Holidays 2024: Plenty of history behind winter celebrations for Dodds
BY SHAWN LOUGHLIN
In the winters of yesteryear, the Dodds family farm was the place to be as the snow poured down, the banks rose high and there was tobogganing to be done.
Don Dodds, this year’s choice for Huron County Citizen of the Year due to his decades of volunteerism through 4-H, the Huron County Plowmen’s Association and others, grew up on a family farm that was purchased by his great-grandfather from the Canada Company in the early 1850s. It was a very hilly farm, so, when there was enough snow on the ground, Don and his sister Dorothy, had no shortage of things to do and that courtesy was extended to the other children of the neighbourhood, who would make the trek to “Dodds’ hill” for a bit of winter fun when the time and conditions were right.
As for Christmas, Dodds grew up during the war years, so money was tight and the family had to make do with what it had. To that point, there wasn’t an overflowing mess of presents under the tree each year and what presents were there were often homemade. He can remember wooden cars made with hand-spun wheels and other figurines, but they always had a toboggan on hand, which was essential for where they lived.
Dodds also grew up in the era of working with horses on the farm, so his family had a sleigh in the winter for work in the snow. It also came in handy on the occasional Christmas. When relatives would want to come and celebrate the holidays at the Dodds farm, there were winters when the weather was far too bad for travel and roads were closed. So, his aunts and uncles would drive to the end of the nearest county road and park their cars for a few days. Meanwhile, waiting with a horse-drawn sleigh was Dodds’ father ready to take them the rest of the way, with Christmas dinner awaiting them when they arrived.
Those dinners were always very traditional, with Dodds’ mother always busy in the kitchen. He particularly remembers the pie in those days, though he can’t remember his favourite. Now, he says, a blueberry pie is his go-to choice, as not only is it tasty, but it’s good for him and loaded with natural anti-oxidants.
Dodds grew up on a true mixed farm for the era, which included beef cattle, dairy cows, sheep and pigs. He would help out with the chores, of course, but his parents would give him the mornings off on school days, so that he and his sister, picking up some friends along the way, could make the mile-and-a-half journey to their school every morning and make it on time. Sometimes, in those winters full of heavy, unrelenting snowfall, Don and Dorothy would ski to school, which provided a bit of fun on a school morning.
As Don moved into adulthood and eventually married Maja, the love of his life, he said that not too much changed, in that they would still celebrate Christmas with his family and extended family as he did when he was a boy. When they had their own children, however, things changed a bit and they began hosting celebrations for their own family, while also travelling to see others over the holidays.
One of the couples’ sources of pride and joy that wasn’t one of their children was an extensive Christmas display that was mostly Maja’s domain, but that Don helped to construct to the best of his ability.
It all began when Maja, who passed away just two days after Christmas last year, received a small, decorative house from Canadian Tire for Christmas. Don remembers it coming from their daughter Lynne Godkin. Little did any of them know what that small gesture would spawn.
Maja loved it and the rest of her family took note, so, one by one, the town would grow and, before they knew it, they had an entire city on their hands. Don said that, at its height, it would take him two nights to assemble it, put it together and have it ready and operational for the holidays. He said it eventually grew to be so large that he had to build platforms for it and it would take over shelving and just about every other flat surface in their home around the holidays.
When the Dodds family was profiled by The Citizen in 2010 for their small Christmas city, there were more than 40 buildings in the collection. No doubt it grew over the time between 2010 and Maja’s death late last year.
Don tells a story of a coveted lighthouse piece that reminded the pair of a trip to Newfoundland they had so enjoyed in years past. They saw it in a Christmas display at Sears, he said, and were dismayed to find out that was the only one left. However, after seeing just how deeply they wanted to make it their own, the clerk helped Maja disassemble it from the display and sold it to her on the spot.
Her white whale was a hospital. Maja had worked for so many years in the hospital, Don said, and she was always on the lookout for one, but it never materialized. They even went to a recommended shop in Michigan when they were there last, with their friend sure they’d find what they needed there. Don said he was unimpressed and was sure that they had a bigger collection on their own than what they found in the store.
Now, as a resident of Goderich Place, Don says holidays are nice with his fellow residents and friends he’s met, but that his children still come and scoop him up for a family Christmas celebration, helping him to make the trip, as he isn’t as keen on driving in the winter as he used to be.