Christmas m the country is something a farm boy never forgets. He may be years and miles away from those childhood rememberances, but the first snow of December or the sound of a Christinas It came in small packages carol will take him back in tied with bright ribbon and in time to a special Christmas, large red socks hung from a long ago-or maybe it’s a lot smoke-blackened fireplace, of Christmases merged into Measured by today’s one great Yuletide that is standards, it was simple relived each season. even meager-for tunes were Perhaps it’s the open hard and there wasn’t much space that is part of rural money to be spent for un living that adds a special .necessary items. The whole dimension to a rural thing probably didn’t cost a Christmas. There’s room hundred dollars, counting all and time to reflect on its the presents given and meating without the har- received and all the food shness of neon lights, city eaten by three generations of traffic, or blaring com- family gathered around that merciahsm. big tree. PAUL B. ZIMMERMAN, INC. Hardware • Farm Supplies Custom Manufacturing • Crane Service Wishes You A | HAPPY NEW YEAR O | I I i Concrete poured walls are used in heifer - hog - steer - « and horse barns. Also house basements - cisterns and p retaining walls. 8 I o tfO* LE POURf t> *5, We Specialize in Manure Systems. Let us demonstrate the Zimmerman Auger with Manure Mover. CALL US FOR MORE INFORMATION ON YOUR BUILDING NEEDS GROFFDALE POURED WALLS Farm Talk . Jerry Webb Christmas came to our farm in a very special way back in those days. It sort of spread over the countryside and spilled out of strange parcels and tumbled-down attic steps. Brick Church Rd., Leola, PA 17540 717-656-2016 or 717-656-7566 It must have been 1939 or Christmas 1940-the first Christmas I presents that we gave and can really remember. The received, comic books ex country was in a depression changed with classmates at and no one was hit any the school party, large harder than an Ozark farm family gatherings where family. But we had great aunts and uncles Christmas anyway, even crowed the house and told though it must have meant stones by the hour, some real scraping and Christmas was different saving. with three generations living It’s funny the things you remember about a Christ mas that happened so long ago.-The big gift was a sled. Not your typical, shiny new job bought m a hardware store. This was handmade of oak and painted red by a grandfather who gave what he could-his time and talent -to make a small boy happy. There were other gifts that Christmas but nothing as important or as practical as that sled. It was Christmas and always will be to me. Oh sure, I remember other Christmases and other gifts but nothing quite so special. There was a cap With ear flaps, a leather jacket With a furry lining, my first pair of cowboy boots, a pocket knife, and a cap pistol that shot six caps at a tune in a cylinder just like a real gun,- 1 suppose a country kid today would be offended by the things I remember about CUSTOM BUILT BARN EQUIPMENT LOOP STALLS (Southern Style - Channel Front - Welded Front) STANDARD FREE STALLS GATES (38" - 48" - 54" High) AUTOMATIC GATE LATCHES FENCING FEED THRU FENCING ir ★ Box 128 R.D. #4, Lititz, PA 17543 Wood Corner Rd., 1 Mile West of Ephrata Phone: 717-738-1121 in one large house There were traditions to be followed, things that had to be done. The tree was cut on the farm and trimmed mostly with homemade decorations, a fire burned in the fireplace day and night for at least three days, certain stones were told and read every season to remind us of what Christmas meant and why our family observed it the way we did. To a small farm boy long ago, fireplaces seemed Jigger and perhaps they were. The Christmas tree cut from the farm woodiot and dragged behind a saddle horse-seemed bigger, and maybe it was. That old farmhouse with 10 to 12 foot ceilings and large rooms called for a big tree. Even then, the tree seemed to fill half the room and the Don’t forget there is a difference in installing these systems for operating performance. Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 27,1980—C35 Homemade greenery started at the floor and went all the way to the ceiling. Decorations weren’t as plentiful or gaudy. Maybe a couple of sets of lights and lots of popcorn strings, paper rings and lanterns made at school. There was always plenty of food at Christmastime. Maybe it just seemed that way because you spent so much tune in the kitchen. But grandmother was forever cookmg'somethmg, and Mom was always shooing you out of it. There was peanut brittle and homemade doughnuts, and if you were good you got to eat the centers that were made by the doughnut cutter. Mincemeat and pumpkin pies were im portant and an enormous turkey was standard fare. Farm kids hung their stockings “with care” even if they didn’t believe in Santa. It was a tradition. After a bad mght of trying to listen to what was going on downstairs, get some sleep and still be up by 5 a.m., the stuffed stockings were a real joy. They’d be filled with nuts and hard candy, and maybe a tangerine. And way down in the toe you’d find a Barlow knife or some other valuable. Christmas day meant city It started with decorations relatives for dinner, sissy several weeks before and cousins who were afraid to culminated m one grand go up in the barn loft or nde (turn t 0 Page C 36) THINK DIESEL THINK LOMBARDN E9LOMBARDINI The Powerhouse The fastest growing line of small, air-cooled diesels In America. Authorized sales, service and parts. Call today for a quotation. Distributor HOOVER DIESEL SERVICE PH: 717-656-6133 2998 West Newport Rd. Ronks, Pa. 17572 2Vz miles East of Leola - Along 772 DEALER INQUIRIES INVITED MOSES HOOVER - PH: 717-656-8493 DANIEL STOLTZFUS - PH: 717-768-3365 DEALER INQUIRIES INVITED important at Christmastime. There was something great about the closeness that developed in those rural institutions. Miss Janie Thompson was our school’s teacher for more than 40 years. She educated at least two generations in that com munity, and m many in stances provided all the formal education some of them ever got. Although noted for teaching country lads the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic, I have to say that our one-room school went a lot further than that. We also learned the basics of music and art, the essentials of good health, and every afternoon at one o’clock we listened to the radio for a few minutes to find out what was going on in the world. It was truly a cultural experience as well as an educational one. And part of that culture that our teacher felt was important was the Christmas program. 26 different models designed to fit most gasoline engine applications a half-broke horse, a second table for the kids, and that stuffed feeling that comes with too much turkey, pumpkin pie and hard candy. I have strong memories of a country church and a one room school—both were
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers