Joy of Christmas

Archive for January, 2006

He’s still at it.

Nello Ceccarelli was back in the front corner of the Fairfield Town Hall green with his nativity scene again this Christmas. He’s been doing this – sitting beside his crèche, waving to passers-by – for more than 20 years. He’s lost track of exactly how many calendar turns it’s been since he first set up the Christmas symbol.

As impressive as Ceccarelli’s long-standing commitment may be, the real big deal here is that this man is 90 years old and he’s this devoted. Oh, and he has to stay with his display day and night – there’s no leaving it.

He sets up two days before Christmas and doesn’t pack it in until he’s acknowledged everyone who crosses his path before Christmas morning.

Can you imagine a 90-year-old spending two consecutive days – and nights – outside in the freezing cold?

For the record, Ceccarelli spends some of the time in his car, parked next to the display. He also receives plenty of hot chocolate and coffee fill-ups courtesy of family, friends and visitors who come and go with each passing hour.

The Fairfielder is well taken care of, although who knows if he could keep this up without the feistiness he is known for as an outspoken member of the Representative Town Meeting.

Getting the go-ahead

Ceccarelli recalls when he went to town officials with a request to set up his crèche a couple of decades ago. He was given the go-ahead, but only if he abided by a federal court ruling which stipulates that a person must be with his or her religious display at all times if it is on public property.

“They said to me ‘Nello, if you stay here 24 hours without leaving it, you can set it up.’ And that’s exactly what I did,” Ceccarelli said.

And that’s what he continues to do, year after year. He’s a fixture in town, as much as Sullivan Independence Hall itself, at least come Christmastime anyway.

Some people may wonder if Ceccarelli is out of his mind for doing this. Others believe it’s the law that states he has to stay with the scene at all hours of the day that’s crazy.

“He shouldn’t have to sit here to make it legal,” said Fairfielder Ed Matto, while visiting Ceccarelli on Christmas Eve. “This is ridiculous to restrict it.”

“Maybe it’s unfair but it’s a separation of church and state issue,” counters Doug Jones, who supports Ceccarelli and knows him from the Representative Town Meeting, on which Ceccarelli has served for about 40 years.

Ceccarelli knows he has to stay with the nativity scene, which he purchased from a customer back when he ran his own bleach company decades ago.

“One year I left it for a little while and they took it away,” Ceccarelli said.

“It’s bittersweet,” Fairfielder Turk Leebaert says of the fact Ceccarelli spends 48 consecutive hours with his display. While Ceccarelli is forced to stay with the nativity scene, he is showing tremendous devotion, Leebaert explains.

“This is a man that anybody of any religion should admire for standing up for what he believes in,” Leebaert adds.

Stan Nadolny, another friend of Ceccarelli’s who visits him every year, came by on Christmas Eve with his white dove, a symbol of the spirit of the Holy Ghost.

“It’s tremendous,” Nadolny said of Ceccarelli’s devotion. “It’s a tough thing to do without a doubt, especially when you get older.”

This year, daytime temperatures on Christmas weekend reached almost 50 degrees. But if the weather had been cold and snowy, Ceccarelli says he still would have been out there.

“I prayed to God the weekend would be really good and God answered my prayers,” Ceccarelli said.

“Some years it’s been real, real, real, real cold, but cold doesn’t bother me because I’m bundled up very well,” Ceccarelli added.

Support from friends and strangers

Leebaert, who has known Ceccarelli for many years, rolled out a sleeping mat next to the crèche and spent the night outside to keep Ceccarelli company.

“I didn’t want to leave him alone here,” Leebaert says.

Leebaert was awakened by Ceccarelli at about 1:30 a.m. the day before Christmas. A drunk man had passed out on the sidewalk in front of the crèche, Leebaert said. He checked on him, called the police and the man was taken to a local hospital.

“That guy fell at the right place at the right time,” Leebaert said. “You could say this crèche saves a life regardless of why it’s here.

“He would have died,” Leebaert added. “He would have gotten hypothermia.”

Ceccarelli knows that not everyone supports his beliefs, but he says nobody ever gives him trouble.

“Ninety percent of the people who go by – they wave. Some of them honk their horn,” he said.

On Friday, St. Joseph’s Women’s Devotional and Children’s Choir from Shelton visited Ceccarelli and sang Christmas carols.

“You set a beautiful example and that’s why we wanted to bring our children here to meet you,” said Lori Candela, who was with her six-year-old son, Nathaniel.

Ceccarelli, who lost his wife Angeline about three years ago, has a friend, Grace D’Amico, who spent time with him at the crèche. Ceccarelli jokes that although she’s not his girlfriend, he won’t have anything to do with her if she starts hanging out with another guy.

“This is the true meaning of Christmas – not presents and feasts,” D’Amico says.

He used to have a goat, also named Nello, which he brought to the nativity scene for a few years. The goat jumped up on him and knocked him over a couple of times, so big Nello had to say good-bye to little Nello. The goat now lives on a farm in New York, Ceccarelli says.

He may be 90, but Ceccarelli could be mistaken for someone much younger.

“After 80, you start to slip a little,” Ceccarelli says with a great sense of humor. “I don’t mind walking with my walker or if I suffer as long as I have my mind.”

Question: This is our first house, and there is a really nice tree in the front on which we strung Christmas lights this year. Can we keep those lights up all year, instead of having to string and unstring then annually? We like the effect, but the work is a big pain, especially when it’s cold. We’d also like to get the lights to the top of the tree, but our ladder isn’t long enough.

A:You’ve touched a nerve here. Two years ago, I hung lights on the weeping cherry tree in front of our house for Christmas and left them up after the holiday. In the spring, while trimming the tree, I cut a couple of the light strings and ended up having to replace them.

After the next Christmas, squirrels chewed through the lights in several places, and I ended up replacing the strings again – on a cold, snowy weekend.

If I were you, I’d keep the lights up, but I’d also check on the connections periodically – so there will be no surprises at tree-lighting time. As for getting the lights up into the higher parts of the tree, home centers sell an 11-foot telescoping pole with attachments for stringing lights in tree branches and along house gutters.

Q: What is your opinion of installing heat tape on outside gutters and downspouts in places where we occasionally have an ice-dam problem? In one area, when we had prolonged low temperatures and icing, we got interior seepage. Since we’ve recently upgraded that room of the house, I would like to avoid recurrence of the problem now that winter has arrived.

A: If your roofer believes that installing heat tape is the best answer to an occasional problem, I see no trouble with it. Proper insulation and ventilation of attic spaces so that you prevent escaping heat from accelerating snow melt on the roof are the usual solutions to ice damming, as is installing a leakproof membrane under the shingles about two feet from the roof’s edge in situations where the attic work doesn’t do it.

