Labor Day

[blessedmomof04]

Do you have a picnic over Labor Day weekend? What food do you make or take to a picnic?

[cat lover]

We usually don't do much except stay at home, but this year.... one of DH's sisters is having a pig roast! Could turn out to be aboput 200 people and everyone is bringing a dish to share and their own drinks. Of course we will have to take our own "picnic" of food because DH can't ever eat food at those things not knowing how they are cooked(because of his strict diet). It will still be fun though just seeing everyone!

[dval]

We have a Holy Ghost feast every Labor Day weekend in my town just down the street from my house. This is a Portuguese tradition. It has been going on in my town for something like 70 yrs. Much longer in Portugal. There is a crown that symbolizes a time when Queen Isabella 'crowned' a poor child to be king or queen for the day. The crown has a dove, a symbol of the Holy Ghost, on the top.
For 7 weeks before Labor Day the crown is hosted at a different house each week. Every Sunday it travels (by car in a procession with horns blowing) to the new host family and they open their house to anyone that wants to pray to the Holy Ghost. They also have to feed all the people that come. When I was a kid, my family used to 'follow' the crown. There was always about 50 or so people and an endless supply of food (Cacoila and Favas) at the new house every Sunday night! Each host family acts out a crowning of a small child from the family. The last family to host the crown is always the president of the Holy Ghost Club and then the following weekend they have the three day festival. There are 5 parades for the whole thing and three days of Portuguese food and carnival fun and (my favorite) the auctions.
I have grown up going to this festival and have even been in the 'queens court' when my uncle's family hosted the crown.
Sorry for the long post. Wonderful memories....I could go on for hours....

[blessedmomof04]

dval the festival sounds great. Have a lovely time.

Charlotte

[cat lover]

dval, that does sound interesting. Did I read it right in that the "hosting" family has to feed everyone that comes? That could be quite a lot of people?

[DeBora4BobbyL]

Donna, that sounds like a lot of fun! I can tell you have very fond memories.

Tomorrow, I will be giving my SIL a practice intelligence test, which takes quite a bit of time. I also still have a ton of work to do for my presentation on Thursday. So, no having fun or celebrating. The GKs will probably come over, so I might spoil them.

[dval]

dval, that does sound interesting. Did I read it right in that the "hosting" family has to feed everyone that comes? That could be quite a lot of people?
Yes, I'm pretty sure the host family pays for everything. It's considered an honor. In fact, they hold a lottery on the last night of the feast (tonight) to choose the hosts for the following year.
Not only is there food to pay for but usually a large place of honor is created in a room of the house to display the crown. When my Aunt & Uncle hosted it they had this huge display that took up half the living room. They used chicken wire and TONS of tissues and lights to create the display. Kleenex loves the Portuguese. LOL!

[cat lover]

Wow! Sounds like an interesting thing and so nice that people work together on a yearly basis to do this!

[dval]

They had a sign there saying this was the 97th annual feast so it's been around for a while.
My parish also does a very scaled down version of it with the members of the parish. That one concentrates on the prayers and religious aspect. Probably doesn't have the food and definitely not the booze.