Christmas

(Sun photo by James Mann) Central Elementary School second-grade students performed "This is Christmas" for the students Monday afternoon and their parents Monday evening during the school's PTO meeting. The play featured the family pets wondering and learning what Christmas is through several songs performed by the second-grade chorus.

Santa Claus quietly goes about his business of delivering Christmas presents amid a dazzling array of lights and a snowman on Estes Drive, top photo. A flowing stream of lights lead to a lighted manger scene that can be seen by travelers along Old Boonesboro Road across from Stoney Brook Drive, right photo. James Mann/jmann@winchestersun.com

Christmas is coming. It’s not about Hollywood, Walt Disney World, Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy. No, and a thousand times no. It’s about the only begotten son of God, the Great Almighty, the great one and only “I Am.” For God so loved the world, he gave us his only begotten son, so that whosoever would believe in Him, would not perish, but receive eternal life. Let everything that lives and breathes worship Jesus Christ this Christmas. M. Wendell Anderson Danville

The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, one of the most ancient churches in the world that dates back to the 6th century A.D., looked old. The original door, large and inviting, had been replaced with a very small opening - I had to stoop low to enter the church. Once inside, we were directed to a flight of stairs that took us to an area, 40 feet long and 16 feet wide, under the church. Our guide, pointing to a 14-point silver star on the floor, said, “That, tradition says, is the place where Jesus was born.” A rustic manger was nearby.

The sports page should have been on the front page recently, instead of the big liquor ad. It was so good to see Kentucky forward Terrence Jones celebrating his victory for the Cats. Alcohol is not the way to celebrate the holiday of Christmas. Dangerous stuff when driving. So many have been killed by drunks. Lola Smith Burgin

People interested in how 18th century settlers celebrated Christmas can get a glimpse of what life was like during the holidays on the frontier this weekend at Fort Boonesborough State Park. The park is hosting its second Christmas on the Frontier - living history interpretations of the traditions of the season - inside the fort today and Saturday from 6-8 p.m. Visitors can learn how some present-day customs originated and how others were lost over the years. Re-enactors will demonstrate how cultures blended on the frontier and how pioneers with different ethnic backgrounds brought their traditions to the colonies and then on to the frontier.

Doug and Mary Griffitt of Paris Road battled long shopping lines and a strong, cold wind to finish their Christmas shopping Sunday afternoon. High gusts and cold temperatures pushed the wind chill to 20 degrees Sunday. The wind was accompanied by snow showers that covered the rooftops of homes.

Christmas came in July to some of the residents of Winchester Centre for Health & Rehabilitation. Members of the Towne and Country Homemakers Club made special tote bags for residents in wheel chairs and those using walkers. Fabric and supplies were donated by the members and fabric samples were donated by Something From Nothing Upholstery in Lexington. Rita Rogers, activity director for the Centre, arranged for many of the recipients to meet in the activities area to receive the bags.

Word to the CIA: Waterboarding's for sissies. If you really want to get those terror suspects to spill the falafel beans, tie them to a tree outside the Lincoln County Courthouse and make them listen to Mariah Carey caterwauling Christmas carols over the loudspeaker. Directly across the street, we at The IJ have been subjected to this extreme torture for several days, and we're ready to reveal our computer passwords, our PINs, the Pentagon go codes, anything. Just make it stop!

Downtown Winchester, December, 1946. This is the second Christmas season without war and America is gradually returning to some semblance of normalcy following four tedious years of warfare. All are blissfully unaware that the nation will once again be at war in another short four years. It's a time when merchants didn't begin putting out their Christmas wares and decorations until after Thanksgiving and banks had Christmas savings accounts where you could put as little as 25 cents a week into the account and, two weeks before Christmas, withdraw $12.50 to spend on the holiday.

Being “shoebox crazy” is something Danville's Kathy Kendrick and Liberty's Nicki Johnson have become used to. As part of the collection team for the Danville area, they were two of many volunteers who packed and collected about 23,076 shoeboxes in 2012 for the Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child organization, which sends boxes around the world to children who might have never received a gift. However, in the coming weeks, the two women will do something they never anticipated.

January 1888 Our ice-house was partly filled with ice last week, of splendid quality, five inches thick. Unfortunately a thaw, accompanied by rains set in before we were able to complete the filling. The Christmas Holidays, so long looked forward to with bright anticipations, have come and gone, but many pleasant memories of it will long linger in the minds of our household. It was a happy Christmas and not a single cloud was cast over it by accident or bad behavior on the part of the pupils.

The National Audubon Society's Midwinter (Christmas) Bird Count for Danville and the surrounding area was held Dec. 22. It was a cold day - a high temperature of 35 degrees - with clear skies and light winds. The number of species sighted, 66, was two lower than last year. The number of individuals counted, 7,610, was just more than half the number seen last year, but much of that difference is accounted for in the rather low number of European Starlings (4,000 this year; 10,000 last year)

The story of the birth of Jesus, as more often related from Luke's gospel, provides the well known details of an eventful time. Western civilization shares the common knowledge of this momentous happening, but the Asian world, while certainly aware of the history, is far less involved or intrigued with the birth of Jesus. The “Stable Story” has been pictured in many differing ways through the years and the manger scene has been deployed countless times on church yards, town squares, schools and private property.

I hope everyone takes John 3:16 to heart during this Christmas season. There's such a profound message in those verses, how that God loves us all so much. Blessed will be the day when we can worship the Holy God of Creation upon his throne. On that Holy Mountain: Mount Zion. M. Wendell Anderson Danville

Well the last gift has been opened and the last hugs, goodbyes and thank yous have been given at our house and another Christmas has come to an end. It was a wonderful Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with family that we will always remember. We had no sooner finished opening the last gift than my grandson announced to his cousin, “It will be 365 days” until Christmas comes again. The child that announced this bit of information seemed to be upset by this news. The rest of us looked a little tired.

Local people in and around Boyle County are helping a Livingston family after its home caught fire Christmas Eve.  About 9 a.m. Tuesday, Neal James of Stanford, Turtleman's sidekick on the “Call of the Wildman” show on the Animal Planet channel, sent out a request on Twitter and Facebook for ideas on where to get toys on Christmas day.  Amy Cromer and her three children lost everything in the fire at their house, including their Christmas...

There are only two days until Christmas, but there's still plenty of time to enjoy the Christmas festivities. Whether you are going to drive through the Lexington Horse Park to view Southern Lights, take a road trip and go to Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, or enjoy your neighbors' light displays in their front yards, the lights and sounds of Christmas are everywhere. Lexington Southern Lights: For the past several years, visiting Southern Lights has been one of our family traditions.

In order to have a living memory of a particular Christmas, displaying a live Christmas tree not only perks up the season but provides a tree for your landscape. There are many people who hate to buy a cut tree then turn around and throw it out, and many more who do not want an artificial tree. Select a tree that is right for your climate, soil and light conditions. Be sure to select a tree variety that is hardy to two zones colder than your climate. Most nurseries will tag and hold trees until you're ready to bring them home.

This is the one slow week of the year at the library. We'll be closed today, Tuesday and Wednesday; we'll reopen at 9 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 27, and be open regular hours through Sunday, Dec. 30, then closed again Monday and Tuesday, Dec. 31 and Jan. 1. What's happening now is Christmas Eve, a magical day and night, and, for myself one of the merriest and most wondrous, always. All of us at the library wish Clark County a merry Christmas and happy holidays. happy Solstice, from me, specifically, too; it's been a mild winter, so far, but I like the thought that we're into the first turn toward spring.