Christmas Spirit

Review You think you get the "bah, humbugs" at Christmas time? In "The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause," Santa feels worse than you ever could. Scott Calvin (played by Tim Allen) is an ordinary guy who became Santa Claus in the first movie in the "Santa Clause" series. Christmastime is especially hard for Santa this year. Baby Claus is due any time, and holding his family together while preparing for Christmas is tough. While Santa tries to handle both, his jealous competitor, Jack Frost, plots to replace the big guy in the red coat.

SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.VA. For Roberta Cucuzzella, the Christmas concert at O'Hurley's General Store Sunday was just another reaffirmation of the good life in Shepherdstown. Cucuzzella said she moved to the area about three years ago and has found the town to be a welcome respite from her daily routine. Cucuzzella is a doctor at a children's hospital in Washington, D.C., and commutes to her job about twice a week. Or in other words, Cucuzzella said she commutes "just enough to make you want to come back home.

HAGERSTOWN -- Hagerstown must be one of the few towns with a floating Christmas tree, Mayor Robert E. Bruchey II and local personality Lou Scally said Friday night during the annual City Park Lighting. The city's tree floated atop a platform anchored in the middle of the large lake in City Park. Holiday and winter-themed decorations lining the lake in City Park were also aglow Friday, including the latest addition: a train and coal car. Once again, a lighted Santa fishes on the lake near the floating Christmas tree.

INWOOD, W.Va. -- About three dozen children, including 10 from a family of 16 children, left the cafeteria at St. Leo's Catholic Church Tuesday night laden with Christmas spirit in the form of bicycles, Zhu Zhu pets, Nintendo games and other popular toys of the season. Every year, Mike Powers and Mike McBrearty, longtime Inwood-area buddies, organize fundraisers to make money for their annual Toys for Kids giveaway. This year, they raised more than $5,000, which Dawn Brown, McBrearty's fiancee, spent in area big-box stores buying the presents that were handed out Tuesday.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. -- More than 90 bikers were dreaming of a bright "Christmas in July" on Sunday, but they settled for a gray day to ride their motorcycles for a good cause. Christmas in July is an annual event that raises money to send local underprivileged and abused children to the Royal Family Kids Camp. Starting at M&S Harley-Davidson and riding two by two, the nearly 100 motorcycles stretched for at least a half-mile as they made their way through Chambersburg to Detrich-Brechbill American Legion Post 612 in St. Thomas, Pa. Their journey, led by Chambersburg Police, spanned 10 miles.

Editor's note: This is the first of a 10-part series about people who make this holiday season brighter for others. The series concludes Christmas Eve. WASHINGTON COUNTY marlob@herald-mail.com Jayme Detwiler's sense of giving back to her community is so strong that it has continued uninterrupted, despite personal tragedy and her own struggles with life-threatening injuries. Now 27, Detwiler's neck and back were broken last February in a car crash that claimed the life of her fiance.

CHAMBERSBURG, PA. For several people in Chambersburg, getting into the holiday spirit was only possible once Thanksgiving was over. Penny Shaul, one of the owners of Here's Looking at You in downtown Chambersburg, said the holiday spirit was a hard time coming this year. "It seemed to have really snuck up fast," Shaul said. "It seems like a lot of people aren't buying gifts. " What helped Shaul get in the holiday spirit was Thanksgiving, colder weather and the Chambersburg Christmas Parade, she said.

CHAMBERSBURG, PA. - For several people in Chambersburg, getting into the holiday spirit was only possible once Thanksgiving was over. Penny Shaul, one of the owners of Here's Looking at You in downtown Chambersburg, said the holiday spirit was a hard time coming this year. "It seemed to have really snuck up fast," Shaul said. "It seems like a lot of people aren't buying gifts. " What helped Shaul get in the holiday spirit was Thanksgiving, colder weather and the Chambersburg Christmas Parade, she said.

Karen Smith shows her Christmas spirit by securing the lines holding Dr. Seuss' inflatable Christmas character outside her Wakefield Road home. Smith also displays an inflatable Bart Simpson at her home.

This year, I'm feeling very "Bah Humbug" about the whole Christmas season. In the past, I have always been fairly excited, happy to put up decorations and to find the perfect gifts. This year, I was not even able to come up with something I wanted for Christmas. I've never understood people who could not get into the Christmas spirit. In fact, I have scorned them, certain that they were cold-hearted and bitter. Now, it seems like those Christmas cynics may have the right idea.

