The Rural Voice, 1985-12, Page 13"I suppose from a professional point of view that the
Christmas concert was awful, but to me it was and:
still is a glorious experience."
appeared on the stage and while I had
been told that this was not the real Santa
Claus, he was good enough for me. He
laughed real happy -like and made some
comments on the weather and told us he'd
had trouble with the sleigh so he'd had to
walk the last bit. I believed it all, and why
not? Joy of joys, he started giving out the
gifts. The first gift was not mine, nor the
second, nor the third, and with a sinking
heart I began to wonder if I had been
forgotten, but finally I was called. I walk-
ed to the edge of the platform and got my
gift: a grey horse on a wheeled platform.
It was one of the very few toys that I ever
had. I do not remember its demise, but I
do remember it fell into two halves and I
remember using one half as a boat which
proved to be unseaworthy because the legs
were too heavy.
And so the evening ended and we were
bundled up and drowsily drove home to
the sound of the bells. Muffled against the
wintry cold I hugged my horse because,
after all, he was my best treasure of the
moment.
I do not remember that we ever hung up
stockings on Christmas Eve, and we never
had a tree. Still 1 remember Christmas as
a glorious time. When we got up we went
to the barn and did chores as usual. When
we came in we were given our presents,
usually a book for each of us, definitely
fiction, and by one of the current authors
such as Ralph Connor, Nellie McClung,
Eleanor H. Porter, Grace Stratten Porter,
This article is part of a series
titles by Andrew Dixon
MacGillivray Township.
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DECEMBER 1985 11