Q: Recently, I bought pieces of old stained-glass windows from 100-plus-year-old Catholic churches that have closed. Everyone at the sale was handling the windows with latex gloves; I thought it was because your hands got dirty if you didn’t. Then someone told me that lead was coming off, and that I should handle them with care. I became concerned about hanging the stained glass in my house, possibly exposing my family to lead poisoning.

Can you tell me how the windows should be handled, how dangerous it is to have them hanging in my house, and the safest way to display them?

A: Unless they are handled carefully, lead cames and solders used in stained glass can be a health hazard if lead dust is swallowed or inhaled. Since the glass came out of churches that have been closed (with window maintenance likely not much of a priority), the lead soldering probably isn’t in good shape and decomposition will produce lead dust.

If you really want to keep the lead glass in the house, I would call a conservator or a company such as Willet Stained Glass Studios in Chestnut Hill for professional advice.

he “Bring one for the Chipper” campaign hopes you’ll recycle your Christmas tree after the holidays. The Lee County Public Works Department is working with the Keep Georgia Beautiful Campaign to turn used Christmas trees into mulch or a wildlife habitat.

Since the program began in 1991, over four million Christmas trees in Georgia have been collected.

“The recycling program is really good because it keeps waste down in our landfills too, so if people would just bring their Christmas Trees in,” said Catherine Gammage, Lee County Public Works.

The campaign has also handed out one million Christmas tree seedlings to participants. Those who dropped off a tree today received a Dogwood sapling. Trees will be collected at the Lee County Landfill through the end of January.

On the twelfth day after Christmas, my true love said to me “Get that tree out of the house, I am tired of looking at it and the needles are getting all over the place. You promised to take it out a week ago.”

She was of course correct.

I had promised to get rid of the pleasant holiday accessory but had not a chance to complete my plan for disposing of it in an environmentally friendly way. I was not going to just toss the tree away but recycle it and turn it into a crappie condominium. Old Christmas trees make excellent attractors for brush-loving crappie when they are prepared correctly and placed appropriately.

Crappies are like termites. They don’t eat wood as termites do, but they are sure attracted to it as a place of residence. Put a piece of wood on the ground in Texas and in a few days termites will be living under it. Crappies exhibit the same characteristic in an aquatic sort of way. Sink a piece of brush to the bottom of any water body and if there are any crappies around, they will burrow into that tree like a chigger into bare flesh.

I have no idea who the first angler was that came up with the idea of creating crappie habitat using old Christmas trees, but he/she was a genius.

This activity is not just some crazy pie-in-the-sky idea either; it really works. It takes some effort of course, but the results can be rewarding.

Let me pontificate: A few years ago I had access to a very old five-acre pond that was devoid of any type of brushy vegetation. According to the owner, the pond did have crappie in it but the few anglers allowed to fish it never caught very many of them.

It was just after Christmas when we had this conversation and I wanted to try the habitat-for-crappie project using old Christmas trees. This seemed the perfect opportunity. I explained the idea to the landowner and he agreed to allow me to do it as long as the trees I intended to sink did not extend above the surface of the water.

Since this was an initial effort, I chose to start small and cheap. I rounded up three old Christmas trees from family members. They were 6-7-foot models, with wide bushy branches and trunk diameters of about 4-inches. According to my research, trees that were sunk and remained vertical in the water were much more effective at attracting and holding crappie than those lying on their sides. I chose to use halite blocks as an anchor because I had some on hand. I trimmed a few branches just above the terminal end of the trunk, stuck the stump through the block and wired it in place with some #12 smooth fencing wire.

I loaded up the trees and anchors in the back of my truck and hauled them to the pond. The soon-to-be-crappie condos were loaded one at a time onto a flat-bottomed aluminum boat and sunk in the deepest part of the small lake close to the dam in about 12-feet of water. I tied a small plastic bottle to the first tree as a marker and arranged the other two trees into a triangle formation with the first one. I had placed the trees so as to be able to fish them from the shore as well as from a boat.

A week passed and I eagerly went to the pond to see if my efforts had improved the crappie fishing. I tied on a 1/8-ounce white Road Runner jig, cast it beside the brush pile, counted to six while the jig sank, and then started reeling it slowly back in. On the second crank of the reel handle something hit the jig. It turned out to be a pound and a half crappie.

For the next hour, I caught a crappie on nearly every cast beside that brush pile. The best fish of the day came on the last cast when a 6-pound largemouth bass nailed the lure. I was pretty smug after that experience and have been a firm believer in creating habitat for crappie ever since.

Crappie condos can also be built from other materials and the results are equally productive. Many anglers have created their own “forest” of crappie attractors and placed them in strategic locations in their favorite crappie lakes. They mark the spot with either landmark triangulation or on a GPS unit.

Having your own “secret” crappie fishing spots makes it much easier to find them and having multiple sites will generally guarantee that some spots will have willing fish on them. Be sure to check with local authorities before placing crappie condos in public waters as there may be some restrictions.

An Armenian tradition that places the holiday on Jan. 6 expands celebrations.

In downtown Fresno on Friday, as office workers hurried by talking on cell phones and noon traffic backed up, parishioners left the Holy Trinity Armenian Apostolic Church, chatting and calling out “Merry Christmas” to one another.

It was a sign of ancient Christian history and a cultural slice of a city with a large, active Armenian community.

In a country where Christmas generally is celebrated on Dec. 25, some Christian churches keep an older tradition. By the end of the third century in Rome, Christmas was held on Dec. 25, to coincide with a pagan holiday. But the Armenian church remained outside of the Roman Empire’s influence and to this day maintains its ancient tradition of celebrating both the birth and baptism of Christ on Jan. 6.

Local Armenian Americans say that this is one case where differing cultural traditions don’t so much collide as enrich and expand.

“It becomes one big Christmas chunk. It really is 12 days of Christmas,” said Marvin Caprelian, 62, a farmer who donned suit and tie and attended church on Friday.

Most American Armenians celebrate both days, with each Christmas taking on its own flavor.

Jim Malkasian, 45, is third-generation Armenian on his father’s side and Italian on his mother’s side.

“They’re both ethnic traditions, so it’s about the food,” he said.

There’s Armenian rolled grape leaves and his mother’s Italian chicken soup with pasta. On Dec. 25, he was at a boisterous family get-together with dozens of people at his cousin’s home and presents for all the kids.

On Friday, Malkasian, a sub-deacon at Holy Trinity, was taking part in a solemn, once-a-year service where people drank blessed water, and a centuries-old liturgy slowly unfolded.

“They’re both Christmas, but today is more subdued, more spiritual. The whole service is meditative. You have to use your mind and your imagination to understand what is happening,” he said.

“The presents and a lot of the extraneous stuff are out of the way, and now we’re celebrating God being revealed to us.”

