Imagine a time before WalMart or cross border shopping for the hottest toys or electronics gadgets for the people on your shopping list, and your favourite Christmas treat didn't come from the cookie aisle at Costco.
So, just how did our Surrey forebears celebrate Christmas?
Bring the family on down to the Surrey Museum next Saturday for Pioneer Christmas, a special holiday event filled with carol-signing, craft-making, old films and more.
It's happening from 1-4 p.m. at the museum, located at 17710 56A Avenue in Cloverdale.
Kids can help decorate the museum's Christmas tree with old-fashioned ornaments they can make themselves. And there's a sing-a-long with the Surrey Children's Choir, performing at 2 p.m.
Other family-friendly activities include a scavenger hunt, story time with Sandra (3 p.m.), watching black and white holiday films in the theatre, and browsing the museum's collection of vintage Christmas cards and postcards.
Make, and learn about traditional take-home crafts, including pomanders – an orange with cloves and cinnamon arranged in patterns – and Christmas stockings.
Traditional fruit punch and Christmas cookies will be available by donation.
Bring along a donation for the Surrey Food Bank, serving more than 14,000 people each month, with 41 per cent of those being children under 18 years of age.
Pioneer Christmas is the last day of operations for 2013 for the Surrey Museum, which is closed for the season, and will reopen in the new year.
Admission is sponsored by the Friends of the Surrey Museum and Archives Society. For more information, call 604-592-6956 or visit www.surrey.ca/heritage.
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