Christmas 2025: Jemima Harms tells the stories of Clinton as a newcomer

BY SCOTT STEPHENSON

For Clinton correspondent Jemima Harms, Christmas means something different for everybody. “On one hand, it’s literally about salvation and grace. It’s about somebody who committed this great act, and gave his life to save humanity, and who came into the world specifically for that - which is kind of crazy if you think about it! That’s the main historical and religious and spiritual meaning of Christmas,” she told The Citizen. “On the other hand, more generally, it’s about coming together with people who, in one way or another, are your family. You’re coming together and remembering why you are a family, and remembering that we are connected together. This is a moment we can share together as a group of people who love each other.”

 

On a personal level, The Citizen’s brand new “berichterstatterin” interprets Christmas as a time for salvation through love and fulfilled promises. “If God fulfilled all the promises of the Old Testament by giving us a perfect Saviour, He can also fulfill all of his other promises - be it personal ones for each of his children or larger ones for the universe,” Harms pontificated. “Christmas means that the Lord delivers what He has promised."

 

Harms grew up celebrating Christmas in Germany. While gift-giving has never been a big part of her family’s festivities, she still has a few vivid memories of presents past. “I think I was about six years old - we were still living in Germany, and we actually did do presents that year. We didn’t put them under a tree or anything - they were just wrapped and on the couch. I’m pretty sure I knew at least what one of the gifts was, because my mom was horrible with keeping secrets. But it was the thought that counts,” she recalled. “I was so excited - I couldn’t actually go to sleep. I was awake the whole night. We had this see-through curtain that had sparkly lights on it, and I was just watching it the whole night… there was just this feeling of anticipation - that tomorrow is Christmas!”

 

Once Harms was a little older, her family’s Christmas tradition evolved into a day on the town with her mother, and, when he lived at home, her brother. “It was kind of a small family affair,” she said. “In Germany, you actually celebrate Christmas on the 24th. So, on Christmas Eve, we would pick some café in the area that we really liked, depending on where we were living. One that we really enjoyed. And we’d go there, and have a fancy breakfast - with a nice hot chocolate, fancy waffles or croissants. Then, if it was Sunday, we’d go to church, obviously. Otherwise, we’d kind of just go home.”

 

Over the years, Harms has found her taste for the traditional fanfare of childhood Christmas has faded, replaced with a hunger for meaningful quietude. “When I was younger, I wanted to have fancy presents and I wanted them wrapped and I wanted a proper fancy breakfast and fancy food all the time,” she recollected. “Now, I just enjoy spending actual time with my mom.”

 

With university exam pressures often consuming December, a little slice of yuletide downtime has become an essential part of Harms’ holidays. “My mom barely sees me in final exam season - I’m just in my books and on my laptop the whole time,” she admitted. “When Christmas comes around, we finally have the time to actually do something for more than an hour together. There’s finally an excuse to do something fun together. So that’s the main tradition that has stuck around.”

 

One of their favourite ways to get festive is rewatching their favourite movies together. “They’re not even Christmas movies!” she confessed. “The main movie we usually watch is called 12 Angry Men - it’s not a Christmas movie at all - it takes place in the middle of summer. It’s just a movie we both really, really love. It’s kind of a comfort movie, so we get set up in the living room with pillows and blankets and make it really comfy. And we get the unhealthy snacks - the snacks that we maybe otherwise would be like, ‘oh, do we really need them?’ We settle down and have a little movie night with old movies, and then we go to bed - probably too late in the evening!”

 

One of her favourite holiday treats was introduced to Harms by a close family friend back in Germany - sweet potato dumplings filled with homemade plum compote. “She was like my extra aunt - she would come over and we would make them. It was always kind of a special event when it happened,” she informed The Citizen. “You have to get all the potatoes boiled first, and then you need to mix it with the flour and the egg. You need to make it all into shapes to fill with the plum compote, which you usually also made yourself. Then you boil them first, and then you slightly fry them in butter and then roll them in cinnamon sugar. Basically, it was a whole day event… but the smell, specifically, of the butter with the cinnamon sugar is like the best thing ever.” 

 

Moving from Germany to Canada years ago meant leaving behind many keepsakes, including the family’s Christmas decorations. Luckily, Harms has had a chance to collect a few classic Canadian yuletide experiences in the years since. “In Montreal, around the Old Port, there would be Christmas music playing from the speakers and everybody would have their lights up, and have special little things in their stores,” she said. “I love to walk through and participate in that - everybody’s in a good mood, and it's snowing, you know? 

 

This year will be Harms’ first Christmas in Huron County, and she’s just starting to sort out which local traditions will speak to her. “If there are fancy food trucks around Christmas or New Year’s that have hot apple cider, I might stop by and grab one of those,” she said. “And all the small town Christmas markets are so much fun!”

 

Looking ahead to Christmas 2025, Harms hopes to feel proud of her year. “It’s weird - for me, sometimes it feels like Christmas is more like New Year's than New Year's - I’d like to feel on Christmas like I actually learned something in my new program. The first semester will be over, so I want to feel like I actually learned something - not just theoretically, but learned something I could actually do if someone asked me to,” she mused. “I want to feel capable by Christmas.”

 

For Harms, the secret to an extra-special Christmas is finding your family. “Obviously, we’re new in Clinton, but if you have a strong community, even a very small one, that you feel very, very comfortable with, I think that makes Christmas the best thing ever,” she advised. “I think that, in general, if your Christmases kind of suck, find yourself a strong support circle. And then they will suck less... because it’s not fun to just give yourself gifts all the time!”