Holiday Greetings Through the month of December, we asked readers to share their stories about the most memorable Christmas gift they ever received. Inside are some of the many wonderful submissions.
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Friday, December 21, 2012 Capital NewsC
MOST MEMORABLE GIFTS • CHRISTMAS 2012
THIS IS THE WINNER!!!
Christmas on the prairie was always a white Christmas. We loved to be out in the snow. We would shake snow off the trees and feel it icy down the back of our necks, make snow angels in a fresh snowfall, and dig tunnels in the snow or build a snow fort when it was drifted high. When conditions were right, we made snowmen with real lumps of coal for eyes and mouth for our house was heated with a monster coal-eating
furnace in the basement. My, brother, sister and I moved to Saskatoon in 1942 with our mother. Our father had been killed on the sinking of the Caribou in Cabot Strait while he was working for DND. I had just turned four. We went to live with our paternal grandparents in their tiny house. We basically lived in the kitchen as the living room was reserved for special occasions. A wood stove, sink, a few cup-
boards and big wooden table were our surroundings. There was a cot at one end on which our brother slept for there were only two small bedrooms. My sister and I shared a bed with Mom. Grandma and Grandpa had the second bedroom. When Christmas came we spent more time in the living room. It was decorated with garlands hung from the ceiling and the tree, of course. Our mom worked downtown
Season’ s Greetings
Sunday, December 2nd, URBA (Uptown Rutland Business Association) hosted the 6th Annual Uptown Rutland Christmas Light-Up.
Thank you to all the people who joined us to share a cup of hot chocolate, watch the lights come on, and visit with Santa. We really appreciated your company!
URBA thanks the businesses & associations that contributed to the 2012 Uptown Rutland Christmas Light-Up. My Neighbourhood Restaurant, Specialty Bakery, Braeden Hikichi, Jagger Bowles, PJ Lawler and Kelowna Chiefs, School District 23 and Rutland Senior Secondary, Ian Zylicz and the City of Kelowna, Dollar Store with More at Willow Park, Bob Verge, Aaron Meier and Valleyview Funeral Home, Rutland Marketplace IGA, Kirschner Mountain.
Thank-you to all the hard-working volunteers: Paul and Susan Rayner, Leora Rupert, Ryan Wickert, Andrew Fredrick, Brittney Seymour, Kaylee Turvey, Residents of New Gate Apartments.
and most often walked to and from work although there was a streetcar just a block away. I expect she walked to save the dime. Mom would buy our Christmas tree from a tree lot downtown and drag it home in the bitter cold! We always anticipated how perfect it might be when we brought it in and thawed it out ready to decorate. Mom always made our gifts special and we were always surprised. It was when I was about six or seven years old that I received my most memorable present. It was a pink angora bonnet and mittens knitted by Mom. They were so soft and warm and in my favourite colour, perfect for the cold Saskatchewan winter. It was also very fashionable as were thick angora sweaters at the time. Now why has this become my most memorable gift? The bonnets and mittens for my sister and me were a total surprise. We had never seen a snitch of that yarn before Christmas. Mom had sat up many nights after we were in bed to make them a surprise for us on Christmas morning. What love and devotion she had for us.What could be a better present! Hopefully I let my mom
know how much that meant to me at the time. Over the years you think of all the memories you would like to have shared with your mom about just such things. Sometimes we are not
so lucky. Mom died when I was just 21 and I have forever missed her. What a wonderful mom she was.
~ Shirley Anne Hathway
Capital News publisher Karen Hill congratulates Shirley Anne Hathway, of West Kelowna, on the winning submission for the newspaper’s Best Christmas Gift Memory. Hathway won a $100 gift certificate to Walmart for her entry, which she has donated to the food bank.
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sCapital News Friday, December 21, 2012
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MOST MEMORABLE GIFTS • CHRISTMAS 2012
Now that Christmas is just around the corner, I’ve been thinking about my favourite Christmas. My favourite Christmas was when I was 6 or 7 years old. I lived in the small northern coastal Canadian community of Kitimat. In those years it wasn’t unusual to get 25 feet of snow in the winter. I recall neighbours shovelling off the roofs of their mobiles up onto snow banks that surrounded every home. At the time, my father Bill worked in an aluminum smelter and my mom Sherron was a stay at home. We lived modestly in a mobile home in a trailer park but my dad owned it and looking back that was pretty good for a young man supporting two kids and a wife. Times were difficult. I remember my dad cutting off the tops of Heineken beer bottles and gluing the bottom to the top and selling them as beer glasses to make a little extra cash for the family. Dad paid me to sand the sharp edges along the cuts. I would have done it for free as I just enjoyed spending time with him. I think every boy idolizes his dad at that age. We had a magnificent golden lab named Marty who would pull me on a toboggan around the park by a rope tied around his neck. He never seemed to tire dragging me along until it was time to go in. We had a Siamese cat who’s name was Ming or Ching or something. This cat was my mom’s. This cat had some odd traits, the most peculiar thing about this cat was it would use the toilet in the same manner as we all did. Certainly cut down on kitty litter expense but we could never train it to flush. My sister Laureen had just turned old enough to babysit. Living in a trailer court there was no shortage of parents looking to hire her. At this age she was very precocious and vocifer-
r
y
