Christmas traditions new and old in Pocatello
POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI/KIDK) - At the Senior Activity Center, dozens gathered on Christmas Day for a tradition that dates back several decades.
For the Whitworth family, Thanksgiving and Christmas are always spent cooking and serving others. The family tradition extends to those who don't bear the Whitworth name.
To Michael Wilding, the son of a Whitworth, the holidays are always a special time to spend with his cousins.
"When I miss it, I feel the difference," he said. "It's something missing when you can't serve."
This year, Wilding arrived at the center at 4:30 a.m. to start cooking.
"And it has been busy since, haven't stopped since. I don't even know what time it is," he said.
By day's end, the family estimates they'll have served up 600 meals, about 100 fewer than Thanksgiving. But spending the day serving others is what Wilding calls the "true spirit of Christmas."
"It's something that we provide to people, but we love to do it. And if it's a hot meal, it's a hot meal and then they can go on the rest of their day and hopefully feel that spirit of Christmas in their lives."
Just across town, at the Pocatello Mosque, a new tradition seems to be cooking up.
“They sit with us on the ground, they eat with us on the ground, we break bread together and celebrate the things like that,” Mohammad Safdar, a member of the Islamic Society of Southeastern Idaho, said.
For the second year, the mosque invited in the community on Christmas as a way to say thanks and to strengthen relationships.
“Building together and chatting with each other, this gives you a sense of understanding and a sense of love, sense of respect to each other, and we really enjoy that understanding with all these people,” Safdar said.
The celebration also stands as a way for people to learn about each other, their cultures and religions.
“Most of the people, they have never come to the mosque, they have never seen. So this is an opportunity to come down to the mosque and see each other and understand each other.”
Both the old tradition, the Whitworth dinner, and the new one, Christmas at the mosque, plan to continue on next year.
