Title: Seasonal Raffle

General Information about Item:

• Customary Folklore Ritual
• Rite of Transition
• Calendar Rite
• Place of Origin: Upper Valley
• Informant (Anonymous) A
• Collected 2/24/18

Informant Data: Informant A was born and raised in the Upper Valley, and has spent most of the last 3 decades living in Vermont and working as a roofer. His family has a rich tradition of making moonshine, and in his spare time he enjoys building things on his property.

Contextual Data:

• Social Context: This piece of folklore originated from an agreement between Informant A and the local Upper Valley authorities. It is illegal to produce and sell moonshine in Vermont. The Informant wanted to figure out a way to share the family’s hard work and multigenerational passion with other people. The informant approached a member of the local authorities that he had known for years. He had asked him if it was against the law to “raffle” off his moonshine instead of selling it to people. His friend deemed it to be okay and that he could proceed this way with the understanding that he would never charge someone money for it. After this agreement, the Informant organized a seasonal raffle of his moonshine twice a year. The raffles would include members of his family as well as his close friends; all from the Upper Valley. These raffles serve as a fun and positive way of bringing people together to enjoy the family’s tradition.
• Cultural Context: This ritual derives explicitly from the culture of moonshine and it being illegal to produce and sell moonshine. The Informant wanted a way to both follow the laws of the local authorities but also share his family tradition with other people. The informant keeps the seasonal raffles restricted to family and close friends that he can trust, to keep the act as close to the family as possible.

Item:

• After his agreement with the local authorities, the informant decided that a raffle was the best and most enjoyable to give away his moonshine to other people without selling it. Every year the Informant hosts two seasonal raffles to raffle off his moonshine. One raffle is held at the end of the fall before winter and the other is held at the end of the spring before summer. At each raffle a special recipe of moonshine is raffled off. During the raffle at the end of spring, he raffles off his special dandelion and honey moonshine. During the raffle at the end of the spring he raffles off his special apple cider moonshine. Not only are these celebrations of the transition of season, it also is a way to bring the small community together. It is also a way of the family to share their tradition with others.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Transcript:

Informant’s Comments: The seasonal raffles are great to bring family and friends together to celebrate. I’m happy that I can share with others and I don’t have to drink all this moonshine myself.

Collector’s Comments: This is an example of a customary folklore ritual. It is also an example of a rite of transition and a calendar rite.

Collector’s Name: Cormac Dugan

Tags/Keywords:

• Ritual Folklore
• Calendar Rite
• Rite of Transition
• Seasonal Raffle
• Seasonal Ritual