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piiumdmbkmmi mmmmm 3sss yes virginia there still is a santa glaus is there a santa claus virgina ohanlons famous question of 94 years ago will be asked again this christmas eve by countless children and to the same extent francis churchs response to her letter in the editorial of the new york sun still rings true no santa claus thank god he lives and he lives forever a thou sand years from now virginia nay ten times ten thousand years from now he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood church wrote church wrote of the skepticism in his age of hardship and hard times but still he expressed how love generosity and devotion exist and how they abound and give to life its highest beauty and joy that is what christmas is all about and in our own skeptical age a time of faltering economies disintegrating countries and bor ders rampant unemployment and a seemingly heartless world around us it is the warmth and joy of the christmas season that seems to help us face it all there is brother hood wellwishing and glad tid ings all around yes virginia there still is a santa claus happy christmas to all and to all a good night marley was dead to begin with boy i wish id written that well i did but i was not the first it is of course the opening line to the most beloved christmas story aside from the original one of all time a christmas carol by charles dickens this holiday favorite has always been a part of my christmases past and will likely continue through all my christmases yet to come at christmas present i have the honor of reading aloud for my fam ily this tale of ghosts and plum pud ding tonight christmas eve it usually takes the better part of two hours to get through the story even though we have used an abridged version generally there is a good deal of banter and merry making during the telling of the story and that too has become part of our familys holiday tradition we have others as well each year we have a minor feast late christmas eve and then tell dickens tale following that we burn a yule log in the wreath- trimmed fireplace toast the occa sion with egg nog then watch a- christmas movie usually its a wonderful life but on occasion we have rented miracle on 34th street or one of my recent favorites a christmas story last year we rent ed christmas vacation grandma got a kick out of that one we usually retire around 1 am although in my younger days i can minute with mair recall not getting to sleep much before four and even then it was a toss and tum affair these days we have lost some of the abandon with which we once threw ourselves from our beds and would run into the living room to see what treasures lay beneath the tree aside from my mother who is always up with the larks or chick adees in her case living in the northern woods as my parents do my father is usually up first these past few christmases the extent of the effects of egg nog much more tellingon us younger folk he routs about purposefully banging things to make noise and once hes got a cup of tea on the go he sips it then bangs around some more until we are all sufficiently aroused there follows the opening of the presents which my wife says is more tedious than watching a round of golf on the french channel each person is given a gift in turn while we all ogle at them as they take off the paper she is used to what i call the 12 minutes of christmas her family dives under the tree paper flies ribbons get tossed name tags flutter through the air and then its a long 10 hours until dinner but the two versions of christmas day are great fun and i am blessed to be able to partake in both each year making the short drive from house to inlaws several times i know i shall have a merry christmas this year heres wishing you the same god bless us every one i wish id written that too the tvibune publisher editorinchief editor advertising director business manager promotionsdistribution operations manager patricia pappas jo ann stevenson andrew mair debra weller vivian oneil mgr jennifer hutt pam nichols in search of the derfecf tree staff reporters tracy kibble julie caspersen roger belgrave photographers sjoerd witteveen steve somerville real estate joan marshman classified ooreen deacon debbie amundson oxbridge retail sales joan marshman doreen deacon heather hill gibson uxbridge dlstrlbu- tlorr ariene maddock published every wednesday by metroland printing publishing and distributing at 9 heritage rd markham ontario l3p 1 m3 tel 2942200 second class registration number 1247 the stouhville tribune published every wednesday at 6244 main st stouffvine is one of the metroland printing punishing and distributing group of suburban newspapers which includes the acton free press aiaxpickeiing news advertiser aurora banner brampton guardian burt ngton post etobicoko advertiserguardian georgetown independent kingston this week undsay this week markham economist and sun milton champion mississauga news newmarket era oakville beaver osbawa- whitby this week peterborough this week richmond hilvthomhillvaughan liberal scarborough mir ror topic newsmagazine widowdale mirror and uxbridge tribune metroland printing pubishing and duitributina is a division of harlequin enterprises ltd iwtiwalsatisrhwesentatfve metroland corporate sales 4931300 6402100 6405477 fax c ome people buy their christmas 5 trees ready cut others opt for cutting their own every year im filled with nostal gia for previous treecutting excur sions which take on a mythical quality through the heavily rosetint ed glasses of christmas past in my memory snow is falling and the tree farm looks like a christmas card a fire blazes as brighteyed children roast marshmallows on a stick before setting out on the annu al quest for the best tree ever in reality the sky is grey and the landscape is totally bereft of leaves or snow the wagon which one is required by ones offspring to ride even though there are plenty of per fectly acceptable trees right beside the car gets stuck in a churning sea of mud my son who used to love horse drawn wagons now opts for high tech in the form of a tractor to get him to the trees faster thats proba- kates corne kate bly preferable to being stuck in the middle of a vast field with nary a tree oh the horizon just as your tod dler announces he has to go to the washroom now look its snowing exclaims a child who has yet to reach the age of cynicism and shes right its snow ing great wet flakes which run down your neck and ruin your hair and there are still no trees in sight by the time you reach your desti nation your nose is running your muscles are aching and youre won dering how many trees youll have to assess before you can decently leave too late you remember youve left the kleenex in the car gritting your teeth you set out in search of the perfect tree to your amazement you find it so does your husband and your son and your daughter too bad its not the same one eventually a truce is reached a tree is selected and poor old dad gets on his knees and hacks it from its moorings with the help of an extremely blunt saw which wouldnt cut butter by the time the deed is done hes wheezing heavily and- the children amuse themselves by removing pine needles from his hair and clothing loading the tree into the car we drive home with the trunk open and everyone complaining that theyre freezing but when the tree is up something magic happens its the best tree ever we all exclaim laughing and i know when next year rolls around well do it all over again merry christ mas everyone