This week in 1941

Today's Blog is a memory of this week in 1941 taken from my book "Gibbon's Secrets" - A Boy's Memories of the 40's.


          December 15th 1941, the Gibbon Grade School presented the Christmas program that they had been working on, well ahead of the attack by the Japanese.  The kids had been working hard on their program.  The school administration felt, in light of the current world situation, that it would be good for the morale of the community for them to go ahead with their performance.  The program consisted of several different scenes, starting with singing from the kindergarten group.  Bud was proud that his friends were really involved in many of the areas of the program.
          Jimmy Lyons, Donny Hawke, Jackie Sigler, Jerry Lou Randall, and Charlotte DeBrie were among the group in 'Old King Cole's Christmas'.  Marilyn Kirk was featured in, 'Kitty's Present'.  Marilyn Kirk, Bud Phelps and Duncan McGregor were among the characters of, 'Christmas Eve at Home'.  Christmas carols were sung by grades five through eight, which included all of Bud's friends.  When the entire cast came out for their final bows, they received a standing ovation from the attendees.  The crowd of people in attendance for this "Christmas Carol Program" started the evening with heavy hearts, but left the auditorium with smiles on their faces.  They all were thanking the Lord for the innocence of these Gibbon Grade School students, and the joy they brought to everyone this night.

This memory of what brought people together during a very stressful time in their lives is presented to you as a reflection on how simple things can bring such good memories.  Between now and Christmas I challenge you to reflect on simple memories that brought you joy.  Pat & I went to our Church's Christmas Presentation Friday night and reflected on the many Church Christmas Programs we have attended over the past fifty five years.  


One of the early Christmas times in Wheatridge Colorado, Santa knocked on our door and when he came into our entryway he greeted the girls with their names; neither Pat nor I had arranged for this Santa and so the entire family once again believed in Santa Claus (it turned out to be a neighbor that had a real gray beard and a special Santa outfit he had purchased to enjoy Christmas with the neighborhood kids).  When we lived in the Colorado mountains we attended a small Community Church in Aspen Park and the Christmas Programs presented by that small church brings back very fond memories.  When we lived in Grand Island, Pat was one of the singers in the first "Singing Christmas Tree" presented by the Grand Island Evangelical Free Church, and sang in many of the early programs.  I reserved my talents to usher for the "Singing Christmas Tree" performances therefore protecting the ears of the attendees. We have had special memories at our oldest daughter Bridget's home on Christmas Eves, our middle daughter Shauna's home on Christmas Days, and usually our youngest daughter Wendy blessed us with either songs she had written or one of her special Christmas stories. I have just touched on a few of our special memories of "Christmas Past" and I'm sure that I have triggered some of your own "Christmas Past" memories to enjoy.  I invite you to share some of your memories through your comments on this blog posting.