers had planned developmentally appropriate Veterans Day-themed activities.

Some of these activities included making welcome signs for the afternoon guests while watching educational videos about Veterans Day or our country. Weeks before this day, students had the opportunity to invite family members who may be veterans to our afternoon program. They were also asked to bring in pictures of veterans from their family so that they could be included even if they lived far away.

In the afternoon, students and teachers lined the halls with their posters and streamers. Invited veteran guests entered the building and walked down the halls as everyone respectfully clapped and held up their posters, honoring them for their dedication and sacrifice to our country. Then, we all entered the gym (or, years later when the celebration became too big, the auditorium at the high school), where the high school band was playing patriotic songs. On the stage were chairs filled with veterans with a large screen behind them running a slideshow. The slideshow kept everyone enthralled while they waited for the program to begin. It showed the pictures that students, teachers, and staff had brought in of family who had served our country. Written on each picture was the name of the person who donated the picture and the relationship to the person in the picture.

I can vouch for what those pictures meant to the kids sitting in that audience. I can understand why they sat so quietly watching the slideshow, waiting for their own picture to appear the first time, and then waiting for the slideshow to start over and show their picture again. A picture of my brother was in that slideshow. It was a picture of him in uniform with his wife and three beautiful daughters, and to this day, it makes me cry. Of course, at this point, the program had not even begun!

The program began with five sixth grade students who had been chosen by their teachers and who had spent countless hours preparing for this moment. Each stepped up to the podium, one at a time, and explained a branch of the military—the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Marines, and the National Guard. After each speech, members of that branch were asked to stand, and students applauded.

During the last part of the program, veterans were given the opportunity to speak. A few would get up and tell their stories. Their patriotism always overwhelmed the crowd. Soon, the assembly was over, and it was time for everyone to go home.

I remember always thinking, I am so glad we have school on Veterans Day. I am so glad we are able to give these kids this opportunity to reflect on the everyday people who made this country great!

Janice Abernethy is a wife, mother, grandmother, daughter, sister, and retired school teacher. She has a bachelor’s degree in elementary and special education, and a master’s degree in instructional media. You can learn more about Janice by going to JAbernethy.com

Categories
Features

All the Stories We Do Not Know

Ensign Jean Prosch, first woman in the Navy's low pressure chamber. (Courtesy of Gina Prosch)

One day, the phone in my South Carolina office rang, and when I answered, a senior voice greeted me: “Hello, I saw your name in the newspaper, and I believe we may be related. My maiden name was Jean Prosch.”

She lived less than an hour’s drive away, so over the course of several months, whenever time allowed, I visited Jean in her small efficiency apartment. When she decided to move back home to New Jersey, I dropped in to wish her safe travels.

Jean Prosch. (Courtesy of Gina Prosch)

“I’ll be in touch with more stories,” she said. “There’s so much more to tell.”

Having already learned a great deal about Jean’s life of service as a teacher and after World War II, I wondered how many more stories she had to tell.

“All of them,” she told me. “All the stories you do not know.”

Joining the WAVES

In July 1942, President Roosevelt authorized a women’s branch of the U.S. Naval Reserves: Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES). Women ages 20 to 49 with a college degree (or two years of college and equivalent experience) could enlist as commissioned officers.

Armed with a bachelor’s degree from Rutgers and a master’s from Temple, Jean Prosch more than met the qualifications, and she was eager to use her abilities as an educator to aid the American war effort. She decided to join the WAVES.

In April 1943, Jean contacted the Naval Procurement Office in Philadelphia, beginning the enlistment process. A month later, she was sworn in to the United States Navy. On Mother’s Day 1943, she told her family what she’d done, and she reported for duty on July 3.

On the 12:15 p.m. train to Northampton, Massachusetts, she fully realized her career—and life—had turned a corner. She was underway.

“Scared—a little. But enthusiastic and proud.”

Officer Training School

During the war, WAVES trained at Smith and Mount Holyoke, and Jean was assigned to the latter. Her days began with a 6:15 a.m. wake-up call, and other than 45 minutes of liberty, her time was filled with classes in Naval Organization, Personnel, Naval Law, and Ships and Aircraft Classification until the call for lights-out sounded at 10 p.m.

On August 24, 1943, she received her commission, writing home: “It seems Ensign Prosch is to report Monday morning August 30 to the Naval Air Station at Jacksonville, Florida, and if you aren’t excited—I am.”

Hello JAX!

When Jean arrived at Jax NAS (Jacksonville Naval Air Station), though she was in Personnel, not Health, she was assigned to the Aviation Medicine Section.

Unlike today, during the 1940s, the use of oxygen during high-altitude flight was cutting-edge technology. Navy pilots and air crewmen were required to learn about aviation physiology and take a run in the low-pressure chamber and chill room. If Jean was going to assume a teaching position, she’d need to take a training run herself. She wrote home, “They’ve never had a woman in [the low pressure chamber] and are all eager to see what’s what. Ha! Ha! I’m the guinea pig.”

On September 13, 1943, Jean had her first experience with low pressure, experiencing the same chamber run as the dive bombers, gunners, and pilots: a simulated 18,000 feet without oxygen, then 30,000 feet with oxygen. Then the descent—at 4,000 feet per minute.

Ensign Jean Prosch, first woman in the Navy’s low pressure chamber. (Courtesy of Gina Prosch)

But in order to teach her students most effectively, Jean needed practical experience—actual flight time.

She wrote home on September 25, “Had a most exciting day today! Was the first WAVE to go on a high altitude oxygen hop in a real airplane. I was up in a Navy plane for four hours—at high altitude necessitating use of O2 equipment for 1 1/2 hours. They took three pictures of me, so I might make the news.”

She made history that day, and was soon to contribute more.

During the early years of the war, the Navy was losing too many pilots and planes, not to enemy fire, but to crashes caused by high altitude anoxia, which caused poor motor coordination, impaired vision, and decreased executive function.

Plane crashes being caused by Navy pilots experiencing high altitude anoxia. (Courtesy of Gina Prosch)

Enter Jean and the low-pressure chamber.

These simulated, high-altitude training runs proved to pilots and their crews that they could not self-diagnose anoxia before they were in imminent danger of losing consciousness. By then, they were too uncoordinated to get their equipment on.

In Jean’s simulations, fliers passed out; in an actual flight, people could, and did, die.

Jean thrived in her job and taught hundreds of navy flyers to respect their need for high-altitude oxygen equipment.

When low-pressure chamber work was moved from Personnel to Health in 1944, Jean declined the transfer since her primary interest was teaching, not physiology.

The question was—after attaining such heights, where would she land?

Fort Lauderdale and Flight Analysis

Farther down the Florida coast at

was the head of aviation training. Under the direction of Admiral McFall, Jurika was to address the serious topic of training accidents in a new area of naval aviation study called Flight Analysis.