ous and everybody loved this little redhead, nobody more than me! At this age we battled continuously. I just wanted her attention like any little brother would, and of course she couldn’t stand having her little brother tagging along. My whole life I stood in the shadows of this gregarious extravert. I remember her getting me all excited about Santa Claus the night before Christmas and convincing me that there were bells jingling on the roof. I’m sure I saw the holy star shinning brightly in the sky that night from my window. The next morning I awoke, early I may add, to a mountain of gifts under the tree. But we had rules. We had to have breakfast before presents. I remember pancakes, bacon and eggs. Mom liked to cook the works Christmas mornings. After an agonizing wait till everyone was done we got to tear into the presents and they were all for me? Piles of the them, hockey sticks, toys, balls, puzzles all for me. Never had I seen so many presents under a tree and they were all for me. All for me from Laureen my sister that wanted nothing to do with me, saved every penny of her babysitting money so she could buy me Christmas presents. I can still see her beaming blue eyes as I unwrapped those presents. I have to say no single deed ever changed my understanding of the dynamics of my relationship and love for her than this thoughtful gesture. I knew even though she griped and moaned and even made me walk behind her when she had to have me tag along, she loved me. (Laureen Patricia Rice,1960-94) I hope you make the most wonderful memories for your family! ~ Bill Rice
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Friday, December 21, 2012 Capital NewsC
MOST MEMORABLE GIFTS • CHRISTMAS 2012 The knock on the door was barely discernable, a dog maybe? A dog had come to the front door the past winter during a heavy snow storm and the mother opened the door and the large dog came in, shivering and shaking, sending the cat the boy was holding, out of his arms and over his head, leaving great scratch marks on his scalp. The dog spent the night in the house, ate the few scraps it was given and seemed happy enough the next morning to be on his way, through the deep, fresh snow that now blanketed the city, with the bright prairie sunshine showing the sun diamonds that now danced and sparkled on the new white cover .. But this time when the mother answered the knock at the door there was no dog, no cat, no person, but on the step was a small cardboard box which she carefully picked up and put on the kitchen counter. What could be in the box, and who had put it on the step? It was only two days before Christmas so the two children thought it had fallen from Santa’s sleigh, or maybe he had come early and left it there, but the mother did not think so, because what was in the box was food they could eat—a tin of salmon, some butter, onions, potatoes and bread, a tin or two of soup and some oatmeal which the little girl hated. The children did not understand they were very poor, while the mother was grateful but embarrassed as well. She did heat up a tin of the soup and mulled over in her mind who had left the box; probably a church group, she thought. The school had given the children toothbrushes earlier and she had used a hot needle to burn their names into the bone handles. Many chil-
dren had received toothbrushes, poor families were legion now, but there is no real comfort in all being in that same boat! But there was more in the box that the mother did not mention, she now knew Christmas was not going to be quite as bare, for there was a bit of hard candy, a small chicken, a colouring book and crayons and two toys she knew would make the children very happy. Christmas morning is always an exciting time for children, rich or poor, and the two in this family could hardly wait to get to their stockings. The boy was overjoyed to find some tinker toys and his very favourite toy, an airplane, and much sky was flown before breakfast was eaten. And the girl? She had a celluloid doll, maybe seven inches long, with shiny golden hair, arms that moved, and she wore underwear and a little cotton dress, but the hair was the crowning glory, it was so long it hung down past the doll’s knees, and it was silky soft; no child with an Eaton Beauty doll or a Hairbow Peggy could have been happier. I should know, for I was that little girl, and though eventually I had both of those other dolls, I will never forget my golden hair one. She made my Christmas that year, and became my friend; wrapped in a face cloth she slept many a night on my pillow. The donor never knew the happiness she brought me, for we never learned who had left the box, but I am grateful for the treasured memory of that Christmas gift some 81 years ago. ~ Sylvia McTavish
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This year I will receive one of the best gifts as my family will be together since my father passed away five years ago. While he was alive, most of our Christmases were spent together with many family traditions. The tradition we hold closest to our hearts is playing hockey as a family on Boxing Day. My Dad would rent ice somewhere in the Okanagan and our family would play hockey against a team made up of friends. Our family even has official family team jerseys. This year, we will once again be able to put on those jerseys and play in his memory. He played hockey until he was 80 years old and know he will be cheering from above. Our team will be players ranging in age from 3 to 60-plus. ~ Linda Thompson As a young child of 7, I rolled out of bed on December 25, 1991, 6 a.m., and quietly went down the flight of stairs to the living room taking each of the nine stairs gently as not to disturb the sleeping family members. Upstairs slept my parents, my two-yearold brother and an infant celebrating his first Christmas, having been home just eight days. I have no desire to wake any of them. Turning on the tree, I examine the gifts now basking in the glow of its multi-colored lights as I sat and waited for the others to get up. In the back corner siat a curiously large box with a smaller box taped on top of it. The tag read it was for me and if I recall correctly my two-year-old brother, which made me curious as I knew of nothing that would be an acceptable gift that would appeal to both of us. However, the tag said it came from Santa Claus so my seven-year-old self assumed that the man in red must know what he’s doing. Little did I know that the contents of that box would play a formative roll in my childhood and set me more firmly onto the path I chose in adulthood. A couple of hours later when everyone is awake the first task is opening the stockings, pulling out the usual goodies, an orange, a toothbrush, some chocolate, underwear, etc. Then into the gifts. Tearing open each with that zeal that only comes in childhood, I came to the box and opening the smaller gift taped to its top found a purple box with various shapes of blocks falling and locking together with five large letters atop it TETRIS. and the tag line “From Russia with Fun” on the bottom of the box. This could only mean one thing, There was a Nintendo Entertainment System in the larger box. Tearing open the wrapping paper revealed the action set, the later model with the black star
