|
Monday, Jan 14, 2008 Make a Ripple - Make a Difference
Bob Johnston, Publisher Kathy Baker, Editor
Serving Readers Around the World Since 1998
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Greetings, Ripplemakers
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Christmas Program
At Baring School
By
Pamela Perry Blaine
"Shhhhhhhh, You must be quiet while the other children are practicing!" We
often heard those words as Mrs. Miller shushed us yet another time. She was
really quite lenient with us because it was Christmas time and she knew how
excited we were. She didn't really care if we whispered quietly but we knew
better than to be loud or rowdy. After all, it was nearly Christmas and those
proverbial visions of sugarplums were dancing in our heads. It was time for
the annual Christmas program at Baring School and our parents and the whole
community would come to hear us.
The procedure was the same every year. We sat in our class groups on the gym
floor of Baring school while we waited for our turn to practice our part of the
Christmas program on the stage. We looked forward to it because we got out of
our regular classes so we obediently marched in single file from our classroom
to our spot on the gym floor to sit and wait.
The stage had been readied for the program. The temporary walls had been taken
down to expose the full stage where we would perform. This meant that we
couldn't hoist ourselves up to sit on the "ledge" during noon hour and lean
against that temporary wall and dangle our feet over the edge like we usually
did. The stage would remain open until after Christmas.
While the grade school practiced, the high school seniors worked on decorating
the Christmas tree. What a beautiful tree it was! There was a very tall
stepladder being used because the tree was a huge cedar tree that one of the
local farmers cut and brought to the school. I had never seen a tree so big!
The fragrance itself was enough to make us think Christmas had surely come to
Baring School. A couple of the boys put strings of lights on the tree and then
other decorations were added until it looked beautiful right down to the final
laying on of the icicles.
The night of the school program finally arrived and the gym floor was covered
with folding chairs as families packed the gymnasium. Back stage we huddled in
corners waiting for our turn on stage. The covers had been removed so the foot
lights were on and the curtain drew back for the first scene. The program
would begin with the youngest children and end with the oldest.
I practiced my line over and over because when the villain was caught I was
supposed to say, "We will let you go when Santa has come."
Nearly all of the Christmas carols were sung by the time each class had
performed.
Each class in our school drew names for a gift exchange so there were lots of
gifts beneath the tree the night of the program.
At the end of the program suddenly a "Ho! Ho! Ho!" resounded from the door and
everyone's attention was drawn to where Santa entered with his pack full of
small brown bags. Every child was given one of the bags that contained hard
Christmas candy ribbon and various other hard candies. The bag was topped off
with a big round orange.
The gifts under the tree were given to their recipients and at the end there
was one little girl who had not received a gift. My mother, who was a high
school teacher, saw the little girl who had tears in her eyes. She looked at
the little girl and said, "You know, I think somebody just missed finding your
gift under the tree. Let's go look again." Sure enough there was a gift
behind the Christmas tree stuck under the tree skirt and the little girl's face
lit up as she choked out an emotional thank you.
I knew at the time that Mama had that same gift in her tote bag earlier in the
evening but it wasn't until years later that the pieces of the puzzle all fell
together in my mind.
Mama had simply determined that no child would feel sad and left out on
Christmas if she could prevent it so she carried an extra gift or two whenever
there was a Christmas gift exchange. That was because a long time ago there
was another Christmas program, another gift exchange, and another little girl
who didn't receive a gift. Back then, nobody noticed the little girl who didn'
t receive a gift because she was very small, and very shy. That little girl
was my Mama.
By
Pamela Perry Blaine
© December 2007
)
?.·? ?.·??) ?.·*?)
( ?.·? (?.·? ?.·?
`·-"Pam
"Security is not the absence of danger,
but the presence of God"
My Website:
http://www.blaines.us/PamyPlace.htm
e-mail: pamyblaine@blaines.us
"NO ONE IS USELESS IN THIS WORLD
WHO LIGHTENS THE BURDEN OF ANYONE ELSE"
http://www.greatcom.org/laws/englishkgp/default.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To read archived stories
Click the link below, or paste it into your web browser
http://archives.zinester.com/9516
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
May you be blessed today
Bob Johnston
Editor / Publisher
~~~ *** ~~~ *** ~~~ *** ~~~ *** ~~~ *** ~~~ *** ~~~ *** ~~~ *** ~~~ ***
If you like Starfish, please recommend it to your friends and help us grow.
~~~~~Important Information~~~~~
To subscribe to Starfish, visit our web site at www.ripplemaker.com, click
on "Starfish" and then click on "Subscribe"
**** **** ****
To cancel your subscription, send a message to: starfish@ripplemaker.com
with "Cancel Starfish" in the subject
**** **** ****
To contribute a story for starfish, send it to: Starfish@Ripplemaker.com
**** **** ****
To view archives (past issues), click on "Read Archived Stories" from the
Starfish Page at www.ripplemaker.com
**** **** ****
If you encounter a problem, please send e-mail to me at:
Starfish@Ripplemaker.com
|
|
