treat bags

[David Pettigrew]

Last Sunday was "treat bag" Sunday at our church. I've gotten one every December of my life. In a world where nothing stays the same, treat bags never vary:

1) The treats always come in plain, brown paper bags.
2) The treats always consist of an apple, an orange, a walnut, a pecan, a peppermint, and a butterscotch.
3) Everybody gets a treat bag, from age 0-103. Heaven forbid if you have less bags than people on Sunday morning.

To see an actual treat bag and it's contents, go here. (http://notfine.blogspot.com/2007/12/sing-songs-third-sunday-of-advent-year.html)Yes, this is also my "sermon in a nutshell" of the week on my blog.

So, does your church do treat bags, or is this just a southern thing? I've never known of a non-nazarene church that did this, and I've never been part of a nazarene church that didn't!

[Anne and Dwayne Hood]

Sounds about right. Sometimes we have used plastic gift bags.
The last few years the church we attend have given boxes of chocolate covered cherries, or another choice that I don't remember.
Last year, we were at another church, ON Christmas Eve, for Dwayne to speak, and this coming Sunday, we will be in Arkansas. We may completely miss the treats.

[Jim Franklin]

The ones I have received had goober peas, peanuts to you Northerners also a variety of hard candies. I have been in churches from Washington state to Indiana and Oklahoma and Arizona and there has always been treat bags on the Sunday before Christmas Day.

[Hal Paul]

The ones I have received had goober peas, peanuts to you Northerners...

Jim, where does "goober peas" come from? I've never heard it before.

[Hal Paul]

Jim, where does "goober peas" come from? I've never heard it before.

Well I checked Wikipedia and answered my own question. It seems "goober peas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goober_Peas)" are boiled peanuts. Very strange that I've never heard the term since I lived in Tennessee and Georgia for over seven years. I remember roadside stands in Georgia and Alabama that sold "raw peanuts" and "boiled peanuts," but don't recall any that advertised "goober peas." Next time I'm down that way I'll probably see a dozen signs advertising "goober peas."

Does anyone know if "goober peas" refers only to boiled peanuts, or are all peanuts "goober peas?"

[Faith Maddox]

David,

I smiled to myself as I read the heading to your post as I knew exatly what kind of treat bag you were talking about. I haven't received a "treat bag" at church in a very long time. As a young girl, I can remember helping my dad stuff the bags late on a Saturday night sometime around Christmas to give out the next morning at church. I don't really remember if the candy was the same as your treat bag but I do remember the apples, oranges and nuts always being in the bag.

Faith

[Barb Bouldrey]

In Northern Ohio we always got this little candy box the church ordered from NPH filled with assorted hard candies and two chocolate drops.

Here in SE MO we get an apple, orange and candy bar in a brown lunch snack.

I have purchased celophane Christmas sacks and everyone liked the new look, but the next year it was back to the brown lunch snack.

Traditions.

Barb

[Marg Shurtliff]

We used to have candy boxes like Barb mentioned till they got a bit too pricey for us . Then it was plastic bags . Usually a mixture of hard Christmas candy , jelly and cream ones , maybe a candy cane or more if they were small ones , chocolate bells or whatever and a few chocolate coated Christmas shapes . Sometimes there was an orange . Lately the bags have been smaller and no fruit . Usually its only the children ( and maybe teens ) that got them unless there were some left over . Don't know if they gave out any after the Christms program Sunday as I didn't go up for the fellowship time . The snow had been heavy all during church and one guy shovelled me out of the parking lot and 5 or 6 pushed to just get me to the street . Driving home was a nightmare as the wipers just couldn't keep it clear . Staying any longer and I might not have got home . I am one of the furthest away .
But , yes , I have fond memories of those Christmas treats from years ago .

[Hal Paul]

What I remember is small candy filled boxes with Christmas decorations on them being passed out after church where we attended when I was a kid. But after we moved, I don't remember any church we attended passing out Christmas treat bags until I moved to Tennessee in my early 30s. I recall the board meeting where we were discussing what we would buy to fill the bags. Someone mentioned that it might be easier if we didn't buy oranges. Oh boy! You'd have though they had denied the virgin birth or something, it sure did get ugly.

I haven't seen treat bags since we left that church, I kind of figured it was either an isolated tradition within a few local churches, or one that is slowly dying out. I'm glad to see that some churches still pass out treats before Christmas, it brings back fond memories of my childhood.

[Sara Sheppard]

In my entire life, I've never heard of this. LOL I grew up in a couple of small churches in IL and have spent my adult life in large churches in Nashville. All Nazarene. Hmmmm

Sara

[Walter Thompson]

I must confess that I too have never heard of this. We have on occasion given a bag of fruit, nuts and candy to the kids after a Christmas program a couple of times but I have never even had anyone mention this before at any church I attended or pastored.

