British Muslims say: Put Christ back in Christmas
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Muslim leaders joined Britain’s equality watchdog Monday in urging Britons to enjoy Christmas without worrying about offending non-Christians.
“It’s time to stop being daft about Christmas. It’s fine to celebrate and it’s fine for Christ to be star of the show,” said Trevor Phillips, chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
Mr. Phillips, reflecting on […]

Christmas Spirit


Family delights in putting twinkle in children’s eyes
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Just on dusk, pajama-clad children begin appearing on the lawn of a Cambridge house.
With great anticipation the switch is flicked, and the lawn is lit with thousands of fairy lights.
“You hear them go `ooh’ and `ahh’,” said Oaklands Dr homeowner Jos Philip. “The kids really love it, it has become a tradition.”
Mrs Philip, her husband […]

Christmas Spirit

Should you say “Happy Holidays” or “Merry Christmas?”
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This season we are once again presented with a controversy that seems to rear its head more and more this time of year…
Should you say “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays?”
It’s a simple question, but the answer is far from easy…
“MERRY CHRISTMAS Everyone,” calls Daniel Dudley at the Red Bank Christmas Parade.
People aren’t […]

Christmas Spirit

Putting the Christ in Christmas shopping
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Shopping for Christmas cards used to be a source of frustration for Sandra King.
Over the years, King found that fewer and fewer stores carried cards with a real Christian flavour. There were lots of cards offering “seasons greetings” and the like, but few that mentioned or even hinted at Christ’s birth.
“I want my […]

Christmas Spirit


Viewers dismayed at Christmas TV
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Christmas television in the UK is a disappointment, a survey of 2,000 viewers has suggested.
More than half (57%) said Christmas TV, which includes several high-profile soap storylines and the Queen’s speech, was “not as good as it used to be”.
Only 9% deemed the schedules “excellent festive entertainment”, while 24% branded them “completely over-rated”.
In a separate […]

Christmas Spirit

Pilots play Santa Claus, deliver good cheer to kids
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Tim Kramer and Alex Craig subscribe to the theory what you give is what you get.
It should pay off well for the West Bloomfield pilots, who participated Saturday in Operation Good Cheer, a statewide effort providing Christmas gifts to foster children.
“This is the very best way to do Christmas because you’re bringing joy […]

Christmas Spirit

Paris Hilton dresses pet pooch up in Santa outfit
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Paris Hilton has been getting into the festive spirit - by dressing her dog in Christmas clobber.
The heiress, 26, was snapped last week at the Kitson store in Beverly Hills with her pet done up in a Father Christmas outfit.
This weekend the Simple Life star was spotted again in Miami Beach, Florida, with […]

Christmas Spirit

Memories on a Christmas tree lot
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I didn’t grow up in Chicago, though my parents and their families did. I was raised in another Midwest industrial city, one that faces news every Christmas (it seems) of layoffs, plant closings and food banks. It’s a city people leave with fondness but no regrets. I sometimes think of myself as a Chicagoan raised […]

Christmas Spirit


Hands off Christmas, say British religious leaders
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Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims joined Britain’s equality watchdog on Monday in urging Britons to enjoy Christmas without worrying about offending non-Christians.
“It’s time to stop being daft about Christmas. It’s fine to celebrate and it’s fine for Christ to be star of the show,” said Trevor Phillips, chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
“Let’s stop […]

Christmas Spirit

A Christmas mystery: Who really wrote holiday classic?
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Printed partway down Page 3 of the Troy Sentinel on Dec. 23, 1823, it was easy to miss.
Between beekeeping tips and a wedding announcement was a seasonal poem. Submitted anonymously, the poem charmed editors who published it anyway. It began like this:
” ‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house … .”
The rest […]

Christmas Spirit

“I believe in Santa Claus again”
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When Danette Meola’s parents died three weeks apart in 2006, she lost some of her holiday spirit.
But after a visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus Thursday night, her faith and Christmas cheer have been restored.
“Honestly, I believe in Santa Claus again,” the 44-year-old mother of two said.
Santa, who bears a strong resemblance to Ed View […]

Christmas Spirit

Wreath ceremonies to honor veterans Dec. 15
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Veterans’ memorials and gravesites across the nation will be adorned with remembrance wreaths on Dec. 15 in stirring, solemn tributes to the courage and sacrifice of those who have guarded and preserved the nation throughout history.
Through Wreaths Across America, Civil Air Patrol members join with Worcester Wreath Co. of Harrington, Maine, in remembering the […]

Christmas Spirit


I wish you a very Christian Christmas
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I stumbled across it one December evening, a Christmas haven with not a strand of lametta, plastic holly leaf or red velvet reindeer with glitter antlers in sight.
It was the early 1990s and I was in Strasbourg to cover a conference of excruciating dullness. So I played hooky, losing myself in the medieval streets between […]