To odar — non-Armenians — walking by the downtown church on Friday, the many wishes of “Merry Christmas” may have seemed late.

But Varoujan Der Simonian of Fresno said it was the other way around.

“We’re 12 months ahead of everyone else,” he said. “This is the first Christmas of the New Year.”

A pensioner has spoken of her surprise after discovering that a Christmas card she sent to her nephew, who lives just two miles away from her home, had been delivered to Iran by mistake.

Edith Gover, 83, posted the festive greeting card from a post box in Kingswood in Bristol on December 15.

The card was intended for her nephew John Gover, 50, who lives just two miles away in Bitton, Bristol, but her suspicions were aroused when the card failed to turn up.

Nine days later the card finally arrived at John’s home bearing a post mark from the Iranian capital Tehran.

Mrs Gover said she was astonished that the card had made the 5,000 mile round trip in such quick time.

She said: “‘It was quite a shock to think that the card had gone so far but still managed to turn up at my nephew’s house.

“Although the Post Office have made a mistake they certainly put it right very quickly.”

A spokeswoman for the Royal Mail said: “It is very difficult to pinpoint but it is more than likely it is an extremely rare case of where international mail has been attached in some way to inland mail.”

The Christmas tree and Christmas decorations are still up at the Applegate home in Butler.

The family left them up for Army Spec. Chad Applegate, who’s returning home from Iraq on Monday with other members of the 940th Military Police Company, which is based in Walton.

“The whole Walton army has come back, and nobody got hurt,” said Carole Gemmer of Walton. Her son, Sgt. Ricky Gemmer of Williamstown, is also in the 940th.

The 166 men and women of the unit are scheduled to arrive Monday afternoon at the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport. It will be the first time their loved ones have seen them in person since Christmas 2004, when they came home briefly from training at Fort Dix, N.J., before their deployment to Iraq.

Guard members are now back at Fort Dix for debriefing.

When he gets home to Verona, Sgt. Brian Schaffeld will want to see his wife, Jenny, and his new grandchild. “When I got the call that he was on the plane coming home I was ecstatic,” Mrs. Schaffeld said. “When he landed in the States, I was relieved and excited at the same time. They were in the States, I knew they were safe. I just can’t wait to see him.”

At the Applegate home in Butler, Chad Applegate’s son, 3-year-old Lenny, can’t wait to see his father again, either, said Applegate’s wife, Christina.

“I think he’s more excited about this than Christmas,” she said of her son. “And he was very excited about Christmas.”

When he gets home, Applegate can look forward to having Christmas with his extended family, including a turkey dinner with all the trimmings.

Then he can return to his full-time job at the Coca-Cola plant in Cincinnati. Applegate joined the National Guard after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

His family saw him about a month ago on a Web cam, something they’ve done many times since he started his tour of duty.

“It was wonderful. We didn’t have to wait for a disposable camera to come in the mail,” Christina Applegate said. “Technology has definitely made this deployment a lot easier for a lot of us.”

For her daughter Amelia, 16 months, it kept her father’s face fresh in her mind. “She will see him on the screen and point to him and she knows exactly who he is,” her mother said.

The families also communicated with the soldiers by sending each other text messages on a cell phone.

When he had time, Ricky Gemmer corresponded with his family using his laptop computer and e-mail. He didn’t tell his mother everything, but he did tell her that over the course of the year, his truck ran over six mines. He saw many of his friends from other units get arms and legs blown off, Carole Gemmer said.

She was crying tears of joy Friday at the thought of seeing her son again.

Some scholars say that The Star of Bethlehem might not have been a star at all.

According to one theory, the unusual appearance of the sky in the Christmas story might have been caused by a rare alignment of planets.

The thought of aligning planets over the Christmas manger rather than a five-pointed holiday star does not diminish the beauty of the New Testament story for me. It reminds me of the hope we carry at Christmastime that so many strange and disparate things will somehow converge into a pleasing pattern.

We expect a great deal to fall into place to make Christmas come around. Christmas is a complicated clock of many gears, its ambitions turning on the flight schedules of incoming relatives, the shopping hours of scattered malls, crowded calendars of office parties and school plays. Christmas is a creature of such complexity and daring that some years I wonder if the world can pull off another yuletide again. It has seemed so especially this year, as the wake of two terrible hurricanes makes the idea of Christmas harmony hard to reconcile with the ripped social fabric of Louisiana communities.

For me, the Christmas season does not begin with a pealing of bells or decking of the halls, but with a few solitary and erratic scribblings on a length of legal pad. On a gray afternoon shortly after Thanksgiving, like a general plotting a military campaign, I take pen in hand and begin to chart the march of errands and obligations that will take me through Dec. 25. Onto the yellow pad go gift lists, grocery lists, plans for charitable giving, important dates for parties and family gatherings.

As the empty pages flood with the blueprint for another marathon December, I quietly wonder if I have the mind and muscle to build the Christmas I’ve just imagined in ink. But I’m comforted by the notion that now I have a plan, that Christmas contingencies and supplies and schedules have been mapped and sorted and, as the bureaucrats like to say, prioritized.

But Christmas, like life itself, seldom goes according to plan, a reality that’s had sobering parallels in the news pages lately.

We’d like to think that the best and brightest minds had planned for every wolf that might come knocking at our door. But hurricanes Katrina and Rita reminded us that disasters don’t always follow the same set of rules we devise to box them in.

Nor could anyone have anticipated the tremendous outpouring of support from strangers to help hurricane victims in their darkest hour.

The Christmas story reminds us that life can alternate between the messy and the miraculous. Its opening passages read like a worst case scenario: A family is forced on the road by the whims of an emperor, compelled to stay in a stable because a crowded city has no room for them elsewhere. And then, at what seems the most inauspicious moment, the mother goes into labor.

So went the birth of a man who would be heralded as a savior.

I’ve crossed through most of the entries on my legal pad as I await another Christmas. But I am trying to leave myself open to the wonder that tends to arrive, ever since that first Christmas, when we least expect it.

Stripped of tinsel and ornaments, thousands of Christmas trees across the United States are becoming reefs for fish in fresh-water lakes.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers collects discarded trees to create an underwater forest near fishing piers in man-made lakes that lack natural habitats.

“The little fish will go in there for cover and to feed and the big fish will follow them,” said Eric Lemons, a park ranger at Wappapello Lake in southeast Missouri, which gets about 200 Christmas trees a year.

“We don’t get as many as we used to. People are getting fake trees more than real trees,” he added.

As it has for decades, the Army Corps drills holes in the trunks and wires four or five Christmas trees to a concrete block before tossing the conifers into the lakes.

Avid anglers seek out the Christmas reefs as prime fishing grounds for bass, crappie, bluegill and catfish. Anglers can even get permits to sink Christmas trees at their favourite fishing holes.

