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ci the acton free press wednesday december 20 1967 candles gleam bells ring st nipk arrives its merry christmas christmas comes but once a year and into that magic once are packed years and years of wellloved traditions candles gleam brightly bells ring merrily glad carols fill the air up goes the tree and on go the ornaments and lights in many a home and in many other places too both in and out of doors evergreen branches holly and mistletoe decorate the season children eagerly await santa claus his sleigh and his reindeer stockings are hung and greetings and gifts gaily wrapped spread the spirit of christmas how cud it all begin the manger scene in churches and homes testifies to the religious meaning and real beginning of christmas to be glad and grateful to give and to help others are expressions of that meaning the legends and customs of the holiday season however come from scores of sources and many ancient festivals have contributed their part to christmas as a time of merrymaking 1 giving gifts first of all christmas gifts were gold frankincense and myrrh the wise mens gifts to the infant jesus gift giving at the season of the year now celebrated as christmas can also be traced back to pre- christian times the ancient romans ex changed gifts during their sa turnalia a festival honoring saturn the pagan god of agri culture hanging gifts on trees figured in druid tree worship in early britain helping poor principles of christianity are reflected in christmas giv ing to the poor and unfortu nate an old legend says that on christmas eve the christ child roams the earth dressed as a beggar in search of food and shelter people believed that any kindness shown a beggar expressed a love for jesus source of santa origin of santa claus as a gift giver is usually traced to a real st nicholas bishop of myra in asia minor in he fourth century ad st nicho las was renowned for his gen erosity and he still retains his role as a gift giver in many countries ving onjanuary 6 tradltunally the date of the visit of the wise men yule greene evergreens at christmas are an emblem of life eternal an cient peoples believed that tbe greenness of evergreens in win ter was a promise of the crea tor that spring would cone again for feasting good food is traditional at christmas and the spe cial treats provided for the season include almost ev erything ranging from baked carp in austria to roast pig in hawaii in france its traditional to serve a christmas supper after midnight mass but the main dish varies ac cording to the section of the country roast goose in alsace turkey in burgundy oysters and sausages in paris england has a mouth watering array of tradition al dishes for christmas feasting among them plum pudding as the pudding is being prepared its cus tomary for each member of the family to stir it making a wish for the new year in germany the people bake long cakes for christ mas the cakes are meant to symbolize the christ child wrapped in swaddling clothes singing carols caroling at christmas may be a carryover from the ro man songs of the saturnalia or so some researchers believe early christian songs were solemn and somewhat forbid ding the simple touching carols best liked today didnt gain widespread popularity until the 14th and 15th cen turies decorating trees in ancient feasts of the win ter equinox trees were adorned with trinkets like many pa gan customs the evergreen tree became associated with christian observances and legends link it to the birth of christ one story says that on christmas eve all the trees of the forest bloomed and bore fruit lighting candles candles at christmas sym bolize the coming of christ as the light of the world since earliest times man has used lights torches watchfires beacons on occasions of joyous celebration custom of placing a candle in the window on christmas eve is usually attributed to the irish it was thought that christ wandered the earth on that night and a candle would show him a home where h3 was welcome or help to light him on his way card traction the christmas card is a john nycomelately among our cher ished holiday traditions you can get an argument as to who sent the first card some hold that it was joseph cundall a london artist whose lithographed hand- colored card was sent to friends in 1846 christmas greetings on this wonderful lioliiluv of peuce snd jo vu kpihi our heartfelt preetinps and wishes for our cliristnus to lie merry and bright management and staff thompson fuels ltd as he brought us peace may this holiday bring hope lor all mankind we wish you a christmas of serene oy the family store pat and bill my ite tht mason of joy and good will whan f friends gather together for happy times may your christmas holiday be filled with many such moments watsons restaurant cranberries were indians medicine cranberries are as tradicnal as apple pie known to the ind ians as mand or bitter berry cranberries were pounded into a paste called pemmican which was used as poultices on wounds noting tbe berries to be the favorite food of cranes the pil grims called them craneberries in true american tradition this was eventually changed to cran berries cranes of course are unwel come in cranberry bogs but other birds are encouraged bogs are often lined with bird- dooms homes for swallows which eat destructive insects along with tbe birds tbe bees play a welcome role in cran berry prodocticn tbe pollen is too betty to to carried by the wind to beet are necessary to wrtesfc ft l7vr- f l wright bath to fifth century the acton carolling old christmas custom shoe spanish expect the christmas carolling is almost as old as christmas itself though not in the form we know it an early historian wrote that in the second century the bishop of rome urged his people to sing in celebration of our lord christmas hymns go back to the fifth century when most of them were written in latin st francis of assist is re garded as the father of caroling as we know it according to world book encyclopedia in 1223 st francis placed a creche miniature nativity scene in a hermitage in grecchio italy after this many churches be gan displaying a nativity scene at christmas and scon the peo ple began acting out the- christ mas story the actors compos ed carols to sing with their nat ivity plays and after the plays they would stroll downthe street singing in that way street car oling was born joseph moor a pastor in ob- erndorf austria composed stille nacht or silent night on christmas eve 1818 franz g ruber the local schoolmaster and organist composed the mus ic the same day and the hymn was sung for the first time at midnight mass that night charles wesley brother of john wesley wrote harki the herald angels slngl in 1739 phillips brooks a noted boston clergyman wrote 0 little town of bethlehem in 1868 after vis iting bethlehem though not a carol handels noble messiah is a christmas tradition it first was perform ed in dublin in 1742 joy to the world written in the early 18th century by isaac watts was set to the music of a segment of the messiah while shepherds watched their flocks by night written in 1703 by nahum tate was set to music taken from si- roe an opera by handel no one knows who wrote the first noel it first appeared in print in 1333 in a book called christmas carols ancient and modern and is believed to be very old the author of god rest ye merry gentlemen also is un known but he lived before shake speare so if you should go caroling this christmas season think of other carolers of years gone by of the people of charles dickens time in their beaver hats and cutaway coats of english vill agers in hose and jerkin of good st francis and of the priests of tbe time of the christian roman empire who before caroling as we know it existed sang in cel ebration of our lord caroline nurseries garden j centre and flower shop pearl and jack rol cli r1stmas qreetiwqs as the three wise men brought gifts to the manger so may this holiday season bring to you peace and joy dr cedric dey and staff outdoor shrubs are holiday detention many trees and shrubs per haps some in your own yard pro duce attractive foliage suitable for holiday decorations some can be brought in the home for trim others can be decorated for outside foliage plants include magnol ia pine hemlock chinese fir cryptomeria pitosporlum and aucuba gold dust popular shrubs include carol- berry snowberry varieties of roses such as rose mulhflora also many assortments of vibur nums and euonyifms american holly is best known but there are others such as yaupon deciduous holly chin ese holly and english holly try decorating any one of these that you have in your yard bring some in your house per haps an assortment of branches or brighten up your yard with lights on shrubs on lor yriy it fight of understanding and love that radiate over all the world thine upon hon and bring uou rendezvous the salon will be closed