Ukrainian Christmas Carols (???????)
Time: 7pm, January 29. Location: Ukrainian National Museum (2249 W. Superior Street, Chicago, IL)
Admission is $5
Contact: 312-421-8020

Source: CEERES eBulletin – an online resource for the center for eastern european and russian/eurasian studies

“Ukrainian Christmas Carol Program, Ukrainian Nat’l Museum, January 29″ by Serickso is a post from: Your Christmas Resource

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The halls are decked, snow is on the ground and twinkling lights line the frames of many homes in neighborhoods across the city.

It’s really beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

Problem is, it’s the end of January, people.

I understand snow and ice have all but buried many of us alive inside our houses over the past month. Taking Christmas lights down outside would have been next to impossible. In fact, the lights are still up on my house.

However, how hard is it to unplug the extension cord or flip the light switch?

I have heard a myriad of excuses for keeping the lights on.

One is that the lights on the Plaza stay on until the end of January.

True. But I’m sure those high-end stores can afford the ridiculous electricity bills that will follow.

Running the heater non-stop for a month has had a frightening impact on my gas and electricity bills. I did not want to keep my twinkle lights on any second longer than necessary.

Some families had to postpone their holiday celebrations because of the weather. They have left their décor lit in expectation of the arrival of kin.

You know who they are. Their Christmas trees can be seen gleaming through front windows. If you look close enough, you might even see wrapped presents under the trees.

While somewhat endearing, I am left to wonder if those lights will still be shining in my bedroom window all night until the middle of March if they can’t celebrate before then. Spring break is the next vacation for a lot of families.

I do not want to stare at those lights until then.

If about now you are thinking I am nothing but a Grinch or Scrooge crying out, “Ba hum bug,” I should set the record straight.

I am something of a Christmas maniac. I adore the holiday season.

Every year, I take a week off of work just to decorate my house.

All seven days I labor until every corner of the house is tinseled, ornamented and twinkling with pretty lights.

The outside generally takes about two weeks to complete. But it is done in phases.

Once all the halls are decked, I throw a party and have an honorary lighting ceremony.

But, all of my hard work and enthusiasm does not stop me from getting the decorations put away by Dec. 31.

There is a reason for that.

When I was a kid, the Christmas season began in December after Thanksgiving was over. But not anymore.

We now watch the stores fill with decorations in October and the radio stations start playing holiday tunes shortly thereafter.

The holidays are all about anticipation. Most of us remember dreaming of Christmas all year long as a child.

But the longer we make the holidays the less time there is in-between for the anticipation to grow.

We are stripping the season of its magic.

If you really think about it, we have already celebrated for four months by the end of January.

It’s time to pack it up until later this year.

Don’t worry though, it’s not that long of a wait.

But if those lights aren’t off by February, don’t be surprised if I start picketing your house.

Alexia Lang (alang@unews.com)

Source: University News

“I’m protesting Christmas lights in February” by Alexia Lang is a post from: Your Christmas Resource

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A post-Christmas spending survey conducted by Consumer Reports revealed that U.S. consumers spent an average of $811 on gifts during the 2009 season, which was $112 “over budget” based on the results of its pre-Christmas poll. This first survey found that on average, shoppers planned to spend $699 per household on gifts. About one-fifth of respondents ended up spending $1,000 or more on gifts.

Consumer Reports found that overall, 81 percent of consumers purchased gifts, although this figure rose to 94 percent when households earning over $100,000 were factored in. Twenty-six percent of households earning less than $50,000 did not purchase Christmas gifts.

“Looking back on this past holiday shopping season, it was clear that some were willing to open up their wallets,” said Ed Farrell, the director of market research for Consumer Reports’ National Research Center. “Many shoppers drove up their holiday spending budget at the last minute, which could have been a result of sales and discounts retailers were offering.”

Forty-seven percent of shoppers used credit cards to pay for all or some of their holiday gift purchases. This group spent more than non-credit card users, averaging $896. Consumer Reports concluded that the “damage on credit cards” was much higher than anticipated. Based on the company’s pre-Christmas poll, shoppers had intended to charge an average of $636 in gifts, but their actual charges averaged $816 per household, which was 28 percent higher than the original average gift budget. One in five shoppers charged $1,000 or more on major credit cards, while households earning over $100,000 charged an average of $1,570.

More than one-quarter of Consumer Report’s respondents paid off their holiday credit card debt by the end of December, while 40 percent planned to settle their balance by the end of January. One in five shoppers will not square their debt until March or later and 9 percent will not pay off their charges until June or later.

