Youth Engagement Collective

Youth Engagement Collective Exploring the Past, Engaging the Present, Envisioning the Future

Happy First Day of Spring!
03/20/2023

Happy First Day of Spring!

02/13/2023

We would like to congratulate the KC Chiefs players and organization on an amazing year and win.
You make proud.

01/14/2023

Lohri is a popular harvest festival that is celebrated with great fervor and enthusiasm all across Punjab, and parts of Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Delhi. The festival of Lohri is considered the begining of festival of New year which falls on January 13 of each year and is mostly celebrated by Sikhs and culturally by Hindus across the country and worldwide. The celebration involves lighting a bonfire, singing folk songs and dancing, especially bhangra and gidda, and savoring the classic delicacies - Makki di roti with Sarson da saag, gajak.

Lohri also known as Lohadi or Lal Loi is a festival that marks the harvest season in Punjab. Lohri falls on January 13 of each year, one day before Makar Sankranti which is another popular Hindu holiday that falls between January 14-15 every year. Lohri marks the end of the winter season and the start of the longer days. Lohri is celebrated to welcome the sun to the northern hemisphere. However, it is traditionally associated with harvesting rabi crops.

Lohri is a festival synonymous with bonfire lighting, traditional meal, song and dance, but it is celebrated to thank the lord sun and mother earth for a good harvest.

Merry Christmas to all of our partners and friends.
12/25/2022

Merry Christmas to all of our partners and friends.

JólabókaflóðA recent survey in Iceland found that Icelanders read an average of 2.4 books per month and nearly a third o...
12/25/2022

Jólabókaflóð

A recent survey in Iceland found that Icelanders read an average of 2.4 books per month and nearly a third of the population reads every day. This reflects the storytelling tradition of Icelanders that goes back centuries. On the long cold winter nights, families would gather by their home fires to work on their tools, process wool and other tasks, while one family memberwould be chosen to read aloud to everyone else. Children often learned to tell stories as well as read during this time of the year. Being able to read was required by both the government and the church. At the end of the 18th century, nearly every Icelander could read (They lost half of their population during the 1700s due to smallpox and a volcano eruption.)

In 1944, Iceland found itself a newly independent nation suffering from the deprivations and rationing of World War II. One of the few commodities that was not rationed was paper and it was imported to produce books that were written and printed in Iceland. The Icelandic Publishers Association created a catalog of the books available for purchase for the holiday season and distributed them to every household in the country. This has continued every year since. Half of Iceland’s book sales occur during the holiday season.

The traditions Jólabókaflóð is that one gives and receives books on Christmas Eve and after unwrapping the new literary treasure, one curls up with a mug of hot chocolate and reads long into the night.

12/15/2022

Irish Christmas Traditions

The Christmas traditions from Ireland are especially appropriate at the Historic Harris-Kearney Home in Westport. The heritage of this family and community is Irish.

Placing a candle in the window of a house on Christmas Eve began as a symbol of welcome to Joseph and Mary that in this place that would find shelter. The tradition became a sign during the Penal Times that this home was a safe place for a priest to hold Mass. The Roman Catholic Mass was illegal in Ireland during that time, The tradition also included that the candle would be lit by the youngest member of the household and only be extinguished by a girl named ‘Mary.’

Also on Christmas Eve following the evening meal, the kitchen table was set again. It included a loaf of bread filled with caraway seeds and raisins, a pitcher of milk and a large lit candle. The door to the house was left unlatched so that Joseph and Mary or any traveler in need, might find nourishment and hospitality.

The placing of a ring of Holly on door originated in Ireland. It was one of the plants that flourished in the winter so there was an ample supply for decorating. Traditionally, the decorations are taken down on Little Christmas (January 6) and it is considered bad luck to take them down any earlier.

Happy Christmas in Gaelic is ‘Nollaig Shona Duit’
(pronounced ‘null-ig hun-a dit)

12/10/2022

Sugar Plum Sunday Countdown and announcement!

The Youth Engagement Collective and the Possum Trotters of Port Fonda are excited to announce, in conjunction withe the Kansas City Ballet and the Kansas City Ballet School, 2 students will be in attendance at Sugar Plum Sunday dressed as Sugar Plum Fairies from the Ballet, to talk about the history of the Sugar Plum Fairy and take pictures with those coming to the Harris-Kearney House in Westport for the Open House.

The Sugar Plum Fairy is not in the original E.T.A. Hoffman story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King or in The Take of the Nutcracker by Alexander Dumas. Both versions do have magical descriptions of the realm of sweets. A “sugar plum” was a candy created by layering sugar coating over a seed or nut center. There was no plum, “Sugar plum” symbolized everything sweet, delectable and lovely.

In creating the ballet, a role for a ballerina in which she could demonstrate her talents was needed. The embodiment of sweet, delectable and lovely was born in the role of “The Sugar Plum Fairy.”

The first Sugar Plum Fairy was Antonietta Dell’Era. She was an Italian ballerina from a dance company in Berlin. The performance and the music received mixed reviews. The more critical reviews of Dell’Era may be the result of her not being Russian. Dell’Era was not pleased with the amount of stage time afforded her role and worked with a Hungarian composer to add an extra dance to the ballet. In time, the additional dance was dropped. The widespread success of The Nutcracker in North American brought a rise to power for the Sugar Plum Fairy. Ballet companies began mounting the ballet during the holiday season. Coupled with Tchaikovsky’s breathtaking music and the lasting appeal of the character and the technical demands of the role, the Sugar Plum Fairy overcame the lack of stage time.

It is often the first ballet children see or in which they perform. It the first role that budding ballerinas aspire to obtain. The Sugar Plum Fairy has become a symbol of seasonal splendor and hope and of childhood dreams.

Meet the Sugar Plum Fairy at Sugar Plum Sunday at the Westport Historical Society on December 11, 2022, from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Some photos from the Possum Trotters of Port Fonda's event A Mrytle Hollow's Eve. It was a very fun day! Thank you, El...
11/12/2022

Some photos from the Possum Trotters of Port Fonda's event A Mrytle Hollow's Eve. It was a very fun day! Thank you, Elizabeth C. Bunce, for coming out to the 1855 Harris-Kearney House Museum and Westport Historical Society.

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