Edmund Bringer Memoir - Brookens Library

E&md A. Bringer 37
front roan and he always used to go out and pick it out himself, get his
om Chrisms tree. But then re used to have--Chxistms used to be
quite. . . . in those days Christmas was quite a day. Around their
house. They had--all their friends that they KUI-I around with all the
time in Peoria on aristxnas Eve they'd grab a basket full of cookies and
candies and wine and things like that and c m to their hause and then
they'd care in and bring their baskets of wine and cookies and crackers
and everything and mats and cheeses and evemhing, c w
in and have a
little to do at your house and enjoy a little talk and look at the Christmas
tree and everythug and then they'd go to smbody else 's house and then
everybody just kept going around in a circle see. Eberybody visited
everybody and took their food with than and everything and it ws quite a
bit of fun that my.
But m used to go dm--&en w'd go up there Paul--my brother--lived in
Peoria then and my stepfather he m s pretty-he ms a real Dutchan. You
know he ws German but he ms a nice guy and everything kt w used to go
down to domtom on Jefferson Street. They used to be dom in the--behind
Clark's department store ms a rathskeller and they had beer and wines in
there and all Gerrnan foods and everything and VE used to go dom there,
he used to take us down there. be evening w'd go dawn there and sit
around and eat and drink beer and eat German foods and things like that
and cookies and. . . . But he WS. . . . he always had his Chrismas tree
every year.
Q: Did he make ornaments or . . .
A: No he didn' t mke omarmmts or anything he just bought them and . . .
Q: &s he from Gemmy I man . . .
A: No, no he came frm Havana.
Q: Second generation.
A: Havana, Illinois. His family ere frm Havana, Illinois and I don't
know--oh we11 he--he told IW one tine about his fdly dow there htt I
did how some of than, I met sane of them d m there at Havana. I& used
to go dom there to Havana to Matlanzas Beach too to visit people and then
*..
Q: Matamas Beach?
A: Yes. It ms a--wll there Is--Havana used to be quite a resort area
dom there. They got a place called Snicarte Slovgh and then there ms Goofy Mdge and Matanzas Beach and Chautauqua Park see and Matanzas Beach
ms smr cottages and everything and the--they =re along part of the
one of the sloughs off the river. And Goofy Ridge ms up the river a
little ways and it vas--oh it ws just a wildlife area around there. But
there used to be an h l
lot of people had sumner cottages over at
Havana, on both sides of the river. It used to be good hunting country
wer there. They'd come fran all over the United States to bunt ducks
there and geese and that m s in the early part of this century about 1900
on through 1920, 1925 but after that they--it didn't go so good, hunting
around there.
Edmund Bringer Memoir - Archives/Special Collections - Norris L Brookens Library - University of Illinois at Springfield - UIS