Christmas Spirit


Nameless donor drops off gifts
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For one Wichita Falls nonprofit, the best gifts at Christmas come with a “To” but not a “From.”
“We’re blessed with a lot of donations this time of year,” said Becky Browning, marketing director of the Wichita Falls Faith Mission, “but the anonymous ones show the true spirit of what Christ’s love is for all of […]

Christmas Spirit

Great-grandmother, 91, dances in Nutcracker ballet
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A 91-year-old great grandmother will be taking the stage this holiday season in a Montreal production of The Nutcracker, a role she has been filling for the past 20 years with no sign of slowing down anytime soon.
Delphine Girouard-Ross appeared on CTV’s Canada AM on Monday from Montreal with her daughter Marie St. Amour, […]

Christmas Spirit


Santa dons sunglasses to hand out presents in Bethlehem
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In biblical Bethlehem, Santa makes his rounds in cool shades.
The dark sunglasses are a Palestinian addition to Santa’s traditional garb of red suit and black boots, meant to ensure that children in the tiny, tight-knit Christian community in Jesus’ traditional birthplace don’t recognize the man bringing them presents.
Each year, volunteer Santas fan out across […]

Christmas Spirit

Where every day is Christmas
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The streets have names like Candy Cane Lane, Christmas Boulevard and Mistletoe Drive.
Bigger-than-life statues of Old Saint Nick and red buildings with green roofs are everywhere.
And the Christmas tree in the lobby at Santa’s Lodge hotel is never taken down.
Welcome to Santa Claus, Ind.
There’s the Silent Night Café, Lake Rudolph Campground and RV Resort, Frosty’s […]

Christmas Spirit

Polar Express Carries Kids to Santa
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It would take the magic of Christmas to stay warm outside in the cold we saw this weekend. Hundreds of people managed to, waiting in line to board a Green Mountain Railroad train that’s been renamed. Conductor Brian McGregor chuckles, “It’s ‘The Polar Express!’”
The Polar Express is a beloved Christmas book for children, and […]

Christmas Spirit

Christmas spirit: Fines forgiven in exchange for donations to needy
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Every year at this time for the past 20 years or so, the Sikeston Public Library staff get into the spirit of the season by offering Fine Free Week.
From now through Dec. 15, for every overdue library item returned in usable condition, patrons can bring in a new toy or nonperishable food item, and […]

Christmas Spirit


Suburbanite Shows His Quality, Holiday Spirit
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Not a joke: A Hoffman Estates man was actually dragged by a car while defending his Christmas lawn decorations from vandals.
Phillip OBrill proved he really isn’t messing around when it comes to the award-winning holiday lights display on his lawn. He and his wife discovered up to eight diabolical vandals “stomping, ripping and breaking” […]

Christmas Spirit

Bikers get in Christmas spirit by helping children
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A few local bikers brought some smiles to children’s faces on Sunday afternoon.
Riders from the Northwest Arkansas chapters of Bikers Against Child Abuse and Arkansas Bikers Aimed Toward Education gathered at the Donald W. Reynolds Boys & Girls Club to hand out toys to some little ones who might not get a Christmas this […]

Christmas Spirit

Ex-driver builds giant Santas for children
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Leaving a life of driving for a rich family and then reinventing himself as a craftsman proved right for Fred Velasques.
On Saturday, Velasques buoyed sagging spirits by making a 20-foot figure of a sitting and smiling Santa Claus that SM City Clark touts to be the biggest in the Philippines.
This piece made from fiberglass, which […]

Christmas Spirit


Santa Train a return to magic of childhood
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More than 60 years ago, 5-year-old twin sisters were among the first generation to experience the Santa Claus Special as it passed near their Trammel, Va., home on its first run.
And more than 40 years ago, a 5-year-old girl saw Santa pass near her home — waving from a caboose — as she played alone […]

Christmas Spirit


Santa’s helpers making list of Yule needy in Toronto
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A flood of positive and persistent calls from families inquiring about the status of their Star gift boxes is what sticks out in Kim DiPassio’s mind from her time at the city’s “Christmas Bureau.”
“I think maybe that signifies the importance of the Santa Claus Fund,” DiPassio says.
For more than 50 years, city hall’s […]

Christmas Spirit


Window on the Christmas past
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When Ana Fernandes and Denis Frenette from the Bay’s creative design team visited Spaeth Design studios in New York in August to view their store’s holiday windows for this year, something was missing.
In the toyshop scene, elves were building toys, but only for good little boys.
“Can you imagine if that was customer feedback, a […]

Christmas Spirit