The Army Corps prefers Christmas trees to hardwood trees because the branches of conifers break easily if caught on fishing lines.

Whatever the woes of the Church of England and the overall decline in UK church-going, congregations from around the world-wide Anglican Communion reported record attendances at their Christmas services, says Jim Rosenthal of the Anglican Communion News Service (ACNS) at the Feast of Epiphany today.

The Christian Feast of the Epiphany marks the time when, according to the gospels, Magi representing earthly power and wisdom came to bring gifts to the infant Jesus, recognising God’s choice of the weak and powerless to fulfil the divine purposes of love in a world of might and violence.

Carol Services and the traditional Midnight Mass found many churches with standing room only this year, and some places had to turn people away for safety reasons. This was in contrast to news that a number of evangelical mega-churches in the US were closing on Christmas Day.

The usual all-night queue at Kings College Chapel, Cambridge, was again evident as hundreds tried to get into the traditional Nine Lessons and Carols, which is broadcast world-over by the BBC each 24 December. This is likely the most widely broadcast Christian worship service in the world.

The Rev Paul Lillie, writing from Jerusalem said: “Jerusalem Episcopalians braved checkpoints, rainy weather, and brisk winds in order to greet the Holy Child of Bethlehem with their usual warmth and generous spirit.”

Bus loads made their way to Manger Square to sing Carols. To finish the season, the new bishop co-adjutor in Jerusalem is being consecrated today in St George’s Cathedral – where Israeli anti-nuclear campaigner Mordechai Vanunu has been given sanctuary after his release from prison for alleged spying.

In Times Square New York, the church of St Mary the Virgin was packed at Midnight on Christmas Eve as the US Primate offered Eucharist.

At St Paul’s Cathedral, London, people were turned away at the Carol service, presided over by the Bishop of London, as safety regulations would not allow more inside. Well over 3,000 people were in attendance. At Midnight the cathedral was full again for the Eucharist.

Grace Episcopal Cathedral San Francisco – well known for its adventurous spiritual and social ministry – reports that 6,000 people worshipped at the 5 services over the weekend.

Carol Barnwell, Diocese of Texas spokesperson said that all churches held services on Christmas Day and that Christmas Eve found “record crowds” in all the churches of the diocese.

Carols at Canterbury Cathedral, Mother church of the Communion, also welcomed long queues for the service led by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams – who highlighted the need for forgiveness as an antidote to war and terror.

Positive reports were also received from Ireland (where the Anglican primate called for an amnesty for immigrants) and across Europe.

The Church of England and other historic denominations in the UK and throughout Europe have continued to be impacted by declining memberships in recent years.

However, Anglicanism and other forms of Christianity have been growing, sometimes dramatically, in Africa and Asia.

For Anglicans, Christmas runs through the Feast of the Epiphany (6 January), thus “the twelve Days of Christmas”. Some churches are known to keep some decorations around until 2 February, the Feast of the Presentation of Christ, the Purification of Mary, also called Candlemas.

Wal-Mart, the world’s biggest retailer, warned yesterday that the holiday season had been disappointing, prompting murmurings on Wall Street that the company’s crown might be slipping.

The retailer, which owns Asda in Britain, said same-store sales in the United States in December rose 2.2%, its smallest gain in the month for five years. The company said fourth-quarter profits were likely to come in at the low end of its previous forecasts.

Bernard Sosnick, an analyst with the brokerage Oppenheimer & Co, wrote in a note to clients: “The 2004 holiday season revealed that Wal-Mart was no longer invincible. The 2005 season did not erase that impression.”

The gains at Wal-Mart trailed behind the wider market. According to the research firm Retail Metrics, sales at American stores open at least a year rose 3.4% during the month, better than the 3.1% that analysts had expected.

Target Corporation, Wal-Mart’s main out-of-town rival in the US, beat expectations and reported a 4.7% same-store sales increase in December. Another competitor, Costco, posted a 7% gain.

Another American retailer that suffered a horrible Christmas was The Gap and its Old Navy stores, which appear to have lost touch with shoppers. The company said that fashions had misfired at both chains, causing a 9% drop in same-store sales.

Wal-Mart began its earliest Christmas campaign ever – on November 1 – eager to avoid a repeat of its experience a year ago when it was slow to reduce the prices of popular items.

Shares in Wal-Mart fell 11% last year. The larger the company has become, the more it has been forced to weather negative publicity, targeting everything from its employment practices to its impact on towns and the American manufacturing industry. Its expansion overseas also had limited success.

The company’s net sales for the five weeks to December 30 rose 6.3% to $40.8bn (£23.2bn).

Other American retailers to have performed well over Christmas included Abercrombie & Fitch, which had a 29% gain.

Wal-Mart has been attempting to introduce more upmarket goods in the hope of tempting higher earners. Analysts said one reason it had not performed as well as its peers was the impact of higher energy and petrol costs on its poorer consumers.

While most Christians only celebrate Christmas once a year, it actually comes twice for Armenian-Americans: once in December and once today.

Armenian-American families celebrate on Dec. 25, often getting together with relatives and friends for dinner.

But the Armenian church recognizes Jan. 6 as the day to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ because it never adopted the Dec. 25 Christmas that churches in the West began marking in the fourth century. So today, many Armenian churches in Southern California will be packed with congregants.

Armenian-Americans also spread Christmas celebrations into New Year’s Eve, meeting to exchange greetings and presents.

“The unique thing about this whole thing is around the new year all the commotion, the gift exchange, the Santa Claus is out of the way and Christmas is not overshadowed by anything else,” said the Rev. Vazken Atmajian of St. Mary’s Armenian Apostolic Church in Glendale.

“It’s Christ’s birthday, and we spend the whole day with prayers and church services,” he said.

The Armenian church is part of the Christian Orthodox world, and some other Eastern Orthodox churches also celebrate Christmas on a different day, Jan. 7. In the case of the Armenian church, the difference over dates is a result of Armenia not having been part of the Roman Empire when the pope in Rome ordered Christmas to be celebrated Dec. 25.

Armenians also maintain their nation never recognized pagan celebrations associated with the winter solstice on Dec. 25, so it would not have made sense to tie Christmas to winter solstice, as church leaders in the West did.

Accountant Rouben Gourjian, 64, of Glendale was expecting to have more than 25 guests at his home Thursday night to celebrate Armenian Christmas, also known as theophany. Singing and a meal with fish, a symbol of Christianity, are part of the festivities.

Gourjian, an ethnic Armenian, left Iran in 1975 and brought his two sons. His boys were happy to celebrate Dec. 25 and Jan. 6.

“There was no question, this is Armenian and this is Western and we accept it just like that,” Gourjian said. “Just like the dual identity that we carry inside. We are Armenian but we are also American.”

