REMEMBRANCES OF CHRISTMASES PAST: Parades were a big part of Christmas for Bill and Sharon Miller and their family

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By Missy Klatt

Rural Menomonie residents, Bill and Sharon Miller first met on a blind date and have been married for 61 years. They have racked up a lot of memories over the years but before they ever met they had their own child hood Christmas memories.

Sharon

Sharon was the only child of Walter and Allie Leskinen. She was born in Greenwood but they moved to Eau Claire when she was four years old. Although she was an only child she was lucky enough to have an aunt and uncle live a couple of blocks away from them in Eau Claire and they had several kids so they all grew up together. This was her dad’s brother and her mother’s sister. There were actually three brothers that married three sisters and her grandmother said they ran out of boys, ‘I had a lot more girls left.’

They would go to church on Christmas Eve to the late service (11 p.m.) at the Lutheran Church and then on Christmas day they usually went to dinner over at her aunt and uncle’s place. Then sometime during the Christmas week they would go to visit her Grandma and Grandpa Pagel who lived in Thorp.

One year for Christmas, when Sharon was 11 or 12 she recalls wanting a pair of skis. “I couldn’t see anything under the tree that looked like skis,” she laughs “and here they were in the back in the corner behind the Christmas tree, not even wrapped and I totally missed it.” That gift sticks in her mind but she said most of the time she got clothes.

Sharon’s dad was Finnish and her mom was a mix of Irish, German and Dutch but Sharon doesn’t remember any special cookies (other than cutouts) or ethnic treats at Christmas.

Sharon remembers having Sunday School programs where they exchanged gifts after they drew names in their Sunday School class and they also got a bag of goodies with nuts, candy,  apples and oranges. There was singing during the program and probably a skit Sharon recalls.

Sharon states that they probably had Christmas programs in school but conceded she really doesn’t remember. She noted that at that time the schools were over crowded and they were building a new school and so for a while they only went to school for half a day.

Later after they were married Sharon said that her mom and dad were always invited to Christmas Eve with the Millers since they had no where else to be. So they were involved with a lot of the Miller Christmas celebrations.

Bill

Bill was the first born to Elmer and Edna Miller. He was followed by Glen, Arvid, Rich, Mary, and Lynn. Bill recalls that they would always go to church, Peace Lutheran, on Christmas Eve and they would get out to the car and his mom would always be late, “then of course when we got home Santa Claus would have been there” Bill notes. All this was of course after the evening chores on the farm were done.

When he was young they would also go to his Grandma and Grandpa Klatt’s a week or a few days before Christmas with the whole Klatt family. He remembers his uncles playing various instruments. “Paul would play the violin, I think  Uncle Walt played the guitar and somebody, I think Uncle Alfred played the accordion.”

On Christmas day they would go to his Grandma Miller’s place. 

Bill is of  German desent and his mom used to make rosettes and peppernuts at Christmas time, “us kids helped her make them” adds Bill. Another winter food that they enjoyed was blood sausage that they would make at home. He said they loved it and he and his siblings would fight over it.

His Aunt Evelyn always made Lutefisk at Christmas time and he enjoyed that as well. For a time he and Sharon used to go to all the Lutefisk dinners in the area but now there are only a couple of churches left that do Lutefisk dinners. “We used to hit them all, everyone of them,” enthuses Bill.

When they were kids they would buy their tree from Bakken’s in Menomonie. Bill said that one of the Olsons used to go up north and cut down a bunch of trees and sell them there.

As for gifts they mainly got clothes at Christmas. He recalls one time that he got a pair of roller skates that he thinks may have been for Christmas. He would then go roller skating in the barn. At the time his dad, like most farmers, would use field lime on the floors. Bill said he would sweep it all into the gutter so he could skate. “Boy, did I catch hell for that.”

Growing up they always had a Christmas program at church usually the week before Christmas. Bill stated that back then they went to Sunday School all the way through high school. 

Bill attended little Elk Creek School and he remembers that one time at their Christmas program, Uncle August Holzhueter played Santa Claus. The programs consisted of a lot of singing and some skits. They would also get gifts and a goody bag.

Bill and Sharon

Bill and Sharon have three children, Lisa, Scott, and Brent. When the kids were little they went to Bill’s mom’s for Christmas Eve and then after a while Bill and his siblings started taking turns hosting. Now Bill and his siblings and their kids and grand kids no longer fit in many of their homes so they’ve moved their Christmas Eve celebrations to the Fanetti room at the Dunn County Recreation Park.

The kids got to open their gifts on Christmas Eve. Brent their youngest son recalls one year that when they went in the house after chores his older brother, Scott said Santa just left and he had a John Deere pedal tractor waiting for him.

When the kids were little they always had a stocking even though Bill and Sharon never had them growing up. Now Bill and Sharon’s mantle boasts almost more stockings than it can hold with stockings for all the grandkids, their spouses and the great grandkids. Currently they have eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren with another one on the way.

Sharon remembers that when the kids were young the school always put on a really big Christmas program. Bill commented that after the program was done the real tree that they had for the festivities would get thrown out so he would rescue it and for a few years he would just recycle it and use it as their tree at home.

When they didn’t get the tree from school they got their trees from Walt Olson and the kids always helped trim the tree.

Bill who sports a white beard now, played Santa for several years for some 4-H clubs for their Christmas parties. However his beard wasn’t white then and Bill remembers one time one of the kids said “Santa your other beard is showing through under the white beard.”

Parades

About 30 years ago Bill and Sharon started taking their horses and carriage to parades and different events in the area and a few in Minnesota. The first Christmas parade they did was in Durand. They would give rides all afternoon and then do the parade in the evening. They continued to go there for many years as well as to Boyceville where they usually hauled Santa Claus in the carriage. They also did parades at Knapp and Menomonie.

Bill tells the story of the time they went to Durand and they had a run away carriage. He had a family in the carriage with the top up and a piece broke off and fell causing sparks and the horses got majorly spooked. Usually, all Bill had to say was ‘ho’ and the team would stop but not this time. They rounded a corner on two wheels and there was still no stopping them so Bill ran them into a building between two signs which finally stopped them but broke one of the main poles on the carriage with just some minor cuts and bruises to the horses. Bill said the guy in the carriage jumped out and asked if he was alright, to which Bill replied “Meeee?”, thinking that that guy and his family would have been more shaken up. The incident didn’t deter Bill and the horses and they went back for many years after that. Although he does admit that that was the scariest thing that ever happened to him.

They stopped doing the parades in 2018 or 2019 as it became too much work for the two of them.