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Christmas History and Traditions
The Christmas tree originated in Riga Latvia in the year 1510 which means 2010 was the 500th anniversary of the first recorded use of a Christmas Tree. In honor of the 500th anniversary Helen made a wall hanging which traced the history from then to the present.
The wall hanging was raffled off at the National Christmas Tree Association 2010 annual conference as a fund raiser for the Christmas Spirit Foundation. which sponsors programs for families, children, and the environment. It also sponsors the Trees for Troops program which distributes Christmas tree farmer donated trees to families where a member either is deployed or is soon to be deployed.
Each ornament on the tree covers a milestone in the history of Christmas trees. Please follow our link to pinestead-christmas-tree-history to learn more about both the 500 year history of Christmas trees and the more recent history of our involvement with them.
A second important Christmas tradition is that of Santa Claus, who is profiled on our pinestead-santa-claus-history page.
There's even more! Visit our Christmas fun-facts page to learn all sorts of things related to Christmas.
Enjoy this Christmas poem by William Michaelian. It's one of our favorites.
A Christmas Wish
What do I want for Christmas?
Nothing to buy, nothing to sell.
Family gatherings. Laughter. Music.
Multitudes of happy children, warm and fed.
An end to the current war, and to all wars.
Water in the well, food on the table.
Companionship for the lonely.
Solitude for those in search of calm.
Understanding for the prisoner.
Compression for those who judge.
Strength for the belittled.
Comfort for the torn.
I want what everyone wants,
But believes can never happen.
Truth instead of lies.
Generosity instead of greed.
Knowledge instead of fear.
Modesty instead of arrogance.
An open heart, an open mind.
To follow Life where it leads,
With gratitude for hard times
And what they teach,
And, when good times come,
To pass them on for others to enjoy.
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