EMBARRASS- It took a little while to explain the tradition of ice candles to my 87-year-old mother-in-law, who recently moved to the area. But as soon as we pulled up the narrow lane to the Embarrass Cemetery on Saturday and slowly drove up the ice candle-lit drive, she was quickly enchanted.
And then when we stopped by the town hall for a quick coffee and cookie stop, she settled in with a table full of newly minted friends and visited for over an hour.
Community members stopped by the hall for a light meal, a visit with Santa, and lots of delicious homemade holiday cookies. Santa had treats for the children, and there were holiday crafts to make and bring home.
Adults sat and visited with neighbors and family, talked about plans for the upcoming Christmas holiday, got caught up on everyone’s children and grandchildren, and of course, talked about the winter weather.
The cemetery this year was picture perfect. The recent heavy snow flocked the conifers lining the drive, and ice candles were placed on top of the unseasonably high snowbanks on both sides of the lane. The road into the cemetery, as well and the paths that wind around and through, were all lit with ice candles, as well as hundreds of candles lighting the gravestones of family members of area residents.
The tradition of ice candles comes from Finland, it’s been said. Embarrass has been hosting this annual celebration for decades. According to one local resident, it’s been since the time the late Margaret Kinnunen was the town clerk, so possibly the late 1980s or early 1990s.
Jack LaMar was in charge of ice candle creation again this year.
“I did them 100 at a time,” he said, using heavy-duty 2-1/2-gallon plastic buckets, which are filled with water from a hose connected to a sink in his garage. After leaving them outdoors overnight, he then brought them into the garage, with a heated floor, which made it easier to pop them out of the buckets. He then breaks a hole in the top and pours out the water that hasn’t frozen yet, leaving a spot to place the candles. The ice candles are then stored outdoors until they are all ready to go to the cemetery.
The trick to getting crystal clear ice candles, he found, was using hot, filtered, softened water, something he luckily had access to out in his garage. Using regular water straight from the tap produced ice that was a bit discolored and not nearly as clear as he wanted.
When he was all done, over the course of a week, he had 400 perfect ice candles, ready to be placed on Dec. 17 at the cemetery.
But while LaMar was one step in the process, many others also lent a hand. Embarrass Town Clerk Jennie Boese took the orders for the ice candles. Family members paid a small fee for each candle, money which helps support cemetery maintenance.
“Jennie puts in a ton of work,” said LaMar. She tracks all the donations, and then she places small flags at each gravestone that will need an ice candle, or two or three or more, placed in front of them, a job that is done before the snow gets too deep.
This year, Mother Nature threw a bit of a surprise, dumping a foot-and-a-half of fresh snow in the area only days before the ice candles were to be placed. Many of the headstones were totally covered with snow.
The local 4-H Club has volunteered to help with placing and lighting the ice candles for many years. Many times they have struggled through sub-zero temperatures or high winds which made it difficult to light the candles. This year they had to haul candles through deep snow as they attempted to find all the flags that had been placed, since some of them were buried under the snow. While the road around the cemetery was plowed, there were no paths opened between the gravestones. And when you are still in elementary school, and your legs aren’t that long, it was a long afternoon and a lot of hard work.
The youngsters, along with other township volunteers, worked for over three hours in the afternoon, and managed to place and light all of the 400 candles. By the time the sun had dipped below the tree line, the cemetery was sparkling, creating another picture-perfect Christmas-time memory for all those who took the time to drive through.