“why do so many in Wisconsin celebrate the holiday?”
cuz it’s so freakin’ cold there is nothing else to do?
I wished they’d gone into detail and talked about the real St. Nicholas being persecuted for being a Christian leader, even put in prison. He was released only after Constantine made Christianity legal. According to legend he was jailed again for, again according to legend, hitting a dude named Arius for saying that Jesus isn’t divine (Nicholas was Trinitarian).
It was the 1961 Christmas Paegant at Chippendale Elementary School in Roseville, Michigan. I was in First Grade and played Saint Nicholas himself.
My line was, “I’m Saint Nicholas. I visit the children of Holland on December 6th.”
I was magnificent.
Today....................
A continuing tradition in our family, hopefully to be passed on to future generations. As kids we’d look for the largest socks we could find (I’d generally use gym socks) to hang up outside our room on the evening of the 5th.
The nice thing about St. Nicholas Day is that it was never commercialized as was Christmas itself - it was a quiet combination of a day with religious implications as well as material treats to wake up to.
As kids we left a shoe outside the bedroom door and got presents on December 6 from St. Nick. At least when we lived in St. Paul. Not so much in Kansas City.