Fort Lauderdale NAS, Lieutenant Commander Stephen Jurika Jr., training officer. (Courtesy of Gina Prosch)

Jean’s work with the low-pressure chamber gave her an understanding of the physiology of flight and the psychology of Navy fliers; she was the ideal candidate for the new position. Thanks to her request to remain assigned to Personnel, she was available for transfer when Jurika came looking for someone to fill the newly created role of Crash Analysis Officer.

Jean wrote, “It’s a new program to try to cut down air accidents—there are so many in operational training—and this is the operational training command. It’s a program to weed out fliers before they kill themselves, a crew, and ruin a plane.”

Upon her arrival at Fort Lauderdale, Jean immediately became a permanent member of the Crash Board and also of something called “the Trouble Board.”

At Fort Lauderdale NAS, Jean found her calling working with flight instructors and analyzing student pilot performances. From February 1944 through the end of the war, Jean’s work was grueling and intense.

She wasn’t always the most liked officer on base, but in terms of lives saved, she might have been one of the most important, graphing hard data points and bringing a sense of objectivity to decisions about which aviators should remain—and which men should be “washed out.”

She wrote to her family, “It kills me when we lose aircrew men. They’re more valuable than the pilots—and are at the mercy of the pilot’s headwork and judgment.” Unfortunately, too often, she saw the horrific results of bad judgement first-hand. “I have to be on my toes—don’t dare slip up.”

Going Home

As the war came to a close, Jean looked forward to civilian life. Though she loved her work in aviation, the training crashes and proximity to death took a toll, and she eagerly anticipated her discharge in December 1945 and a return to civilian life.

In February 1946, one of Jean’s former colleagues wrote to let her know that Fort Lauderdale NAS had received the inaugural Single Engine Safety trophy for an outstanding safety record for the period of July 1945 to January 1946. The letter enclosed read, “It is our sincere belief that you contributed more than any other one person toward the winning of this trophy.”

All veterans have stories to tell, and many of those stories are taken to their graves. But in an age when women often achieved more than was publicly acknowledged, Jean Prosch was there.

And hers is only one of many stories that we now do know.

Gina Prosch is the parent of a homeschooled senior. She co-hosts “The OnlySchoolers Podcast: Helping You Homeschool” (OnlySchoolers.com) and is the author of several books, including the forthcoming “JOY! You Find What You Look For” from Boys Town Press. Gina works as a homeschool parent life coach and blogs at TheHomeschoolWay.com

Categories
Features

Patriotism in Plaster

(Lux Aeterna Photography for American Essence)

In spite of her “made in the USA” appeal, being an American sculptor is not something Emily Bedard was always celebrated for. “When I first entered the molding industry, I had people who questioned my ability because I wasn’t French or European,” recalled Bedard. “I would produce a really strong structural element, and the salesman would sell it as if it was a French artist who made it.”

Clients, in fact, sometimes wouldn’t trust Bedard because she was American. “There is a general stereotype that Americans don’t have roots in traditional craftsmanship, that traditional American art has to come from Europeans,” she said. “That’s ridiculous,” she added, “since America has such strong roots in classicism.”

(Lux Aeterna Photography for American Essence)

At age 34, this native-Vermonter-gone-New-Yorker has undoubtedly proven that American hands are creating ageless, epochally awe-inspiring works of art that our country can be proud of. Bedard has won multiple awards in her young life, including the highly coveted Edward Fenno Hoffman Prize from the National Sculpture Society, and the Award for Emerging Excellence in the Classical Tradition from the prestigious Institute of Classical Architecture & Art, which Bedard says has been a tremendous support for her continuing education as a sculptor.

Her early works include the breathtaking 6-foot Liberty statue at the 1876 Soldiers and Sailors Monument, which graces the highly celebrated Seaside Park in Bridgeport, Connecticut; the life-like clay bust of U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy, and the pair of gold eagles that flank the central clock at the Edward Kennedy Institute in Boston. Bedard has also had quite the A-list of private clients, including Mark Wahlberg, Yoko Ono, Oprah Winfrey, and Uma Thurman.

She is currently working on a piece for the National Desert Storm and Desert Shield Memorial, to be built at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. This sizable memorial will occupy about 200 feet on the sacred public pathway, and will feature American soldiers and traditional military armaments, such as tanks and planes, with a desert background. The sculpture was commissioned by the National Desert Storm War Memorial Association, and it will be the first national memorial to represent the fierce conflict that soldiers faced in the Liberation of Kuwait campaign 30 years ago.

Bedard hopes to break ground sometime in 2022, and when she does, she’ll be working right down the street from the Lincoln Memorial, the fabled work of one of her idols, Daniel Chester French. Like Bedard, French was a native New Englander, who drew special inspiration from American patriotism.

(Lux Aeterna Photography for American Essence)

Bedard, admittedly not your typical millennial (she barely touches a computer), had always wanted to serve in the military, a bygone aspiration that regrettably went unfulfilled. “I always had this strong desire to give back to this country,” reflected Bedard. “I met a lot of pushback to do that, and wasn’t sure how I could use my limited abilities to do that, but then I figured out that public monuments can speak to the human spirit and remind people of the achievements and honors of the people who have served our country.” She added that this gave her “a deeper motivation with the abilities I had been given.”

In furthering her commitment to promoting Yankee craftsmanship, Emily purposely searched out an American art school: to be specific, a small, charming one in New England, as she describes. She attended the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts, located in a quintessentially quaint seaside town in Connecticut. “I chose this school because it was very evident that when graduating from there, you were going to come out with very traditional skills,” said Bedard.

She also wanted to bring credence to the profession as being more than a stigmatized starving artist pursuit. Born to two artists and introduced at an early age to artist colonies like Maine’s Monhegan Island, Emily also had a strong interest in the sciences, specifically engineering. And so, to become a true sculptor, Emily molded the two together, and found her niche in ornamental work for high-end architecture.

(Lux Aeterna Photography for American Essence)

Today, in addition to running her art studio in the hip Greenpoint Historic District of Brooklyn, Bedard is the creative director at Foster Reeve & Associates, a group of globally-renowned custom designers of ornate custom plaster molding. Whether it’s fancy cornice molding on a mansion, or the sword of a soldier, Emily is obsessively preoccupied with unassuming allegorical details. She has an undying love for sculpted “drapery.” She explained that she has always really liked drapery “like that on a classic Roman statue, the way cloth falls on a figure and almost appears to cling to the form, as if it is real flesh.”

