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Show T Page Six - The Springville Herald - December 25, 2003 llm UMk off mU mm On December 17 and 18, the fifth graders at Sage Creek Elementary shared a wonderful program with their parents, families and student body. The program, entitled, "An American Christmas Celebration," was written by Pam Tippetts and directed by Tippetts, Kellian Giles and Frank Day bell, all fifth grade teachers at Sage Creek. The program was an enjoyable and informative journey that focused on the rich blend of cultural Christmas Christ-mas traditions and beliefs that we share in America today. The trip began in the Great Lakes region as they visited a tribe of Huron Indians. A groups of students sang a "Huron Indian Carol" while Mary and Joseph stood outside a birchbark teepee holding a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes of rabbit skins. Next, they traveled to Appalachian Mountains to watch a traditional "Kentucky Wassail Snake Dance," then on to the deep south where another group of singers shared an old southern spiritual spiri-tual "Go Tell It On the Mountain." Mo-untain." The audience enjoyed en-joyed hearing about old Spanish customs like "Las Posadas" (The Inn) and listening to the Christmas memories of Lauran Ingalls Wilder. They then journeyed to the plains of Idaho and Wyoming Wyo-ming where cowboys and cowgirls sang "Christmas On the Line" while they played ukuleles, followed by a round of square dancing. Interspersed throughout the program were acrobats and an elf riding a unicycle. various costume changes, Tippetts' excellent piano playing and guitar strumming skills and an old washboard band where fifth graders played chimes, bells, drums and tambourines. English parts were translated trans-lated into Spanish by some of . the students which added to the cultural message of the program. There was even a brief visual history of Santa Claus showing how his character char-acter has physically changed through the years here in the United States. "An American Christmas Celebration" was an entertaining enter-taining and well put together program. Thanks to both the fifth grade students and their teachers for the many hours they have spent writing, planning and preparing for this fine Christmas production. I -n J V 't F 1 . - Kp I Si V" J .J1 ' s I ( J I , f ; ' i;f; -J -1 ! If- fn s if 0 u . A 1 t A Shown above are some of the fifth grade and student body. The original production students at Sage Creek School who partici- was written by teacher Pam Tippetts and pated in "An American Christmas Cele- directed by her, Kellian Giles and Frank oration" put on for their parents, families Daybell. In the 1954 movie "White Christmas," Bing Crosby and Danny Kay come to the aid of an old Army general, played by Dean Jagger, whose Vermont ski lodge is in financial difficulty. Dr. Seuss wrote the annu- "Home for the Holidays," al animated TV special "How was sung by barber, turned the Grinch Stole Christmas." singer, Perry Como. Factory Authorized Dealer & Service Center Snow Blower and Chainsaw Repair and Sharpening, Small Engine Machines, etc. j-'tfeKBo 1 1 ni,i , - Carpenter Seed Company 1030 So. State Provo 373-3740 '11 . ' n Be eacic You May you enjoy a glad and ' glorious Yuletide season. We have truly valued your kind support this year. Thank you to alL 645 South 1 750 West - Springville, UT 84663 Phone: (801) 225-6030 or 1-800-293-3000 Fax (801) 491-4284 The "birth" of Santa Claus in the heat of political strife and the tragedy of war was something of a small Christmas miracle in itself in that this personification of mirth, generosity and love of children was created by the nation's greatest political cartoonist. His name was Thomas Nast. Among the figures that spilled from his imaginative mind and gifted the pen into the pages of "Harper's Illustrated Illus-trated Weekly" were such now-familiar symbols as the Republican elephant and the Democratic donkey. The image of Santa that Nast created in 1863 was extraordinary. He gave Santa many of the qualities that have endeared him to children chil-dren ever since. Many of his concepts were original. Nast gave Santa his red suit, broad girth, white beard, ruddy cheeks and nose, and fur-trimmed fur-trimmed hat and coat. Even more important are the traditions with which Nast associated Santa, for these have had a greater influence than his appearance. appear-ance. It was Nast who first credited Santa with keeping books on the good and bad children, of having a workshop work-shop where he manufactured Christmas toys and of reading read-ing the letters sent him by children. There is a poignant note in the creation of Nast's first Santa because he made his appearance during the Civil War at the time when many American families were separated. Fathers, husbands and brothers were fighting in the war between the North and the South. That year, 1863, Nast visited the front and in an apparent effort to cheer both soldiers and those, at home drew his now-famous "Santa Claus in Camp" for "Harper's Weekly." Santa had come to this country along with some of our earliest settlers, the Dutch, and at that time his name was Sinterklass (Saint Nicholas). He made his annual visit not on Christmas but on the Saint's feast day, December 6. He was thought to have been a fourth-century bishop in Asia Minor famed for his kindness, particularly to children. By 1809, Washington Irving was describing Santa as a diminutive Dutch citizen who looked much like Father, Knickerbocker; the novelist, wondered how the poor old man could be to all the homes in a growing America on his horse. So he invented the familiar famil-iar reindeer-drawn sleigh which Santa, from that time, has raced through the skies from chimney top to chimney top. Perhaps it was the classic poem, "A Visit From St. Nicholas," by Dr. Clement C. Moore, which was first published in 1823, that was the inspiration for Thomas Nast's illustration of Santa Claus. Bob Hope and Marilyn Maxwell sang "Silver Bells" in the 1951 movie "The Lemon Drop Kid." In "It's a Wonderful Life," Jimmy Stewart is visited on Christmas Eve by an angel. IS YOUR CAR RUNNING ON AINCPft A PRAYER? REPAIRS CARS! BRAKES SHOCKS AC TUNE-UPS ALIGNMENTS TIRES 595 N. 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