Katie Holmes has apparently run off in tears after spending Christmas with her fiance and parents.

It seems like it has been a turbulent Christmas for the celebrity couple, who spent the holidays at Katie’s parents’ home. According to Life and Style Weekly, Cruise had “decided to take the opportunity to mend fences with the family of his fiancee, Katie Holmes.”

However things reportedly did not go according to plan, with Katie and Tom leaving three days earlier than planned. “Katie was in tears,” a source told the magazine. “But that’s standard when it comes to dealing with family matters and Tom.”

The news has sparked speculation Tom and Katie could put their upcoming nuptials on hold.

A friend of the couple told the magazine: “My honest opinion is that the wedding’s not going to happen. Neither one of them seems as enthusiastic as they once did about marriage.”

As the Christmas season comes to a close in many churches and homes, it is just getting under way for the millions across America who celebrate Orthodox Christmas on Jan. 7.

St. Peter and St. Paul Ukrainian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church in Carnegie will hold its traditional Christmas Eve supper tomorrow for those who aren’t able or willing to prepare the extensive foods of the traditional Holy Supper meal.

The supper is one of many events in the region for the more than 20,000 people, mostly Serbian, Russian and Ukrainian, who will celebrate Christmas on Saturday. They are the Orthodox Christians who celebrate the birth of Christ according to the Julian calendar, which marks the date as 13 days after Dec. 25. The Julian calendar is named after Julius Caesar.

Most Orthodox Christians, as well as Catholics and Protestants, use the Gregorian calendar, which sets Christmas on Dec. 25. That calendar was named for Pope Gregory XIII, who abolished the old calendar in 1582 and shortened it by 13 days.

This is the fourth consecutive year that St. Peter and St. Paul will hold its Christmas Eve supper, which will be served at 6 p.m. in the Parish Hall.

“We get about 50 people, some visitors and some members,” the Very Rev. Steve Repa said.

The holy supper started at the church as a potluck for single people and older people who would not otherwise be able to prepare the traditional foods of the Orthodox Christmas, he said. Members of the church make dishes at home and bring them to the church for a buffet-style meal, he said.

Orthodox Christmas is “a celebration begun at home,” full of tradition, he said.

He said it is the job of the youngest child to look for the first star of the evening, representing the Star of Bethlehem. The tablecloth is white, representing the waning of the sun and the death of the earth. Hay and straw are placed under it.

A bright table cloth is put over that “to remind us of the life that Jesus has brought us,” he said. “With rebirth, all of creation is reborn.”

Father Repa said 12 dishes often are served, representing the 12 apostles. The meal may include peas, sauerkraut, beans, barley, a meatless borscht, cabbage rolls prepared with buckwheat and potatoes, dried fruit and fish prepared in many ways. Families remember their ancestors and read the genealogy of Jesus.

“It is all Lenten, no meat or dairy products,” he said.

He said the church’s Christmas Eve supper will be followed by Grand Complins, the evening service, at 8 p.m. The Divine Liturgy for Christmas Day is at 10 a.m. Saturday.

For Father Repa, the season also marks the rebirth of St. Peter and St. Paul, one of several churches in Carnegie flooded in September 2004 by Hurricane Ivan. He said the church, which has about 180 members, is still repairing extensive damage. The church’s rectory was gutted and it lost its library, with more than 1,000 books.

Part of this year’s Christmas celebration will be to thank everyone who has helped the church repair its damage, from anonymous helpers to members of the local fire department.

“I donated a pool table to the volunteer fire department, something personal from us to them,” Father Repa said.

THEY don’t call it the silly season for nothing.

While supermarkets are discounting the fruit mince pies left over from Christmas, they are also hoping customers will warm to hot cross buns.

With just more than three months until Easter, Coles and Woolworths started selling the buns this week.

Coles also is offering a limited range of Easter eggs and Woolworths will introduce eggs from January 23.

A spokeswoman for Woolworths said the early jump on Easter was “in keeping with previous years” and “a service to customers”.

“A proportion of our customers like to purchase these products early,” she said.

A Coles spokeswoman said the company’s Easter offerings were so far limited to hot cross buns, cream-filled and plain chocolate eggs.

“It’s a very limited offer at this stage but we will progressively and significantly increase the range closer to Easter,” she said. “The availability of Easter stock is driven purely and simply by customer demand. “The current range is selling extremely well.”

Despite hot days forecast into next week, several Adelaide supermarkets had sold out of hot cross buns by yesterday afternoon.

Belinda Tredwell, of North Plympton, was surprised to learn Easter was upon her.

“We’re just getting over Christmas,” she said as she shopped with son Lachlan, 20 months, at Coles, Kurralta Park.

“It wouldn’t even cross my mind to buy hot cross buns until probably about a month before (Easter).

“Otherwise, the novelty wears off.” While Balfour’s already was baking the buns, Vili’s proprietor Vili Milisits said he had “other things to do”.

“I’ve never made a hot cross bun in January or February,” he said.

“It’s very commercialised, isn’t it?

“Christmas is finished; what’s next?” The Easter long weekend starts on Good Friday, April 14.

Christmas cheer and a little holiday mystery appeared on the doorsteps of some Jasper residents in the days leading up to Dec. 25.

When Lydia Stanko found a can of pears on her doorstep, representing the ‘partridge in a pear tree’ from the Twelve Days of Christmas around mid-December, she wondered if someone had made a mistake.

In the days that followed, the intrigue deepened as other small gifts were left at her door including five miniature doughnuts for the ‘five golden rings’.

On the sixth day, Stanko said she received a hint from a friend as to who the anonymous gift-givers might be.

“It was sure different, I tell you that much,” said Stanko with a chuckle.

Upon her return from a few days with family in Cranbrook, B.C., Stanko found a final surprise from the mysterious locals she’d come to know as the Twelve Days of Christmas Family.

A note included the names of the secret gift-givers and a poem that read as follows:

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas

Our family brought to thee,

Twelve drummers drumming

Twelve drummers drumming have been hoping you will find

The spirit of this special time

And give you peace of mind,

So we, the drummers drumming, wish you joy and cheer,

So have a Merry Christmas and be happy through the year.

This is the second year the Twelve Days of Christmas Family has descended upon Jasper to spread cheer and bring back the spirit of Christmas. In 2004, about 37 residents received small gifts with notes attached explaining how each gift represented one of the twelve days of Christmas.

Those responsible prefer to stay anonymous because they feel part of the fun for those on the receiving end is trying to figure out who’s involved.

A representative from the group said it’s likely they will return next year to bestow fuzzy Christmas feelings on other deserving residents.

CHRISTMAS holidays may be a time of celebration but they are also the time when people are most likely to be beaten, robbed and even killed.
With eight murders recorded across the country in the five days from December 30 to January 3, there is no sign of that trend being bucked.