[Wilson L. Deaton]

... So, does your church do treat bags, or is this just a southern thing? I've never known of a non-nazarene church that did this, and I've never been part of a nazarene church that didn't!

All of my life until maybe three or four years ago. We didn't "plan" to discontinue but one year it just fell through the cracks and we never resurrected it. I have to admit, I kind of miss it now that you brought it up.

(Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin, so it's not just a southern things.)

Wilson

[Vivian Cornwell]

When I was growing up we always received a box of candy at Christmas time with hard candy and some chocolate drops, like Barb said. We really looked forward to that.

After I got married, the S.S. Superintendent at our church was a buyer with a food company that supplied grocery stores. He got great candy for the church at cost. Actually, he donated the candy. We loved those bags of candy that everyone got. There were many of the popular candy bars like Snickers, Peanut Butter Cups, Mounds, and too many to name and there was some Christmas candy in the bag, like a candy cane. We also got an orange or an apple. Preparing the bags was a big operation. Some of us would go to the church and spend the evening filling those 200 plus bags of candy to give out on Christmas Sunday morning. We had a regular assembly line.

When we got in the car going home we would anxiously look inside of the bag that we received and trade with each other to get more of our favorite candy bar. After many years the S.S. Superintendent retired from his job so we no longer got those good bags of candy.

We go to a different church now. When we first became members there they gave an orange and a candy cane. Now the tradition has been dropped. It was a tradition everyone loved, though. This was in Ohio in a non Nazarene church and two Nazarene churches. So, the tradition is not just a Nazarene tradition. Maybe it is regional.

[Cindi Hammons]

Yes, I always tried to get rid of my Zero and Zagnut bars. Ick! Oh, I also hated the creme drops. Yuck! The Reese Peanut Butter Cup was the Holy Grail of treat bags.

I've had a treat bag every year of my life. Different church this year, we'll see what happens.

[Jean Johnson]

I don't know if it is regional or not, but I grew up out here in California in a small Nazarene church where as I recall it was the custom to give out bags of hard Christmas candy. I don't remember there being oranges and nuts though. Yeah, that's kind of a nice memory. I don't remember seeing it done in recent years, however.

[Jim Franklin]

As David has mentioned, "I have never heard of a Nazarene church who did not offer treat bags on a Sunday before Christmas." Most often it was after the children's Christmas Program so that the parents who did not regularly attend with their children could have something to remember the church by. Now that is 70 years so it is surprising to me that there are NazNetters who have never heard of this warm hearted tradition. I believe it grew out of the fact that churches often were the source of aid for the poor until the Depression when the Federal Government took over the aid to the poor. So churches made the season for some poor families a bit more festive by giving out Christmas treat bags.

As for young feller, Hal. On the "Mayberry RFD" program starring Andy Griffith there was a character named Goober because he was a bit on the nutty side. There even used to be a song "Eating Goober Peas" to the tune of "Bringing in the Sheaves." As one unknowing individual was known to have said, "Wonder what a peanut tree looks like?" Which, of course, there is no such, as peanuts grow underground. Sometime if you have the opportunity try a peanut pie.

[John Kennedy]

I was just thinking about 'treat bags' the other day and wondering how widespread the practice was. Don't know whether it was a 'southern thing' since my parents (my pastors 'til I left home) always did it (not only in the South but also in South Dakota and Utah) - go figure. Don't know whether it's strictly a Naz thing or not.

[John Kennedy]

Jim -

I've heard 'Goober Peas' sung, but it wasn't to the tune of "Bringing in the Sheaves" (although metrically, the text would fit the refrain of "Bringing....") I think the song had some Civil War connection

[Hal Paul]

As David has mentioned, "I have never heard of a Nazarene church who did not offer treat bags on a Sunday before Christmas." Most often it was after the children's Christmas Program so that the parents who did not regularly attend with their children could have something to remember the church by. Now that is 70 years so it is surprising to me that there are NazNetters who have never heard of this warm hearted tradition. I believe it grew out of the fact that churches often were the source of aid for the poor until the Depression when the Federal Government took over the aid to the poor. So churches made the season for some poor families a bit more festive by giving out Christmas treat bags.

As for young feller, Hal. On the "Mayberry RFD" program starring Andy Griffith there was a character named Goober because he was a bit on the nutty side. There even used to be a song "Eating Goober Peas" to the tune of "Bringing in the Sheaves." As one unknowing individual was known to have said, "Wonder what a peanut tree looks like?" Which, of course, there is no such, as peanuts grow underground. Sometime if you have the opportunity try a peanut pie.

