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best wishes for a merry christmas may christmas day be an especially merry and bright one bringing you full measure of joy peace and contentment reesors marmill and staff markham greetings christmas ssis 1 a wm jf h tecavse tee realize how much our success is due to you ire are most sincerely appreciative rennie transport stouffviue lehmans shoes stouffviue qood old days at christmas time nostalgia for the good old days is as prevalent as turkey and trim mings decorations and zifts everybody had more fun or so the feeling goes dur ing those good oldfashioned christmases when life was simpler and according to tradi tion the snow drifts were al ways piled high the foods for feasting were always home grown and homecooked the gifts and decoration always lovingly handmade and the tree itself always chopped down by the head of the house on a per sona forav to some hillside or lot christmas nostalgia has even been known to affect heads of state to be specific a presi dent of the united states it was everyones duty the presi dent felt to make christmas merry he and his family he declared were going to have an oldfashioned christmas tree it happened in 1891 a search through recent newspapers or even through recent history would provide no details however about this resolve for the president was benjamin harrison who on december 22 in 1891 announced to reporters his plan for a gcod oldfashioned christmas most people today whose thoughts turn to chrlstmases of yore would certainly settle for a date much later than 1r91 as the time when the good old- fashioned christmas had ceas ed io exist but if the spirit of an old- fashioned christmas didnt vanish as early as president harrison feared it had when did it go or has it really dis appeared forever most of all an old-fashioned- christmas is made up of tradi tions even in northern climates only hope luck and the weather man can say each year whether the traditional snow drifts will he forthcoming other tradi tions however may not neces sarily belong only to the past not all store bought preparing foods for feasting was doubtless fun and hard work in the good old davs but not all christmas cookies candies and fruit cakes todav are store bought many a family cherishes the tradition of having the children help mother as the holiday goodies are concocted even the readyprepared foods have their traditions for instance some families deliver gift packages of cakes or can dies to friends when they make christmas calls others set forth a table of treats in the home ready to share with callers the same is true of that good old days habit of makin gifts in this new day of in creasing interest in sewing many lovingly homecrafted gifts are found under christmas trees and yesterdays mom would no doubt have been glad to trade her treadle sewing machine for one of todavs elec tric models cant chop tree while dad may not he able to chop rion a tree for the family conservationists of our good old forests wouldnt approve a look at any place where trees are sold in the davs before christmas reveals that choosing the tree is still a personal all- family matter involving plenty of oldfashioned fun almost every nostalgic dream of christmas long ago seems to have its counterpart in the pres ent and all the while new tra ditions are building up as each family each community creates and treasures its customs in another 70 years perhaps some public figure may say its time to get back to the good old ways of celebrating christmas so have an old- fashioned christmas now chas cooper and staff claremont tl ay holiday happiness shine brightly in your heart cur best wishes for a christmas glowing with cheer reeefings stouffville 5c to 100 and staff pilgrimage to bethlehem most of the customs now as sociated with christmas were originally pagan or nonchris tian according to the encyclo pedia americana saturnalia a roman feast celebrated in mid- december provided the model for many of the merrymaking customs of christmas from this celebration for example were derived the elaborate feasting the giving of gifts and the burning of candles lights also payd an impor tant part in most winter sol stice festivals an obscure figure in the early mythologies of the east emerged as a sun god from the 1st century bc this figure mithras was adopted by an increasing number of roman soldiers and others mithras greatest festival was that of the winter solstice the time when the god began to return to his worshippers in the 5th century the west ern church ordered a feast cele- hratng the birth of the savior to be observed on the day of the mitnrnc rites of the birth of the sun and at the close of the saturnalia among the german and celtic tribes the winter solstice was considered an important point of the year and to commemorate the return of the sun they held their chief festival of yule which like other pagan celebra tions became adapted to christ mas the teutonic yule feast also provided customs for the christ mas festivities such as the yule log and wassail bowl tussy dteonw 24 1963 the stouffvilu tribune piji fl pagan feasts custom sources pilgrimage to bethlehem is for thousands of christians each year the focal point of the religious observance of christ mas visitors of many faiths make the trip to bethlehem now a part of jordan to the church of the nativity above the grotto of the nativity where christ was horn the manger so familiar to all who know the christmas story was an improvised stable in a cave hewn out of rock near the center of the hill town of bethlehem christmas is observed three times at bethlehem and for each observance the mandel- baum gate between the israel and arab sectors of jerusalem is opened to admit christian pilgrims roman catholic greek ortho dox and armenian donomina lions share the church of the nativity roman catholic churches begin the christmas celebrations with masses on christmas eve december 25 eastern churches observe christs birth in january for the greek orthodox churches which still follow the old julian calendar holy night is january 6 christmas day january t armenian churches celebrate both christmas and epiphany on january 19 those of he prosteslant faiths gather in shepherds fields the nearby site where according to tradition the shepherds heard the angel of the lord come to tell of the nativity hops santas ji bringing our many friends the merriest christmas ever cadieux studio joan and led cadieux stouffville a tyf rry merry ft christi and motiy thanks to y to y stouffville arena ltd in bethlehem ga a 60foot star lights the countryside around bethlehem ga at christmas a carol serv ice is held beneath the star on christmas night k enjoyed the opportunity to serve you fc our hearty lhanksl qbk canadian imperial bank of commerce stouffville