The North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 61, No. 55, Ed. 1 Wednesday, December 7, 1977 Page: 4 of 23
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Wednesday, December 7, 1977
RAAS A—TMP NORTH TEXAS DAILY
Denton Club Sells Trees
Legends Abound in Christmas Tradition
By LIZ WILLDING
Staff Writer
The Christmas tree you buy and
decorate for your home, in many cases,
has traveled a long way.
Gary Tischler, secretary for the
Denton Noon Optimist Club explained
that the trees on their lot, on Univer-
sity Drive in the Denton Center parking
lot, are cut in the Montana-Wisconsin
area.
“The trees are farmed by M. Walter
and Company on special Christmas tree
farms,” he said. “They are supposedly
cut two weeks prior to being shipped
and are freighted in on rail cars."
THE OPTIMIST CLUB sells two
types of trees, the scotch pine and the fir.
The pines are treated with a fire retar-
dant.
“This fire retardant also contains an
artificial coloring which causes the pines
to look very green," Tischler said. "The
substance is nontoxic.”
But Christmas trees are not the only
ones considered in the tree sales
business. The manufacturer and those
who sell the trees to the public know
their market and are able to determine
when their business sales will peak.
"Our heavy sales are between Dec. 4
and Dec. 13,” Tischler said. “Last year
we were sold out on Dec. 17.”
For the Optimist Club and the tree
farmers, the sale of trees is big business.
I'he Noon Optimist Club of Denton
considers the tree sales project their
largest money-making project of the
year, Harold Gage, Optimist member
said
“THE MONEY from the Christmas
tree sales goes to the Optimist Club
programs for boys and girls,” he said.
VI o s e Woodson, another club
member and a Judo instructor at the
clubs recreational facility, explained that
the Optimist Club is a civic club com-
posed of businessmen and other in-
dividuals dedicated to the youth of the
community. Through the Christmas tree
sales and other efforts, they provide
services to both girls and boys up to the
age ol 17, and sometimes older, he said.
The origin of the Christmas tree,
traditionally a symbol of the celebration
of Christmas, is a mystery. However, in-
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terpretations exist which attempt to ac-
count for the beginnings of the
Christmas tree custom.
IN ALFRED C. HOTTES book,
“1001 Christmas Facts and Fancies,”
Hottes presents several interpretations.
It is said, Hottes contends, that Luther,
best remembered as a denunciator of the
Roman Catholic Church, was wander-
ing through the woods one Christmas
Eve, became enamoured by the sight of
the star filled sky and cut a small fir tree.
He set the tree up in his home for his
children to see and decorated it with
candles to represent the stars in the
heavens.
Another account in the Hottes book is
that of the Strassburg Tree. The first
Christmas tree appears in literature in
1604 in Strassburg, Germany and makes
reference to bringing the tree indoors.
It is thought that the custom of using
Christmas trees in Germany spread from
Strassburg
Hottes writes that at the time of the
marriage of Queen Victoria and Prince
Albert, Albert introduced the Christmas
tree custom to England, He maintains
that we derive our custom of the
Christmas tree from early English and
German immigrants.
IN “CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS,”
a book by William M. Auld. accounts
are presented such as the one of Mary,
the biblical Mother of Christ, and her
husband Joseph, traveling to
Bethlehem while Mary was pregnant.
They encountered a cherry tree during
their trip which eventually made a
positive statement to Joseph that God
was in fact the father of her child.
Auld, relying on a manuscript called
the "Coventry Mysteries; The Birth of
Christ." tells this story in w hat is known
as the "Cherry Tree Carol."
On their way to Bethlehem, Mary is
said to have seen a cherry tree. Upon
asking her husband Joseph to get some
of the fruit for her, he replied that she
should ask God, who was the father of
her child, to make the tree bow down so
she could gather the fruit herself. Ac-
cording to legend, the tree did.
PERHAPS THE MOST believed
legend recorded in Auld's book is a
German folk tale in which a young child
appeared at the door of a forester's
home on Christmas Eve. The child, cold
and hungry, was taken in by the forester
and his family.
