We Went Wassailing...Sort Of

Jan - 12/16/2008 5:00:00 AM in Lifestyle, Tables & Chairs
Tagged in Tables and Chairs, Holidays and Parties

It's hard to believe that Christmas is almost here. We don't really have any big pre-holiday traditions of our own, but we do try to partake in some of the local festivities wherever we live. To help get us in the holiday spirit this year, we attended the annual Wassailfest one evening in a nearby town. You're probably thinking, "what in the world is a Wassailfest?" Don't worry, so were we!

I've heard of the Christmas carol "Here We Come A Wassailing" but didn't really know much more. Once I read the lyrics and did a little more reading, everything made more sense! Wassail is a traditional European beverage, popular at the holidays. (It tastes kind of like hot apple cider.) Apparently, wassailing dates back to the middle ages as an early form of holiday charitable giving. Peasants would go caroling to each house carrying cups. They would sing until their cups were filled with wassail...hence the popular lyrics "we won't go until we get some". It's really quite an interesting history...here's a link to learn much more than what I quickly summarized.

So, with that in mind, Wassailfest is a free festival that centers around all of the downtown businesses that host open houses for the community and serve their own blend of wassail. This was our first year attending Wassailfest and we were flabbergasted by the extremely long lines people waited in just to taste the tiny cups of free wassail offered at each store! Maybe if we weren't toting a screaming toddler, we might have been more inclined to wait at more than just one store.

In addition to tasting the wassail and mingling with friends, local groups perform, carolers stroll the street, and the downtown courthouse and square are adorned with thousands of lights. You can also view a live nativity scene and visit Santa Claus. But, hands down, the highlight of the evening for my kids was the train museum. Both of my children are train fanatics. Little did we know that the train museum would be participating in Wassailfest! They had a real train decorated with lights that people could climb on and ring the bell. And, they also had several miniature train exhibits. One exhibit was simply set up outside under the depot so kids could stand around and watch the trains. Since it was a temporary exhibit, guess what they were using as train tables? Yes, Lifetime tables! They had about eight Lifetime 6' tables pushed together in variations directions to accommodate the track layout. We've been to lots of train shows over the past few years and almost all of the engineers use Lifetime tables for their layouts. Normally, however, the displays feature elaborate designs with fake grass, mountains, trees, buildings etc. so you can't really see the table. But, since this display was outside for just one night, it was easy to see they were using Lifetime tables!

Anyway, I hope you're looking forward to the holidays and finding fun festive things to do. If you want to share some wassail with your friends and neighbors, check out some of these recipes I found at allrecipes.com. Happy Holidays!

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The Community Food Co-Op of Utah

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Wrapping Up the Holidays

Jan

Name- Jan

What I do for a living- First and foremost, I'm a doting mommy of a second grader and a 4-year-old, and a proud wife of a USAF F-16 fighter pilot! In my pre-children life, I was the Communications Manager for Lifetime Products. But, once you're a Lifetime fan, you're hooked! So, after a few years of hiatus, I'm now a WAHM and am happily back on board at Lifetime as a freelance PR Consultant. In addition to blogging for Lifetime, you can follow and chat with me on Lifetime's Twitter account @Lifetime365 and on the Lifetime Products Facebook page!

Topics I blog about- How I use Lifetime products in my everyday life at home, for kids parties and community activities, as well as inspiring stories... and GIVEAWAYS! :)

My favorite products from Lifetime- 4x2 Table, 30” Personal Table, Chair, Youth Kayak, and Wheelbarrow. Although, our Shed and Yard Cart are pretty close favorites, too!

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We Went Wassailing...Sort Of