When colleague Meredith Bergmann asked her to assist with the making of the Women’s Rights Pioneers Monument on Literary Row in Central Park, Bedard was, of course, excited to be a humble part of that creation. It is an imposing 14-foot statue, which features American rights activists Sojourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton having a conversation. She described it as a “long overdue representation of women.” There was also this added bonus for Bedard: “I got to do the curls of Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s hair!”

(Lux Aeterna Photography for American Essence)
Categories
Features

The United States of Archery

Archery shop owner Jonathan Karch helping his daughter Alexa with her archery shoot in the backyard. (Courtesy of Jonathan Karch)

For enthusiasts, archery hits the mark. It’s a sport that demands great concentration, precision, calm, and a little bit of luck. If the wind is not just right, an arrow can glance off a target and sail into a dead zone. It’s a sport that requires dedication but can be enjoyed solo or with a group. And as the pandemic continues to unfurl, archery has become a bandaid for the loneliness of social distancing. More and more families are picking up bows and arrows and turning backyards and family rooms into archery fields.  Some participants even have garnered enough experience to compete in the Olympics and at national and international competitions. It’s a sport that has found a niche in the American sporting psyche.

Social distancing during the pandemic has made archery the latest entertainment target for families seeking outside recreational opportunities. It is also a competitive sport for the archery cognoscente that dates all the way back to the Stone Age.

The first known organized archery competition was held in Finsbury, England in 1583 and had 3,000 participants. By the time of the 30 Years War (1618-1648) it was clear that, due to the introduction of gunpowder, the bow as a weapon belonged to the past. No longer a weapon of destruction, archery found its mark in recreational and sporting venues. Today, more than 23 million Americans age 18 and older are involved in archery programs and competitions from coast-to-coast.

      Yankton, South Dakota hosted this year’s Hyundai Archery World Cup from September 29 to 30, and immediately after, the Hyundai World Archery Championships to end the current outdoor season and complete the 15th year of the international circuit. It is the first time the annual event was hosted in the United States and the first time these two tournaments ran consecutively in the same location. Eight archers competed in each division for the coveted Hyundai Archery World Cup Champion titles. The event was hosted by the National Field Archery Association (NFAA) Foundation at its headquarters, the Yankton NFAA Easton Archery Center, with an endorsement from USA Archery, World Archery’s member association in the United States.

       “This event was our biggest challenge yet when it came to delivering an international tournament at the highest level,’’ said NFAA Foundations President Bruce Cull.  “We knew how much this event meant to the archery community and to the growth of our sport, and we had to show everyone how versatile archery is for both competitive archers and for families interested in recreational archery,’’ said Cull. Cull was also quick to point out that archery has also gotten a healthy boost in recognition from a string of popular films. “Movies such as ‘The Hunger Games,’ along with other exposure to the sport, have led to a sharp rise in participation, especially among two demographics: women and children,’’ Cull added.

In the 2012 film, “The Hunger Games,” 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) used a bow and arrow to hunt for food and later to protect herself in a cruel battle to the death set up by a wealthy government. Another movie that had a similar positive impact on the sport of archery was “Brave.” In the computer-animated fantasy, Merida (Kelly Macdonald), the impetuous but courageous daughter of Scottish King Fergus (Billy Connolly) and Queen Elinor (Emma Thompson), is a skilled archer who wants to carve out her own path in life. Her defiance of an old-age tradition angers many people. That film was the spark that ignited the archery career of 14-year-old Liko Arreola of Maui, Hawaii. “I loved the film, and it really got me interested in archery,’’ said Liko, who is now coached by her father, Ryan. In June, Liko competed at her first USAT (United States Archery Team) tournament in Chula Vista, California, at the SoCal Showdown. The USAT holds several series of events throughout the year nationwide for those seeking to qualify for the Junior USA Archery Team. At the SoCal Showdown, Liko competed in the cadet division (15-17-year-olds) and was able to place first for the qualification round and won gold in eliminations. Her parents, Teri and Ryan, report that the sport demands focus, patience, and lots of practice. The family has even converted a hall in the house for practice sessions to avoid adverse weather conditions. And practice makes perfect.

     In April, Liko had the rare opportunity to compete at the Vegas Shoot in the Women’s Championship Compound Division with female professionals. The NFAA made an exception for this one year to allow any age group to compete in the championship divisions. Liko finished in first place in the Women’s Championship Compound Division, scoring a clean 900. Like most gifted athletes, Liko’s main goals are to further her education by attending a college with an archery program, to participate in as many archery programs as possible, and to qualify for the USA Archery Team.

But not all archers have such lofty goals. For some, it’s simply about being with family and friends. Jonathan Karch, owner of 3Rivers Archery in Ashley, Indiana, said the sport is both a business and a family affair. “It’s a sport that builds close friendships and demands discipline,’’ Karch said. “Because of all the COVID pandemic restrictions, more families switched to archery this summer because they can do it right in their own backyard,’’ said Karch.

And when classes begin again this fall, many children will be able to continue their archery adventures at school. The National Archery in Schools Program, which attempts to incorporate archery into classes, has grown from 21 schools in 2002 to more than 13,000 today.  At Culver Summer Schools in Culver, Indiana, archery remains the most popular summer activity, with more than 200 participants from the Woodcraft Camp. The sport is poised to make even more daunting academic inroads, as archery is fast emerging as a popular sport for colleges and universities. Through generous support from the Easton Foundation, USA Archery will offer a new program to build archery teams or clubs at schools that do not yet have a program. The grants, in excess of $5,000 in value, include the necessary equipment and resources to assist in the formation of an archery program.

     “One of the big advantages to archery is that it is an individual and team sport that can be done inside or outdoors, utilizing existing recreational spaces,’’ said Dee Wilde, who was voted the best Olympic archery coach in 2006. “It’s just a great sport,’’ said Wilde of Pocatello, Idaho. Paige Pearce, a world champion archer from Red Bluff, California, said it’s a sport where one can easily achieve quick entry into a respectable level of performance at an economical price.  “Arrows can be reused, as well as other equipment,’’ said Pearce, who travels more than 200,000 miles a year competing in the sport she has been involved with since she was 2.  “It’s a sport that lets you build a community of friendships that last a lifetime,’’ she said.

Categories
Features Entrepreneurs

Artifact Cider Project: Challenging the Way We Think About Cider

(Courtesy of Artifact Cider Project)

When Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55 B.C., he found the natives already imbibing a beverage made from tart and inedible crabapples. The Celtic Brits have a long-held tradition of brewing cider.

While cider was, and is, an enduring favorite in Britain and Ireland, colonists brought it to America and people like John Chapman—a man we know as Johnny Appleseed—promoted its popularity here by creating apple nurseries at the edge of the frontier during the early 19th century.

