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The Newberry Sun, Newberry, S. C., Thurs., Dec. 24, 1970—SEC. C, PAGE 9 Smiling Spirit Of Christmas Enters Now Everywhere, There Is Fellowship, With Faith, Feasting, Fun By ANNA MANG Christmas is: A time for sharing and surprises, a time for magic and merriment, and a time to say, “Glad greet ings, one and all.” Christmas is: The season of song and celebration, the season of little children and love and laughter, and the season of worship and rejoicing. Christmas is: For fellowship and feasting, for family and friends, for home and happiness. But Christmas, too, is for remembering the stranger within the gates, for cheering the lonely, comforting the sorrowful, befriending the needy. Christmas is: For everyone —for those of Christian faith who celebrate the Day as a holy time of highest importance, and for those of other faiths, who love and observe the Yule- tide as a holiday dedicated to good will and good cheer. Best of all, Christmas is: Here! Throughout this commu nity, plans and preparations reach their peak. Every joyous surprise is at the point of revelation. The tree lights go on, the carols ring out, the gaily-wrapped gifts are delivered. With gleeful smiles, the children welcome Santa’s bounty, while the grown-ups greet one another, and talk and laugh and even shed a happy tear or two, rejoicing in the deep and tender meaning of the Christmas spirit. If there was a bit of hustle — and even some hassle — about the getting-ready process, all is now forgotten in the glow and glory of Christmas. The quickened pace of modern liv ing seems to make it almost impossible to prepare for the holiday without setting, at times, a somewhat hectic pace. Be that as it may, the glad, true spirit of the season in spires this Christmas planning, and Christmas realities, in all their wonder and warmth, more than make up for the pre-holiday hurry and scurry. It’s Traditional The tree may be aluminum instead of spruce or fir. San ta may arrive by helicopter instead of reindeer-drawn sleigh. And the children’s gifts will probably reflect the space age and the wonders of electronics. No matter. However mod ern the celebration of Christ mas may seem to be, its spirit is still old-fashioned, and though customs may appear in contemporary guise, they are still the cherished tradi tions from the past. These treasured customs are the heart of Christmas, growing dearer year by year, as memories of “what we did last Christmas” add to every family’s own special, tradi tional way of celebrating Christmas. Perhaps the most enduring of holiday traditions is that of exchanging greetings. Christmas cards are a rela tively new part of a holiday that has been celebrated for centuries. In fact, this year marks only the 95th anniver sary of Christmas cards in America. But the custom of greeting friends and neighbors and wishing them good cheer is as old as the holiday season itself. Today brings a special kind of “Christmas card.” This edition of this newspaper is a community greeting card, with special greetings from businessmen of the commu nity who offer their good wishes and their apprecia tion to all. Where Tree Grew Naming Santa Santa Claus is a tradition — a pleasant one, indeed. And, traditionally, he owes his name to a gift-giver of the past. St. Nicholas, a fourth cen tury bishop who became the patron saint of children, was noted for his generosity. His Dutch name was “Sinter Niklass,” which gradually changed to Santa Claus. Even today, Santa is also known as “St. Nick.” Sending Greetings “We wish you a merry Christmas.” The first Christmas tree was a palm from Egypt. Or it was a huge tree in a forest, symbolic of mankind. Or it was the Paradise Tree of medieval miracle plays. Though holiday legend and lore offers many an explana tion for the origin of the Christmas tree, nobody knows for sure exactly when and where the first decorated tree appeared. And who cares? It’s fun to hear the legends of the past, with all their mystery and magic, but the thing that matters most is that the tra dition of the tree is here, adding joy to Christmas. TOP FUN . . . Spinning tops battle in this game for kids. With Battling Tops, high-speed, color-coded tops are sent spin ning into the center of the arena by their “trainer.” The tops circle, collide, and spin away. Last top to remain spinning is the winner. PUZZLE-UPS ... An enlarged version of “Puzzle-Ups” shows how this educational toy chal lenges and rewards children by testing their learning ability. Since all pieces in each puzzle in the set are inserted at different heights, and since all pieces can be moved, eyes rotate, wheels re volve, clock faces change. Chil dren combine enjoyment with practice in manual dexterity. Christmas Prayer Pray that strength and cour age be given to all who work for a world or reason and un derstanding, that the good that lies in every man’s heart may be magnified, that men will see more clearly not that which divides them, but that which unites them, that the true spirit of this Christmas sea son, it’s joy, it’s beauty, it’s hope and abiding faith may live among us. May the bless ings of peace be ours. LOG BURNING Fireplaces today, though small er than those of yesteryear, sym bolize at Christmas the age old custom of burning the log. The Yule Log was adapted to Holiday celebrations from the Scandinavian practice of building huge bonfires at the winter solstice. Fire represented the spring sun, soon to return. WILSON’S TEXACO STATION 1309 College St. Phone 276-1184 •t On this Holy Day... m pray that yon will be blessed with health and happiness and may the spirit of Christmas pide yoor future. EMPLOYEES AND MANAGEMENT OF NEWBERRY MILLS, Inc.