"A Station Long Ago"

Long ago, a station was an exciting event in the lives of the common people. It was held some-what like a Sabbath.About three weeks before the appointed time, the priest announced from the pulpit where the station was to be held, in order to allow the family some time for preparation. The stations were held in rotation in the village houses, twice every year - in Lent and in Autumn.In preparation for a station, a house was first freshly thatched with clean, good straw. It was then white-washed inside and outside, not once, nor twice, but often three times. It and the adjourning barns were snow white by the time they were finished. At that period, most houses had floors constructed of flags, which in course of time became cracked. Mud and dust got lodged between them and it was not easy to make the floor clean enough. As such a floor would