Two Cidermeisters and a Passion Project

Fast forward to 2014. Two true believers in a better way to source, ferment, and create a smashing apple-centric cider put their heads together to form Artifact Cider Project. Jake Mazur and Soham Bhatt founded the Massachusetts-based cider brand on a hard and fast rule: their cider must be of the highest quality, made from only locally-sourced Northeast apples, and use the most advanced fermentation practices. Their cider had to be exceptional as well as reflect, and express, the Northeast. They committed to helping sustain local orchards, especially those in Western Massachusetts. You’ve heard of craft beer; this is craft cider. And Artifact’s goal? They aim to change “cider culture” with novel processes and a new approach to cider-making.

Who Drinks “Wild Thing”?

Artifact Cider drinkers tend to be boundary-pushers, individual and eclectic, and they like their cider the same way. The small, resourceful team responsible for this artful drink are themselves boundary-pushers, bringing new insight to Artifact Cider and their innovative, outsider perspective to the company and industry.

Thanks to the solid partnerships it has built with orchards throughout the Connecticut River Valley, Artifact can source apple varieties that are unexpected and compose cider blends that sing. The portfolio, which can be enjoyed year-round, consists of monikers like Wild Thing, Magic Hour, Slow Down, and Feels Like Home. Seasonal blends include By Any Other Name, Wolf at the Door, and No New Friends. And the can designs are as vibrant as the cider inside.

Great Cider, Great Vibes

Headquartered in Florence, Massachusetts, which is home to its production facility, Artifact Cider invites people into The Cellar, its onsite tasting room. In October 2020, it expanded into the Central Square area of Cambridge, opening a taproom called The Station and hosting food pop-ups with local chefs and culinary personalities.

Artifact Cider’s tasting room in Cambridge, Mass. (Courtesy of Artifact Cider Project)

Those who are obsessed with Artifact Cider’s brews on tap can take it home with them by joining The Regulars, Artifact’s in-person club. Membership gets you early access to new releases, reduced pricing, and a plethora of member goodies. Those who prefer to enjoy ciders at home can join The Good Vibrations Series. Members are shipped three different ciders—some familiar, some new—every quarter.

Artifact Cider is committed to remaining true to its ethos as a regional, sustainable brand. It’s the drink designed for those progressive folks who want their cider to speak to them, as only Artifact Cider can.

Categories
Features

Three Sisters on a Mission to Make Tahini an American Pantry Staple

(From L to R) The Soom sisters: Jackie, Shelby, and Amy Zitelman, co-founders of Soom Foods. (Jillian Guyette)

Say the word “tahini,” and most Americans might conjure up an image of a jar gathering dust on the bottom shelf of the international aisle in the grocery store. Press them for one of its uses, and the answers will generally be one of two foods: hummus or tahini sauce.

Amy Zitelman, one of the three sisters who founded the Philadelphia-based tahini company Soom Foods, knows this because she used to feel ambivalent about the sesame seed paste herself—until a cake changed her sister’s mind.

“My middle sister, Jackie, moved to Israel after high school,” she said. “She went to college there and met her husband, Omri. Omri has been in the tahini business for 20 years now.”

Tahini is a paste made with roasted and pressed sesame seeds. It’s rich and nutty, and healthy, too: full of omega-6 fatty acids, calcium, iron, magnesium, and vitamins. What Jackie noticed in Israel was how integral sesame seeds and tahini are to Middle Eastern culinary traditions. An ancient food, tahini is not only an often-used ingredient, but central to many dishes, taking on far more interesting roles than a supporting act for hummus.

She also noticed how much better it tasted: rich and smooth, earthy and nutty, with just a hint of bitterness. It was a far cry from the often dull, chalky options back in America.

Jackie started talking to Amy and Shelby, their oldest sister, about the tahini she found in Israel, and its superior texture and flavor. When Shelby went to visit Jackie, she finally tasted what Jackie had been raving about.

“We started asking a lot of questions,” said Amy. “Why was this tahini so much better than anything in the United States? Why was it so much more revered in Israel than it has ever been in the United States?”

The sisters went to see Omri’s mother, who made them a carrot cake that changed the trajectory of their lives.

“When Shelby tasted that carrot cake and learned it was made with tahini instead of oil, that’s what pushed us to start this business. We realized, if you can use tahini in carrot cake, the possibilities are endless.”

The idea for Soom Foods was born, with a mission: to make tahini a staple ingredient in the American pantry.

Rachella’s Tahini Carrot Cake. (Photo copyright Jillian Guyette, courtesy of Agate Publishing)

Starting From Seeds

Though all three sisters were new to the tahini business, they were no strangers to the food industry. Their maternal grandfather was a butcher, and their father was raised in the restaurant industry.

“Because our father was raised in the restaurant industry, it was family law we couldn’t go into the restaurant industry. Our grandfather always said he didn’t work so hard for his grandchildren to have to go into restaurants. We joke that we ended up going through the backdoor,” Amy said.

The Soom sisters. (Jillian Guyette)

As they worked toward making tahini a more visible product in the United States, Shelby asked Amy to do some market research. She went to grocery stores and took notes on the labels of tahini, what they cost, what they tasted like.

Her findings? The labels were generic and uninteresting, and the tahini itself tasted bland and unexciting.

The next step was to find out what Americans thought about tahini. The sisters began asking friends, neighbors, even strangers at the farmers market what came to mind when they heard the name. Most people, if they had even heard of it, said it was something you put in hummus. Few people could think of any other use for it.

“We saw an opportunity in making tahini accessible to American consumers by educating them, and branding it more familiarly than brands coming over from the Middle East,” Amy said.

To do that, they would also need a premium product. Since the only ingredient used to make tahini is sesame seeds, they needed to start with premium-quality seeds.

Omri had long been in the industry, buying tahini from large manufacturers and distributing it to his own network of restaurants and caterers. Through Omri, the sisters found a manufacturer in Israel that used the seeds they liked: Ethiopian White Humera sesame seeds. Grown around the town of Humera, in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, this buttery, nutty variety is the world’s most prized. Most sesame seeds are used to make oil, but Humera seeds are used solely to make tahini. The sisters ordered a container-load of the tahini to be shipped to the United States.

“I think they [the manufacturers] were surprised to hear from three American girls who wanted to buy tahini,” said Amy, “but we were committed to our idea and seeing if it worked.”

Grown around the town of Humera, in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, buttery, nutty Ethiopian White Humera sesame seeds are the world’s most prized. (Photo copyright Jillian Guyette, courtesy of Agate Publishing)

In 2013, Soom Foods received their first import of tahini and hit the streets—literally, taking samples to markets and restaurants, trying to sell to chefs, restaurant owners, and vendors. They were given the opportunity to meet with Michael Solomanav, owner of Philadelphia’s award-winning Israeli restaurant Zahav.