For all other times of the year, seven days is average for eight murders.

“Crime is definitely seasonal; violent crime does increase around December and January,” New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research deputy director Jackie Fitzgerald said.

“I would attribute that to people’s behaviour, because more people are socialising and drinking more alcohol.”

Figures for 1995 to 2004 show that in NSW there are more murders in December than in any other month, with an average of 10.4. The average for June and July is 7.3, although the figures spike in August.

Day-to-day tracking of crime rates in NSW show Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day are the most dangerous.

Assaults, domestic violence, sexual offences, burglary and malicious damage all increase. Ms Fitzgerald said the biggest crime spike was usually on New Year’s Day.

Those who deal with criminal behaviour are in no doubt the festive season is a troubled time.

“You get the Christmas effect. Christmas Day is the day of peak admissions to psychiatric hospitals,” Queensland forensic psychologist Bob Montgomery said.

“People tend to drink more around Christmas and you get people feeling obliged to spend time with family members who, frankly, they would rather not.

“All of this contributes to a peak around this time, and in Australia you also have the peak summer conditions.”

Leonie Young, chief executive of the Beyondblue mental health group, said the festive season could be a stressful time, with the pressures of selecting gifts, preparing food and entertaining family members.

“Many people build up to this time of year with great expectations only to face an anticlimax if their hopes aren’t fulfilled,” she said.

“Separation or divorce, or just being a long way from home, can bring back painful memories or create strong emotions.”

Watching the 4-year-old Golden Retriever frolick in the floor with the children, the casual observer would never know anything was wrong with Holly Noel.

So named because she was given as a Christmas gift, Holly Noel loves the attention she gets from her two young masters, Ethan Mullins, 11, and sister Hannah, 8. And they are crazy about their furry friend, who makes her home near Clintwood with the Wayland and Michelle Mullins family.

This Christmas will be especially meaningful for the Mullins family, who almost lost their beloved pet last February.

The Mullins’ were remodeling their home and spent weekends out looking for rocks to build their fireplace. Holly always accompanied them on their trips, and it wasn’t unusual for her to go off on her own and then wait for her family at a gate to the property.

But one Sunday evening she wasn’t waiting at the gate. It began to snow that night, and snowed for the next three days.

The family spent every evening the following week looking for Holly, but they couldn’t find her.

The following Saturday, the family went looking again. Wayland had heard that sometimes dogs will run off cliffs, so he decided to check out a highwall on a nearby strip job. Holly had never been known to travel that far, but Wayland wanted to be certain she wasn’t there.

The entire family went on the search, enlisting the help of Michelle’s nephews, Drew and Corey Phipps.

As they approached the base of the 30-foot highwall, Ethan, Wayland and Corey spotted Holly. The dog didn’t move or bark, so they feared the worst.

But as they got closer, Holly lifted her head. She was alive.

Holly had survived six days with no food or shelter. The temperature had dropped into the teens at night and several inches of snow had fallen.

Hardly believing the dog could be alive, Wayland gently scooped Holly into his arms. She still didn’t move or bark.

Michelle called a veterinarian clinic in Bristol, Tenn., that is open nights and weekends. The family loaded up Holly and began the two-hour journey to Bristol.

At the animal clinic, the doctors couldn’t find any visible trauma. If the dog has fallen off the highwall, she should have suffered several broken bones, but none were evident. Still, Holly was unable to move her back legs and tail.

The clinic kept the dog until Monday, but then told the Mullins family there was a possibility Holly would have to be put down. Although Holly did have deep pain sensation, there were no other changes.

The clinic suggested the Mullins consider taking Holly to the Virginia Tech veterinary hospital in Blacksburg. To do so, she would need a referral by her regular veterinarian.

So when the clinic released Holly that Monday, Michelle drove her straight to Pound to see her regular veterinarian, Dr. Donna Stidham. Stidham examined the dog, contacted Virginia Tech and made the referral. It was still uncertain why Holly was paralyzed.

At Virginia Tech, the veterinarians wanted to perform back surgery on Holly. After discussing it, Wayland and Michelle agreed to the procedure.

“She did not make it six days for us to give up on her,” Michelle said.

The vets shaved Holly and sedated her for the procedure. But x-rays of Holly’s spine did not reveal the broken vertebrates veterinarians expected to find. Holly didn’t have any broken bones.

It was then doctors began to suspect Holly had suffered a blood clot to her spine, which is similar to a stroke in a human. Golden Retrievers and Labradors are two breeds that are prone to blood clots in their spines, the vets told the Mullins family.

They decided to alter Holly’s treatment plan from surgery to physical therapy, hoping Holly might respond just as a stroke patient would. The Mullins’ agreed to leave Holly at Virginia Tech for doggie physical therapy.

When they visited her the following weekend, they were thrilled at the progress Holly had made. She was able to drag herself using her front legs, but remained paralyzed from the waist back.

After eight days at Virginia Tech, Holly was released from the veterinarian hospital and went home with her family. She was still unable to walk.

At home, Michelle continued the physical therapy treatment the hospital had shown her. And slowly but surely, Holly improved.

Now, 10 months after her “stroke,” Holly is doing well. Although her right rear foot drags a little bit, she otherwise walks normally.

Michelle can tell her pampered pet tires more easily than before, but is happy just to have her back. And watching her children wrestle with Holly on the floor, she knows Holly’s treatment was well worth it.

Our family had a grand and glorious Christmas this year. We shared Christmas Eve early at Jane and Jimmy’s in Texas City with their children and grandchildren. What a joy to see the excitement in the little children.

Later that evening, we went to Lori and Dunner’s to join their family and a house full of their neighbors. For a change, there was only one person on crutches. Tim Alexander had surgery on his knee, and it was swollen up like a watermelon.

This is such a good neighborhood out here with everyone looking after the other folks, and it seems the whole neighborhood looks after me. I am getting so old, I need watching.

We met at Ernie and Kathy’s on Christmas Day for lunch. Tony and Sharon Edmunds gave Ernie and Kathy a huge heater to go on their back porch, and it is something to see. It has a propane tank and looks like a tree. They cranked it up, and it warmed their whole back porch.

We all attended midnight services at our Methodist church on Christmas Eve. When I came to Dickinson in 1935, my best friend was Mary Katherine Dues, and I went to the Catholic church with them all the time. I believe Father Carney was the priest at that time.

Catholic services were held in the old white building that sits behind the Catholic church on state Highway 3 now. It was my first Catholic church to attend, and women were not allowed to enter without covering their heads. I had never had a hat in my life, but I found a crumpled handkerchief, and I thought the services were wonderful.

It seemed the Catholic church was always having picnics in a park somewhere in the area, and I tagged along with Mary Katherine. I probably spent more time at the Catholic doings than at my Methodist church in those days.

