The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-12-24

JhfiBtlnas until lB40. It was banned ,y the Pilgrim Fathers. Newcon- ITS to the State, who put wreaths n their windows were called 'Epls- eopalg' and were criticized by their nelRhhOrs, It Ia different today. Tn many villages carol singers make the round on Christmas eve. The Worcester, Mass, oratorio society offers Handels Messiah on Christi mas day. The Portuguese Of Prov. lncetown, Mass, celebrate with open house.
 EslerO Islands, Fla. near Fort Myers, has Q special Christmas cele- bration on the beach; a barefoot Santa Claus steps from a speed. ooat and distributes gifts to island children under the cocoanut palms, On January 6, the sponge fisher men from Tarpon Springs, Fla, celebrate not only the coInnig of the Wise Men but the baptism Of Jesus ,y John the Baptist, According 70 their calendar, it is Christmas we, . time both for prayer and 'cvelry.
 Rumanian singers in Ohio go from door to door on Christmas eve. Yugoslavians decorate their houses with ivy and scatter straw 1n the floor to symbolige ChrISts birth in a manager. In Hilton Park, Wilmington, N. C., stands what is claimed to be the worlds largest Christmas tree, live oak festooned with moss, 70 feet in Nt the base, its limbs spreading Ills Get. This tree is always decorat- cd for the Christmas season.
 Rochester, N Y, gives Q Flower Show on Christmas. The old- fashioned community of Blanco, Texas, retains many of the cus- toms of other days. On the night before Christmas the men and boys gather on the town square, divide sides and stage 8 sham battle with Roman candles.
 York, Fla, sees It's Christmas fes- tivals opened by colorful parade III WkliCk k9hHbu GiauSD CSSOtNCA " the high-school band, comes down Congress street on the back of an elephant. At Palmer Lake, Col, every year, the Sunday before Christmas, the ancient ceremony of hunting and burning the Yule log takes place. Christmas is celebrated with iirecrackers in the southern part of Missouri. There is 6 Bethlehem in Pennsylvania, Q Jerusalem In Maryland.
 Christmas is the name of 8 little town in Florida which receives very much mall during Yule- tide holidays, when more than 50,- GOO letters are run through the cancellation machines and relayed to all parts Of the country. People throughout the world before the war mailed gifts "via Christmas" so they might be stamped with the Christmas" postmark.
 Kelly Is the name of town in Colorado. At Christmas time the farmers from the upper Bear River Valley, Wyoming, put away their wheeled rigs and drive into Evan ston in bobsleds, where the Three Wisa Men, their camels and the Star of Bethlehem, are outlined in electric lights on a snowy hill east of the city. Christmas brings the annual Community Sing and Pageant to Ann Harbor, Mich. Fl Dorado, Ark, celebrates with . Christmas Street Festival.
 Roses bloom in Portland, Ore, at Christmas time while the North and Northwest is covered with snow. Tn many Norwegian towns Of North Dakota, Jule Bokke, or Christmas Fools, still make the rounds of the homes between Christmas and New Year. They are young peo- pie dressed in costumes and masked, who call on the neighbor,S and are given food and drink at each home visited.
 In many of the villages along the Mississippi river the folk use the driftwood to make Christmas bonfires. Huge stacks of wood, piled about tall center poles erected on the levee, are kindled with TO- seaux (tall weed) which crackle like firecrackers. Agua Fria New Mex, is gay at Christmas-time, when the church Is garlanded with paper flowers and red bells and mall bonfires burn everywhere on Christmas eve just as they do in Santa Fe nearby.
 Santa Claus is a tiny, quiet, com uunity in Ohio which becomes a beehive of activity with the ap- oroach of Christmas. An even greater volume of mail than re- ceived in Christmas, Fla, pours Tn to be re-mailed and stamped with the Santa Claus postmark. On he highest hill of the village is Santa Claus Park, in the center If which a towering, smiling granite statue of Santa Claus stands on a brightly silvered five pointed star.