Unusual Holidays

Kathy - Schertz, Texas 

Hot Dogs, Chips and Soda on Menu for St. Patrick’s Day 

When I was in school back in the 1960s, we didn’t have a hot lunch program. Cold sandwiches, fruit, cookies or chips, and a carton of milk were brought from home and eaten at our desks, unless you lived in town and walked home for a hot lunch. 

During the cold Minnesota winters we longed for a hot meal to warm our chilled bones. The only nice thing about the sandwiches was that we knew they were made with love by our mothers. 

One day, someone in the high school came up with the idea of having a hot dog sale. It was decided that the seniors would cook and serve the hot dogs for 20 cents each, and students could add a can of soda for a dime and/or a bag of potato chips for a nickel. The money raised went into the senior class treasury fund. 

In March 1967, a hot dog sale was planned for St. Patrick’s Day. Everyone was looking forward to it. 

On March 16, it began to snow heavily, and the snow piled up throughout the day. The wind picked up overnight, and by the following morning, there were deep snow drifts everywhere. The temperature was below zero, and we ended up with a good old-fashioned blizzard. School was canceled, and with it the hot dog sale. 

My brothers, sisters and I missed out on the hot dog sale, but we still celebrated the holiday by wearing green – and we even tied a green ribbon around our dog’s neck. We got to enjoy Mom’s “hot lunch program,” as well as a tasty green Jello salad, and, best of all, no school for the day. 

More cold lunches were interspersed with an occasional hot dog sale over the next several years, until our school finally got a hot lunch program in 1972.  

We were all happy to trade our cold sandwiches for sloppy Joes, casseroles, pizza, chicken patties and other hot meals. 

Helen - Belle Plaine, Minnesota 

Rain Made Family’s July 4 Celebration ‘Traditional’