Seeing the neighbors all get together on Christmas Eve at the Honeycutts made me think of our earlier years with the Luhning family. There are not many Christmases that this family isn’t on my mind since they were such a part of our family years ago.

They moved out here right after the Texas City disaster that killed their son, Joe. They had planned to build each family a home up here, but that never came to pass. But we did have Jimmy and Shirley, Pappy and Josie, Pete and Jean for our neighbors and became close friends with all of their children and spouses. We had many meals together, watched their children and they watched ours.

We spent every Christmas together with the Luhning family for years and years. One year, the kids got a ping-pong set and for weeks after Christmas, we had ping-pong games going in my dining room.

The Luhnings were the first close neighbors we had, and they were the greatest. It was a different world then. Mac was still alive and the house was full of kids. My Christmases may have changed, but they are still wonderful.

Every year, about 88 tons of Christmas trees are recycled in Thurston County, and there’s still time for South Sound residents to chip in.

Many programs in the area allow for convenient tree collection and recycling, many of them for free, but the deadlines for many of them are approaching.

Residents can take measures to make sure their trees are acceptable, according to Michelle Andrews, education and outreach specialist with Thurston County Solid Waste.

Before dropping a tree off or putting it on the curb for pickup service, customers should:

• Remove ornaments, tinsel and nails.

• Cut trees taller than 6 feet in half.

• For apartment dwellers, ask managers about recycling options or use a drop-off service in the community.

The following disposal or collection services are among those still available:

• Thurston County: Residents can drop trees off for free at the Thurston County Waste and Recovery Center, 2418 Hogum Bay Road, Lacey, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., daily through Jan. 15. Flocked trees will be accepted.

• Olympia: City of Olympia garbage customers with Tuesday and Wednesday service should place trees in their normal garbage locations by 6 a.m. Saturday. Those with Thursday and Friday service should place trees out by 6 a.m. Jan. 14. Flocked trees will not be accepted. See www.ci.olympia.wa.us for details.

• Lacey: Residents should place their trees on the curb by 8 a.m. Tuesday. Do not put trees in the roadway or stack them on street corners. Do not place trees within 5 feet of garbage cans, or Pacific Disposal will collect them for a fee (except for customers with yard-waste service). For more information, call the city of Lacey at 360-491-3214.

• Tumwater: Residents should place trees out by 8 a.m. Jan. 9. For more information, call Tumwater Public Works at 360-754-4150.

• Tenino: Residents can take trees to the corner of Wichman and Sussex Avenue through Jan. 9. Ron’s Stump Grinding and Tree Service will provide chipping service, and wood chips will be available. For more information, call Tenino Public Works at 360-264-2368.

• Rainier: Residents should place trees at the curb on their regular Tuesday or Friday garbage pickup day through Jan. 20. For more information, call Rainier City Hall: 360-446-2265. Residents also can take trees to the Rainier Transfer Station, 13010 Rainier Acres Road. For drop-off days and times, call 360-786-5494.

• Rochester and other county residents: Trees can be taken to the Rochester Transfer Station, 16500 Sargent Road, through Jan. 29. For days and times, call 360-786-5494.

• Yelm: Residents can place trees in a container at Yelm City Park anytime through Jan. 15.

• Pacific Disposal: Customers with yard-waste service should place trees next to their yard-waste bins on their normal yard-waste collection day. Pacific Disposal also will pick up trees at regular garbage rates for nonyard-waste customers. For more information, call 360-923-0111.

• Shelton area: Bill McTurnal Enterprises, 721 Kamilche Lane, will accept trees for free until March 1, seven days a week, during daylight hours. For more information, call 360-280-2236.

Several donations totaling $850 came in to the Potomac News/Manassas Journal Messenger Christmas Basket fundraising drive Monday.

William and Virginia Murphy of Woodbridge donated $200.

Laronald Dews Sr. and Mildred Dews of Woodbridge donated $200.

Craig and Karen Hensle of Manassas donated $150.

An anonymous donor from Montclair gave $25.

An anonymous donor from Woodbridge gave $50.

An anonymous donor from Nokesville gave $200.

Paul and Shannon Coyle of Jeffersonton donated $25 and wrote, “I wish to make this donation on behalf of the wonderful members of the United States Military,” signed Paul Coyle.

Now the total is $40,096 toward the $50,000 goal set by publisher Mark Laskowski.

For the past 33 years, the Prince William Salvation Army has benefited from money raised through the Christmas Basket.

Started in 1972 by former publisher Paul Muse, the Basket helps needy families pay for food, utilities and other expenses through the holidays.

The Salvation Army’s national headquarters in Washington, D.C., has a system of guidelines for distributing the funds.

When people in need ask for the organization’s help, a social service worker evaluates the request based on these guidelines.

Donations can be brought to the Potomac News office at 14010 Smoketown Road in Woodbridge or to the Manassas Journal Messenger at 9009 Church St. in Manassas.

People who want to contribute in memory of friends or loved ones are encouraged to write a brief message or to include holiday wishes with their donation.

Checks should be made payable to the Salvation Army.

Donations will be accepted through Jan. 10.

THE Christmas card campaign which was launched in December by the Padraig Nally Support Group was a huge success with over 2,000 cards and messages of support posted to him at Portlaoise Prison, according to the Group. The Cross farmer, who is serving a six-year sentence for the manslaughter of John ‘Frog’ Ward was said to be delighted with the cards which came from all over Ireland and from the UK, USA, Germany and Australia.

Paddy Rock, a neighbour of Mr Nally’s and a spokesperson for the Nally Support Group, said the 61 year old bachelor was coping ‘quite well’ with life in prison.

Relatives and neighbours visited him in prison over the Christmas period while his sister, Maureen, paid a visit on Christmas Eve. Neighbours have also been taking turns at maintaining the Nally farm. Money donated to a bank account set up by supporters is going towards feeding livestock on the farm and paying bills.

However, the Christmas card campaign was criticised by the Mayo Traveller Support Group who said the campaign only further entrenched the prejudices of those who already view Nally as a victim ‘rather than a perpetrator of a crime’.

Mr Nally’s jailing late last year prompted huge national debate, and sparked heated discussions on the airwaves both local and national. A rally in his support was organised by the Support Group, but was later postponed.

Because Christmas fell on Sunday this past year, some prominent evangelical churches canceled worship services, expecting low attendance. This surprising turn of events might inspire Christian warriors fighting to “save Christmas” to rethink their strategy. Rather than condemn the “happy holiday” speck in Wal-Mart’s eye, they might notice the Yule log in their own.

After all, what is the fight really about? If the aim is to keep “Christ” in the shopping-mall Christmas or to ensure that pagan trees and mistletoe don’t lose their Christian labels, then it might make sense to attack presidents and business owners who commit the “happy holiday” sin. But if the goal is to restore the religious meaning of the Christian holy day, then they are aiming at the wrong Target.

