MPI Toronto Chapter Blog

Happy Halloween!

Halloween is one of my favourite times of year. I have fond memories of trick or treating and how my costume choices changed with the times. From gypsy to pioneer to vampire to the bride of Frankenstein, the best costume memories were definitely the home made variety.

This year, with Halloween falling on a Friday, I expect the kids will be out in droves, not to mention the adults with a bevy of Halloween parties and festivities. I am always excited to see which costumes are a la mode.

What also fascinates me about Halloween, is of course its traditions and folk lore. Did you know that in England the tradition was to carve turnips or beets? And in Mexico, it's Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). Some countries consider black cats lucky, and some consider them unlucky. Did you know if you see a spider on Halloween it could be the spirit of a dead loved one who is watching you?

If you are interested in learning more about Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), there is an exhibit on at The Gardiner Museum running until January 18.

http://www.gardinermuseum.on.ca/exbonnow.aspx?ImageID=1&TopNavImage=1#daysofthedead

If you are interested in learning more about Halloween traditions and lore, there are many websites that have information. Here are a few that I've found.

• http://www.history.com/minisite.do?content_type=Minisite_Generic&content_type_id=715&display_order=1&sub_display_order=2&mini_id=1076
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween

And if you happen to have an event that falls around this time of year - how much fun can be had with décor, food and beverage, team building and even the venue selection.  In Toronto there are several venues that are reported to be haunted. For more information on haunted Toronto and around the world check out these sites:

• http://www.toronto.com/attractions/article/529748
• http://www.canada.com/topics/travel/story.html?id=9c0b9ab2-e432-4b28-90c7-60b9b64c5373
• http://www.hauntedhotelguide.com/
• http://www.forbes.com/2002/10/31/cx_cv_1031feat.html

If you have incorporated this holiday into any of your events, add a comment and let us know what you did. And if you've had any haunting experiences, we'd like to hear about that too!

Have a safe and fun Halloween!

Nikki

Traditions

With Thanksgiving around the corner it's time to dust off the family recipe book for the turkey and stuffing recipe your grandmother used to make. Traditions are essentially a way of transferring knowledge from one group of people to the next, and they exist within our cultures, families, workplaces... we are surrounded by tradition when you think about it. 

A couple of years ago we started hosting Thanksgiving Dinner... this was a big step. No longer was it the children going to the parents, we now had everyone coming to us. And I will admit that first year was stressful... I needed to be sure that the traditions of the family were followed for dinner - that the traditional recipes (especially the stuffing) were incorporated into the meal. Fortunately, we managed to pull it off and now Thanksgiving has a new tradition of two families meeting at our home for dinner.

Last year I abandoned the stuffing recipe - a brave step indeed. Everyone LOVED the new stuffing - said it was better than the family recipe. If I had dropped the recipe in the first year I don't think the reaction would have been the same. Small steps are sometimes needed to make change. People need to get comfortable with the idea that change can be a good thing. Traditions evolve. New knowledge is shared.   

Happy Thanksgiving!

Nikki