“When we asked him what tahini he was using, he said, ‘I don’t have access to good tahini and I’m looking for something better.’ So his restaurant was actually one of our first customers.”

Today, Soom Foods is going strong. The company sells both to restaurants and directly to consumers, both online and in retail stores. It ships and distributes to restaurants and chefs in over 25 states, and more than 500 retail stores across the country.

One Ingredient

Most surprising to Amy about her journey with Soom Foods is that they’ve built an entire business around one ingredient.

“It’s something that I take a lot of pride in,” she said, “doing one thing and doing it well. It would have been easy to get distracted by launching other products, and we almost did. … But when we took a step back and really focused on tahini, we saw our most success.” Soom Foods also sells Chocolate Sweet Tahini, a chocolate spread made with their tahini, cocoa powder, and cane sugar, and silan, an all-natural date syrup, but their original tahini remains the heart of the business.

(Jillian Guyette)

All three sisters are still involved with Soom Foods, now balancing work, family, and motherhood. “We often bring our children into our warehouse,” said Amy, who lives in the Philadelphia area near her sister, Shelby (Jackie still lives in Israel). Their children are being brought into the family fold of food and entrepreneurship.

Last November, Amy released a cookbook called “The Tahini Table,” about incorporating the versatile ingredient into everyday cooking. Packed with gorgeous photos and simple but delicious recipes, the cookbook is all about making good, uncomplicated food with quality ingredients—which has been the heartbeat of Soom Foods all along.

And yes, the recipe for the carrot cake that started it all is in there, too.

RECIPE: Rachella’s Tahini Carrot Cake
RECIPE: Mom’s Chicken With Turmeric Tahini, Chickpeas, and Onions
RECIPE: Tahini-Dressed Tuna, Chicken, Egg, or Whatever Salad

Rachael Dymski is an author, florist, and mom to two little girls. She is currently writing a novel about the German occupation of the Channel Islands and blogs on her website, RachaelDymski.com

Categories
Features

Crispy Chinese Sausage and Cilantro Pancakes

(Courtesy of Kristina Cho/Mooncakes and Milk Bread)

These Chinese sausage and cilantro pancakes are a deviation from the beloved classic green onion pancake. I would take a plateful of crispy green onion pancakes topped with a big spoonful of chili oil over a stack of buttermilk pancakes any day. They should be salty, crispy, and a little greasy (in a good way). Some people like them thin and crunchy, bordering on cracker territory, while others prefer them thick and doughy. In my world, the perfect pancake is light and flaky on the outer rings and progressively doughier and chew- ier toward the center. That chewy center nugget of dough is the best piece to dunk into a generous amount of chili oil.

Thin layers of unleavened dough are rolled up with sesame oil and chopped fillings to create a quick lamination of sorts to create all those layers. The Chinese sausage renders into crunchy bits of sweet and salty pork, and the cilantro brings a welcome freshness. The combination is so delicious, complex, and textually more exciting than the classic green onion pancake.

Don’t stop at Chinese sausage and cilantro though—consider filling your pancakes with other tender herbs such as basil, dill, and tarragon, and maybe swap out the Chinese sausage for crisp bacon or crunchy fried garlic.

Makes 6

300g (2 ½ cups) all­purpose flour

½ teaspoon coarse salt

170g (¾ cup) warm water

¼ cup canola or other neutral­ flavored oil, plus extra for brushing

3 Chinese sausages, finely chopped

2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

1 cup fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems, finely chopped

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt, and warm water. Mix with a pair of chopsticks or flexible spatula until a shaggy dough forms. Knead with your hands until you form a smooth ball, 6 to 8 minutes. Lightly brush a medium bowl with canola oil. Transfer the dough to the bowl, turn to coat, and cover with plastic wrap. Rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes, or up to 8 hours. (The longer the dough rests at room temperature, the flakier the pancakes will be.)

In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, cook the sausage, stirring occasionally, until the fat renders and sausage is crispy, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer the sausage to a bowl to cool completely.

On a lightly floured surface, divide the dough into six equal pieces, preferably with a digital scale. Lightly brush a wooden cutting board with canola oil. Roll one piece of dough into a roughly 6 x 10-inch rectangle. Brush the dough with some sesame oil and sprinkle some sausage and cilantro evenly over the surface. Starting at a long edge, tightly roll up the dough into a 10-inch-long rope, pressing out trapped air. Starting at one end, form the rope into a coil shape, tucking the opposite end underneath at the end. Set aside and repeat with remaining dough, sesame oil, sausage, and cilantro to form six pancakes. (Brush the cutting board with more canola oil as needed.) When you’ve formed the last pancake, cover the coils with a kitchen towel and allow them to rest for 15 minutes. (Don’t be tempted to skip this step, as the pancakes will not roll out as easily without a proper rest.)

Working with one piece at a time, gently flatten each coil with the palm of your hand, then roll into a 6-inch round. Place on a parchment paper–lined baking sheet. If the pancake bursts in some places, don’t panic! That’s natural! It will still cook just fine. In a heavy-bottomed skillet, heat the ¼ cup canola oil over medium-high until shimmering. Cook one pancake in the oil until the underside is golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes, then flip and cook the other side until golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes more. Place the pancake on a baking sheet fitted with a wire rack. Repeat with the remaining pancakes and serve. (The pancakes are best eaten soon after frying.)

Uncooked pancakes can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months. Sandwich the pancakes between 7-inch squares of parchment paper, then place the stack in a resealable plastic bag and freeze. Do not thaw the pancakes before cooking and frying as you would fresh pancakes.

Cooked pancakes can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Reheat the pancakes on a baking sheet in a 400-degree oven until hot, 8 to 10 minutes.

Categories
Features

Pineapple Buns

(Courtesy of Kristina Cho/Mooncakes and Milk Bread)

Every Chinese bakery must have a pineapple bun in their case. Despite the name, the bun has no pineapple—it’s a soft milk-bread bun with a sweet, buttery, crackly cookie-like top that, after it’s baked, resembles pineapple skin. The simple, iconic treat has a loyal following, even beyond Asian cultures: everyone loves a good pineapple bun. When I was younger, I’d slyly pick off the cookie topping and leave the plain bun behind for my brother. (When you’re the older sister, you can get away with things like that.)

Few things transcend enjoying a fresh pineapple bun still warm from the oven. You can eat it plain, or if you want to be like a true Hong Konger, slice the bun in half and stick a thick slice of cold butter inside.

Makes 12

For the Buns

Mother of All Milk Bread Dough (see below), made through step 4

All-Purpose flour, for dusting the work surface

For the Topping

250g (2 cups) all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon coarse salt

113g (½ cup; 1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

100 g (½ cup) sugar

1 large egg

½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 drops yellow food coloring

For the Egg Wash

1 large egg, white and yolk separated into two small bowls

While the dough is proofing, line two large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.

