Niles Junior High School - Milestones Yearbook (Bronx, NY)

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I ,Mlm 1 1 Q, Wg! lf , CHRISTMAS EVE IN POLAND LiTTle STasia's golden braids had been bobbing back and TorTh as she looked ouT oT The window. scanning The darkened sky, Tor on ChrisTmas Eve young and old eagerly. awaiT The TirsT sTar To appear in The sky. Only Then do They lighT The candles on Their ChrisTmas Trees. Finally The Tree was lighTed and The Tamily gaThered around The Table Tor The TradiTional ChrisTmas Eve supper. STasia helped her broTher sTrew The Tloor wiTh hay, place a layer oT sTraw under The Table cloTh, and place The candles careTully in The cenTer. When everyone had saT down aT The Table, her TaTher broke The Holy WaTer and gave each one a piece. Then supper began in real earnesT. lT is an old cusTom in Poland ThaT There should be nine courses aT 'The ChrisTmas Eve dinner. FirsT, a Tried Tish and bread appeared, Then a delicious barszcz sogp made Trom xg, beeTs and sour cream. NexT came poTaToes garnished wiTh buTTere Tried onions. r T I I 'IA Q Lai K VT lllll TL.. ,,, Ili W as - .4-J' H in Then came dumplings wiTh prunes and raisins. and mushrooms and sauerkrauT. Then barley wiTh dried apples appeared. STasia aTe sparingly Tor she was saving her appeTiTe Tor The besT Tood oT all-pierogi-a dumpling made oT dough and prune Tilling. The meal was'compleTed by a poT oT hoT Tea and babka-cake. ATTer supper she and her broThers inspecTed The ChrisTmas Tree which' held many liTTle surprises Tor Them. EveryThing was homemade. NoThing had been boughT in The sTores. ThaT is a Polish TradiTion and STasia knew iT well. While The dishes were being washed. ChrisTmas Carols were sung. Everyone Then prepared To go To The PasTerka, a midnighT mass which lasTed unTil one-ThirTy. STasia and her broThers looked Torward To The nexT nighT Tor Then The older boys would go Trom house To house singing carols and holding beTore Them an illuminaTed sTar on a long pole. Some oT The carolers would wear masks imiTaTing animals in The manger. or The Wise Men in The EasT. The nighT would end wiTh dancing The Oberek in gay cosTumes. From The sTraw on The Table To The masks worn ChrisTmas nighT. everyThing would be symbolic and TradiTional in This Polish celebraTion oT ChrisTmas. STasia is in America now buT she sTill sings carols as she washes The dishes on ChrisTmas Eve. She sTill waiTs Tor The TirsT sTar To appear in The sky beTore she lighTs her Tree. and never Tires oT hearing her moTher Tell Tales oT The oTher land. CAROLINE KAczoRowskA, QA: ' CHRISTMAS IN ITALY . Every counTry has iTs own way oT celebraTing holidays. LeT's Take ChrisTmas Tor insTance. Every Town celebraTes iT a liTTle diTTerenTly. so l'll Tr my besT To make you acquainTed wiTh The way They celebraTe ChrisTmas in my moTher's'Town in lTaly. ln America we have a ChrisTmas Tree To decoraTe, buT in lTaly They don'T have a Tree. They have a liTTle sTable wiTh Jesus lying in a manger wiTh all The shepherds kneeling around The new born baby. They have liTTle dolls dressed as angels. shep- herds, The village people, and The Wise Men walking down a hill. Then There is a brighT sTar aT The head oT The manger. lnsTead oT lighTing liTTle lighTs on Trees. They ligh'T Their lighTs on The liTTle sTable. y They eaT and drink all kinds oT Things. They eaT roosTers and meaTs roasTed in The oven, and macaroni. and a loT OT homemade cookies and cakes. Many oT Them drink liquor and wines. They also play games. They dance and sing. and some oT The people go inTo The counTry To serenade. They go around visiTing each oTher and exchanging Toods beTween Tamilies. As an end To a quieT and happy ChrisTmas, They siT around The Tireplace and Tell Tales. ' INEZ CONTE. 8A4

