The Fourth of July comes at the height of the glorious, short summer in Minnesota. Thank goodness the founding fathers decided to declare independence during a sweltering Philadelphia summer instead of in the winter, it would be a much different celebration in Minnesota.
I always looked forward to Fourth of July, it was a time to have fun and see and play with the cousins, my Barbie’s and their entire wardrobe would accompany me because that meant it was time to play Barbie’s with someone else instead of me playing all of the roles.
Hosting the celebration would rotate among my dad’s family, it started out as my grandmother and great aunt hosting on alternate years, then some other families wanted in on the fun, at one point I believe it was a rotation of seven different families.
Shortly around noon we would all gather at the designated home, and before the meal we would all gather in the kitchen and pray the “Lutheran” prayer. My mom, sisters and I and some other cousins were Catholics and the invaders of this wide reaching German Lutheran clan. I would always do the sign of the cross and wonder if anyone saw me doing that.
Being Minnesotan there was a lot of food, and being German there was always a lot of beer! The table practically GROANED under all the food. My grandmother would fry doughnuts, make baked beans from scratch, bake yeast rolls and her potato salad was famous because she cooked the dressing on the stove. There was fried chicken, and the salads were well represented: macaroni, three bean, fruit, and a beautiful seven layer salad in a cut glass bowl. Hot dishes, every kind you could think of, hamburger , potato, wild rice and of course tater tot! The desserts always included pies, apple, cherry, pumpkin, custard, there was not a frozen pie crust among them, and the pie crusts were all made with lard. My favorites were pumpkin pie (one was baked especially for me one year because the hostess knew it was my favorite) kuchen and a poppy seed cake with a cooked sugar frosting.
It was a time when our moms and grandmothers brought forth their best farm cooking, and it was a time to use beautiful serving bowls that were displayed in china cabinets that were gifts from weddings many years ago.
My mouth is watering as I think of that table.
The men would gather in the garage, under the trees, or wherever the keg was, and the women would sit in the living room or in the kitchen. The kids would go to the designated kids area. It was always so hot and humid, those farm houses did not have air conditioning, so all the doors were open to get that natural AC. There was either a stock tank or a wash tub filled with ice and water and covered with tarp to keep the pop and the non-keg beer cold. It was always a shock to plunge your arm into that freezing water while blindly grabbing a drink, hoping you got what you wanted.
Once our lunch was done, it was time to visit, play cards or other games, until chore time came and those that needed to went home to milk cows. Once the chores were done it was supper time and we all came back for a final meal before spending the evening at home and we would look forward to the next birthday get together. It wouldn’t be on the same scale as the Fourth of July, but it would rival it.
There was always a birthday, and we averaged a party almost every month. My dad’s extended family really liked to party.
As the years went on, the kids got older and we found other entertainment with friends outside of the family celebration. Then the kids grew up got married, and would maybe bring the new spouse to the family celebration for part of the day but then go to another celebration. Eventually the new families would find their own traditions and stop coming.
We have lost members of our family so the hosts dwindled down, now it is just my Mom and two other families left, and the attendance is pretty low. Mom asks me every year to come out but I decline, I miss those that are no longer with us, and I want to remember the Fourth of July as it used to be.
Happy Fourth of July, everyone!
