Community Spirit Sustained Holiday Celebrations

I have always thought of Northville — particularly at Christmas — as being something of a real-life Bedford Falls, the fictitious town in Frank Capra’s iconic film, It’s A Wonderful Life.

It certainly looks the part with its quaint downtown shops, historic buildings, and streetscape dotted with lampposts, benches and its signature clock. It’s more than the physical attributes, however, that give Northville its charm. The sense of community and character of those vested in this place are what give Northville that Capraesque feel. I have no doubt George Bailey would fit right in.

I thought about this last week as I walked downtown picking up Christmas presents on my way to lunch. For me, the sense of belonging that comes from knowing a place and the people that make it home is more profound here than anywhere I have ever lived.

I still think of myself as a relative newcomer though I’ve been in Northville almost 30 years. When you consider there are a fair number of residents who trace their roots to the inception of this community in the first third of the 19^th century, my three decades seem downright paltry.

There is no doubt that Northville has staying power. Certainly part of that comes from the community’s rich history and tradition. To a greater degree, I think it is the connectedness to people and place. We are a community that looks out for its own. We celebrate each other’s successes, and hold each other up in a crisis.

In this season of giving, it is worth looking back at the community’s efforts to keep the Christmas spirit alive even in the most difficult times. That spirit of giving is certainly still in evidence today in events such as the Rotary Club of Northville’s Goodfellows’ newspaper sale (a long held tradition here), the Salvation Army kettle campaign, the Mothers’ Club of Northville’s All-Aglow fundraiser for the Northville Public Schools. These are just a few organizations that help make the holiday brighter for many. Add to that the collections of books at the library, non-perishable food items in schools, churches and businesses as well as countless other efforts throughout Northville. It all adds up . . . and means so much to so many.

Last spring, I joined Heidi Nielsen, archivist and curator at the Northville Historical Society, and Barbara Louie, Northville author and historian, for a chat with longtime residents Fred and Laura Hix, and Dick and Jeanne Ambler. There is nearly a century of priceless storytelling between these two couples.

Laura reminisced that one  of the Christmas season highlights as a child in the 1920s and 30s was a visit from Santa at the Crow’s Nest, a raised platform at the intersection of Main and Center streets — Northville’s four corners. Santa distributed stockings to children filled with an orange and candy. In the 1930s  — with the nation in the grips of the Depression — those stockings likely constituted one of the few Christmas treats for many Northville children.

Northville’s spirit of giving during the Depression can be found in the pages of The Northville Record. Like many communities across the nation Northville had a welfare association to help its neediest citizens. The association was comprised of all of the community’s civic organizations engaged in welfare activities. The efforts of that organization kicked into high gear for the 1932 Christmas season. Among the highlights:

• A “Hard Times” dance at raised $100 for the local welfare committee, according to an article in the Dec. 2, 1932 issue of The Northville Record.  Local merchants and private citizens donated all expenses, materials and services for the dance so all of the proceeds could go to the welfare association.
• Ninety-two families received Christmas food baskets that included vegetables, fruit, a roast, bread or rolls, “and then, here and there in the corners (was) tucked something in the line of festive luxury since ‘Christmas comes but once a year.’"
• The municipal Christmas tree was “hoisted to its position by a crew of Detroit Edison company men, aided by the strong arms of a number of others” in its “customary spot” on the corner of Main and Center streets. The Record article noted “to many little ones this will be the only Christmas tree this year.” The tree was “the generous gift of William Smith of Randolph Street, who knowing that village funds were pretty slim this year, was bound that little children would not be deprived of this joy.” The village Christmas tree at Main and Center was a decade-long tradition by 1932, and was sponsored by the local Exchange Club.

By 1942, Northville — like the rest of the nation — found itself facing far different challenges as a nation at war. Throughout the war, The Northville Record ran a column titled, Keeping In Step With Our Times, which highlighted weekly War Department updates about war production, rationing and other issues impacting consumers.

In the December 18, 1942 issue of The Record, the war column noted that “Santa Claus  — and all the kids in Michigan — got a break the other day when three governmental agencies ruled that no restrictions will be imposed this year upon the production, distribution and sale of Christmas trees . . . But the kids, and their mothers and fathers, will have to do without chocolate Santa Clauses ... The War Production Board is prohibiting their manufacture after Dec. 15 because of the shortage of imported cocoa beans from which chocolate is made.”

A War Department ban on outdoor lights meant, “the village was not as gaily decorated as is the usual custom. There were few who violated the Government’s request concerning the use of outside decorations.”

Despite the shared sacrifice of citizens during the war years, Northville charities continued to receive the community’s support as evidenced by the lead story in the final Record edition of 1942.

“The Goodfellows were highly successful this year, netting a total of $478.73, the largest amount ever collected for the sale of The Northville Record in the annual charity drive.” Recipients of the 1942 drive were the King’s Daughters and the Maybury and and Eastlawn sanitoriums. It was noted, “Neil Hannaford came in with the largest sum of money. He had the thrill of bringing in the highest single contribution that has ever been made to the Goodfellows fund, a check for $100. This was handed to him when he stuck his head in a car waiting for the green light at the four corners. It was given by a newcomer to our village, Mr. Albert C. Yost of Fishery road.”

The spirit of giving as evidenced by William Smith who paid for the Village of Northville’s municipal tree in 1932, and Albert Yost who donated $100 (at that time an incredible amount of money) to the Goodfellows newspaper drive in 1942, is what has sustained us as a community even during the darkest times.

May their example — along with that of countless others in our long and storied history — be a beacon this holiday season.

Merry Christmas, Northville.