field graphics and so much stuff inside that I weep for my future children who’s videogame consoles may come with just one controller and two wires to connect the system to the television. Nintendo had thought of everything back then. The box had two games inside on one cartridge, two controllers, a orange coloured “light gun” known as the zapper and every kind of cable/adaptor that a TV of the era could possibly need, 75 to 300 ohm converter for those using over the air antenna feeds, 300 to 75 ohm converter for those who’s television lacked a coaxial input, an RF switch for use in conjunction with those converters or on its own, and yes even the super new composite RCA cable connectors for those with fancy televisions or those who had a VCR connected to their television. Little did know or care about in the moment, but the best gift of my childhood was made possible by a comment my mother received from a doctor regarding my hand/eye coordination. I still have that NES, as do I now five others, six if you count the top loading re-release of the mid-1990s I bought a couple years back. My collection of games has much increased as well but even now at 28 I will never forget the feeling of tearing the wrapping paper off of a childhood friend like this, my toaster, my NES. ~ Liam Turner
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sCapital News Friday, December 21, 2012
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MOST MEMORABLE GIFTS • CHRISTMAS 2012
Christmas morning was the most anticipated event of the year. One that had a history in the same 1950s bungalow and same two parents and two girls’ lives. There were written and unwritten laws of what to do on that morning and in the days in December leading up to Christmas. On Dec. 25, we girls would wait until first light, which in Edmonton winters was a painfully late 7:30 a.m. One of us would tiptoe into the other girl’s room to check if she was lying in bed with her eyes wide open and she most certainly was. As the oldest girl, I would then creep down the hall just to the end and peer around the corner to the living room Christmas tree to see if Santa had come. The real tree, usually a Scotch Pine from the bush where Dad had cut it down in a remote ditch, sparkled with beautiful ornaments that had been saved lovingly, year after year, from our parents’ first Christmases. Some fragile ones there were less of, but they were all treasured. So, Santa had come. He never wrapped his presents. There were also presents wrapped from Mom and Dad and a few more that had been sent from California, North Dakota and Dawson Creek— brown wrappings that had been hidden and taken out for the big event. I dashed back to my sister’s room to savour the first glimpse. We had to wait until Mom and Dad were up and the joyful anticipation was a special memory that even our young years valued. This year was the one I would never forget because of the special present from Santa that was demonstrated by my Dad, “The Ham”. Dad was always the first one out of bed and was like Santa himself. He was all twinkling eyes and a hearty laugh with a warmth that surrounded him and spread throughout the cozy living room like the smoke that encircled Santa’s head like a wreath. He was larger than life, my Dad, and this was his day to shine. So all four of us, and the dog, were assem-
We were poor. In fact we were considered the poor people in our poor neighborhood. We always had enough to eat and our clothes, though hand-me-downs were in good repair and Mom kept them clean. We didn’t realize we were poor because we had grandparents and other relatives to help. At Christmas, Santa always brought us something and there were gifts from those relatives. We wrote the usual letter to Santa and quite often got what we asked for. One year my sister wrote in her letter that all she wanted was a toboggan. I can’t even remember what I asked for because I just wanted my sister to get her toboggan. I knew I would share it with her and how much fun that would be. Christmas morning started at about 5 or 6 a.m. The excitement was electric in our house with four children. We were allowed to open a couple of gifts then Dad ordered that “breakfast now then the rest of the gifts.” I’m sure we ate faster than at any other time of the year just so we could open the rest of the gifts. You could sense the disappointment when we could not see
bled on the green carpet in front of the tree with its twinkling lights. We were taking turns opening presents and slowly waking up to being as gregarious and boisterous as our Dad. But Dad was right into it and was interviewing the rest of us like a TV reporter, “Merry Christmas, ho, ho, ho…and what did Santa bring you? What a lucky girl you are.” This ruse and disconnect by the rest of his family continued for quite awhile until, all of a sudden, a light bulb went on in my brain and I realized the present Santa had given had come to life in my father. The present that transformed Dad into a broadcaster, was a yellow, plastic, Toshiba cassette player, shiny and new and recording Dad’s Christmas morning antics and our not so enthusiastic sounds of joy. That all changed once the knowledge spread that we were “live.” We still have that old cassette tape with our Dad’s jolly voice and that was my best Christmas present ever. ~ Carrie Skinner
the toboggan anywhere. It would have been too big to wrap and it could not even be hidden by the other gifts. As we opened the rest of the gifts, clothing mostly, the tears were welling up in my little sister’s eyes and I felt so badly for her. She bravely opened her gifts and set them beside her. Then my father said, “Okay, let’s clean up this mess.” We picked up paper and ribbons and put them into the garbage. Dad said to my sister, “Pick up that string, the one under the tree.” As she tugged at it, it became a rope and she had trouble pulling it. I was told to help her and we tugged together. Out came the most beautiful toboggan we had ever seen! It had been hidden by the drapes behind the tree. Tears flowed, even Mom was wiping her eyes at my sister’s happiness. The rest of the winter we spent every spare moment at the hill about a block away from our home making use of that prized possession. ~ Glenda Townsend
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Friday, December 21, 2012 Capital NewsC
