By Matt Foss
I’m from Washington Island, Wisconsin. For those of you who don’t know, Washington Island is a small island located off the Door County Peninsula in the northeast part of the state. It’s a community of only 700 year-round residents and boasts the smallest school district in Wisconsin. It was a fun place to grow up with an endless amount of outdoor activities to consume the time, and seemingly every member of my family – immediate and distant – was within driving distance.
![](https://www.lywam.org/wp-content/uploads/media/Blog/2011/12/New-Image-3.jpg)
![](https://www.lywam.org/wp-content/uploads/media/Blog/2011/12/New-Image-2-233x300.jpg)
On Christmas Eve, along with my wife and parents, we’ll run between dinners at my mom’s side of the family and my dad’s side of the family, seeing a total of perhaps sixty or so immediate relatives, including grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins of various numerical value. For my wife, who doesn’t even know who her second cousins are, it’s mind boggling. Lucky for her, the food is always good and the drinks are strong.
While yes, it can sound like Mayberry + Lake Wobegon + a New England town that hosts a “lottery,” Washington Island is a special place, and after all the years, it’s hard to imagine spending the holidays anywhere else.
Editor’s note: Matt Foss is overseeing a variety of projects at the Woodson Art Museum. He received an undergraduate degree and a Master’s degree, both in history, from the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire.