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STORIES OF CHRISTMAS
Friday, December 24, 2010
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A D U LT S ’ D I V I S I O N — F i r s t p l a c e
A Christmas to remember By MIKE HOLST Age 69, Crosslake
At Christmas time I often think back to a Christmas 60 years ago when I was just six years old. There are those who would say it’s uncanny to be able to remember things that long ago and at that young age. I have found that you remember what you want to, even when it’s not a good memory. Memories are made by you and they are erased by you. There is a good memory to me that comes to mind, but to many it is one they would have erased. It was Christmas Eve, 1947 in the small town of Staples, Minn. I had three sibling brothers, the youngest just months old, while I was six. The Great War had been over for many months. Factories that had run night and day for years were idle now, the soldiers were back home now and no longer needed their wares. Jobs were hard to find. My father worked as a soda jerk in a confectionery up town for a quarter an hour. We lived in the upstairs of a house that was more like an attic than living quarters. Our clothes were cast offs from neighbor kids and relatives. We had no toys and no
place to play if we did have toys. But I do remember that year a Christmas tree. It was a real tree with bubble lights and popcorn balls and icicles. One thing was lacking though — it was bare underneath it. No gifts. I remember looking under it each day, but each day it remained bare. Then Christmas Eve came and the six of us gathered around that tree. Dad read to us the story of Jesus’ birth, and then he disappeared for a moment. When he returned he had a wooden sled with steel runners. It was obvious it wasn’t new and had been refurbished. He said it was for all of us boys. I remember my mother holding my baby brother, nursing him and crying softly. I remember the lights on the tree reflecting in dad’s wet eyes also. Since then I have experienced Christmases that could only be described as lavish. But I remember very little about those Christmases. You see I had seen the true spirit of Christmas those many years ago, and that was the one I wanted to keep in my mind. I had witnessed two people who gave so little that night, but loved so much. The sled wore out and was cast Drawing by Jason Staley inthe CRES class of Mrs. Simmonds. away, but that night will live on in my memory until God stills my mind.
A D U LT S ’ D I V I S I O N — S e c o n d p l a c e
Humble beginnings his little house burning and no one around. Where was his family? Had they Age 66, Merrifield perished in the fire? His anguish was So many people long for the “good old relieved when he saw the oxen outside the days” but when I count my blessings I am barn and found his family safely huddled very thankful to be living today. My story together in the barn. Reunited again, they is one handed down through a few genercried so hard they could not even talk. ations. It belongs to my great-great-grandThis was to be their first Christmas in parents who left Sweden in 1854. My their own home in the new land but now Drawing by Noah Chambers in the CRES first grade of Mrs. Moore. great-great-grandfather, Bengt Akkeson, their rejoicing had turned to tears. had been a seaman in the Royal Navy. Their experience reminds me of anothwas going to walk to the little shopping ly missing her. The family was out in the When he, his wife and two children er precious family who spent the first village of Hutchinson to buy something cold and snow with only some blankets arrived in New York after a treacherous special to celebrate their good fortune. The wrapped around them. They all went over Christmas in a stall. We come from humjourney over the Atlantic, he was grateful children waved good-bye with much to the barn, turned out the oxen and made ble beginnings and what we enjoy today to get any manual work he could find. The excitement and anticipation. It was a good a bed for themselves in the oxen stall. should never be taken for granted. family worked their way west until they distance to Hutchinson and it got to be When Mr. Brown came home he found finally reached Minnesota where they late before he came home. homesteaded 80 acres and built a house Mother Brown started getting the chiland barn. It took them six years but by dren ready for bed. But they had a cat the end of 1860 they rejoiced to be able to that liked to hide under the bed so the celebrate Christmas in their own home in oldest boy took a light to check under the the new land. bed. He got too close to the straw mattress They were happy to be Americans and and set it on fire. The fire raged through had learned the English language. Bengt the house so fast that in two minutes the had even changed his name because peowhole house with its thatched roof was ple here found it hard to pronounce. He ablaze! Mother Brown got all the children chose a sturdy American name: John out of the house and then headed back in Brown. They now had four children, ages to rescue as much as she could. However, 10, 6 and 2-year-old twins. the gun was hanging on the wall and as So on Christmas Eve 1860 John Brown she approached the gun went off, narrowBy NORMA HALL
Merry
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Here’s wishing all our patients and their families a season that’s merry and bright. We consider it a privilege to serve you and thank you for entrusting us with your dental care.
DR. CLINTON L. ROBERTS, DDS 13495 ELDER DRIVE SUITE 100 BAXTER, MN 56425 (NEXT TO HOME DEPOT)
218-454-0523
Have a Dazzling Holiday Season! May the glow of the Season Warm the hearts and homes of you and yours throughout the coming year. We deeply appreciate your support as customers and friends. Thanks, and Happy Holidays! 2 short blocks off Hwy 210 on 8th Street Brainerd, MN 56401
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