The Christmas Tree at Woodland

  I initially posted this Christmas family story ten years ago while Dad was still living. The truth of it never becomes outdated and is worth revisiting.

        As a child, I would hear my parents and grandparents talk about the Christmas Tree – not as an object but as an event. In the 1930s, both schools (Belford and Woodland) in the Big Bend community held an evening extravaganza each December for the students and their families at each particular school.

        My father, Edmund Gates, Jr., recalled the enormous decorated tree in the Woodland (not to be confused with the district consolidated in 1990, also named Woodland) schoolhouse located where Lester Anson’s home is currently. The students would perform in the school Christmas program. Then the highlight of the evening was the children receiving gifts that decorated the tree. 
        The parents would purchase gifts for their children and then take the gifts to a designated lady from the community who would tie the gifts to the school tree. The children could hardly wait to have their names called and receive a gift from the Christmas tree.  As children living in the Great Depression, you can imagine their anticipation. 
        The most memorable Christmas tree for Edmund Jr. was in 1931 when his younger brother Jess at age eight received a rifle off the tree. To his delight, Edmund Jr. who was 12 years old received a watch when his name was called. It was a magical night filled with beautiful music, laughter, and delicious sweet treats which children of the Depression era seldom received. Then with elation the children shared with pride what the Christmas tree had given them.  In the excitement of the evening, Edmund laid his newly acquired watch on a school desk. Unfortunately, he only briefly enjoyed the first expensive gift he’d ever been given, before it was stolen.

Edmund Gates, Jr. in the 1930s

        As I visited with Dad about the stolen Christmas watch, my heart ached for a young boy who experienced such joy and delight over a precious gift only to have those feelings dashed into a million pieces a few minutes later. He described how he spent the rest of the evening in a futile search for his Christmas watch. 

        As I recounted the story of that night, a heartwarming realization dawned on me. Dad frequently thanked God in our nightly prayer time saying, "Thank You for the Lord Jesus." He so clearly understood that Jesus is the gift that once received can never be stolen or lost. What an amazing thought to bring perspective as we ponder peacefully when the hectic and harried pace attempts to sabotage this season!

He (Jesus) came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe on His name.  Taken from the Gospel of John, chapter one, verses eleven and twelve.