Holidays 2024: Hopfs continue to grow spirit of Christmas in Belgrave
BY SCOTT STEPHENSON
Every year, as the weather gets colder and the days grow shorter, The Citizen staff is given the enviable task of combing through all the unique communities of Huron County in search of seasonal stories and festive folks to feature in its annual Christmas issue. By this point in the crazed countdown to Christmas, the whole of Huron County is so chock full of cheer that it’s practically bursting at the seams with stories. The only hard part, really, is deciding which stories will end up in the paper!
Based purely on their own merit, Emily Beard and Trevor Hopf would almost certainly make the cut - they’re not only a cute young couple living in Belgrave, they’re actively involved with their community. When she was still a student, Emily planted the first seeds of the Wingham Community Garden, which now produces thousands of pounds of fresh produce for the North Huron Community Food Share across the street. Trevor is a past-president of the Belgrave Kinsmen, and together, the pair has spent the last year raising money to improve the Belgrave playground for future generations. As an extra bonus, they have an adorable two-year-old daughter named Sophia who wears party dresses and can very nearly do a handstand without help. But none of that stuff is why the Beard-Hopfs have been selected for this year’s Christmas issue of The Citizen. The real reason is as simple as it is selfish - for years now, my wife and I have been of the opinion that Emily and Trevor are the just the coolest, and this interview was a great excuse to hang out with them this holiday season. When we arrived at their lovely home, we were met with fancy drinks and a festive snack spread that featured truffled cheese, crackers and nuts. We had a great time.
Emily and Trevor were married on the Blyth Greenway Trail in the summer of 2017. Their reception was at the Belgrave Community Centre, right by the old house they’ve been renovating together for years. Christmas is, hands-down, Emily’s favourite holiday. Trevor is more of a Halloween man, but Emily is hesitant to call him a Grinch. Every year, he tends to find creative ways to celebrate.
Take, for example, their first Christmas as a couple. They were at a silent auction when, suddenly, Trevor had an idea - a wonderful, awful idea! “Emily really wanted this knife set, so I went over and put a fake name down.” Emily, unaware of his present plan, asked a friend of her mother to bid on the knives on her behalf. Already too invested to accept being outbid, Trevor asked Emily’s mother’s friend to stand down. In the end, he won the knives and was able to sneak them out to his truck, only to have his brother inadvertently spoil the surprise when he stumbled upon them later.
Rather than accept that he had lost the element of surprise, Trevor also wrote out a list of tasks Emily would need to achieve in order to earn the knife set. He also replaced all the knives in the set with disposable plastic cutlery and weighed it down with old books. Then he taped the whole thing together, put it in an old briefcase, and headed off to her parents’ house. Emily did jumping jacks, pushups, got drinks for people, wore socks on her ears - she even donned a Montreal Canadiens hockey jersey!
When she finally finished the list, Emily took the still-unopened briefcase over to her grandmother’s house to show off her new knives. When the plastic knives and forks were finally revealed, her grandmother gazed down at them and said “Oh, those are lovely.” And that was that!
Sophia came along in 2022. This Christmas may not be her first, but it is the first year she’s been capable of commenting on the goings-on. Last year, Sophia was still too young to fully grasp the significance of the celebration, so they simply wrapped up some of her existing toys. “And it was just as exciting as if there was a new toy,” Emily explained. “I think this year will be different for her because she understands more. She’ll probably open gifts.”
Now that he has a daughter in the mix, Trevor has been taking Christmas a bit more seriously. “Ever since she’s come around, I’m just trying to make sure that Christmas is good for her,” he admitted. “It’s not always just about the gifts. It’s more about just seeing whoever else is around you and making sure everyone else is happy.”
This year, mother and daughter have been busy making spiced dough ornaments to hang over the fireplace. “They’re made out of applesauce, glue, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground ginger, allspice - all the seasonings that you associate with Christmas. We hung them over the fireplace, because as they start to even remotely get warm you start smelling it,” Emily explained. “They were pretty fun to make - it was so messy, and so wonderful. Like Christmas exploded.”