Source: Rapaport News

“U.S. Consumers Surpass Christmas Gift Budgets” by Jeff Miller is a post from: Your Christmas Resource

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For the cookies:
3/4 cup Butter Flavor Crisco (Golden Crisco, in Canada)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 egg
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

For the drizzle:
1/2 teaspoon Butter Flavor Crisco
1/2 cup white melting chocolate, cut into small pieces
chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350F.
For cookie, combine Crisco, granulated sugar, brown sugar, milk and vanilla in large bowl.
Beat at medium speed of electric mixer until well blended.
Beat in egg.
Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.
Mix into creamed mixture at low speed until blended.
Stir in nuts and chocolate chips.
Divide dough into 4 equal portions.
Form each into 1×8-inch roll on waxed paper.
Roll the dough to get a nice round shape.
Place 3 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake 10 minutes or until set.
Cool on baking sheets.

For the drizzle, combine Crisco and white chocolate in a microwave-safe cup.
Microwave at 50% power.
Stir after 1 minute.
Repeat until smooth.
Or you can melt them in a double boiler over low heat.
Drizzle this mixture back and forth over the cooled cookie rolls.
Sprinkle with nuts before chocolate hardens.
Cut the rolls diagonally into 1-inch slices.

Makes about 36

Chocolate Nut Slices is a post from: Your Christmas Resource

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A slip of paper recording a £5 bet between two generals over the military fate of Europe in the Second World War is expected to fetch £12,000 at auction.

General Bernard Montgomery of the British Army took a break from re-organising he Eighth Army in Italy to make a bet with his American comrade, General Dwight Eisenhower, about when the war would end.

Eisenhower, who oversaw the Allied invasion of Italy, felt confident he could march to Berlin by Christmas 1944, but Montgomery thought little of his chances.

The pair agreed to settle the matter with a £5 bet (worth about £170 today) and called an aide-de-camp, Colonel Ernest Lee, to note down the terms.

The slip of paper, signed by Montgomery at the top at Eisenhower at the bottom, reads: “Agreement entered into, Oct 11, 1943, between Generals Eisenhower & Montgomery Amount £5 — General E bets war with Germany will end before Xmas 1944. Local Time.”

The sheet of lined paper has hung for more than 30 years in the home of Colonel Lee, who served as Eisenhower’s executive officer and aide-de-camp during the Second World War. The family decided to sell it after his widow died six months ago.

It will go on sale in Connecticut today, together with a photograph of the two generals, and is expected to fetch $20,000 (£12,000).

Eisenhower referred to the bet in his autobiography, writing: “I was personally so confident that we could launch [Operation] Overlord strongly and promptly in the spring of 1944 that I bet Montgomery five pounds that we would end the war by Christmas of that year. I lost the bet.”

Source: The Telegraph

A lost Christmas bet of historical significance is a post from: Your Christmas Resource

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Christmas trees don’t eat much.

And other than during the holiday season each year, they don’t generate much cash flow, either.

Add a petting zoo and some reindeer to those trees, though, and there is the potential to have a nearly year-round operation, said Theresa Michaelis, co-owner of Bentz Road Farm in Kenosha County and a board member of the Wisconsin Christmas Tree Producers Association.

Barb Morgan, who with her husband runs Morgan’s Trees and Wreaths, looks through decorative ribbons at the Northwoods Evergreen display during the Wisconsin Christmas Tree Producers convention Friday. Photo by Michael Spears

Finding ways for Christmas tree farmers to generate more revenue was a topic of conversation Friday at the organization’s winter convention and trade show at the Marriott Milwaukee West hotel.

Christmas trees are a big deal in Wisconsin, where 1,387 farms covering 36,000 acres produce 1.8 million trees each year, according to the association.

Wisconsin ranks fifth in the number of Christmas trees harvested each year, and the state Christmas Tree Producers Association says the economic impact of the industry is $50 million annually.

“You have costs year round with the farm – whether you’re planting, shearing, weed control, there’s always a need for income,” Michaelis said. “But most farms just don’t have any way of doing that, so all of your income for the whole year is generated in six weeks.

“If you have a petting zoo, you can be doing things in the spring, summer and fall,” she said. “It’s a way of bringing income in, if not year-round, at least seasonally to your farm.”

Four reindeer and two antelope from Bentz Road Farm were on display outside the convention Friday.

In all, the farm’s herd includes six reindeer that eat about 1,000 pounds of feed each month, said the herd’s owner, Steve Pulera.

Besides the custom-mixed feed, the animals need constant attention, Pulera said. And not all of them like to pull sleighs.

“It takes the right reindeer to pull a sleigh,” Pulera says.

Ownership of the animals is closely regulated.

“I can have zebras easier than I can have reindeer,” Pulera said. “The state really watches because of chronic wasting disease.”