MOST MEMORABLE GIFTS • CHRISTMAS 2012 I kept an eye on my Baba (Grandma), and ran over to the wood stove each time she opened the oven door. Two blue roasters were side by side; one filled with cabbage rolls bubbling in tomato sauce, the other a nicely browning goose. I breathed in the mingled aromas and looked excitedly around our kitchen where busy hands chopped, peeled and mixed other Christmas dinner fare. From my earliest memories, my main focus was on the holubtsi (cabbage rolls). Along with laying our Baby Jesus doll on a bed of straw under the tree, shaking my present wrapped in tissue paper, pats and kisses from aunts and uncles, and giggling with cousins, the cabbage rolls were the best part of Christmas. Each year, my Mom insisted I put a variety of food on my plate, but then with all the festive chatter, she never noticed I only ate the cabbage rolls. With each mouthful I closed my eyes while the slight tang of soured leaves and savoury sticky rice saturated my taste buds. I always wished my stomach was bigger. I remember well the day I rolled my first cabbage roll, and Baba raving about how I was a ‘natural.’ I became privy to her recipe of perfectly combined ingredients. As we worked, Baba
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said, “It’s because they are shaped like a holub or ‘dove’ that they were named holubtsi.” Although some of the holiday traditions changed when I married a Norwegian fellow (and later an English bloke) to accommodate their cultures, the Christmas cabbage rolls remained. Later in life, my three sons, and eventually my grandchildren, were introduced to these succulent little delicacies. Just when I thought the significance of the cabbage roll could hold no fuller meaning for me, an unexpected encounter proved me wrong. In my mid-50s, I decided to learn my heritage language. Being born just after WWII, assimilation into Canadian culture was considered paramount. With the exception of a few Ukrainian words only English was spoken in our home. After a series of courses I developed an excellent vocabulary, but conversation left me tongue-tied. Noticing a Ukrainian Hall in Richmond, I entered the back door to a kitchen. I asked Penny, the manager, if she knew anyone who might be interested in giving me private lessons. She suggested I join their Thursday cabbage roll production group where the ladies volunteering their talent, chatted mostly in Ukrainian. Why not? I became a regular ‘roller.’ As the months went by I listened to their jovial banter and was encouraged to join in. The nuances of verb tenses and noun genders fell into place like the rows and layers of cabbage rolls we produced. Our nimble fingers worked skilfully under Penny’s direction. Nadia kept us howling with her comical remarks. Pauline and Mila were quick with retorts. Sophia exuded an aura warmer than a summer day. Slava’s incredible voice wreathed us with folk songs. As the others joined in with teary eyes, I didn’t need to understand the words to know that each was lost in memories of the old country. We turned out product for weddings, a monthly hall supper, and for customers to purchase by the dozen. The proceeds were used for sponsored cultural events at the hall. Two years have passed since I’ve left Richmond, Penny has retired as manager, but still volunteers each Thursday. Slava has since gone to sing with the angels. Each Christmas, after Baby Jesus with his faded and chipped china face is placed under the tree and the sizeable plate of cabbage rolls is passed around our family table, my heart swells thinking of these special ladies. It was the grandest immersion course imaginable. My late Baba would have been impressed with our speed and knack to form perfect little doves, and the ladies had given me the greatest gift of all....their friendship. ~ Irene Butler
My story is about my daughter. One year I gave her a chia pet thinking she would like it. Many years later when she was an adult, she was working in a mall and a news crew interviewed her about her worst Christmas present she ever received. She said it was the chia pet. So now every year, I get her a chia pet. ~ Jody Kopf I was born in the early 1930s, my parents having just recently immigrated to Canada. They came with nothing, and those early years were extremely hard. One Christmas, I must have been about 7, I received a beautiful doll with hair and eyes that opened and closed. It was my first, and only “store-bought” doll. How I treasured that doll. But it was the gift that appeared under the Christmas tree the next Christmas that really stands out in my mind to this day. There In a small case, about 12x9 in size, was a beautiful set of clothes for that doll, hand crafted by my mother from scraps of material left over from other sewing! There was a coat and bonnet, all lined, a slip and panties, a dress, and socks and shoes and a nightie. What a treasure! Now in my 80s, I still have the doll. Unfortunately, I don’t know what happened to the clothes, but the memory remains. ~ Anne Foster
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sCapital News Friday, December 21, 2012
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MOST MEMORABLE GIFTS • CHRISTMAS 2012 Although this is a rather sad story, yet comical at times, its ending illustrates a valuable lesson about giving. As an animal lover as a child back in 1954, I asked Santa for a pony for Christmas. On Christmas morning when I woke up, I pictured this patched brown and white pony standing by the tree. Where would I keep it? What would I feed it? But when I looked at the tree, there was no pony. My heart fell. Maybe it was outside. Then my Dad told me to look more closely. And there, leaning up between the wall and the Christmas tree was a wooden pony stick. It had and old fashioned grey, white, and red sock for a head, white yarn for a mane, button eyes, and a broom handle for a body. I remember thinking that this was a lame pony! I had a great imagination and I’m sure that my parents were banking on this fact, but I was so disappointed. I was sure that I would be thought of as an ungrateful, spoiled child if I complained or showed my disenchantment. I was only four years old, but these important events are often remembered by memories of emotions and feelings. Upon reflecting the following Christmas of the previous year’s Christmas fiasco, I thought that maybe I had been too greedy. Now that I was an older and wiser five year old, I considered that perhaps Santa couldn’t afford a real pony. Perhaps, too, it was my communication. If I had been more specific, would I have received a real pony? I still wanted one but I thought it wise to write to Santa and request for a more reasonable present like a two-wheeled bike. I was positive that I would succeed in my wish. After all, most of my friends had bicycles, and I was five. This time when I went downstairs on Christmas morning, there was only a great big envelope for me. I was instructed to sit on the couch while my older sister sat to my left and opened the envelope
