First day of New Year on the menu

New Year's Day, aka the day we enjoy a pot of black-eyed peas and ham, with sides of greens and cornbread at our house. Southern tradition promises that the dish brings good luck, health and prosperity.

Friends weighed in on their New Year’s Day meal traditions ... Keith Boe says it’s tradition to eat humbly to ring in a prosperous new year. His menu includes cabbage, onions and a 15-bean soup.

Brenda Elliff is a native of Alabama so she adds a side of turnips to her black-eyed peas, ham and cornbread. 

Ed and Nancy Frazey usually enjoy beans and cornbread or something simple in the crockpot since they’re watching football on New Year’s Day. 

Carrie Kralicek is a fan of Hoppin’ John, which is a variation of black-eyed peas that includes Carolina rice, thick-cut bacon and the Cajun “holy trinity” of celery, onions and green bell peppers. Also joining the Hoppin’ John fan club is Kim Edmondson, Elsie Patrick and Janice Myers, although Janice also serves clam dip and Ruffles potato chips. 

Paula Marano deviates from the southern custom of black-eyed peas with a New Year’s Day meal of ribs and sauerkraut, apple salad and German beer. 

Linda Hall eschews the southern traditions for something that celebrates Idaho ... potato soup.

Good luck, good health and prosperity to all!

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“Civilization is a stream with banks. The stream is sometimes filled with blood from people killing, stealing, shouting and doing things historians usually record, while on the banks, unnoticed, people build homes, make love, raise children, sing songs, write poetry. The story of civilization is the story of what happened on the banks.” Preface to the first volume of The Story of Civilization by Will Durant.

I’ve long loved this quote and use it for a philosophical template of what I hope to achieve each week in this column ... focus on the people on the banks. Sincere thanks to everyone who’s allowed me to share their interesting, funny and sometimes heartbreaking moments of life in this column the past year.

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I’m often asked how to have a name appear in Main Street birthdays. What started as an occasional birthday shout-out a couple of decades ago has grown to include nearly 2,000 best wishes annually to the newly-arrived, centenarians and everyone of every age between.

I’ve collected birthdays through the years that people send to me or tell me about and the sheer volume is sometimes staggering, even with the help of an electronic birthday reminder program and the addition of Facebook. 

These birthdays are those of readers in every corner of our communities and it’s still amazing and gratifying to me how meaningful it is for people to see their name in the local newspaper.

Something that wouldn’t occur to readers is that I also routinely look through obituaries to see if someone who’s been included in the Main Street birthdays has passed away. Sometimes a family member will contact me, but more often than not, it’s caught in the perusal of the newspaper’s published obituaries. Not a foolproof method, as a few times a year I wish a happy birthday to someone who’s no longer living.

If you’d like to add birthdays to this column for 2025, the best way is via email, thoreson.kerri@gmail.com. Similarly, if you’d like to remove a birthday, same method.

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An acquaintance once asked if I was always in a good mood. Simple answer, no. But each day when I wake up I make an effort to embrace the positive and be a blessing in someone’s life, while being grateful for the many blessings in my own.

I continue to be awed by the resilience of the human spirit and the generosity of those among us who have the least. The good Lord willing and the creek don’t rise, I’ll continue to shine the light on the banks of the community where historians rarely tread.

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Happy Main Street New Year’s Day birthdays to Ron Jacobson, Ron Mills, Theresa Wild, Billy Newman, Jan Leaf, Kathy Edinger Dingman, Linda Jordan, Kevin Johnson, Steve Schiller, Johanna Johnson, Jessica Hammond, David Attridge, Dianna Owens, Holly Childers, Katrina Boyer, Johanna Johnson, Declan Jones, Cheryl Shepherd and sisters Shaun Williams and Shana Crimp, all celebrating the first Main Street birthdays of 2025. Tomorrow, Bob McIlvenna, Cindy Warren, Nicole Barnes, Jerry Roth and Dion Unruh blow out the candles. On Friday, Rob Eachon, Katie Soy, Jeff Block and Erika Umphenour enjoy their birthday cake. Debbie Ferguson, Andrew Hansen, Norman Tucker, Bert Storlie and Brandon Sutich celebrate Saturday. On Sunday, Marty Hayes, Jamie Lynn Morgan, Sherri Patton, Phil Eager, Thad Bolek, Timothy Barrett, Andrew Hansen, Dirk Darrow, Rick Gunther, Shaina Nomee and Debbie Raeon take another trip around the sun. Starting the week with Monday birthdays are Colton Peugh, Bobby Wilhelm, Gary (GA) Allen, Kris Cederburg, Kim Dennison, Griffin McAndrew, Christina Sedgwick, Will Moore, Robert Green, Dale Kreager, Judi Caceres and Kellie McCracken. Making birthday wishes Jan. 7 are Katie Marmon, Dale Kreager and Sydne Watson. 

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Kerri Rankin Thoreson is a member of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and the former publisher of the Post Falls Tribune. Main Street appears every Wednesday in The Press and Kerri can be contacted on Facebook or via email thoreson.kerri@gmail.com.