Papa's Place

Well I had a story to tell about a childhood Christmas memory but after throwing the tease out there to my siblings, Susie has me second guessing my memories.  Last weekend when Verna and I were decorating our Christmas tree Verna asked me if my Dad always put the lights on the tree.  I said I didn’t remember if he did or not.  I just remember Dad bringing the tree in the front door already set in the, as I definitely remember him proclaiming, the “best tree stand ever” and then putting the decorations on.  I don’t know how the lights got on.

My recollection of the “best tree stand ever”  was a combination of a short 2x4 nailed to the bottom of the trunk then the tree placed in a 32 lb. frozen food can that was then filled with gravel and filled with water.  This whole combination led to a tree stand that weighed…..well close to 32 + lbs.  Now when I asked my siblings what significance Sodus Michigan had on our Christmas my thoughts were that, as Patty guessed, is where the Frozen Food came from, thus the can for our “best tree stand ever” , but Susie’s response has me second guessing my memory as the “best tree stand ever” in her memory was a five gallon bucket with a handle on it.  Either way I know we had the “best tree stand ever” and we never had to worry about it tipping over as it was so heavy I think it weighed more than the tree.

So other Christmas memories that I have and all may be subject to correction by my siblings are as follows.

Going to Range Line Christmas Eve for the candle light service and coming home and seeing reindeer tracks and sleigh tracks in the snow.

Watching for Santa’s sleigh in the night sky on the way home from church.

Hearing the reindeers jingle bells ringing from behind the house as we walked in the front door.

That’s all I can recollect right now but if any of my siblings know of more please feel free to add them in the comments section.