and read the contents as I couldn’t yet read. The big white card with mistletoe contained lines and lines of somewhat familiar hand-writing. Sister Marion read the letter out loud that basically stated that while I was on Santa’s list of good little girls and boys, he knew that I would want my bicycle to go to a little Korean refugee. I was stunned! I felt that especially after last year’s disappointment that I would have my wish granted. And what was a Korean refugee anyway? What did this have to do with me? In those days, children’s emotions and feelings were often ignored, that children should be seen and not heard. Pinning together the written words, my sister’s gleeful tone, and the faces of my parents smirking at me, I finally understood that Santa was Dad. I felt cheated and ‘had.’ How hard was it to find a bike? I would have been happy with a second-hand bike. What gives? But with a stiff upper lip, I instead turned to my Christmas stocking with little gifts. I was thankful for at least that. But I indeed felt hoodwinked. I eventually got my two-wheeler some years later, but the memory of Christmas 1955 lasted a lifetime. It wasn’t until some 30 years later when my Dad opened his Christmas present, it was in the form of an envelope. He raised his eyebrow in a query. Inside was a letter from Santa explaining that while Dad had been a good boy all year and had requested an electric garage door opener for Christmas, Santa knew that he would understand that Santa instead gave money for his present to a little girl in Bhopal so that she may have the gift of sight. A smile and a tear appeared on Dad’s face and of course a grumble that I was vengeful. Which of course I was, but not in a spiteful way. We all learned lessons from that and Christmas and our gift-giving from then on was to charities. ~ Janice Sich
We send our warmest
holiday wishes.
PA R T M E N B IN D E R Y D E
T
2012
FLY E R D E LI V E R Y
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Friday, December 21, 2012 Capital NewsC
MOST MEMORABLE GIFTS • CHRISTMAS 2012
y sad and of clothes I was feeling ver yellow 4, and ght bri t tha of I remember December 195 k could only thin which is we were living in Stanmore London truck I so wanted. r then in the northeast of the greate I Dad went out of the room, feet and two ut abo box a h area. I was nine at the time oning wit came back rati hes high, remember that some food by two feet in size and 18 inc er. He s ent par My . sed cea pap ly s ent ma rec rist y Ch onl in had all wrapped up with all the front were just making ends meet the U.K said, “This was outside on it.” in e rtag sho on and e al the upheav door and it has your nam found at the time. I scrambled to open it and m fro ouflaged cam in d nte I use to come down the hill y pai all t for a inside ver the at and , toy ool and sch s ry dge ma bri our pri colours with draw age was a litary mi a and ts par ram bottom of the hill in the vill type of the soldiers on ry eve of lt l bui ful s had wa d t toy shop tha the walls. Da blo train sets band inside Du nths y mo rnb ee Ho thr t and pas toy the ky r Din this at work ove ber em rem I , ber the cem in De ple available. That and some of the trades peo a Bright ped him with it. seeing in the shop window so hel y pan com I ected Yellow Foden Dinky truck. s but it It was something I least exp t ma rist Ch tha for ber ck tru wanted that and to this day I still remem honestly which I gs llin shi ee thr s nd wa it , pou day one mas was did put it on fort on Christ knew was just too much. I might get the best Christmas present I ever got. I truck in my wish list and just hoped The next time I looked at the spark m. mo my to to ned m see ntio not me did and it the toy shop, it as Christmas morning came and y my interest anymore. ver e told me usual I was downstairs at som e down Many years later, my Dad cam llings shi ee thr ut abo t early hour. Mom and Dad sents cos that the fort pre the n diers ope sol to the and we started s for the paint, a parcel that and that wa for ked nd loo I frie . a tree by the him er und had been given to the Dinky to be would be the right size for who’s son felt he was to big it was . one t sn’ wa t jus re and the rs Truck but playing with toy soldie ried on idea to My excitement fell as I car that gesture that gave him the mas. all nd a sm rist Ch for me for opening the parcels. I did fi comic t for the build ual ~ Doug Grant Dinky car and a Beano ann s item all sm few a book. After getting
Christmas was always a big event in our home, having three siblings it was always very exciting. My Mom and Dad would often tell us later in life how they would go to work at Christmas parties or couples’ home Christmas get-togethers, and get home very very late but would always stay up, in one particular instance, to put together a kitchen set for us to enjoy which apparently had over 300 screws. We always had to stay in our beds till they got up which was very difficult to do and if we happened to try to sneak a peek at what Santa might have brought us we were always disappointed because at that time we always had a sheet attached somehow across where the tree and gifts would be so as not to see anything. As young children, it was a very special event we always received paint by numbers, plastic kitchen dish sets along with the odd doll or Barbie and colouring books with crayons. Our socks always contained a lifesaver book, hard candies a terry chocolate orange and the toe always had a mandarin orange
in it, also a candy cane and sometimes doll clothes which often were made by our Grandma along with a special Christmas card and a new five dollar bill and a very special wrapped box of saved empty thread spools and odd and ends to make things with. We were all very excited and by the time my Mom and Dad were both up we were then allowed into the living room. The excitement was overwhelming however we were not allowed to go through our socks until after we ate a big breakfast which my Dad would make. The breakfast was usually the only day of the year we had to actually all sit down together to eat a big breakfast. This was explained to us later that they did not want us to get a tummy ache from eating too much candy first. A very different time from today with all the electronic stuff, we actually learned how to play using our imaginations and play for hours together. And of course we all wanted to share with our friends what Santa brought us and have them over or vice versa to play and check out our gifts. We always appreciated my Mom and Dad’s sacrifices for making our Christmas always very special. We think back now that it was just as exciting for them as it was for all of us. ~ Patti Noble
We hope that your holidays are overflowing with
joy and happiness.