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CHRISTMAS IN AUSTRIA The da has come aT lasT. ChrisTmas is here! For days now. my moTher and TaTher have been busTling around preparing Tor The big day. My broThers have been gaThering The rye planT Tor our Tree and iT's Tinally u on The Table wiTh iTs ornamenTs and decoraTions. You see. our cusTom is To gaTl?er The rye planT, wrap iT in bundles, and use iT as a ChrisTmas Tree. MoTher has been preparing a lovely dinner and half The village will be here. No. we don'T have a SanTa Claus or SainT Nicholas, buT we do believe in giving presenTs. And now aT lasT, MoTher says. All righT, children, you! may dress yourselves. EveryThing is ready. A I Laces and silks are pulled ouT oT The closeTs and we are bedecked in all our TinesT. The Table, covered wiTh a pure linen cloTh my grandmoTher had made, and highly polished wooden spoons, knives, and Torks was laden wiTh sTeaming puddings. hoT roasT pork, chicken. veal, and all The Toods ThaT make your mouTh waTer. AT long lasT our guesTs announced Their arrival by The merry Tinkling oT sleigh bells. The cusTom is Tor Them To wear a cerTain cosTume made oT animal skins. These are Turned so ThaT The Tur is againsT The skin and The inside is made wiTh The puresT color imaginable. This is really one of our nicesT cusT,oms. GiTTs are exchanged wiTh many a greeTing card Tor a Merry ChrisTmas and a Happy New Year. ATTer The TradiTional seven course dinner The kuTchka is served. KuTchka! WhaT on earTh is ThaT? l'll Try To explain. You see, a cerTain Type oT weed is picked, cooked Tor abouT six hours. coaTed wiTh honey and seeds, and leTT To dry. This delicacy is so good. you iusT can'T imagine iT. A small piece oT iT is Thrown u Towards The rooT. IT iT reaches The ceiling. a long and prosperous year is ahead. lTpnoT, well, you can'T live Torever. anyway. Finally, when The evening has begun To Turn inTo morning, our guesTs pile Their cloThing on and sTep cauTiously ouTside. CauTiously, because The iokers and pranksTers oT The village are ouT on The prowl in Their cosTumes and masks. Yes. iT is acTualIy dangerous To go ouT oT doors TonighT. As l climb wearily inTo bed aTTer a perTecT day, I wonder iT I'll ever have such a wonderTul Time again. RUTH SCHINDLER. 8BR LIFE INA KVUTZA IN PALESTINE V LiTe in a KvuTza sTarTs aT seven o'cloclc in The morning when The people are aroused by a loud gong. They eaT in The large mess hall oT The KvuTza. ATTer breakTasT The dishes are washed b a commiTTee which is changed Trom day To da . While The commiTTee is busy washing and drying The dishes. The resT go To work. Some work in The Tields, some in The orange groves, some Tend To caTTIe, and some work in The packing de arTmenT. In a KvuTza everybody works. boTh men and women, so someone is needecln To waTch and Take care oT The children. Work is repared b a commiTTee whose iob iT was To prepare The meals. ATTr lunch. workj is resumecl,unTil 5 P.M. From Tive Till supper Time lsupper is served aT six P.M.l parenTs usually spend wiTh Their children. ATTer supper The children reTire. The adulfs usually spend The remaining Time in The library. Taking a walk, or reTire early: , A MILTON MOCHSON. -9AI 153.-

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STRIKE THREE The new GJ. looked very familiar. Now where on earTh have I seen ThaT guy? said SergeanT Doyle To himself wiTh a feeling of discomforT and curiosiTy, as he wafched The Tall angular figure walking To The barracks. According To The records. The man's name was Allan Beering and he came from some IiTTle hick Town in Ohio. ThaT affernoon aT drill PrivaTe Beering acquiTTed himself wiTh honors. He caughT onTo Things quickly. His long arms responded rhyTh- mically To The confusing orders and he handled his rifle like an old Timer. ThaT man Beering is all righT. remarked The Louie To The Topkick, he's a naTural. Alfhough he kepf To himself mosT of The Time, Beering made many a good friend. and was popular among The men. Yep, G.l..Beering was okay and The sergeanT admiTTed iT even Though he didn'T agree. Well, ThaT's how Things sTood when The boys goT orders To go overseas. A More Training was given The men wiTh s ecific reference To Jungle fighfing. ATTer a while Beering received a couple of welfnearned sTripes. One day The C.O. called The men Togefher and Told Them ThaT soon They would see acTion. A few days lafer They were on a Transporf. heading ouT To sea wiTh a large convoy. Soon a Jap Isle was aTTacked by a large force of Marines. ln a shorT Time mosT of The resisTance was crushed. One morning The OO. asked for some volunfeers To wipe ouT a small Jap parTy in The depThs of The Jungle. Doyle and Beering were among Those ThaT volunTeered. They sTarTed ouT early in The morning. Soon They were Tramping Through lush jungle. As They neared The Japs. The Marines spread ouT. ln doing This. Doyle found himself in a small clearing covered by overhanging branches and vines: Plop! a leech! fasfened iTselT on his neck. lnsTincTively Doyle slapped iT and in doing This he dropped his gun. All wenT black 'for Doyle. Wifh a ringing head he opened his eyes and found himself bound and gagged. There were a few Japs abouT him. One of Them Took ouT a knife. As The Sarge saw The blade. a cold sweaT broke ouT. His hearT beaT like a drum. The hairs on his head sfood up and he TelT fainT. BuT Then ouT of The corner of his eye he saw Beering quieTly pick up some rocks and wiThin The Twinkling of an eye he heard a Thud and saw dead Japs all abouT him. Beering walked over To inspecf his handiwork aT close range. Snap ouT of iT, Sarge. You look as iT you've seen a ghosfl- said Corporal Beering. LeTTy STeel! exclaimed The sergeanT as he gras ed The corporal's hand. Now I know why l never liked you. You sTruck me ouT ThaT day in Chicago. Me, The 'Babe RuTh' of The league sTruck ouT by a green kid from The sTicks! l never goT over ThaT. lT cosT The Reds The pennanT and me-I wasn'T much good afTer ThaT. Beering looked aT The sergeanT. Yes, Sarge, l did play baseball under The name of STeel, buT Beering is my real name. You see l quif The game To make America safe so liTTle kid-s could play The game when They wanT To. The Axis was aT baT and I wanTed To make 'em fan a few. So you were ThaT Red slugger! Gosh. buT iT's a small world aT ThaT! Doyle looked down aT his feeT and saw a Jap wiTh a knife sTill clenched in his hand. A slow grin spread over his face. They Took Their bases all righT. LefTy or Al, ThaT bean ball sure is a pip. I . A SOL NELSON. SA4 ...55.. . '.