I remember Goober Pyle from Mayberry, Gomer's cousin I think. I think he was also on Hee Haw, but I never associated his name with a peanut. I just figured they were goofy names for a couple of goofy characters. Never heard of the song until I googled "goober peas" this evening. If the term is still common in the south, I can't figure for the life of me why I don't recall anyone using it in over 7 years of living there.

[Hal Paul]

Jim -

I've heard 'Goober Peas' sung, but it wasn't to the tune of "Bringing in the Sheaves" (although metrically, the text would fit the refrain of "Bringing....") I think the song had some Civil War connection

From what I read today, it was a popular song among Confederate soldiers, especially those from Georgia, and to a lesser extent Tennessee. I think the song actually predates the war, but the lyrics were written down during the war because they were a popular camp song.

[John Kennedy]

TV and movies have done a highly effective job of wiping out a lot of the unique regional dialects and customs.

[Hal Paul]

Yes, it's kind of sad.

[Dennis M. Scott]

Interesting thread. We always got those little blue boxes with flavors of hard candy nobody liked. I thought maybe they came from the publishing house along with boxes of tithe envelopes for the next year that were handed out the week after Christmas. I have never heard of "treat bags", however. I have over the years attended regularly 17 Nazarene churches, of which I was pastor of nine. I guess since they didn't do "treat boxes" they weren't "real" Nazarene churches.

Every single one of them gave out the tithe envelope boxes, however.

ps - Neat youtube video, except that your picture doesn't look much like your avatar.

[Hal Paul]

Interesting thread. We always got those little blue boxes with flavors of hard candy nobody liked. I thought maybe they came from the publishing house along with boxes of tithe envelopes for the next year that were handed out the week after Christmas. I have never heard of "treat bags", however. I have over the years attended regularly 17 Nazarene churches, of which I was pastor of nine. I guess since they didn't do "treat boxes" they weren't "real" Nazarene churches.

Every single one of them gave out the tithe envelope boxes, however.

ps - Neat youtube video, except that your picture doesn't look much like your avatar.

I've attended a couple Nazarene churches that didn't give out tithe boxes either. Maybe that's why they didn't give out candy at Christmas. :basic05

[Kevin Rector]

Yep, last week we got our treat bags. Every year though I get a special bag with "pastor" written on it. If you opened it you'd find that instead of an apple like all the other bags, mine contains a lemon. It's an act of love since lemons are just about one of my favorite things.

[David Pettigrew]

ps - Neat youtube video, except that your picture doesn't look much like your avatar.

Is this any better? I don't really have any pics of just me, so I tried to pull this from the vid. Maybe it will save so much confusion over my avatar. I guess I should have picked Uncle Buddy.

Edited to add: Ok, the youtube pic was way ignorant looking, so I cropped one out of our most recent fam pic. I'll live with it.

[Barb Bouldrey]

Oh, Kevin,

That is really cute that you get a lemon in your sack. What a cute memory you will always have of that church.

Here in SE Missouri many churches of different denominations give out treat sacks.

When we started pastoring, we ordered the treat boxes until the year came when NPH no longer sold them.

Barb

[Barbara Moulton]

In my entire life, I've never heard of this. LOL I grew up in a couple of small churches in IL and have spent my adult life in large churches in Nashville. All Nazarene. Hmmmm

Sara

I had never heard of it either.

[Ian Gentles]

I have never heard of such things!

http://iangentles.livejournal.com

[Vivian Cornwell]

Yes, I always tried to get rid of my Zero and Zagnut bars. Ick! Oh, I also hated the creme drops. Yuck! The Reese Peanut Butter Cup was the Holy Grail of treat bags.

I've had a treat bag every year of my life. Different church this year, we'll see what happens.
Yes Cindi, you probably got my Peanut Butter Cups and I probably got the Zero or Zagnut Bar. Mothers do make sacrifices for their kids, right?

[DA Weaver]

I haven't seen goodie bags passed out at our church on Christmas Sunday. They do pass them out in Caravan though.

My cousin and I were just talking about the treats we used to get when we were little. lol, her response was something to the effect... "Those were some NASTY chocolates, but we sure stood in line to get them, didn't we?" My response? Yeah, just so we could get to the carmel one before our mothers got hold of them, because we didn't want the rest!!! lol They were NASTY, but we LOVED getting them, and it was something we looked forward to every year. Good memories of a church that loved us with the love of the Lord.

[David Pettigrew]

I have a theory that if something is free, there will be a line to get it, no matter what it is.

[Charlene Clevenger]

When I was growing up in California we got our treats in boxes. More recently it's been in bags.

A few years ago, knowing that the church couldn't afford to buy the treats, our pastor asked the congregation to bring in individually wrapped candy. The Friday before Christmas Sunday some of us divide it up into bags and they are passed out to everybody Christmas Sunday. Everybody seemed to like it, so we've continued doing it. We give people back their own candy. :D