The following morning, the legend
claims, the forester and his family were
awakened by a “choir of angels caroling
in the Heavens" and standing before
them was the child, transfigured into the
Christ Child.
The child took a twig from a fir tree,
Auld writes, planted it in the ground and
said "I have gladly recieved your gifts
and here is mine to you; this tree will
never fail to bear its fruit at Christmas
and you shall always have abundance."
Christmas Roundup
Scotch Pine
Or Fir?
John Ashby, Denton Noon
Optimist Club employee,
loads a Christmas tree at the
clubs lot, on University Drive.
\Photo by BETH KUTSCHER
Reading To Begin NT Christmas
The eighth annual reading of Truman
Capote’s "Christmas Memory" will be-
held at 4 p.m. today in the Forum
Room, Speech and Drama Building 188,
Dr. Ted Colson of the speech and drama
faculty said Monday.
“Christmas Memory" is a reading
consisting of two characters, a small boy
and a distantly related old woman, who
live in an old country farm house.
The two characters will be read by
Karen Dodds, Denton senior, and Dan
Manning, Fort Worth sophomore.
The story is somewhat of an
autobiographical sketch of Capote's
childhood. Dr. Colson said. The story
tells how the small boy and the old
woman scrape together pennies all year
so they can make fruitcakes at Christ-
mastime to give to the people the) love.
The theme of the story centers around
the two character's relationship and the
true spirit of giving that is highlighted at
Christmastime, Dr. Colson said. It is
funny, sad and poignant and has a mes-
sage that is very important for today, he
said.
The show is free and is being shown
again because of the popular response it
has had in the past. Dr. Colson said.
THEATER PR! SEN I A HON
Denton senior Karen Dodds will
direct the Denton Community Junior
Theater presentation of Charles
Ta/cwell's "The Littlest Angel" at 10:30
a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m.
Saturday at the Firehouse Theater on
Elm Street.
Mrs. Dodds teaches the children’s
theater class at Denton Community
Theater. The Denton Community
Junior Theater is composed of about 20
children in seventh through ninth
grades.
" I'he Littlest Angel” is a Christmas
story that deals w ith the plight of an un-
ruly angel who has difficulty making the
adjustment from an active, mischievous
boy to an angel.
The plot centers around how the lit-
tlest angel procures a box left under his
earthly bed. The contents of the box are
transformed into the Star of Bethlehem,
which the littlest angel presents as a gift
for the ( lirist child.
Tickets for “The Littlest Angel" are
50 cents and may be obtained at the
door. There are no reserved seats.
HANDEL’S MESSIAH
The Denton County Music Associa-
tion's Community Chorus (DC'MA) will
present Handel's “Messiah" Sunday,
publicity chairman Caroly n Frazier said
Monday
The production will be presented at
Strickland Junior High School at 4 p.m.
Sunday in the auditorium. Tickets are $2
for adults and $1 for children 12 and un-
der
Tickets must be purchased in advance
from the Entertainment Ticket Agency,
608 N. Locust, Four Seasons in Denton
Center or from any DCMA member.
This year marks the lllh presentation
directed by Dr. Stephen I arish of the
music faculty.
Featured soloists are Panel Ie
Stevenson of the TV\ U music (acuity,
soprano; Juanita Teal ol the music
faculty, alto; Mark Much, Indianapolis
senior, tenor; and Dr. Fdward Baird of
the music faculty, bass.
HARPSICHORD AND REC ORDER
Music faculty members l)r. Charles
Brown, Dale Peters and Dr llildegard
Froehlich will perform ( hristmas music
on the harpsichord and recorder .Mon-
day from 2 to 4 p.m. in the mam lobby
of the Administration Building.
Dr. Brown and Peters will perform on
the harpsieord while Dr I roehlich will
perform on the recorder.
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Winingham, Ralph. The North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 61, No. 55, Ed. 1 Wednesday, December 7, 1977, newspaper, December 7, 1977; Denton, TX. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1004034/m1/4/?q=%22North+Texas+State+University+--+Newspapers.%22: accessed June 5, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.