Happy New Year: Traditions help area families celebrate holiday
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Many people have a tradition of making resolutions to celebrate the new year.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
New Year’s pretzels are a part of many Southwestern Pennsylvanian’s holiday traditions.
“Three, two one,” the ball drops, signals midnight, glasses clink and noisemakers welcome a new year.
Open the door, out with the old and in with the new; pile high a plate with pork and sauerkraut, and a doughy pretzel, just for good measure.
New Year’s traditions, born of superstition, rituals that celebrate a fresh start, give structure to the 12 months ahead. Creating a list of New Year’s Resolutions is one of the most popular – and oldest- traditions.
Nearly 4,000 years ago, the Babylonians began celebrating the changing years. They made lists of debts to repay and promises to keep in the new year in much the same way we promise ourselves we’ll drink more water or work out more regularly come Jan. 1.
Resolutions go into effect after the ball drops, another time-honored tradition steeped in history.
In 1833, a ball was installed at the top of England’s Royal Observatory and dropped daily at 1 p.m. so captains of ships could set their navigation instruments.
Similar time-keepers were installed around the world and, in 1907, a ball made of wood and iron descended from atop One Times Square to mark the new year.
While many Southwestern Pennsylvanians will list their resolutions and gather with family and friends to celebrate the ball dropping, they’ll also practice lesser-known traditions on New Year’s Eve.
No gathering, big or small, is complete without the very Pittsburgh tradition of a New Year’s pretzel.
“We’ve been doing this as long as we’ve been open,” said Michelle Greiss, who has worked at Krency’s Bakery in Washington for a decade. “There’s apricot, cream cheese, cinnamon, nut, and … raspberry.”
Bethel Bakery, too, has been in the NYE pretzel business for decades – more than 50 years, according to Amanda Langer, who has been with the bakery in North Strabane for six years.
While Krency’s is still selling pretzels to walk-ins, the cut-off date to order a New Year’s pretzel from Bethel Bakery was Dec. 28. The bakery sold 4,300 pretzels this year, Langer said.
According to tradition, the large, sweet or Danish-dough pretzel – which originated in southwestern Germany and gained popularity in Sandusky, Ohio, before becoming a staple in Southwestern Pennsylvania – brings good luck when shared with family and friends New Year’s Day.
Kaitlyn Ornot, who grew up in Washington and now lives in Claysville, said most years she bakes a New Year’s pretzel. This holiday season she’s under the weather but, although there’s no pretzel in her holiday plans, Ornot will continue a handful of her favorite traditions.
“(I) have money in my hand at midnight so I have money in the new year,” Ornot said over Facebook. “The money must belong to you too, it can’t be borrowed.”
Ornot also opens the door at midnight, to let out the old and let in the new, a take on the Irish tradition of opening the front door to welcome the new year, and the back door, to let the old year out.
Friends and family will enter the front door of Bobby Dellorso’s home in Canonsburg New Year’s Eve for a decades-old tradition of making homemade pork sausage.
Dellorso said his grandparents started the tradition, and eating sausage – with saurkraut – is said to bring good luck in the new year.
Other lucky foods to add to your grocery list for New Year’s:
- Round fruit, in the Phillippines, it’s customary to eat 12 round fruits, for luck every month;
- 12 grapes, a Spanish tradition;
- Long noodles, a Japanese tradition that promotes longevity in the coming years.