Hands around the table
-by Jim St.Clair
On the 24th of December in 1925, the Farquhar family of Torosay, Cape Breton, looked forward to the dinner in the early evening before they hung up their stockings by a fireplace in the parlour. It included a custom quite unique to them, one which they had received from their grandparents. It included a time of sharing thoughts about the past year and then holding hands around the table.
For John Farquhar, Christmas Eve brought an end to the busy days in his general store during the past several weeks as people purchased vegetables and meat as well as sugar and flour and containers of hard candy and other needed items. The Farquhar General Store was the only one in the small community surrounded by many active farms.
