For those of us sick of Dick "Dorian Grey" Clark, maybe PBS will start airing Guy Lombardo reruns. They're doing well with Lawrence Welk, after all; maybe a nostalgic New Year's Eve with Guy and his Royal Canadians would draw the same audience *plus* many more of us who were kids the first time around and who aren't nearly as put off by the classic rendition of "Auld Lang Syne" as by Welk's "champagne music."

Drifting BACK to the main subject: Isn't it possible that some of the African-American congregations that participated in the early Freedom Eves might have been Methodist churches, and that's where and how the concepts of Freedom Eve and Watch Night may have merged together?

The link to The Witness magazine mentioned the custom of serving/eating black-eyed peas on New Year's for luck. This is a southern custom, not exclusive to black folks, and still very popular in New Orleans. Here, we combine cabbage (for prosperity -- luck with money) with the blackeyes, which are for general good luck. It's a very common New Year's meal served not only in homes but also as a one-day-only "special" in all kinds of restaurants, from modest neighborhood places to the finest white-linen eateries -- usually accompanied by ham. I don't know that the ham has any special good-luck significance; it just rounds out the meal with a compatible meat course. (The blackeyed peas are normally cooked down with a bit of pork "seasoning meat," but an additional slice of ham has become customary -- especially at high-end restaurants with a need to justify their prices!)