Make the buns: After the first proof, punch down to deflate the dough and transfer it to a lightly floured surface. Pinch and pull the ends of the dough to form a smooth ball. Divide the dough into 12 equal portions with a bench scraper (for accuracy, weigh with a digital scale if you have one). Form each portion of dough into a smooth ball by pulling the ends of the dough underneath and then rolling between the palms of your hand, and arrange on the prepared sheets, spacing at least 3 inches apart. Cover with a damp, clean kitchen towel and set aside in a warm spot until the buns are doubled in size, 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Meanwhile, make the topping: In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a medium bowl, combine the softened butter and sugar with a flexible spatula until smooth. Add the egg, vanilla, and food coloring, mixing until smooth. Fold the flour mixture into the butter mixture to form a sandy dough, then knead by hand until smooth. Pat into a disc and divide the dough into 12 equal portions with a bench scraper (for accuracy, weigh with a digital scale if you have one). Roll one piece into a smooth ball, then flatten into a 4-inch round with a dowel rolling pin. Score a crosshatch pattern into the dough with the edge of a bench scraper or knife, being careful not to cut all the way through. Use the edge of the bench scraper to lift the topping off the work surface. Repeat with remaining topping dough, setting each round aside until ready to top the buns. (Alternatively, you can skip making the crosshatch pattern. The topping will still crack beautifully as it bakes, just not as neatly.)

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Brush the tops of the buns lightly with the egg white to help the topping adhere. Place one topping dough round on each bun, gently pressing to cover the entire outer edge (you want the dough to fully encase the top of the bun, if possible). Whisk the egg yolk in a small bowl and lightly brush over the topping of each bun.

Bake the buns until golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer the sheets to a wire rack. Let the buns cool for 5 minutes on sheets, then transfer to the rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Buns can be kept in an airtight container (a resealable bag works great) at room temperature for up to 4 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Reheat room temperature buns in the microwave for 15 to 20 seconds or on a baking sheet in a 300°F oven for about 5 minutes, until soft and warmed through. Reheat frozen buns on a baking sheet in a 350°F oven for 10 to 15 minutes.

Milk Bread

For the Tangzhong:

100g (¼ cup plus 3 tablespoons) milk

20g (2 tablespoons) bread flour

For the Milk Bread:

125g (½ cup plus 1 tablespoon) warm (110°F) milk

1 teaspoon active dry yeast

50g (¼ cup) granulated sugar, plus a pinch

335g (2 ⅔ cups) bread flour, plus more for work surface

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt 1 large egg

55g (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into pieces and softened

1 teaspoon canola or other neutral-flavored oil, for bowl

Make the tangzhong: In a small saucepan over low heat, combine the flour and milk and cook, whisking constantly, until thickened to a paste, 2 to 3 minutes. Immediately transfer the paste into a small bowl, scraping the sides of the saucepan with a flexible spatula; let cool until warm, 5 to 10 minutes. Texture should resemble mashed potatoes.

Make the milk bread: In a clean or new small saucepan, scald the milk over medium heat, bringing the milk to a gentle simmer (watch carefully as milk tends to boil over). Pour milk into a small bowl and cool until warm to the touch (about 110°F). Stir in yeast and a pinch of sugar, and set aside until the surface of the mixture is foamy, 5 to 10 minutes.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the sugar, flour, salt, and egg. Add the tangzhong and milk and mix on low until shaggy. Add the softened butter one piece at a time, mixing until fully incorporated before adding the next. Increase the speed to medium-high and continue to knead the dough until it is tacky and slightly sticky, 8 to 9 minutes. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface. Wet your hands to prevent the dough from sticking, pinch and pull the ends of the dough to form a smooth ball.

Coat a large mixing bowl with 1 teaspoon of oil. Add the dough to the bowl, gently turning it to cover with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set in a warm spot to proof until doubled in size, about 2 hours (or place in the refrigerator to proof for at least 8 hours or overnight).

Categories
Features

Gifts for the Giving Season

(Junhao Su for American Essence)

The holidays at this time of year are as diverse as America itself, but nearly all have one thing in common: gifting. It is, after all, called the season of giving—no matter which holiday is observed. But if you’re hearing crickets when you try to put together this year’s list, keep reading for ideas that will slay those crickets and have you on your merry way in no time.

(Junhao Su for American Essence)

Want to give a present that can be life-changing in a very real way? Look no further than America’s beloved icon and maker of magic, Disney. But this gift doesn’t require a trip to California, Florida, or even a mall. It’s a school, and it’s online—and it teaches coding. It’s Disney’s Codeillusion, available to anyone age 8 and older. Codeillusion aims to alleviate the type of tedious learning so often associated with coding, promising students they will “play online coding games while learning more than just the basics.”

Besides playful learning sessions, Codeillusion also features top-notch instructors with real-life experience working for recognizable names in the industry, such as Sega, Marvel Comics, and Disney itself. Sound good? Codeillusion offers a free trial, so you can test it out before committing to a three-week course.

When it comes to holiday celebrations in this land of plenty, there’s bound to be plenty of good eats. We are a nation of foodies—which is why food can also be a much revered gift. If you’re looking for tried-and-true yummies, check out Harry & David, a company renowned for its fruits and jams for nearly a century. Its roots go all the way back to 1910, when Samuel Rosenberg traded his Seattle hotel for 240 acres of Oregon farmland. After his ambitious sons Harry and David began peddling what were literally the fruits of their labor, business boomed and eventually expanded until the namesake company was selling its goods nationwide via colorful catalogs and stand-alone shops. Though sold throughout the year, at holiday time, Harry & David’s fruity jams and jellies become a familiar sight across the nation, either as gifts under the tree or on family buffet tables.

(Junhao Su for American Essence)

Like a lot of companies, Harry & David went through some challenging times in recent years, resulting in the closure of all of its stores except the flagship location in Oregon. Also like so many other American retailers, the company has tenaciously survived by reinventing itself online at HarryAndDavid.com. Here, you’ll find luscious, signature jams, preserves, and other fruit spreads such as tart cherry butter and blood orange marmalade. These can be purchased solo, in groupings, or as part of a lavish collection teeming with a bevy of baked goods, snacks, or chocolates. Each collection is then tucked into an attractive, reusable wooden crate, tin, or basket to be whisked away for a speedy delivery.

(Junhao Su for American Essence)

When it comes to food, though, it’s clear that some like it hot. Not only has hot sauce consumption in the United States been trending upward for the past 20 years or so, but experts predict it will only keep rising in the years to come. For those on your list who crave the hot stuff, it can be made personal with a customizable bottle of habanero sauce at BarProducts.com, where the bottle can feature the recipient’s name or any other message. And at just under 11 bucks, it won’t break the bank.