Editor's note: This column originally was published in 2008. Each year as I make my way through torn wrapping paper, trying not to step on little pieces of toys that are being assembled, the same thought comes to mind. Now what? We've been preparing for this day for months, and it's over all too quickly. Is it possible to capture the joy of anticipation and savor it all year long? It's hard to imagine keeping the Christmas spirit going, especially because energy levels and bank accounts need some time to recover.

Envision carolers singing in the streets of London and the joy of Christmas. That was the scene Nov. 17 for Heritage Academy's drama production of “A CHRISTmas Carol Revisited.” The classic “Christmas Carol” tale was adapted by Texas author Sharon R. Manacapilli. Ebenezer Scrooge was played by Collin Poyle and Bryce Nigh portrayed Jacob Marley. Cherie Clarke, Adam Long and Zach Muller played the three angels of Christmas. Under the direction of Mrs. Rohrbaugh, the school's art and drama teacher, the play brought the message of Christ to its audience, while also presenting a fun play to watch.

After a long Saturday of sports practices, Christmas-related errands and homework assignments, you'd think my 13-year-old would be exhausted. Hardly. After supper she was in the living room doing strength-training exercises. I sat at the kitchen table, head resting in one hand, red pen poised in the other, grading yet another stack of papers. I didn't realize how tired I was until my son walked by and said, "Mom, I think playing two sports at one time is harder on you than it is on her. " Leave it up to him to capture the moment and capture it well.

As you pass the beautiful Christmas tree at Hagerstown City Park, smile and enjoy. The Colorado Blue Spruce came from Williamsport, donated by Harold Burgesser. Thank you, Harold. Your generous gift is enhancing the Christmas spirit for everyone.   Cookie sale to benefit child care center Kinder Haven Child Care Center will hold its fourth annual cookie sale and holiday open house Saturday beginning at 7 a.m. at Zion Lutheran Church, 35 W. Potomac St. The cookie sale will offer a variety of homemade cookie selections.

Cool air and warm spirits congealed into a nostalgic Christmas experience Friday night in Funkstown. Numerous houses were lit up with decorations, and hundreds of luminarias lining the streets gave the appearance of an almost continuous strand of white lights, lighting the way for people to enjoy the town's annual Olde Tyme Christmas. The goal of the free three-hour event, featuring festive holiday music, carolers, wagon rides and a special visit from Santa Claus at Town Hall, is to show “Christmas at its best” and showcase Funkstown's hard-to-find family atmosphere, said Rich Gaver, a town councilman and co-chair of the event for the past 13 years.

Smithsburg is not situated in a speckle on a snowflake. Its residents are not furry humanoids with canine snouts and 12 toes. And there are no confirmed reports of a cave-dwelling grinch living atop the town's mountains. Still, Smithsburg resident Terri Cohen said people refer to the town as "Whoville" at Christmas time. Perhaps that's because during the holiday season, the people of Smithsburg radiate warm hearts and a welcoming spirit like the Whos of Dr. Seuss' well-known fictional town.

“It's nice to see Hagerstown baseball has a new coaching staff. Change is good. Go Rebels.” - Hagerstown “The mail delivery is beginning to be ridiculous in Halfway. We used to get our mail around noon and now if we're lucky, we get it around 5 o'clock. The coupons that are sent out ... they're always out of date by the time we get them.” - Halfway “It's the holiday season. Watch the crime go crazy!” - Hagerstown “Heading east on 70, Sunday morning about 10 o'clock, everybody's flying like they're crazy.

For a few hours on Tuesday, the community's generosity turned a vacant store at Longmeadow Shopping Center in Hagerstown into a one-stop shop for Christmas joy for hundreds of local families. The Washington County branches of Toys for Tots and the Salvation Army held their annual distribution of donated toys and food for needy families in the former CVS space Tuesday morning. Working together, The U.S. Marine Corps League's Toys for Tots program and the Salvation Army's Angel Tree program were expected to distribute toys to 2,646 children in 1,380 families in Washington County, Salvation Army Maj. Karen Lyle said.

INWOOD, W.Va. -- About three dozen children, including 10 from a family of 16 children, left the cafeteria at St. Leo's Catholic Church Tuesday night laden with Christmas spirit in the form of bicycles, Zhu Zhu pets, Nintendo games and other popular toys of the season. Every year, Mike Powers and Mike McBrearty, longtime Inwood-area buddies, organize fundraisers to make money for their annual Toys for Kids giveaway. This year, they raised more than $5,000, which Dawn Brown, McBrearty's fiancee, spent in area big-box stores buying the presents that were handed out Tuesday.