Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories 2010 - Dec 16 School Pageants

What did you do to celebrate Christmas at school?

Were you ever in a Christmas Pageant?

I consider myself fortunate to have childhood memories that include Christmas celebrations as part of our education curriculum. Following the return to school from our four day Thanksgiving vacation, the classroom displays of black construction paper Pilgrim hats and paper plate turkeys were replaced with the start of the wondrous celebration of Christmas.


The only thing that could distract me from the waiting and counting down the days until Christmas morning was the joy of rehearsing for our Christmas pageant. Music was always a favorite class but especially true during Christmas.

Music teachers distributed mimeographed sheets with our Christmas songs that we would be presenting at our school pageant; looking at the new songs we would be singing for the next three weeks was almost as good as Christmas morning.


"Oh ho ho - who wouldn't know? Oh ho ho who wouldn't go? Up on the rooftop, click click click ..." I must have been in the third grade when we sang this song as I recall watching my sister Lisa in her kindergarten class singing Jingle Bells during the same program.


I vividly recall memorizing "A Visit From St. Nicholas" when I was in the fourth or fifth grade which our class was going to recite at that year's pageant. We were memorizing the lines where St. Nick is calling out the names of his reindeer: "Now Dasher! Now Dancer! Now Prancer and Vixen! On Comet! On Cupid! On Donner and Blitzen!" I recall it was a very sunny day and the sunlight was hurting my eyes; I felt very cold and wanted nothing more than to put my head down on my desk and take a nap. When I didn't want to get up the next morning my mother discovered a few small red pimples - chicken pox. I missed the school pageant that year, much to my dismay. Mom brought home a copy of the poem (probably from the public library) and helped me memorize the rest of the poem.


When I was in the 7th grade I tried out for the school production of Amal and the Night Visitors. I was disappointed when I wasn't chosen as the young crippled boy but was named the understudy - it is a good thing "Amal" was able to perform as the understudy never did learn Amal's lines (all though she knew all the songs!)

FM Tradional Blog Caroling: Sir Paul McCartney Having a Wonderful Christmas Time

For someone born and raised in Wisconsin, Christmas just wouldn't be the same without snow and a Christmas tree. A large part of my traditional Christmas celebrations is music:  nothing can keep the spirit of Christmas burning more than singing a Christmas carol. FootnoteMaven's annual Blog Caroling sing-a-long is the perfect opportunity to enjoy a holiday favorite or discover a new favorite such as The Huron Carol on Jenn's Roots and Stones blog.

There are so many wonderful Christmas songs that it is difficult to select just one to blog. Enya's beautiful Oíche Chiúin (Silent Night) is something I could listen to for hours on end. Christmas and winter music on my iPod ranges from Mannheim Steamroller, Josh Groban to Bing, Frank and Rosemary. So now what to choose ... a classic or somewhere in between?

For FootnoteMaven's hot toddy, jammie wearing, bring your fuzzy slippers sing-a-long I have chosen Sir Paul McCartney's Simply Having A Wonderful Christmas Time. I am reminded that when White Christmas debuted it was an instant hit but it took a number of years to become a classic. There are those Christmas carols that are meant to be sung at a midnight service on Christmas eve and those you sing on your way to the store. May you enjoy a toe-tapping, hum the tune until you get to the chorus to sing along new Christmas favorite:

Music! Sweet Sweet Music!

I have my own particular sorrows, loves, delights; and you have yours. But sorrow, gladness, yearning, hope, love, belong to all of us, in all times and in all places. Music is the only means whereby we feel these emotions in their universality. ~H.A. Overstreet

Overstreet puts into words the mystery of why my taste in music embraces such a wide variety of genre and artists. Having been influenced at an early age by my father's love of Frank Sinatra and music of the Big Band era, during my teenage years I would have never admitted that fact outside of the confines of my yard. With age comes, hopefully, wisdom and I can bring Frank, Rosemary and Glen out of my adolescent closet and add them to my list of my 'salad days.' However, when I replay the highlight reel of the 1960s and early '70s the following 'vinyl' lp's come to mind:

#10 Donovan

Sunshine Superman and Atlantis blasted from 8-track in every van cruising up and down the street .. not to mention the parking lot at James Madison Memorial HS

#9 Tapestry

There wasn't a female in my circle of friends that did not know every word of every song on this album. And we all could not imagine Carole King 'doing it' with Neil Sedaka. EEEEWWWWW

#8 The Monkees

Before Laverne and Shirley's "Hassenpfeffer Incorporated" there was the Monkee's theme song and 'walk.' And everyone asked, "Do you know Peter Tork is from Madison (WI)?" I'm a believer!

#7 Joan Baez

This album made me realize the power of music as a medium for expressing thoughts and opinions. Joan Baez took music from beyond the beat and words to sing to a far more personal level. Music became a way to help change the hearts and minds of others - and maybe the world.

#6 McCartney

This album helped heal the wounds of not only the breakup of the Beatles but also Paul's marriage to Linda Eastman - Maybe I'm Amazed remains one of my favorite love songs to this day. Linda's photography ressenated with me and Paul's talents playing every instrument on this album was an amazement.

#5 Jim Hendrix

Awesome album ... there is nothing better when I'm in the mood for something loud, driving and totally rock and roll.

#4 Crosby Stills and Nash

Their harmony is unsurpassed. There are two albums that I continue to replace as the venue of music changes, my #1 pick and CSN&Y Four Way Street - lp, cassette, 8-track and now CD. They were a favorite but two other artists rate higher on my salad days list.

#3 Sweet Baby James

James Taylor and I have been together since high school. At my senior year talent show one of the two songs I sang was Fire and Rain. My husband played this same album during his time in the service stationed at Fort Benning Georgia so there are many memories tied up with Sweet Baby James.

#2 Abby Road

In addition to the music, reflecting for the first time the different paths each member of the group was taking, speculation of the meaning of John in white leading a barefoot Paul was rampant. Paul is dead and Is Paul dead ... it was my generation's "Amelia Earhart." One of the many memories I treasure of traveling with my mother, is the trip we made to the Abby Road Studios in St. John's Wood. I wrote on the wall in front of the studio then walked down the street to the famous crossing and took a photo of my mother in the crosswalk while I stood in the middle of the road with my camera. As they say ... priceless. I have this mental picture of Queen Liz, sitting in one of the many cavernous rooms at Bucks House, tapping her foot and softly singing along to Her Majesty. It does make one smile and I can't help but think ... I am amused.

#1 Beatles White Album

This album was such a force during the time of its release that the English department at James Madison Memorial HS added The White Album to its curriculum. Dissecting the words to Rocky Raccoon remains as one of my favorite class projects.

Text: Copyright © 2008 by Cindy Scherwinski