A Very Portland Hanukkah Tradition

In 2006, my husband and I moved back to Portland with our newborn twins after several years living on the East Coast. Family was our biggest driver, but we were also eager to reconnect with our old BB Camp and BBYO friends. That first winter back, one of those friends invited us to a Hanukkah party.

At that gathering, the hosts were eager to introduce us to a couple with a newborn just days younger than our girls. As fate would have it, this couple had also recently relocated from New York City, the very place we had left. The connection was instant and we couldn't wait to get to know them.

A year or two later, with the kids still navigating toddlerhood, this couple proposed a brilliant new ritual: the Voodoo Doughnut Hanukkah Party. They supplied the iconic pink box–a Voodoo Dozen–full of wild, colorful flavors. After candlelighting, dinner and songs, we held our first official donut draft, voting on our favorite sugary concoctions (and for some reason, the purple-hued “Grape Ape” always seems to win!). A wonderful new tradition was born. 

Almost without exception, the Voodoo Doughnut Hanukkah Party has endured. During the pandemic, we had a brief break from Voodoo. Our friends thoughtfully dropped off boxes of Blue Star Donuts to each of our homes. But since then, we’ve happily returned to the big pink box.

Now, three of those original partygoers (who first met as babies) are in college, but the annual tradition continues. That recognizable pink box never fails to bring a smile to our faces. It's always a wonderful excuse to convene with our friends, whom we were so grateful to meet in those early days back in Portland. It’s traditions like these that help bring us together and, during an otherwise dark time of year, make Hanukkah festive, bright and meaningful.