Around this time of year, when the Christmas music is coming over the radio and big fat snowflakes are wafting from the sky, my mind goes back to my growing-up years in Creston and the joy and excitement that pervaded those Christmases so long ago. I know for me the magic of Christmas is as strong as ever, and all it takes is the sound of Christmas carols and IÂ’m once again caught up in the age-old Christmas story. When I was growing up back then, there were no television sets or electric lights even, but we enjoyed Christmas every bit as much as the children of today with their electronic toys and computers. For us, Christmas started way back in November when our schoolteacher started planning our annual Christmas concert. “Parts” would be given out in school, and we would be secretly comparing them to see if anyone else had a more important one than we did. YouÂ’d never come across a more rag-tailed bunch of budding actors anywhere! Boys in rubber boots and unkempt haircuts, girls with straggling pigtails with mismatched bowsÂ…but all with glistening faces and joy and excitement in their hearts, soon to be transformed into models of virtue and “dressed to kill.” The concert was always held in our school (now the Blue Goose Take-out Restaurant) which had a permanent stage at one end where the teacher had her desk all year and ruled over the pupils. All the bigger students took part in cleaning and preparing the school for the big event, and night after night we all showed up for practice. Soon the big day was here and the old school was filled to overflowing with our parents and family members. All those taking part in the concert huddled nervously backstage, every now and then peeping around the stage curtains to see if we had a good crowd, or more importantly, to see if any of the boys from Marystown has shown up. As I remember, we had the usual repertoire of songs, skits and recitations, but one memorable year, we had a singing-dancing exercise called “Put Your Foot Right Down There.” It was an exercise IÂ’ll never forget! All the girls were dressed in colourful crepe-paper dresses that trailed to the floor and billowed around us as we danced and twirled, with the boys chugging along at the rear. At one particular point, just as we were singing, “Put your foot down, put your foot down,” one clumsy boy did just that - put his big booted foot down on the tail of my dress, and I was literally pinned to the floor! He, paralyzed with fright no doubt, kept his foot down, and I had to stand still or lose my dress. Everyone else, dancing away, kept looking at me to see why I wasnÂ’t moving. In total desperation, I made one great jump ahead and, with a great rip, off came my dress, and I fled the stage in tears of humiliation. When I occasionally run across that boy (man) today, I try to look at him with all the human kindness I can muster. But all the years in between will never ease the fact that he spoiled my debut and crushed all my dreams of going on to fame. That was over 50 years ago, and it's still as fresh in my mind as the night it happened. It's strange, but I have never ever heard that song again (for which I thank God for his tender mercies), but one morning a few years ago, while working around the kitchen, there was the tune booming over the airwavesÂ…but to other words! I stood still and listened, and down through the years came the memories of that long-ago night - but none of the humiliation remains, only the excitement and joy of that Christmas and all the other Christmases that shaped my life and left a never-ending love for that particular time of the year.   Submitted By: NULL