The real problem for real Christians is simply this: The sacred Christmas has been consumed by consumerism. With so many expensive do-dads to buy and open, who has time to worship the “reason for the season”? Re-christening the holiday tree won’t solve the December dilemma; it will only make things worse.

For a more effective “save Christmas” battle plan, I decided to consult my old friend, the Puritan minister Roger Williams. After all, Williams was the first Christian in America to raise the alarm about worldly pollution of the faith. More Puritan than the Puritans, he decried the church leaders and politicians of Massachusetts Bay Colony who polluted the Gospel by mixing the sacred and profane. For this (and for advocating religious liberty for all) Williams was banished from the colony in 1635.

No word in the English language more angered Williams than “Christendom.” The Gospel, he argued, must be in the world, but not of the world. He was convinced that everything began to go downhill for the church when the Emperor Constantine adopted Christianity as the state religion. At that point, Williams wrote, “the Garden of Christ’s Churches turned into the Wilderness of National Religion, and the World into the most unchristian Christendom.”

That, in a nutshell, is the story of Christmas in America. Once the birth of Jesus was made a “national holiday,” taking “Christ out of Christmas” was destined to happen. Today, the secular, commercial “Xmas” so dominates that even some churches must close their doors to accommodate its power. Christmas defenders are left to defend the indefensible: a red-and-green holiday season of unholy materialism

Even the Puritans who banished Williams foresaw this problem, passing laws to prohibit celebrations of “Christmas” on Dec. 25. This was an ill-fated attempt to ban from the New World a holiday celebrated in England with drinking and feasting on the unbiblical date originally associated with the Roman festival of Saturnalia.

Roger Williams had a better solution for protecting religion: Build what he described as a “hedge or wall of separation between the garden of the church and the wilderness of the world.” Only by keeping government out of matters of faith, he argued, is it possible for authentic religion to flourish. To test his conviction, he founded Rhode Island – the first society in the New World without an established church and with full religious freedom for everyone.

Rhode Island’s “lively experiment” eventually became America’s commitment to “no establishment” under the First Amendment. Freeing religion from entanglement with the state is our nation’s great gift to people of all faiths – and to world civilization. With all of the confusion and conflict today over the meaning of “separation,” Americans too easily forget that the wall metaphor was invented by a deeply religious man committed to guarding religion from being co-opted by the state and corrupted by the world.

The First Amendment may keep government from promoting the religious Christmas, but it doesn’t prevent the culture from appropriating “Christmas” for secular or economic ends. That’s why a Roger Williams Campaign to save Christmas might start by asking folks to write thank-you notes to all politicians who say “happy holidays” and every store that puts up a “holiday tree.” Let them have the holiday, Williams would argue, just don’t call it “Christmas.” Let them keep the pagan tree and “Jingle Bells.” Throw in Santa Claus and the elves. But leave the creche and carols out of it. Don’t mix Christ with commerce.

If persuasion doesn’t work, Roger Williams might make a more outrageous proposal (one even more likely to be ignored): Return Dec. 25 to the pagans, and find another date to celebrate Christ’s birth (some biblical scholars think the Nativity took place in the spring). Just imagine: Without all the presents to wrap, trees to decorate and parties to attend, believing Christians could spend the Advent season actually preparing for the birth of Jesus. Without the distraction of blinking lights and mistletoe, there will be plenty of time and money to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and visit the sick and imprisoned.

Save Christmas? If Jerry Falwell and other self-appointed defenders of Christmas are serious about putting the Christ back in Christmas, then Roger Williams has a better plan. But if the Friend or Foe Christmas Campaign is really about politics and power, then Christendom it is.

“Christenings make not Christians,” said Williams. And neither does making Wal-Mart say “Merry Christmas.”

Football star David Beckham stunned wife Victoria by giving her a

£1.2 million ruby and diamond necklace for Christmas.

The ex-Spice Girl was thrilled with the gift – which has a pendant made from two huge rubies and diamonds hanging on a chain encrusted with over a hundred rubies – bought from designer jeweller Boucheron.
A source told Britain’s The People Newspaper: “Victoria loves Boucheron and was overwhelmed by the ruby and diamond necklace. It really was the perfect present.

“Victoria thought David might get her a piece of jewellery for but she never for one moment thought he would be so generous.

“Words can’t describe how delighted she was with the gift and she can’t wait for the ideal opportunity to show it off.”

Mum-of-three Victoria returned the favour by giving Real Madrid star David, 30, the world’s most luxurious limousine.

The Rolls-Royce Phantom was waiting for him when he returned from Spain for Christmas.

An insider said: “Everybody knows David is car-mad and Victoria was convinced it would be the perfect present for him.”

RLENE DOUGHERTY began her Christmas preparations in early fall, working for a shopping spree she didn’t attend.

The part-owner of Dougherty’s Tavern, a Stafford County restaurant, organized a motorcycle ride and silent auction to raise money for the Sheriff’s Office Shop With a Cop program.

She held the ride and auction Oct. 9, hoping to raise $4,000.

“I just wanted to make sure the kids get to go shopping,” Dougherty said.

In the annual program, officers take less-fortunate children shopping for Christmas.

Darrell English, with the sheriff’s crime prevention unit, said that the Sheriff’s Office gives each child $100. The children can spend $25 on a toy and the rest goes to clothes and a present for one of their family members.

Dougherty and the staff at her restaurant have raised money for the program in previous years. They raised about $3,000 last year.

She hoped to do better this year.

The restaurant provided breakfast for a few motorcycle rides held throughout the year to benefit other organizations.

She said that the restaurant donated the food and gave all of the proceeds from the $5 they charged for each breakfast to the Shop With a Cop program.

This year, the restaurant held its own bike ride and held a silent auction with items and gift certificates donated by area restaurants, stores and hotels.

The combination of breakfasts, bike ride and silent auction netted $6,000.

Dougherty collected the last of the money by Halloween and dropped it off at the Sheriff’s Office in early November.

She wanted to make sure the sheriff would have enough time to find children.

English said that Sheriff Charles Jett gets in touch with the county’s Social Services Department to find participants.

This year, he also worked with Olde Forge Junction, an association for the children of the Olde Forge neighborhood.

Stafford Baptist Church donated a school bus, English said, and they picked 37 kids up at the playground at Olde Forge at 7:30 a.m.

The children and 15 officers rode to the Ferry Farm Wal-Mart, where the kids met Santa Claus and went shopping, buying toys, clothes and even the occasional coffee pot, English said.

Dougherty and her pals raised so much money this year that there was an excess.

Capt. David Decatur said, “It will go to a program to help children in need.”