WE celebrated both Christmas and Kwanzaa this year. For more than a decade after being remotely aware of the seven-day spiritual, social and cultural celebration observed each year from December 26 through January 1, the invitation from Peggy Burns of St. David's to participate was irresistible for many reasons.

Peggy is a black studies activist, whose pastimes include painting, writing and delving in old papers and books. She is roots-conscious, a member of the Reggie Ming (OBE) clan who for generations dominated much of the affairs of Devonshire Parish. She seems to have inherited a good deal of the fastidiousness of her iconic uncle Reggie when it comes to programming and entertaining.

Thus the prospect of just one day of Kwanzaa with Peggy, her husband Vernal of 38 years, and friends could only be overwhelming.

The word Kwanzaa by itself may seem foreboding to the uninitiated. It is derived from an African phrase that means the "first fruits of the harvest". It was first celebrated in 1966 by a black studies professor in a leading American university, Dr. Maulana Karenga.

Since then more than 20 million black people in the Diaspora have seized the opportunity to connect with the seven principles of Kwanzaa, reaffirming their commitment to themselves, their families and the black struggle.

In short, it's a matter of 'keeping faith' with our forebears, remembering the words of the great freedom fighter, James Weldon Johnson in the Negro Hymn of Praise, Stony the road we have trod, Bitter the chastening rod, Felt in the days when hope unborn had died. We have come over the way, That with tears had been watered, come treading our paths Through the blood of the slaughtered."

Thus it seemed logical that Peggy Burns would want her friends and families to start their day of the Kwanzaa celebration in the graveyard at St. Peter's Church, St. George's, considered the oldest Anglican Church and graveyard in the Western Hemisphere. Slave masters, slaves and free blacks were buried there in the grounds.

Mrs. Burns made history come alive as she recited from the works of historian Cyril Packwood's Chained on the Rock and other sources. A wall separated the black dead from the white. The latter were buried facing the east and blacks, on the other side of the wall, were buried facing the west.

The theory behind the practice was that "On the Great Getting Up Morn", or resurrection day, since the sun rose in the east, those facing the east would be called first. And the slaves in the west would be the last to be called.

Slave names were placed on slabs of blue slate. The 'black' graveyard contained 130 graves, 25 of them with headstones bearing such slave surnames as Darrell, Fox, Fubler, Simmons, Tucker and Horton.

The graveyard was used before and after Emancipation in 1834. Augustus Beek died in 1849 at age 34; Dina Fubler died in 1813 at age 22; Robert Simmons drowned in 1830. The largest grave is the Athill vault. James Athill was an important shipbuilder before and after Emancipation, according to Packwood.

A moment of silence was observed in the graveyard after Mrs. Burns' recital. A libation (of pure water) was drunk while one was poured over a grave, which is an African tradition of honouring ancestors.

In a deeply pensive frame of mind, we all followed Mrs. Burns to her home in St. David's. There, plenty of 'food for thought' occupied the balance of the day, interspersed with a variety of gastronomic delights, or 'first fruits of the harvest' for the inner-man.

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WAYNE Ball and his family, at their East Shore homestead in Somerset, were unquestionably 'on the ball' this Yuletide. While their stunning display was judged the best in the West in the tenth Annual Christmas Festival of Lights, it was deemed the 'best of the rest' as well by the crowds from all over the island who flocked to the East Shore.

There was nothing haphazard or helter-skelter about their display of lights. It was a well-conceived and expertly executed variation of Christmas images.

Wayne, who owns and operates an appliance repair service, estimated 40,000 lights were required. He takes a delight in decorating with lights. At his own residence in another part of the parish, he and his wife Valerie have 3,000 lights on their tree and around the house.

A Nativity scene depicting the birth of Christ dominated the western exposure of the sprawling two- storey homestead, with lights depicting the wise men and angels floating from the sky.

Another exposure depicted the grinch of Christmas; by contrast there were Santa and Mrs. Claus at ground level actually dispensing goodies to kids and gifts to other visitors.

At the far eastern end, there was a Santa inside a huge transparent ball, supposedly at the North Pole, making what looked like snow fall from a machine. Inflated Santas were strategically placed around the grounds and on the roof.

Wayne gave full credit for the successful outcome to his mate Bernard Dowling, an electrician; to his sisters Donna Minors and Debbie Ball, Dion Brown, Eddie Minors, a host of nieces and nephews; also wife Valerie, son Wayne, Jr., as well as neighbours Loren Morrissey and Alixter Stuart.

Bernard built a brand-new electrical panel enabling each area of the house and grounds to have one of its 16 circuits. Wayne said it took hundreds of man-hours over a whole month to assemble the display. Some weekends he found himself starting at ten in the morning and going straight through the next 12 hours.

"I feel terrific, it was excellent," said Wayne. "We had a whole army pitching in, and it just goes to show what can happen when everyone works together."

With everything in place and checked out, the moment of truth was yet to come. It was the night of December 12, when the judging took place. The entire neighbourhood turned out. The Ball sisters costumed as Santa and Mrs. Claus had their nieces and nephews dressed as elves and other Christmas characters. Neighbours, friends and other visitors were served hot chocolate and a variety of freshly baked, home-made biscuits and other refreshments. One friend summed up the atmosphere as "truly electric".

This year was only the second time the Balls had entered the Festival of Lights competition. The first was in 2003 when they took second place honours. Last year Wayne was abroad for Christmas and the rest of the family dared not try their hand without him. Now they will systematically dissemble everything, carefully store the fixtures and inflatables in a shed for future use.