Special Occasions in Minnesota

A Minnesota special day is a table, a lake if the month allows, and a plan for cold if it does not. Summer is the State Fair and the Fourth. Winter is Christmas and a cabin.

A birthday

• It is the person’s day. Cake is the point.
• It happens at home, or at a supper club, on the date or the nearest weekend.
• A hotdish or a grill feeds the room. Bars come in a pan.
• Candles are blown. A song is short.
• Gifts are opened then. A card is enough from a guest.
• There is no rite beyond the cake. A winter birthday stays inside.

The State Fair

• It is the late-summer fair in Falcon Heights, the twelve days before Labor Day.
• Families go once in that stretch. A seed booth and a livestock barn are the old draw.
• Food on a stick is the new one: cheese curds, a pork chop, a bucket of cookies.
• It is not a holy day. It is the gathering the state keeps.
• Lines are long. A rain does not close it.
• The point is one day out of the house before school starts.

The Fourth of July

• It is Independence Day, 4 July. Towns hold a parade in the morning.
• A lake cabin is the afternoon. A grill, a boat, and a float in the water.
• Fireworks are at dark, over a lake or a park. Mosquitoes are part of it.
• Flags go up. Offices close.
• A storm can move the show. The parade still runs.
• It is a public day. The cabin is the private one.

Thanksgiving

• It is the fourth Thursday in November. The meal is the day.
• Turkey, stuffing, mashed potato, cranberry, and a wild-rice dish in many houses.
• Lefse shows up if the family is Norwegian. Bars cover the counter.
• Thanks are said at the table, short, before anyone eats.
• Football is on after. A walk is the break.
• Leftovers are Friday. The hotdish may be made of them.

Christmas

• Christmas Eve, 24 December, is the family night in many houses. The 25th is the public holiday.
• Lutefisk is the old fish, kept by some, skipped by most. Lefse is the one almost everyone still rolls.
• A tree is up. Gifts open on the eve or the morning, by family rule.
• Church is the eve service. A candle is passed at the end in many Lutheran rooms.
• Snow is expected. A guest brings boots.
• The point is the house closed in. The lake waits until June.

A graduation

• It is the end of high school, late May or early June.
• A ceremony is in the gym. A party is in a yard or a hall after.
• A grill, a sheet cake, and a table of cards.
• Relatives drive in. A gift is cash or a tool.
• It is not a church rite. It is the town marking one class.
• Photos are on the porch. The weather is still cool.