Christmas is almost here and I could think of a million things to write about the joyful time of year.

For me, Christmas has seen many moods and many ways of celebrating the day of Christ’s birth. Over the years I have written about some of the ways I have spent Christmas day.

When I was young I could not wait to see how many gifts that Santa had brought me. In my older years I have played Santa and had children sit on my lap and tell me what they wanted for Christmas. The look of wonderment and joy in their eyes is beyond description. Several times I have gone to homes to give out the gifts from under the Christmas tree. The joy and happiness that the young peopled showed warmed this old man’s heart.

Another thing that I have done over the years was to help with the Christmas parade and horse parade in Charles Town. A very good friend of mine, John Shea, was, for a few years president of the Charles Town and Ranson Business Association. I was the secretary. Each year, along with the chairman, of the parade, we would help plan and set up the order of the parade. On the day of the parade we would go around and make sure that each participant in the parade were in their assigned spot.

One year I took part as part as the float for the Old Opera House.

I forget which year it was but Betsy Wells helped us set up the horse parade. For a few years I was the Santa for that parade. I enjoyed seeing the people standing in the cold with their kids looking with happiness as the horses passed by.

I moved up to Charles Town in 1994 and was lucky enough to meet people along the way who helped me grow in the community and become part of the community. At this time of year, I cannot help but feel grateful that I had such good friends. Over the years Christmas to me had become less important than the work I was doing. A lot of Christmas days were spent working so that married people could have the day off, maybe without knowing it I was giving them a gift.

I am sure that with the Lord’s help I will see several more Christmas days and be a part of each. I have already played Santa once this year, so to each of you Ho, Ho, Ho, I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.