Speaking of hot sauce, you can opt for a variety of pourable peppers at FuegoBox.com, with deliveries of craft or small-batch hot sauces every month, bearing the absolute warmest of wishes.

Surprisingly, hot sauce makes a great gift for those oh-so-hard-to-buy-for grandparents or any other seniors on your list. Believe it or not, the baby boomer generation is buoying this hot trend that’s giving more traditional, all-American condiments, like mayonnaise and ketchup, a run for their money. It’s believed that as Americans age, their sense of taste diminishes. So, they’re turning to hot sauce to give their food a much-needed flavor kick. All it takes is one or two drops, and voila! Mission accomplished.

(Junhao Su for American Essence)

Got a dog lover on your list? With nearly 77 million domesticated dogs in the United States, it’s clear America has gone to the dogs. Chances are good you have some dog parents on your list who would delight in twinning with their beloved pooch in matching ugly Christmas sweaters. Found on Etsy.com in a variety of patterns and colors, most sets are priced around $30—a small price to pay for what are sure to be some super cute selfies.

Etsy.com is the place to go for those extra special gifts, too, like a hand-painted portrait depicting a beloved home, boat, person, or pet. Etsy.com artists will take a photo and bring it to life with paints, watercolors, or pencils, and if desired, they can add in extra family members or other details. Popular style options include cartoon, faceless, and romance-novel-inspired. Prices vary among artists and according to finished picture size.

Last but not least, you can help keep America bee-u-tiful with honey bee adoption via the World Wildlife Fund. In case you haven’t heard, the survival of bees has become threatened, and these donated fees will help finance the World Wildlife Fund’s ongoing conservation efforts. Keeping in mind that bees are the grand masters of pollination (as well as sweet honey), ensuring their survival seems worthwhile, doesn’t it?

Categories
Features

A Christmas Story

(Courtesy of Chriss Swaney)

On Christmas Eve more than a century ago in New York, Clement Clarke Moore’s sleigh slid over the snow in the light of a full moon. He had one hour to keep his promise to write a holiday poem for his children. Moore glanced at his driver—a Dutch handyman named Peter. The man’s nose was red, and his belly shook as he sneezed in the cold night air. Moore was inspired.

By the time they reached home, he was reciting: “His eyes how they twinkled! His dimples, how merry! His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry.’’ The resulting 14-stanza poem, “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” is better known for its first line, “‘Twas the night before Christmas.” The poem remains the bedrock of the Swaney family Christmas. After we decorate the 14-foot blue spruce Christmas tree with some 300 antique decorations, family members in frayed frock coats stand in front of the living room fireplace and deliver, from memory, Moore’s holiday classic. This tradition began when my grandmother became too feeble to read the poem, and my father then stepped in to lend a hand at reading the poem, which he knew by heart after all the years of hearing it from his mother. The poem also was an inspiration for my father to hand-carve a set of three hobbyhorses one Christmas for the family. The hobbyhorses now sit in several downstairs rooms over the holiday season, each with a pudgy Santa Claus toy as the jockey.

The tradition of making handmade gifts stuck; every Christmas since 1953, my family has been blessed with handmade gifts ranging from music boxes and delicate wooden bracelets to hand-knit argyle socks and a giant nutcracker that still stands guard over Christmas presents underneath the tree every holiday. After we decorate the tree, we take a break for some eggnog laced with apricot brandy. And then we sing Christmas carols, accompanied by three turn-of-the-century Regina music boxes. Christmas Eve may be winding down, but our last two tasks before heading to bed are hanging our stockings by the fireplace and making sure all of Mom’s antique dolls are wearing their holiday garb. One doll, in particular, is placed on a chair with a sheaf of wheat, facing the Christmas tree, in memory of my late mother. She was an avid doll and antique collector. In fact, Clement Clark Moore would be right at home at my house in Pittsburgh because we still have functional, old-fashioned dial telephones and no television.

Christmas Day arrives with more novel traditions. We pop out of bed and immediately race to the living room to open gifts. Before we can open them, the family gathers around the Christmas tree to sing “Auld Lang Syne,” written by the great Scottish poet Robert Burns. My family has roots in Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. While some family members clean up the gift wrappings, a handful of relatives head to the kitchen to prepare the evening meal. For the past 40 years or more, it has always been the same menu: baked salmon appetizer, turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, homemade stuffing—with a pinch of love, as my grandmother used to say—homemade dinner buns, caramelized brussels sprouts, and Hungarian spice cake for dessert. The spice cake is from the recipe book of my father’s beloved nanny Mariska, who came to live with my father and my grandmother after my grandfather’s death in 1930. Dinner is concluded by a family pledge that my mother created in 2005: “May the many happy moments shared by us in the forthcoming holidays be kept always in our hearts and memories.’’ The day concludes with a reading of the Christmas story in the Bible and a few long kisses under the hallway mistletoe. I’ve learned to enjoy every moment of Christmas, because there are no rewinds.

Categories
Features

A Christmas Editorial That Still Pulls at the Heartstrings

(Linda Zhao for American Essence)

One hundred and twenty-four years ago, an 8-year-old girl wrote a letter to the editor of The Sun, a New York newspaper, asking, “Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?”

The answer, “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus,” is the most reprinted newspaper editorial of all time, a classic appearing in dozens of languages—in newspapers, books, movies, and even the Old Farmer’s Almanac, and on posters and stamps. What makes it endure? Is it because “Yes, Virginia” perpetuates the best traditions of Christmas? Is it because it touches on the connection between parents and children? Is it because it makes us long for the days of the great American newspaper? Or is it something more?

The author, Sun editorial writer Francis Pharcellus Church, grumbled when he was handed the little girl’s letter. “Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus,” wrote Virginia O’Hanlon. “Please tell me the truth.” Something in the innocent query touched the veteran newsman. Church quickly turned in a 500-word reply, printed on September 21, 1897, on Page 6 with no byline. “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus,” Church wrote.

“He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life the highest beauty and joy. Alas, how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence.”

The editorial was destined to live on, far beyond Church’s death in 1906, The Sun’s demise in 1950, and even Mrs. Laura Virginia O’Hanlon Douglas’ passing in 1971.

“You couldn’t stop it if you wanted to,” said Jim Temple, grandson of O’Hanlon. For generations, O’Hanlon’s descendants have quietly become ambassadors of the Christmas spirit, crossing the country to events honoring her and reading the famous letter and the responses. In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Temple and his wife read the famous letter and editorial to college students at a Marine Corps Toys for Tots event held in 2017.

“My grandmother gave us all a reason for believing,” said Temple in a recent interview. “It also has been a way for generations of parents to address the skepticism of their children about Santa Claus,” he added.

