PORT TOWNSEND — In Scotland, it’s considered good luck for a red-headed person to cross your threshold first on New Year’s Day.
In Mexico, wearing red underwear is the key to finding love in the coming year.
In Brazil, donning white clothing on New Year’s Day is said to bring good luck, while in Spain, people eat 12 grapes as the clock strikes midnight.
At RoseWind, a cooperative housing community in central Port Townsend, residents are continuing a New Year’s Day tradition that brings good luck to both themselves and others. For the second year, the community will host a New Year’s Day brunch, with the money going to a good cause.
“We really liked the tradition of a community-service type thing,” Cindy Buxton says. “We decided to do it again as a fundraiser.”
Buxton is coordinating this year’s brunch, which will benefit Bay St. Louis, the Mississippi Coast town devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Open to the public, it features food traditionally served in the South on New Year’s Day.