Christmas is not just another holiday, part 2

Last week, I discussed that our Christmas is under siege. A minority of folks in our country wants to destroy Christmas as we have known it for all of these years.

They do not want it to be called Christmas. They do not want Christmas trees in a public place to be called a Christmas tree.

Anything that might have to do with the birth of Christ or what might seem to be religious is considered offensive. These individuals want to do away with the secular versions of Christmas, including Santa Claus.

Much of what is being done against Christmas is being promoted by the ACLU (which some are beginning to refer to it as America Criminal Liberties Union).

They want to eliminate the many traditions of Christmas as it is offensive to some people. Still, their efforts are offensive to me and to the majority of Americans.

Since Christmas has passed, I have mellowed some, realizing what's done is done for this year -- there will be another season and there will be more attacks.

In reality, as a family we have not celebrated Christmas. As it is with many other families we could not all get together last weekend.

Our oldest son, Greg, is in the retail business and he had to go to work at midnight on Christmas night to get the store ready for the next morning, which is his birthday.

Our family celebration with the exchanging of gifts is scheduled for Saturday.

One of the traditions of Christmas is the ringing of the bells by the Salvation Army. This is a major fund-raiser for the charity. The group not only benefit families at Christmas, but they benefit people through out the year. Target stores would not allow the Salvation Army at their stores, because some felt it offensive to their customers.

I spent some time ringing bells on the Saturday before Christmas. This is always a great experience.

There are many in other communities and in the United States who spent several hours ringing the bell. Ringing the bells is kind of like guard duty -- you are glad to see the person that is there for relief and to take over.

When I was standing there ringing the bells, I do not think it was offensive to any of the customers -- most of them did not make eye contact with me. It gives me an opportunity to see some people that I had not seen for awhile.

Many people put change in the kettle before entering the store or when leaving. Others did not put anything in as they had donated to the Salvation Army or will later. Many gave money to the children and they reached up to put the money in the kettle. For example a young child ran across the parking lot to donate money.

An adult with the child had given the money to the child for the purpose.

The local Salvation Army used funds to help provide gifts to the needy of the area.

The money is needed, not only for Christmas but for needs such as for fuel.

It is expected that there will be a great need for funds to help with fuel this year.

There are several individuals locally, including the board members, who put much time and effort into the Salvation Army. These individuals are to be complimented on their accomplishments and the service that they provide.

At Christmas, we remember the greatest love and the greatest gift. It is a time of giving and love. One person commented that people in Vernon County are good at giving.

There are many examples of giving that have occurred during the past few days.

There were several groups, organizations, and individuals who adopted families to provide needy families with Christmas gifts. Among the groups was the Rotary Club which adopted 17 families.

The effort organized and with leadership provided by Community Outreach to provide food baskets is a great gesture. There are several volunteers and individuals who help with this project.

It is great that this is done as it provides coordination. Prior to coordinating the food baskets and adoption of families, there were families who received gifts from more than one group and other families were left out. This appears to be a great system to help those in need at Christmas time.

The toy drive that is led by the Vernon County Ambulance District provides toys to children who might not have received a toy with out this special program.

There are many donors who get behind this project.

Terri Meyers discovered that there is a gap in service for kids ages 13 to 18. She organized a program to provide gifts to them and up to 25 years old if they are handicapped. A list of 75 kids was compiled and with out this program these kids would not receive a gift. She called them "teen angels."

People provided gifts for these teen angels and made donations.

When the teen angel program was announced, I wondered if it would be successful -- it was. I learned that she went over her goal with donations.

I might have let that go into seed funds for next year. Instead something better was done.

These angels received gift certificates to such things as movies, McDonald's, bowling, and roller skating.

These are great gifts for this age of kids. Like other things that occurred for Christmas, Terri and all of those supporting this program are to be complimented.

There are many other things that took place in the area that made Christmas real for many. This was a showing of love and the giving by many individuals -- making Christmas real for many.

One mother said that she had the greatest gift at Christmas. They sent money to their daughter out of the state for Christmas. The daughter took the money and bought about four gifts for 10 people in a nursing home -- such as shampoo or other items that the residents could use. A comment from one man made it all worthwhile.

He said that he did not know that anyone would think of him. He was appreciated of the gift and that he was remembered. Truly, Christmas is not just another holiday.