Many years ago, Temple’s own granddaughter Maggie questioned Santa’s existence. She had doubts, questions, and theories. Her grandparents stared silently ahead as they drove down the road, pretending not to listen. It was more than just a right to challenge the existence of Santa Claus. “It’s a family tradition,” quipped Temple.

Maggie is a symbol of the millions of children who ask that very question each holiday season. In fact, the question and the history behind the “Yes, Virginia” line have spawned a cache of collectible Christmas tree bulbs, dolls, books, and advertising campaign memorabilia. Inspired by the “Yes, Virginia” story, Macy’s launched its first “Believe” campaign in 2008, benefiting the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

“I remember Grandmother sitting near the fireplace and reading the letter and editorial, and thinking she is the spirit of Christmas,” Temple recalled. O’Hanlon, who loved to tell her story, led a life of achievement. “She was a modern woman ahead of her time,” said Temple. She earned a master’s degree and doctorate in education. And for decades, she was a New York City school teacher and principal.

She loved baseball. She took her grandson to his first movie and showed him how to use the subway system. She always wore a string of pearls around her neck, high heels, and an elegant coat. “She raised my mother as a single parent. I don’t know why there was a divorce; they didn’t talk about that kind of stuff,” said Temple, a retired manager for the New York State Department of Transportation. As for her childhood home in Manhattan, it is now home to the studio school where her legacy is celebrated.

Temple said he first realized how famous his grandmother was after he and a group of classmates at the Citadel, the military college of South Carolina, were watching the Ed Sullivan show one evening and saw his grandmother on the show. “I think down deep we always realized she was a special lady,” Temple said.

And special she was. O’Hanlon received a steady stream of mail about her letter throughout her life. She would include a copy of the editorial in her replies. In an interview later in life, she credited it with shaping the direction of her life quite positively. Historians have pointed out that the editorial and letter are about a time when America was beginning to define its Christmas—a Victorian Christmas.

Lori Falce, community engagement editor for the Tribune-Review Newspaper, says the story speaks about generations. “It’s about respect, respecting the child and the adult who asks questions,” said Falce. “My own son went through that questioning phase about Santa Claus,” she recalled. “Virginia O’Hanlon’s father cleverly dodged the question by pointing his daughter in the direction of The New York Sun.”

Crusty newspaper editors have a particularly soft spot for “Yes, Virginia.” The editorial evokes the days of the journalist’s newspaper, like The Sun—a time when newspapers were the most trusted news medium, when the great American editorial was really the great American editorial. As Virginia put it in her letter: “Papa says, ‘If you see it in The Sun it’s so.’”

Andrew Conte, director of the Center for Media Innovation at Point Park University, points out that “Yes, Virginia” is more than just a century-old story about a bygone era in journalism. It’s not just about a girl in New York. It’s about children everywhere and grownups big enough to remember. “It’s about faith, wonder, joy, and love,” said Conte.

“No Santa Claus!” wrote Church. “Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.”

Amen, and Merry Christmas.

Categories
Features

Wild Beauty

A foggy Appalachian Trail at Newfound Gap in Great Smokey Mountains National Park. (William Silver/Shutterstock)

A few weeks ago, after years of searching, my husband and I bought our dream property: an old but beautiful farmette in Pennsylvania. We both grew up in rural settings, but we have lived in cities or neighborhoods our whole married lives, so to find a place together and build the life we’ve imagined for so long has been an exciting adventure.

One of our favorite aspects about our new home is that it borders the Appalachian Trail, the longest hiking-only footpath in the world, stretching 2,193.1 miles from Maine to Georgia. I remember feeling amazed that I would be able to hike parts of the trail, and meet travelers from all over the country, once we moved to Pennsylvania. Now that we’re going to be living so close to this American treasure, I decided to do a little bit more research into the trail’s history.

The Trail’s Beginnings

Exactly 100 years ago, the idea of the Appalachian Trail was born when regional planner Benton MacKaye put out a proposal for the trail with an article, “Appalachian Trail: A Project in Regional Planning,” for the October 1921 edition of the Journal of the American Institute of Architects.

In it, he writes something that rings perhaps even more true today than it did in 1921: “We civilized ones also, whether urban or rural, are potentially helpless as canaries in a cage. The ability to cope with nature directly—unshielded by the weakening wall of civilization—is one of the admitted needs of modern times.”

Appalachian Trail wooden sign. (Prosiaczeq/Shutterstock)

By 1937, the footpath connecting Maine to Georgia was complete. Three years after the Second World War ended in 1945, recovering veteran Earl V. Shaffer became the first person to hike the trail in one consecutive journey. His motive for hiking was to “walk the Army out of my system.” He hiked the trail three times, completing his third trip at the age of 79.

By 1968, the National Trails System Act became law, putting the Appalachian Trail under federal protection. Today, the trail draws over 3 million visitors every year. Many serve as volunteers to maintain the trail’s beauty and cleanliness.

The Trail by State

The trail crosses through 14 states, from the rocky wilderness of northern Georgia, to the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, to the headquarters of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy in West Virginia, to the trail’s most challenging sections in Maine. To hike the trail is to see the country in its wild beauty and diversity.

Each decade, the number of “2,000 milers,” the name given to hikers who hike the trail in its entirety, grows dramatically. In the 1930s, only 5 people completed the hike from start to finish; in the 2010s, 9,946 hiked the entire Appalachian Trail, according to statistics compiled by the Conservancy.

The Draw to Hike

The first person I met who hiked the trail from start to finish was Emily. She was the sister of a college friend, and we met up with her years ago in Pennsylvania as she was passing through on her way to Maine. As we ate dinner together at my in-laws’ farm, Emily told us story after story about sleeping under the stars, foot injuries, and meeting others along the trail. While we lounged in the candlelight, drinking coffee after a delicious dinner, she talked about listening to audio books; what it was like to have only your thoughts for company day after day; how fulfilling it was to live so close to nature.

This was long before I had ever hiked portions of the trail myself, before I had seen hay bales glowing in the golden hour before sunset on a Pennsylvania farm, before I had picnicked with my daughters by the trail’s streams, before I had ever imagined that we would one day be able to hike the stretch behind our own home after dinner. I was already drawn to it then, when I heard Emily’s stories.

I don’t know if I will ever hike the trail from start to finish like Emily did. With small children in tow, it feels like a distant dream. But I love to get out and hike the trail around me whenever I can, meeting people from across the country when I do. In a polarizing, tense time for our country, I love the reminder that the states of Maine and Georgia are connected by a footpath; that on a ground level, none of us are really all that different. Now, I only have to venture into my backyard to be reminded of this truth.

On the trail, whether for hours or months, we become what MacKaye hinted at: freshly uncaged canaries, learning how to be free.