EN N D E PA R T M P R O D U C T IO
T
2012
C LA S S IF IE D D E PA R TM E N T
sCapital News Friday, December 21, 2012
www.kelownacapnews.com V9
MOST MEMORABLE GIFTS • CHRISTMAS 2012 Here is my childhood Christmas gift story that I want to share with you and I’m sure you will appreciate it. When I was 12, my parents bought a farm in Canada to grow corn. My parents, seven-year- old brother, 14 year-old sister and me moved from Switzerland to the province of Quebec. The first year we got here was very difficult. My father had a little accident where he lost a finger just at the beginning of the harvesting. And the weather hadn’t be on our side, so the first harvest wasn’t very good. At Christmas time, my parents didn’t have a lot of money to make gifts. Also, we were used to have big family parties with all my aunts, uncles and cousins.
But for the first time, we were only five people. It was very very quiet. My mother had the idea, to cheer us up, to make fake gifts. The gift stack looked much bigger like that. Twenty years later, I still remember my brother’s eyes when he unwrapped a big Swiss chocolate box. He was so proud that he mocked at my sister and me because we didn’t received a cooler gift. But when he opened the chocolate box, there was only dried corn inside! No chocolate! It was so funny! My mother tricked my father too with wine bottles full of corn. I don’t remember what I received that Christmas, but I remember, with a smile, my mother’s jokes! ~ Florence Berthold
It was 1973 and my parents had bought me a motor bike, a 100cc Kawasaki. All of that summer and fall, you would find me riding—or I mean you could not find me as I was on and gone on that motor bike every single minute that I could find burning up every single ounce of gas that I could possible recover from every jerry can I could find for miles around. I loved to ride. So that year I wanted a ski-doo. I wanted a skidoo more than anything in the whole world and I think more than anyone could want anything. I was obsessed with having one so badly that well before Christmas my parents had reassured me that I was going to get that ski-doo I wanted for Christmas, and I was sure they would not have just told me that to get me off
their back. I was so excited, so excited there was so much bounce in my walk such a fire in my heart I was so happy I knew my parents would not let me down. If they said they were going to give me a ski-doo for Christmas, then I was going to get that ski-doo. Christmas morning came I was the first one up and I was out side in a flash looking for the biggest the best present that I could of ever imagined. But disappointment set in quickly there was no ski-doo, no ski-doo tracks nothing that told me that I was getting that ski-doo I was promised. But just then my parents came outside and asked me if I had found my present, there was great disappointment in my voice as I said, “no I can’t find it.” My heart was broken, but my parents told me to look up to the window. And there it was on the window sill, this bright yellow ski-doo. My parents were laughing and I stood there in devastation. This ski-doo, about eight inches long, was full of cologne. I was crushed. ~ Dan King
When I was a kid living in a small French Catholic community in northern Alberta, I can remember many a Christmas Eve spent at my aunt and uncle’s house. The older kids and their parents would go off to Midnight Mass while the younger kids where babysat and all put to bed until the arrival of the church goers. Then everyone got woke up to share in the “Reveillon” which is a party with lots of food and gifts and drinks. Money was very scarce in those days but our parents always made sure we had something to unwrap from Santa, “Le Pere Noel.” One of our uncles would usually leave the party for a short while and dress up in the Santa suit and knock at the door with a huge bag of gifts.
It was awesome to see all my cousins jumping up and down and squealing with excitement at his arrival. It took me a while to realize that there was one uncle missing or at times my own father went missing during this gift opening time. As we all got older and realized who Santa was, it was fun to watch our younger cousins during this fun time. No matter how small or what the gift was, it was such a nice evening to look forward to and to this day, some 55 years later, it is still a very special memory for me. I realize now that the memory of it all is my ongoing gift given to me from our loved ones, and I am so grateful for that. ~ Rose-Anne Turner
We wish you a wonderous and
magical season.
