Christmas

Holiday decorations might be the main draw for the annual "Cruise of Lights," but for the event's sponsors the main attraction is raising money for music education programs. Last year, the Huntington Harbour Philharmonic Committee raised about $100,000 with the cruises through Huntington Harbour. This year, committee members hope to collect more than that for music education in public and private schools throughout Orange County. The proceeds help finance programs like field trips to the Orange County Performing Arts Center, lessons about orchestra make-up and playing with different instruments, said Kay Nelson, a long-time committee member.

Want to get immersed in a winter wonderland without driving to Vermont? Hit the northeast side of Huntington Beach for all the holiday happenings this weekend. In Old World Village (7561 Center Avenue), experience a traditional European Christmas, sans the snow. From noon to 4 p.m. Sunday and Dec. 17, take a seat on old St. Nicholas' lap or ride along the village streets in an old-fashioned horse and carriage. Cyndie Kasko, daughter of village founders Josef and Delores Bischof, brought Germany to Southern California hoping to share her family traditions with beach city locals.

Last year, Paul "Shilts" Weimar enjoyed the Huntington Beach Smooth Jazz Series as a guest. Now, thanks to the recording contract he signed after one of the concerts, the saxophone player is up on stage for this year's shows. Weimar is the opening act Saturday in the Grand Ballroom of the Hyatt Regency Hotel and Resort in Huntington Beach. But none of this likely would have happened if he'd stayed in Britain. "I found myself spending more time in an airplane than on a stage," said Weimar, who has played the sax since his teen years in London.

This week we'll continue looking back at the First Baptist church as it endures the hardships of World War II and the beginning of yet another war. As we left off last week, the congregation was celebrating Christmas 1944. During a Christmas party at Jack Heaston's home, members of the Sunday school played a Bible quiz game put on by Kenneth Don Fleming and sang familiar Christmas carols. In the 1930s, the sounds of church bells meant coming together on Sunday to listen to God's Word.

Students at College View Elementary enter the spirit of the season, give gifts to kids from Oak View.Members of the student council at College View Elementary School took a break from classes last Tuesday and acted as Santa's little helpers, delivering more than 140 gifts to second graders at Oak View Elementary. For the past three years, College View has sponsored one grade level from Oak View as part of the annual Angel Tree holiday project, co-organized by the Parent and Teacher Assn.

Christmas is over and people are beginning to pack away their Christmas lights, tinsel and outdoor displays for another year. It is unfortunate that we are also putting away that special feeling of unselfishness that people so often feel during the Christmas holiday. Christmas is a time of giving from the heart, not just for one day, but also for each day one wakes up and sees the sun rise again. Many of you, like me, watched that classic Christmas story about a man who found the true meaning of Christmas.

We asked students from Lake View School: What is your favorite thing about Christmas? "Seeing my family -- all my cousins." Hannah Rathbun, 7 Huntington Beach "Santa, because he brings presents." Taylor Wiedemann, 5 Huntington Beach "The Christmas tree, because it has decorations that are pretty." Cheyenne Willis, 6 Huntington Beach "You get to be with your family. Ervin's my brother and he's in the Navy and he's coming home."

Some folks in Orangevale, Calif., want to save "Merry Christmas." They find it "thoughtless, condescending and hurtful" when "non-celebratory phases" [sic] such as "Seasons Greetings" and "Happy Holidays" are substituted in retail advertising for the familiar Old English greeting. They want "to preserve the culture and tradition of the vast majority of Americans that celebrate and honor Christmas." And this year, according to a note on their website, www.savemerrychristmas.org, most of all they want Sears to "reintroduce promoting Christmas in their advertising."

Woodrow Wilson was president in 1919, and that year proved to be a very special holiday for many of our residents. When the Armistice was signed in November 1918, most of our doughboys were still stationed in Europe and were unable to be with their loved ones for Christmas. So it was the next year that had the most meaning to everyone, when their sons came back home from the Great War. That year was doubly important to those servicemen, for the story of Christmas would hold a truer meaning because they had lived through a nightmare.