Hyla (Smith) Skudder

I no longer remember exactly when the Charlie Parlin, Blackie Parlin, and Camilla (Parlin) Smith families decided to spend the cold winter Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays up at Silver Bay together. But it was a grand idea, as it afforded the gang of cousins more opportunities to hang out together during the year.

 

THANKSGIVING

Thanksgiving featured enthusiastic touch football games in the grassy area between Uncle Charlie Parlin's house, Grandpa Parlin's Big House and the apple orchard. The touch football games also often featured much mud, which was probably not so appreciated by our various mothers! And speaking of football, Thanksgiving also afforded the ONLY opportunity during times up at Silver Bay to watch television - an otherwise strictly forbidden activity - and then ONLY for the express purpose of watching the Thanksgiving weekend football games. The sole TV set was down in the old white Farm Cottage, (that was later torn down and replaced by Grandma Kaye Parlin's beautiful house). The uncles, Uncle Blackie, Uncle Charlie, and my Dad (Harold Smith), and a gaggle of cousin's gathered around the TV in the front room to watch the games. The other attraction, in addition to the TV watching, was the enormous selection of junk food snacks available to consume (something else that was forbidden while at Silver Bay). Not being a football fan (then or now), I don't have any clear memories about most of the games - it really didn't matter - it was just fun to be there for all the excitement and cheering. The only clear memory I have of one of those illicit football games is the year (research tells me it was 1973) when the team playing the Dallas Cowboys was the Miami Dolphins. Several of us cousins routed for the Dolphins simply because we thought the last name of their quarter back, Bob Griese (juvenile humor converted this to "greasy"), was hilarious.

 

Another tradition that became associated with the Thanksgiving dinner itself, that was held in the Smith's Lake House living room, was playing Twister after dessert! Who first thought that playing a game that required people to be bent over contorting themselves into human pretzels right after stuffing themselves to the bursting point with rich food was a good idea I have no recollection! But the younger set was enthusiastic. The only adult that ever participated in these Twister Tournaments was Uncle Blackie. He delighted in challenging the younger generation. My sister Heather recalls, "He was playing with us kids quite competitively, butting the young ones out with his hips. I was the last kid left and as it came down to the 2 of us I was determined to knock him out! And I did! Thinking back, maybe he let me win, but I certainly felt a huge sense of triumph that Thanksgiving Twister Tournament!" One memorable year Uncle Blackie took his twister game competition with the youngsters up a notch. He gave himself a "grownup handicap" which included plunking a wooden chair down right in the middle of the Twister mat, in which he sat enthroned while playing. From his seat on the chair he could easily stretch out his long arms and legs to pry the younger contestants off their colored circles and topple them over. He won "hands down" (as it were), much to the aggrieved complaints that he had cheated!

 

CHRISTMAS

Christmas, being a longer holiday break from school, afforded more time for activities. Notably tobogganing expeditions to the Silver Bay YMCA Conference Center up the road. (The Conference Center did not have any  winter activities at that time so we had the campus to ourselves). These adventures were enthusiastically led by Uncle Charlie and were not for the faint of heart! Some of the toboggan runs were fairly tame - like the slope in front of the Inn that was short, without any dangerous obstacles, and ran out into the flat area where archery happened in the summers. But a few of the more adventurous runs ran down steeper slopes between buildings or around large trees. But whatever the obstacles in front of us to be navigated, we fearlessly packed ourselves into the toboggan like sardines and hooted our way downhill, with Uncle Charlie in the back waving his arms to the sides and hollering "WHOOOOOO!!"

 

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I actually broke a knuckle bone on my right hand during one of those "adventurous" runs in my ninth grade year. The toboggan hit something unexpected under the snow and was flung airborne, coming down again with my right hand unfortunately underneath. I thought perhaps I'd get an "injury pass" when I got back to school, since I was coming back to my written exams and my right hand was all wrapped in bandages preventing me from holding a pencil. But no! I had to take all my written exams with my awkward left hand! I'm sure they were largely unreadable, but I none-the-less passed. On that same toboggan run Heather recalls, "I got 'water on the knee' and was on crutches when I got back to school! One other time we went straight down and into a tree. And another time we went clear across the Silver Bay road and smashed into the stone wall on the other side!" But despite the risking of life and limb, the tobogganing sure was fun!

 

But my favorite part of the Christmas holiday was Christmas dinner, when several generations of family filled the house with conversation, good food, singing, and laughter. This gathering was always held in the living room of our Smith Lake House. Mom (Camilla) had several long plywood tables specially made for these large family gatherings. One lived on the screen porch for big summer dinners and parties. The other was stored in the upstairs hallway for use at Thanksgiving and Christmas. These long tables, and later on other tables as spouses and children added to the throng, were added until a long line of tables stretched completely from one end of the living room to the other, with just enough room between the top table and the grand piano for people to squeeze around to the other side. And my Dad (Harold) was seated on the window seat of the big picture window at the bottom end. The kitchen down the hallway was the bustling staging area for all the delicious dishes that arrived with the other families. And the tradition was that after dinner, the men took over the kitchen to wash the dishes. (A grand idea!)

