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TODAY'S ISSUE
Christmas Past: Big,
happy family, food for many,
fireworks, happy times and plenty of leftovers
By Elaine Fuerst
Norcross
Special to GwinnettForum.com
DEC. 24, 2002 - - We always begged to stay up late to catch Santa
Claus. Once our parents did let us stay up; and then they took photos
of us sound asleep on the couch.
Christmas lasted almost three days when I was growing up in south
Mississippi. We started with a pre-midnight mass party of young
people, mostly my brothers’ friends and then later, my sisters
joined the crowd. I hung out, watching everyone flirt.
Both my brother and sister met their future spouses at those parties.
Then we partied with the family after midnight mass. I'm talking
big family with fat aunts, mustached uncles and little ones running
everywhere. We dragged ourselves home around 3 a.m. and got up early
anyway to open gifts.
After Christmas morning and a huge lunch, we headed over to one
of the relatives' homes for more food, more fun, more drinking and
more gifts. Plus a boatload of fireworks. Christmas meant everyone
was there and almost everyone lived in the same little sleepy Mississippi
town.
How I loved those days spent with aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents,
friends and neighbors. Sometimes there were a few fights, but there
was always plenty of laughter and a lot of love.
We no longer gather in the same little Mississippi city. Now Christmas
means getting together in Birmingham with just my immediate family,
which has grown smaller with the passing of a brother and a father.
My cousins head off in different directions as well, to spend the
holidays with brothers who are hosting the event this year.
We're all scattered but stay in touch by email and phone calls.
And Christmas lasts just a day, or maybe a day and a half. There
is still a great deal of love, laughter and food. But there are
fewer people to join in the laughter.
So, to keep from getting down in the dumps over what used to be,
I simply set those memories aside. I take them out a few times each
season and mull them over. I laugh at some of the memories, cry
at many and then slowly close the door again to the memory lane
where they live. I then focus on the here and now and love the gifts
of today.
For I have loving members of my own family to enjoy with new additions
to thrill us. We gather often throughout the year and talk almost
every day in spite of the three hour distance. I hug my mother and
thank God for one more day with her. I watch as the younger ones
create memories of their own, smiling as I realize they will never
know what it is like to share a family buffet with 80 peopleŠ..and
have leftovers.
Seasons Greetings to all!
ELLIOTT
BRACK
Carols
are are a joy at Christmas, and so is
monumental Messiah from Georg Handel
By
Elliott Brack
editor and publisher
GwinnettForum.com
DEC. 24, 2002 - - Christmas carols are a joy of the season. Ever
think about how very diverse these songs are, coming from all parts
of the Western world?
We came upon this thought while listening to the Classy Brassy
performance at the Gwinnett Philharmonic offering at the Performing
Arts Center last week. Five brass players, two trumpets, a French
horn, trombone and tuba, gave a rather remarkable and quite enjoyable
performance.
Among their selections were Christmas carols. We got to thinking
about it, and chased down the origin of many of our favorite carols,
coming from many lands.
Many come from England, though other countries contribute their
share.
"O Little Town of Bethlehem" is an English carol, with
one arrangement by Ralph Vaughan Williams. "O Come All Ye Faithful"
is also from England, as is 'It Came Upon the Midnight Clear."
While John Wesley wrote the words to "Hark the Herald Angel
Sing," the music came from another land, that of Felix Mendelssohn
of Germany.
All are not quiet songs. The rollicking "Go Tell It On the
Mountain" is attributed to Afro-American music. What a wonderful
song of the season it is.
From France we got "Angels We Have Heard on High," a
traditional carol in that country. Another of our favorite carols,
"Noel," is also from France.
"Silent Night," of course, has German origins.
Another of our favorites is "Joy to the World." The words
are from the pen of Issac Watts, an Englishman, while the music
is straight George Frideric Handel from Germany.
Then there's "Good King Wenceslas", which has it origins
in Czechoslovakia.
One of the more moving carols, 'In the Bleak Mid-Winter,"
comes from the poetic works of Christina Rossetti (1830-1894), who
was also English.
And we haven't even begun to list the American Christmas songs,
which often deal less with religious themes, and more with Santa,
and good times, such as "Jingle Bells."
And though not a carol, what is Christmas without at least once
hearing Bing Crosby sing "White Christmas?"
Perhaps the most famous classical Christmas work comes again from
Handel, with his massive Messiah, with its famous "Hallelujah"
Chorus, with its stirring ending:
King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, and He shall reign forever and
ever, Hallelujah! (Revelation 19:16.) For the complete libretto
of the Messiah, go to: http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/handel_messiah.html.
Another of the reasons that the Handel Messiah is so wonderful
is that while it is great music, every one of the words in the entire
orchestration is taken directly from verses of the Bible. It is
a monumental work, very scholarly besides being beautiful musically!
Though born in Germany, Handel blossomed as a composer and performer
in England. The first performance of the Messiah was in Dublin in
1742.
Later that year, in London, King George II was so deeply stirred
with the exultant music, that when the first "Hallelujah"
rang through the hall, he rose to his feet and remained standing
until the last note of the chorus echoed through the house. From
this began the custom of standing for the Hallelujah chorus. (That
was the case recently at the Gwinnett Performing Arts Center, where
the audience rose during the brass quintet version of the Hallelujah
Chorus.)
In the last 10 years of his life, Handel regularly gave performances
of the Messiah, usually with about 16 singers and an orchestra of
about 40, to benefit a charity, the Foundling Hospital in London,
established in 1739 by Capt. Thomas Coram under a Royal Charter.
Handel gave many performances in the chapel of the Hospital..
It's said that Handel could have made a financial killing from
the Messiah, but instead he designated that all the proceeds would
go to charities.
The Christmas music cheers us this time of year. We hope you and
your family have a most Merry Christmas!
NEW:
TODAY'S CARTOON
By Bill McLemore
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FEEDBACK:
12/24: Micromeritics,
Norcross collaborate on gifts
Editor, the Forum:
This year Micromeritics and the City of Norcross participated
in a toys and
clothing fund raiser for the Gwinnett Children's Shelter in Buford.
The effort
was a resounding success! They collected over 300 pieces of toys
and clothing.
The city Marshall along with the City Tax manager delivered the
toys the
children's shelter to the volunteer co-ordinator Laura Conchling
at the shelter.
They were overwhelmed at the efforts.
After completely filling up the trunk and rear seat there was
absolutely no
room left for anything else! A big cheer to Micromeritics Inc.
and the City
of Norcross for their work during this Christmas Season!
-- Craig Newton, Norcross
THOUGHT
OF THE DAY
Thoughts from a general
at Christmas time
"I will commence this holy day...my heart is filled with
gratitude to almighty God for his unspeakable mercies with which
He has blessed us in this day, for those He has granted us from
the beginning of life, & particularly for those He has vouchsafed
us during the past year...I pray that on this day when "peace
& goodwill" are preached to all mankind, that better
thoughts will fill the hearts of our enemies & turn them to
peace..."
-- A letter from Gen. Robert E. Lee, C.S.A., to his wife Mary
Custis Lee. Dec. 25, 1862, while encamped at Fredericksburg, Va.,
via Scott and Amy Roark.
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