RTMENT S A L E S D E PA
2012
E D IT O R IA L D E P A R TM E N T
V10 www.kelownacapnews.com
Friday, December 21, 2012 Capital NewsC
MOST MEMORABLE GIFTS • CHRISTMAS 2012
Spreading cheer and appreciation with holiday gifts At Christmastime, we set out to choose gifts that show our affection or appreciation, but the process of knowing who should be on our gift list and what to get them can create stress. It doesn’t have to be that way. Keep the holiday cheer in your gift-giving with these simple tips.
Gifts for Family and Close Friends
You know who the people are on this list, and you usually know what is customary. When choosing gifts for family and friends, let your heart be your guide. Don’t be as concerned about matching gifts dollar for dollar. If you select something that has meaning to the recipient, your gift will make a much greater impact than if you merely select a gift to “keep things even.”
My 14th Christmas gift was something I had hoped for seven years. I got a beautiful bike!!! I was thrilled, and the first time I road it down the street I saw (for the very first time) one of my girlfriends riding in a car all snuggled up to a new boyfriend. None of my friends ever rode their bikes after that and it left me feeling awkward, but my bike was so special to me that I enjoyed it for around another two years—just not with my girlfriends. ~ Sharon Loken
Gifts of Appreciation
It’s customary to give something to people who perform services for us during the year, from the hairdresser we see every other month to the nanny we entrust our children to every day, or the employees that run our business. Then there are all those in the middle like our children’s teachers, the dog walker, and the cleaning ladies. In many of these situations it’s more customary to give a cash gift. For example, you would typically give your nanny anywhere from one to four weeks pay depending on her length of service with you. Cleaning staff, personal trainers and dog walkers usually receive a tip equal to one week or one session’s pay. For teachers, daycare staff, and instructors of after school lessons, a gift or gift card in the value of $15 to $30 is appropriate, depending on the economics of your community.
Tricky Situations
Almost everyone has at one time or another been presented with a Christmas gift that was unexpected, and had nothing to give in return. When this happens to you, just accept the gift with appropriate thanks, and don’t feel you need to make excuses or run out to get a reciprocal gift. If you receive a gift you don’t like or can’t use, you need to thank the giver without hurting his or her feelings. At a later date you can return it to the store for something you do need or would like.
JEANINE REISS | FYI HOME INSPECTIONS LTD
Thank You for your business.
Wishing you all a joyous Holiday Season and a New Year filled with Health, Happiness and Prosperity!
In the late 1950s, my grandmother had over 40 grandkids. Being on limited income and living with her youngest son, who had eight kids of his own, money was scarce. Every Christmas, all 40 of us would line up and Grandma sitting in her favorite chair with a knitted aghan on her knees would give us each a small brown paper bag including a few kinds words, a hug and kiss and away we would go to check out our little bag. It always consisted of the same thing . One Christmas orange, one candy cane, a handful of hard candy and peanuts. We would all hang on to our little bag until it was all eaten. Grandma made each one of us feel so special by knowing all of our names and presenting us with this little bag of goodies. It was heart warming. That is my Christmas gift memory. More then 58 years later, it’s still one of my best memories. Probably a gift of less then a dollar in value, but it made a lasting impression on me. I will never forget it. ~ Jeannine Godbout
I was 13 when I received my most memorable gift. Of course, that was a time when kids were not as worldly and I was very naïve. My favourite uncle, who had a great sense of humour, gave it to me. He had only one son who was a year older than me. Since I was his goddaughter, I also became ‘his girl.’ When I was quite young, he nicknamed me ‘Stinky’. I soon became ‘Little Stinky’ and he was dubbed ‘Big Stinky’. Now, perhaps you can gather, from our nicknames, what was the theme of our gift-giving? Each year, at Christmas, birthdays and Easter, we would give each other the stinkiest presents we could find. We roamed stores for nasty items and even made them. We even had friends and family searching for gifts and planning with us throughout the year. The Christmas that I was 13 was one I will never forget. Fortunately, I opened the gift only in front of my parents and grandmother—not the 30 to 40 other relatives in the family, which would have been most embarrassing to say the least. As usual, I opened the mediumsized parcel with care since I never knew what I was getting from Big Stinky. It looked like a cube of some sort. When I got all the paper off it, I saw that it was a box that had a door that opened. It kind of looked like a little house. Sure, enough that is what it was! It was a Hippie Outhouse!
As I opened the door, a little man turned around to face me and peed all over me. I had never been so embarrassed! The quicker and more forceful you opened the door, the further the arc of the little man’s spray travelled. Needless to say, my parents and grandmother had a good laugh at my expense and so did Big Stinky when I thanked him for his gift. Of course, this meant war! I couldn’t wait to get rid of it and gave it back to him as a present on another occasion. As the years went on, the presents became more and more raunchy, from a bouquet of skunk cabbage to canned horse manure.) Needless to say, at the time I was so embarrassed that I did not appreciate my uncle’s sense of humour. But now, almost 50 years later, each Christmas I look back on that gift and appreciate the fun (and love) that it gave the family. Of course, now I can laugh at it; I do wish that I still had it to more fully enjoy the memories that it brings me. Big Stinky has long since passed away, but maybe when I meet him again, I will have yet another ‘Stinky present’ (that tops his) for him to enjoy a good laugh! ~ Eileen Cousineau
Christmas Holiday Schedule
250-864-4054 | www.fyihomeinpsections.ca | jeaniner@telus.net
Holiday Schedule Garbage Christmas and Recycling Collection
Waste collection for the weeks of Dec 25 - 28 and Jan. 1 - 4 will move one day later - i.e. Tuesday’s collection will move to Wed., Wed. Garbage collection willand moveRecycling to Thurs. etc. Collection Friday’s collection will be Saturday.
