David Gadar Speaks
Staff Article
Interview with David Gadar, Councillor of the District of Valencia
Recorded: December 18, 2005
Posted: December 21, 2005
"This event is titled 'Carols by Candlelight, Traditions of Christmas'. It is geared towards recreating the 'old time way' of how families used to come together in small villages to bake, prepare and cook animals. In most instances it would have been pig, sheep and goat. The people from the rural community used to go to one's home on an evening where the animals would be slaughtered, maybe under a tree, and then they would cut them up. While the older folks were preparing the animals, the children would be all over, playing games and so on. Traditionally, a part of the animal was kept for the children and the people who were there, and 'a cook' would have been made. Parts of the animals were also shared to various homes after they were cut up.
We wanted the younger people to experience what community life was back then without electricity, running water and gas stove. The baking would have been done with the Dirt Oven and the Barrel Oven. The Dirt Oven evolved into the Barrel Oven. The cooking of the meals was done on either a coal pot with coals, or fire side with wood. We thought with this easy way of life as it is today, that we would recreate the old time way so that the younger people would have a better understanding of what life was back then without things like running water, gas stoves and blenders.
In this event, everything is done the traditional way. The mixing of the ponche-de-creme was done by hand, the coconut was grated on a traditional grater, and how the pastelle is being made. All these things are being lost. Even the people who are now living in urban areas would have come from these types of settings and they would miss it in some small way. The nostalgia is still there and we thought that we would bring back the old way to them so that they would have that bonding (the family type of atmosphere that was there a long time ago), and maybe release the little stress that are presently in homes.
The event would end with the traditional caroling. In the old days even though you were in the back of the home preparing the animals and so on, the choirs from the community would come and carol the home on evenings. We even have an old time parang band here with us to recreate this aspect of the preparation. Long ago while the preparation was being done, the parang band would come and parang the home. We really wanted to recreate that family and community bonding that was there, especially during the late '60s and '70s.
The idea of having the traditional part of this event was conceived a couple of years ago. This is the first attempt of actually having it. The caroling part started three years ago so this is the third year of 'Carol by Candlelight'. With the 'Traditions of Christmas', while the idea was there before, this is the first attempt of having it. We did have some hiccups along the way but nevertheless I think the message is there. People appreciated the event and now look forward to coming each year. The people in the community support us in this event by attending and assisting in the preparations. We intend to continue having this event every year around this time; the turnout is always good with both the children and adults.
The Christmas Cresh was done with the assistance of one of our committee members Ronald Le Blanc (Valencia Sports and Cultural Foundation), and a group of young people from one of the programs that the government has in the area called the Retirees Adolescence Partnership Program (R.A.P.) which came through Community Development and Gender Affairs. We call the program 'Difficult Children in the Area'. We do not call them delinquent because we do not want to give them the feeling that they are delinquent in every sense of the word. We use the term difficult in the sense that they may have problems reading, writing or understanding normal school work. The Center is geared towards taking these children who are in the school system and encourage them to come to the program to learn basic everyday life skills like etiquette and academics. The children who go to school for the evening period would come in the morning and the children who go to school for the morning period would come in the evening. We also have some primary school children and we have attempted to take some of the children who dropped out. The program is intended to bring these children back into the system so that they would continue doing their school work and the teachers of the secondary and primary schools would have a bit of ease when dealing with them and with the children who have a better academic understanding. The children in the program also learn how to make craft items so making the Christmas Cresh was part of their training.
We started the program 'Difficult Children in the Area' in June 2005 but I think the Ministry of Community Development and Gender Affairs started the R.A.P. program last year. It was the brain child of The Honourable Patrick Manning. The program is throughout the country and is also funded by the government. We are just partnering the ministry in the program and our center is housed in the Valencia Pentecostal Assembly Church. We are kind of overseeing the program at the community level where we would get the children from the community and ensure that they stay within the program. We acquire the basic things that they would need for the program and have them available. We introduce novelty programs so that they could learn and develop how to participate in the community. We have professional people coming in to do lectures about life and chat with the children.
I would really like to see communities go back to basics. It is my personal belief that somewhere and somehow we would have missed something along the way, and might very well be in a position now where we do not really appreciate. I think maybe if we take a step backwards and try to come forward with that, we may try to identify where we went wrong, that caused the situation which we are in today. If we appreciate the things that were there before then why not recreate it? Taking a step back, we may have a better understanding of why we are in the position we are in today and how we can deal with the situation differently and hopefully get rid of some of the ills we are experiencing.
We hope that the young people would understand what community life is really about; what it meant then and what it can do for communities today. With all the negatives in society today, we thought that having this event would try and bring back some of the values.
On the day after the event, we normally get the assistance of the CEPEP contractors as well as the Unemployment Relief Program to clean up the venue. The garbage is taken away by the Sangre Grande Regional Corporation. We intend to have this event every year at this same location which we call the TSTT Facilities because of the antennas. This location is situated on Cemetery and Alexander Streets."
Mr. Michael Guptar, Secretary Treasurer of Valencia Sports and Cultural Foundation, explains the origin of the Dirt Oven and the Barrel Oven.
"The Dirt Oven is the original oven brought down by the Africans. This oven is made of clay resting on a wooden stand. In order for this oven to work you have to heat it with either wood or coals, with the openings sealed. You seal the openings by placing a wet bag around the openings. You have to wet the bags so that they do not get burned. The walls radiate heat so when it reaches a very high temperature you clear out the coals and/or wood, and you place the items you have to bake inside the oven. When the items are cooled, you take it out. If you have to bake more stuff you heat the oven over again in the same way. Long ago this was how people baked at Christmas time and all other festivals.
The Barrel Oven, which evolved from the Dirt Oven is made from a steel drum or what we call a barrel. There are two sections inside of the Barrel Oven so you can have a fire on top for cooking or Bar-B-Que and a fire down below where you can use a coal pot for slow heat. A door is cut at the bottom of the barrel which makes it more convenient to use because you can be baking at all times. Different racks can also be used inside of the oven. Cakes, bread, sweetbread and so on can be baked inside this oven. This Barrel Oven can be used in all occasions and can even be used indoors."
Valencia: Traditions of Christmas Album:
www.triniview.com/album/valencia181205
Valencia and Octofest 2005 Album:
www.triniview.com/album/Valencia
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