The goal of adding animals is to make the farm a destination, Michaelis and Pulera said.

“With the economy the way it is, a family might say, ‘We’re going to the farm and spending $40 instead of going to Disney World and spending $4,000,’?” he said.

“When times get hard, people turn to more family-oriented things,” Michaelis said.

Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Online

“Christmas tree farmers branch out: Seasonal businesses can generate revenue all year” by Joe Taschler is a post from: Your Christmas Resource

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Money was almost nonexistent in our home during the Depression.

Dad was a great provider, always the hard-working optimist, but little was left over for extras, much less presents.

He was a building contractor, not that anyone was building anything, and had acquired a large metal holding tank that he stored behind our home.

A few days before Christmas, a man passing by saw the tank, had a need for it, and offered Dad $15.

Christmas for the five Anderson children that year was magical.

Toys, dolls and games galore under our sappy dripping Florida pine tree.

Miracles do happen at Christmas. I was there.

Source: TCPalm.com

“Miracles do happen at Christmas” by Jo Ann Allen is a post from: Your Christmas Resource

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Every year, we have stories about Christmas decorations being stolen or damaged, but Mark Brown’s holiday vandalism story had a different — and humorous — twist.

Brown, who lives in a Smithton subdivision, said he puts up a nice light display each year.

“You know how it goes. Since my wife was enthused, I had them up before Thanksgiving,” Brown said. “We had a lot of stuff and on one side was a set of star lights on the blind side of the house.”

One night, when the lights wouldn’t light up, he discovered that the wires had been cut in two.

“I thought, ‘Well it was dry rot or something and they just came apart,” he said. “So I went and bought another string. It cost $11 or so.”

A few days later, someone also cut the new set.

“I was getting kind of irritated, wondering what was going on,” he said. “I couldn’t imagine who could be doing this. I thought I would just keep a closer eye out.”

But then it happened again and he got really mad.

“I’m thinking I may go door to door, asking what kids could be doing this,” he said. “I’m going on about what a nice neighborhood this used to be until someone started doing this. So I went out and bought one of those game cameras and a surveillance system.”

The camera takes pictures when a trigger is tripped, usually motion. Hunters use them to discover where animals such as deer congregate and the best places to hunt.

“I was really outraged,” Brown said. “I sat up like 12 nights in a row, waiting to catch someone. One night the sensor went off at 2 a.m. I knew it wasn’t a car. I ran out but couldn’t see anyone.”

Everything calmed down for a while and nothing happened to the lights. But then one night, it happened again.

“I went out and grabbed the microchip out of the camera and took it to the police department. I was going to take care of this,” he said.

Someone at the Smithton Police Department pulled up the pictures on a computer and looked at them.

“I was watching it carefully. I felt like Columbo. I was on the case,” Brown said. “Suddenly the policeman said, ‘I think that’s your man.’”

On the screen was a fat raccoon ambling toward the lights.

Everything clicked in.

“Looking back, the early wires were clipped clean through, but the last one, it was kind of ragged. You could see where it was bitten,” Brown said.

“I feel kind of guilty, like I should apologize to all the kids I thought might have done it,” he said.

At least he had a good story to tell his friends.

Source: Metro-East News of BND.com

Caught on camera: Masked, 4-legged vandal hits holiday lights for 4th time is a post from: Your Christmas Resource

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My sister, Gladys Jones Dempsey, passed away Oct. 15, 2009 and she had dictated the following before she died. I hope you can use it:

It must have been about 1919 and it was Christmas Day in Vero Beach.

Uncle Gary Roberts had a big garden of beans that were ready to pick. You know, if you don’t pick them when ready, they get too old and are not worth picking.

Since it was Christmas Day, there was no one who wanted to go out to the farm to help, so Uncle Gary and Aunt Lizzie and their daughter Cora packed up their Christmas dinner and headed out to the field because it looked like they might lose the crop.

When my mother and father found out what they were doing and why, Mamma packed up OUR Christmas dinner and she, Papa, Louise, LeRoy, Grace and I headed out to the field to help them. We picked until lunch time, spread our dinner with theirs under the shade of some cabbage trees, enjoyed the feast and afterwards went back to picking beans.

I was probably about 8 years old and had never enjoyed picking beans before (or since), but I surely did that day as I knew we were all helping someone that we loved and it was fun. I picked three hampersful of beans which was a lot for a kid of 8!

I’m here to say that I remember this event as The Best Christmas I Ever Had!”

Gladys Jones Dempsey, Kenansville

Submitted by Eula Jones Andresen, Vero Beach

Source: TCPalm.com

Remember When: Picking beans at Christmas was an act of love is a post from: Your Christmas Resource

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