Happy Holidays & all the Best in 2013
Waste collection for the weeks of Dec 25th - 28th and Jan 1st - 4th will move one day later - i.e. Tuesday’s collection will move to Wed., Wed. collection will move to Thurs. etc. Friday’s collection will be Saturday.
Recycling & Landfill Operations
Ÿ Glenmore Landfill & Recycling Depot, 2105 Glenmore Rd Recycling Landfi ll Operations (7:30 am -& 4:45 pm, closed Dec. 25, 26, Jan.1) •Ÿ Glenmore Landfi ll & Recycling Depot - 2105 Glenmore Rd Centre, Westside Residential Waste Disposal & Recycling 7:30 am - 4:45 Closed Dec 25th, 26th, Jan Sun, 1st Mon. (7:30 am - 3:50 Asquith Rd.pm. Days of operation: Fri. Sat. • Westside Residential Waste & RecyclingDepot Centre Asquith Rd pm, closed Dec. 25 and Disposal Jan. 1). Recycling is -open seven Days of operation: Fri, Sat, & Mon 7:30 - 3:50 pm. days a week except forSun, Christmas andam New Years. Closed Dec 25th and Jan 1st. Recycling Depot is open sevenRd. days(8a am week Ÿ Kirschner Road Recycling Depot, 1988 Kirschner -6 except Christmas NewJan. Years. pm. for Closed Dec. and 25 and 1) • Kirschner Road Recycling Depot - 1988 Kirschner Rd Remember to put all wrapping paper (not foil), flattened boxes and cartons 8 am - 6 pm. Closed Dec 25th and Jan 1st.
into your recycling cart for curbside recycling pick-up or take to your nearest recyclingto depot. Remember put all wrapping paper (not foil), flattened boxes & cartons into your recycling cart for curbside pick-up or take to your nearest recycling depot. For more info please go to our website at regionaldistrict.com/recycle
For more info please go to our website at regionaldistrict.com/recycle
on behalf of the staff at
J. Wright Plumbing
J
WRIGHT Plumbing & Heating Ltd. ~ Since 1967 ~
Sheet Metal Gas Fitting Parts & Service
West Kelowna 250-769-7338 | Peachland 250-767-9060 1880 Byland Road, West Kelowna • www.jwrightplumbing.ca
sCapital News Friday, December 21, 2012
www.kelownacapnews.com V11
MOST MEMORABLE GIFTS • CHRISTMAS 2012
Letters on this page are from the website christianity.about.com I can’t remember a Christmas that we didn’t go to my Granny’s house on Christmas Eve. We would have snacks, and when everyone arrived, we would hand out the presents. Everyone would begin tossing paper from here to yonder. LOL. I moved to another city when I was 18, and I didn’t get back home a lot, unless it was a holiday. Well, in late October of 1998, I went to my granny’s house to see her before Halloween. She wanted to go ahead and give me my birthday gift (which was odd, since my birthday was in late November). I thought she was just excited I was there, and wanted me to have it early. She handed me another gift, and said this is part of your Christmas, I want you to go ahead and take it. I opened it up and it was a Winnie the Pooh sweatshirt. My Granny passed away at the end of November. She wanted to make sure I got my Christmas present. I wear that sweatshirt around Christmas every year, and it feels like she’s just right there with me. ~ Tabatha LaFollette
Several years ago, as a single parent, I was attending college, and had no money for Christmas. Friends pulled together, and we ended up having a good Christmas. A friend lent me her tree, and my 2 college girlfriends gave us some presents. When we opened them, we found to our surprise that they were homemade dill pickles in several jars, and homemade jam. We had never had such wonderful dill pickles! We enjoyed them and the jam for months. So, it doesn’t take much to make people happy on Christmas, when your budget is low. I will never forget that Christmas! ~ Sheila Hughbanks
As a child and only girl in the family, Mom always fixed Christmas dinner and candy. I never did either until she passed, but I remember her using a wooden spoon to stir the candy with, so I went home and got her wooden spoon. Next Christmas after her passing I decided to give it a try. Never making candy before I got the wooden spoon out and starting making candy and it seemed like she was right there with me thru it all. My candy was perfect so my wooden spoon is so very special. This I remember every Christmas when it comes time to make candy for family and friends. ~ Gail Simms
One of the things that stands out for me in my Christmas memories is the smell of
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family and neighbors. I have carried on her tradition for years now and my kids and I bake for family (even Mom), neighbors, co-workers, teachers, etc. The family votes on what our baking list for the year will be and everyone (even my husband) pitches in. The kids love being able to take home-baked goodies to teachers and bus drivers and baking something every night as a family tends to cut down on the Christmas bustle that goes on around us. While we bake we listen to Christmas music and share our day. ~ Kim Jones
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V12 www.kelownacapnews.com
Friday, December 21, 2012 Capital NewsC
The Kelowna New Car Dealer Association wishes you and your loved ones a Safe and Happy Holiday Season.
We will be closed December 23, 24, 25 & January 1
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