The Christmas of 1964 was pretty much like any other Christmas in Florida. It was 80 degrees and we went Christmas shopping in our Bermuda shorts. It was hard to get into the Christmas spirit but somehow we managed. The only places to shop around Cocoa were the downtown section and Byrd Plaza. Our only other choice was to drive over to Orlando and try and find a sparking space along Orange Avenue. Christmas music played in most of the stores. The few TV channels we could get offered Christmas movies like Miracle on 34th Street and It's a Wonderful Life and let's not forget that they were in black and white and not colorized like today's version. The windows of our houses were open to allow a breeze to blow in since few of us had air conditioning. Some of us had the new aluminum Christmas tree with the four-color spinning light wheel and we would sit there and stare at the red, then the orange, then the blue and finally the green tree. Others had a real Christmas tree but by Christmas most of the needles had fallen off and the tree looked more like a Charlie Brown Christmas tree than anything else. Do we really want to return to the "olden" days? .........Hum...........Where do I sign up ?

Every year Marilyn (Hemnenway) and husband, Dave Todd, host a Christmas Open House!   Dave is a 'big game hunter' as you can tell from some of the 'heads' on Marilyn's living room wall!    A couple years ago we sent in one with the bear Dave brought home (stuffed of course)  he still has a place of honor in their living room.   This year Marilyn and I decided that the buffalo head would be a good 'spot' for our yearly up-date to our friends at Cocoa High!    Merry Christmas and Happy 2008 to you all!  Hope we see everyone again in 2010!!

Christmas with Linda Joiner Kolumbus and Marilyn Hemmenway Todd

To My Humanist Friends Enamored With Big Government:

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially

responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within  the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with

respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or

secular traditions at all.  I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated

recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2008, but not without due respect for the
calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply

that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere . Also,

this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference

of  the wishee.

To My Christian and Conservative Friends: Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 
 

A Christmas email from Manuel Gutierrez