 

Having a big sweet tooth, the Christmas dessert was always an item of keen interest to me. My hands-down favorite was Aunt Joan's (Blackie's Joan) elegant and scrumptious "Buche de Noel" - basically a rolled chocolate cake filled and slathered with decadent chocolate frosting, decorated to resemble a Yule Log.  (This confection ranked up there with her famous 4th of July chocolate layer cake). But we weren't always able to have this lovely dessert. This was due to a shared obsession between Uncle Charlie and Aunt Joan's father, Max Mintz, with creating the ultimate flaming dessert! There were various attempts at this over the years, using various theoretically flammable sauces, but none ever made much of a show except a few brief low blue flames that soon fizzled out. One of the best of these earlier attempts was a replica of a classic rich and fragrant brown bowl-shaped Dickensian Plum Pudding, whose little blue flames lasted the longest. (A bigger danger with that dessert was whether you were being passed the bowl with the "hard sauce" - a distinctly un-Methodist topping heavily laced with liquor - or the "regular" non-alcoholic sauce!).

 

But the Christmas dinner of 1981 Uncle Charlie and Max Mintz were ecstatic. They were SURE they had finally got the perfect combination of ingredients to create a dramatic flaming dessert. They announced that we would be having "Cherries Jubilee" - vanilla ice cream with cherries that got a special sauce poured over it that was to be lit at the table. They were very secretive! When dessert time arrived, and the plates and main dishes were all cleared away, and dessert bowls and spoons were laid out, everyone was shooed out of the kitchen to go wait in the living room, while Uncle Charlie and Max got to work preparing their masterpiece. There had been so much hype ahead of time, that anticipation around the table was very high. Would this dessert finally be the one that really flamed?

 

Eventually Charlie and Max arrived proudly carrying in the Cherries Jubilee and setting it down at the head of the table. The sauce was poured over the ice cream. Everyone held their breath. Charlie lit a match and touched it to the sauce and WHOOOSH - bright blue flames leaped up high around the ice cream. Everyone clapped and cheered - it was spectacular! And the flames didn't die out either. Charlie began spooning the Cherries Jubilee into bowls and they were passed down the two sides of the table, with bright flames accompanying each bowl. But soon some exclaims of alarm began from the lower end of the table. The bowls were made of paper, and so were the table clothes! The flames were still going strong in the bowls and people weren't sure what to do about it. At this point Uncle Blackie leaped out of his chair yelling, "We're going to catch the house on file!" and ran down the hall to fetch the file extinguisher. But failing to find one he returned with a bucket of water! But by then the flames had begun to finally die out, and people figured out that dampening the flames with their spoons and the melted ice cream also helped. And besides, the ice cream and cherries tasted delicious! It was decided that all in all it had been a SPECTACULARLY successful Christmas dessert!

 

The event made such an impression on me that I wrote a commemorative song about it, which I sang it at the next year's Christmas dinner as dessert time came around. I passed out little slips of paper with the words to the refrain so the assembled relatives could sing along. I later gave Uncle Charlie and Aunt Joan an illustrated version of the song lyrics, but I have no idea what might have happened to it. But here for posterity, and your reading enjoyment are the lyrics to the song. The chorus gets sung between each verse. Enjoy!

 

Cherries Jubilee Song                         

In honor of Uncle Charlie’s famous (infamous?) flaming Christmas dessert!
by Hyla Skudder    1982

 

CHORUS:   (to be sung between each verse)

Jubilee, Jubilee,

What a flaming and glorious Jubilee!

There’s nothing the matter, can’t you see?

So just keep on passing the Jubilee!

 

1.       Of all the great feasts that take place Christmas Day,

The Parlins’ is one of the more famous they say.

And the dinner that out-shines them all they agree

Is the Christmas that Charlie served his Jubilee.

 

2.       Well the dinner committee first met to consult,

The grand next year’s menu to be the result.

When they got to dessert they just couldn’t agree,

So Charlie suggested Cherries Jubilee.

 

3.       “Now Buche de Noels have been fine in their day,

But that mode of refreshment is now quite passe.

We need some excitement!” said Charlie, said he,

“So I’ll serve you my flaming Cherries Jubilee!”

 

4.       So at that Christmas dinner when the plates were all cleared,

Then back to the kitchen Charlie disappeared.

And everyone present waited most eagerly

The appearance of Charlie and his Jubilee.

 

5.       Finally the radiant Charlie appeared,

The pan burst with flames and everyone cheered.

Then he spooned out the flaming hot cherries with glee,

And passed ‘round the table that bright Jubilee.

 

6.       But soon from the table rose a cry of dismay:

The flickering flames got quite carried away,

For the bowls were all paper and caught fire easily,

And the table soon blazed with Cherries Jubilee!

 

7.       “Oh the house will burn down!” Blackie rose with a cry,

And to fetch the extinguisher from the room he did fly.

But Charlie, unheeding, kept on serving with glee,

And he sang as he passed ‘round that bright Jubilee.

 

8.       Well the bright leaping flames caused some faint hearts to swoon,

But the quick-thinking members beat them out with a spoon.

And though the level of trauma was hard to define,

They all said the ice cream still tasted just fine!

 

9.       So at each Christmas dinner when dessert time draws near,

We greet Uncle Charlie with a rousing big cheer!

We lift up our voices and shout lustily,

“Three cheers for the flaming Cherries Jubilee!”