ASHLAND —
It is funny how memories of some seemingly trivial event stick with you for more than a half century. Such is the case of the 1954 Christmas play at Bloomingburg School. After all these years, I not only can remember my first experience on the stage, but I can even remember my one line.
I was a first-grader in 1954, and pictures of my classmates and me still hang on the wall of my office. I keep them there as a reminder of my rather humble roots. I still know the names of most of the 27 kids in that collection of school photos, and I even know where some of them are today.
Just weeks before the Christmas break, the students in the first, second and maybe the third grade began rehearsing for the Christmas play. Since Bloomingburg School included all 12 grades then, that meant the audience for the play would include high school kids in addition to little kids. As a little kid that was scary to me.
It became even more scary when I was given a line. I don’t remember much about the play, but it had something to do with making or decorating a Christmas tree. As I remember it, I was one of the branches on the tree and was indistinguishable from the dozen on so other branches until it was time to say my line.
Moe Gray, a second grader who was standing next to me on stage, would always whisper to me when it was time for me to say my line, but if the truth be known, I didn’t need his help. Even if Moe said nothing, I would have said my line at just the right time:
“But wait, we need lights!”
Once said, a group of kids carrying flashlights would march from the back of the auditorium and onto the stage singing, “Let’s Light the Christmas Tree.” At the time, that was a fairly popular Christmas song written by Ruth Lyons who was host of the popular daytime “50-50 Club” on WLW-TV. While the live show originated in Cincinnati, we watched it on the WLW staion in Columbus.
I mention this only because “Let’s Light the Christmas Tree” was just one of several really good Christmas songs Ruth Lyons wrote that have mostly been forgotten. Just once, I would like to hear one of them on one of those radio stations that play nothing but holiday songs at this time of the year. It would be a good break from hearing “Frosty the Snowman,” “Sleigh Ride” and “Jingle Bells” over and over and over again. Those aren’t bad songs, but they are winter songs, not Christmas songs.
But I digress. My line may have seemed insignificant, but if I had not said it, all those kids with flashlights may still be standing in the back of the auditorium! And since my sister was one of those second-graders, forgetting my line would have been a
family disgrace that I would never have been able to live down.
Do they still have Christmas pageants at schools? I can’t remember my children and now my grandchildren being in one. Maybe they are no longer politically correct.
I’m not saying the 1954 Christmas pageant at Bloomingburg School was great literature, because it certainly was not. But it created a memory that still lingers clearly in my head 58 years later. Weird, huh? Every kid should have such memories.
JOHN CANNON can be reached at jcannon@dailyindependent.com or at (6060) 326-2649.
Columns
John Cannon: Christmas memories from 1954: 12/12/12
- Columns
-
-
Mark Maynard: Now they know about little Opie: 5/23/13
We became dog owners again on Wednesday, a red-haired little poodle who is supposed to be no bigger than 6 to 8 pounds at full growth.
-
John Cannon: After 2 years, planned vacation finally taken: 05/22/13
It was a trip to Minneapolis that my wife and I had been planning for more than two years. But since our journey to Minnesota was a leisurely one, we took our time for side trips: a Cincinnati Reds game; a visit to the graves of my parents, paternal grandparents and an aunt and uncle in a small cemetery near Jeffersonville, Ohio; a mini-family reunion at my niece’s home near New Holland, Ohio; a drive to Warsaw, Ind., to help my wife climb her family tree on her father’s side.
-
Here’s one more trip to remember
Oh, it sounded like such a great idea at the time.
-
Flashbacks revive memories of tragedy
I remember the day like it was yesterday — Dec. 15, 1967, a few minutes before 5 p.m. in Ironton.
-
Tim Preston: Diet shock in a can; big-burger challenge; business for breakfast: 05/19/13
I’m no fan of diet drinks or drinks in cans, although I suspect I am a convert when it comes to Diet Ale 8 after sipping down a couple of cans a new friend left at the office for me.
-
05/19/2013 — Lee Ward: Dog bringing unwanted gifts into house
Manny, my male dog, might be getting senile.
-
Many changes coming soon for couponers
Couponing is experiencing some pretty heavy changes. CVS has new rules.
-
RONNIE ELLIS: Fallout from scandals remains to be seen
Scandals like those roiling Washington often look more or less nefarious as time and facts unfold. After all, what at first looked like a third-rate burglary turned into Watergate.
-
Mark Maynard: It's time for another 14-name salute
Yesterday was one of those roll-down-the-windows-and-let-the-cool-air-blow-through-the car days.
-
Lee Ward: Hot dogs with local variations; wild-rice competition: 5/14/13
I don’t know if the way I like hot dogs is Southern, but I know everyone has his or her own way of piling on the toppings, or avoiding toppings.
- More Columns Headlines
-
Mark Maynard: Now they know about little Opie: 5/23/13
Raw: Kevin Durant Tours Moore After $1M Pledge
Weiner Launches Bid to Become NYC Mayor
Okla. Teens Get Video of Deadly Tornado Overhead
Man Shot While Questioned in Boston Probe
School Storm Protection Spotty in Tornado Zones
9-year-old Tornado Victim Loved Family, Singing
Moore Native Toby Keith Tours Tornado Damage
Oklahoma Survivors, Heroes Survey Damage
Okla. City Mayor: Up to 13K Homes Hit by Tornado
Raw: Aftermath of Deadly Attack in London
Paperless Scanner, Vision of the Future
Florida FBI Shooting Has Boston Bombing Links
Garcetti Elected Los Angeles Mayor Over Greuel
Raw: New Video of Deadly Oklahoma Tornado
IRS Official Pleads 5th Amendment
Lawyer: Feds Investigating Susan Powell Case
