Ah, growing up in the Dickson City Primitive Methodist Church was a great foundation for this Glory Bee. How I loved the singing, the stories, the love, and The Bible. I remember flannelgraphs and sword drills and marching to "Onward Christian Soldiers". And oh, at Christmastime we always had the most exciting Children's Christmas Program. All the children would have poems that they would get up and recite when called upon. We'd sit up on the stage in our finest dress, something we got special just for that night if our parents could afford it. Some children sang solos, duets, or trios and we always had group numbers. As we'd go through the program, Mr. Evans, the Sunday School Superintendent would have a report every so often saying he just got a message about where Santa was or that someone had called to report a sleigh in the sky overhead about 20 miles away.... things to that effect. At the end, we'd wait for the "Ho ho ho" and down the stairs from the sanctuary would come Santa with a bag full of goodies. Miss Peggy, who always chaired the program would read out the names of the children in her class. We'd all get boxes of Williams chocolate candies and a little gift from our teacher. Then all the Sunday School classes, even the older kides got gifts and chocolate and I remember correctly, oranges. I kept going to those programs long after I was too old to participate. It was always great fun to watch the children.
The photo is an ornament from Bangladesh. One year a woman brought these for everyone .She had bought them to support some sort of mission outreach. The tie to hang mine broke a long time ago but I just can't give up this ornament and I put it on our tree every year.
These photos are from the Christmas Program in later years, probably the late seventies. They make me feel like a kid again. Now where's my chocolate?
