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‘Old Fashioned’ holiday fun continues in downtown Wilkes-Barre

<p>WEATHERLY &#8212; Area residents took a step back in time to experience the Christmas holiday at the Eckley Miners&#8217; Village Museum on Saturday afternoon.</p><p>The historical site stayed true to its roots and didn&#8217;t try to lure attendees with a modern Christmas theme. Instead, it stuck to promoting the authentic Christmas traditions that coal miners enjoyed, while allowing vendors to set up shop in old structures.</p><p>&#8220;A lot of people don&#8217;t know our site exists,&#8221; said Zoe Kling, Eckley Miners&#8217; Village Museum associate secretary. &#8220;It&#8217;s a lot of teamwork and effort to get this off the ground. But it&#8217;s all worth it.&#8221;</p><p>Among the historical lessons and the opportunity to see St. Nicholas, the state funded historical site offered attendees a chance at raffle baskets, sign cards for the troops, children&#8217;s crafts, musical entertainment plus cookies and hot cocoa.</p><p>&#8220;I think this really is a great chance for people to learn about how different ethnicities had interesting Christmas traditions,&#8221; Kling added.</p><p>Michelle Holloman, of Hazleton, dressed up in garb associated with the time period and discussed Irish Catholic Christmas traditions.</p><p>&#8220;Holly has become pretty popular in modern Christmas,&#8221; Holloman said. &#8220;It originated in Ireland and Americans adopted it.&#8221;</p><p>While Christmas trees today have lights, ornaments and bows, it wasn&#8217;t always like that, she said.</p><p>&#8220;If it didn&#8217;t come from nature, it wasn&#8217;t on the tree,&#8221; noted Holloman. &#8220;Tree decorations were either baked or cooked.&#8221;</p><p>Coal miners worked extremely long hours in hazardous conditions with virtually no time off, except for the holiday.</p><p>&#8220;The miners were off on Christmas Eve,&#8221; Holloman added. &#8220;After the day&#8217;s activities ended and evening Mass let out, the men went back into the coal mines.&#8221;</p><p><strong>&#8216;True meaning of Christmas&#8217;</strong></p><p>As people walked down the mile-and-a-half row of coal miner houses, holiday music filled the air. Frank Balon, 58, of Freeland, was roving the site playing tunes on his trumpet.</p><p>&#8220;Coal mining is a big part of our history in Northeastern Pennsylvania,&#8221; said Balon. &#8220;It&#8217;s nice to see the town decked out for the holidays like it was in the past.&#8221;</p><p>He continued: &#8220;The plainness of what Christmas was like back then is a true testament to the time. You don&#8217;t see that today.&#8221;</p><p>The Eckley Miners&#8217; Village Museum did not advertise Santa Claus, they made it a point to emphasize St. Nicholas.</p><p>Joe Kost, 62, of Freeland, was tasked with wearing the costume of the heralded figure that wore a maroon velvet robe costume, with a miter and a staff.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve been a volunteer for eight years at the Eckley Miners&#8217; museum,&#8221; said Kost. &#8220;But this is my second time playing St. Nicholas.</p><p>&#8220;Where else can you find an old fat guy with a white beard,&#8221; he chuckled.</p><p>Kost handed out gold coin chocolate candy to children who stopped by to see him.</p><p>&#8220;I think it&#8217;s important for the children to see where Santa Claus derived from,&#8221; Kost noted. &#8220;Christmas is becoming too commercialized. People forget the true meaning of Christmas.&#8221;</p><p>He continued: &#8220;An event like this takes people out of the stores and off their electronic devices. It affords them the chance to experience an old time Christmas.&#8221;</p><p>For more information on the Eckley Miners&#8217; Village Museum, visit www.eckleyminersvillage.com or check it out on Facebook.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Mark Coxe Prime, 61, of Chester County, sits at a table in the kitchen of a laborer dwelling in Eckley Miners&#8217; Village Museum in Weatherly during Saturday&#8217;s Christmas-themed event. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/web1_TTL120218Eckley2.jpeg.jpg</photo0><caption0>Mark Coxe Prime, 61, of Chester County, sits at a table in the kitchen of a laborer dwelling in Eckley Miners&#8217; Village Museum in Weatherly during Saturday&#8217;s Christmas-themed event. </caption0><photoCredit0>Sean McKeag | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/web1_TTL120218Eckley3.jpeg">
<div class="neCaption">Frank Balon, 58, of Freeland, plays holiday songs on a pocket trumpet outside the Company Store at the Eckley Miners&#8217; Village Museum. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/web1_TTL120218Eckley3.jpeg</photo1><caption1>Frank Balon, 58, of Freeland, plays holiday songs on a pocket trumpet outside the Company Store at the Eckley Miners&#8217; Village Museum. </caption1><photoCredit1>Sean McKeag | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/web1_TTL120218Eckley4.jpeg.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">John Tomsho, 68, of Hazleton, plays Christmas songs on the pipe organ at Eckley Miners&#8217; Village Museum in Weatherly during Saturday&#8217;s festivities. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/web1_TTL120218Eckley4.jpeg.jpg</photo2><caption2>John Tomsho, 68, of Hazleton, plays Christmas songs on the pipe organ at Eckley Miners&#8217; Village Museum in Weatherly during Saturday&#8217;s festivities. </caption2><photoCredit2>Sean McKeag | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/web1_TTL120218Eckley1.jpeg.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Daniel Vasquez, 13, of Freeland, who portrays a breaker boy, looks at the Christmas tree in a laborer dwelling in Eckley Miners&#8217; Village Museum in Weatherly during Saturday&#8217;s holiday event. A breaker boy was a young boy whose job in a coal mine would be to separate the coal from slate, rocks and other debris. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/web1_TTL120218Eckley1.jpeg.jpg</photo3><caption3>Daniel Vasquez, 13, of Freeland, who portrays a breaker boy, looks at the Christmas tree in a laborer dwelling in Eckley Miners&#8217; Village Museum in Weatherly during Saturday&#8217;s holiday event. A breaker boy was a young boy whose job in a coal mine would be to separate the coal from slate, rocks and other debris. </caption3><photoCredit3>Sean McKeag | For Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/web1_TTL120218Eckley5.jpeg.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Joe Kost, 62, of Freeland, dressed as St. Nicholas, hands out chocolate wafers in the auditorium of Eckley Miners&#8217; Village Museum in Weatherly on Saturday. The event was meant to focus on the way Christmas used to be for coal miners who toiled long hours. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/web1_TTL120218Eckley5.jpeg.jpg</photo4><caption4>Joe Kost, 62, of Freeland, dressed as St. Nicholas, hands out chocolate wafers in the auditorium of Eckley Miners&#8217; Village Museum in Weatherly on Saturday. The event was meant to focus on the way Christmas used to be for coal miners who toiled long hours. </caption4><photoCredit4>Sean McKeag | For Times Leader </photoCredit4></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Dan Stokes</p><p>dstokes@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Dan Stokes at 570-991-6389 or on Twitter @ByDanStokes</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Eckley invites visitors to see a coal miner’s Christmas