Christmas

In Germany, St. Nicholas visits children Dec. 6, accompanied by Krampus to take away those who were bad. Charles Sekula, 67, who grew up just outside Munich, Germany, was taken away when he was 5. “Krampus takes away the bad children until they promise to be good,” Sekula said. “He takes you downstairs and around the corner and lets you out, but at that point you don't know where you are, and you just run until you find your way home.” Sekula, who has lived in Hagerstown for 42 years and practices the common holiday traditions in the United States, said parents contacted people ahead of time to play Krampus and St. Nicholas.

A woman was worried. She hadn't seen the neighbor children for nearly a week. Their family had fallen on hard times, and usually, the kids stopped over for snacks or even stayed for a meal. Finally, on Christmas Day, the children stopped over. The youngest child said she had received “the best gift.” “Her mother had cooked a meal for the family, and they'd had food in the house for an entire week,” Russ Robinson said. Robinson told the story he had heard from a school counselor Saturday while packing boxes of food for the Williamsport Christmas Family project at the Williamsport Moose Lodge.

The Women's Club in downtown Hagerstown has been decorated for Christmas by the Crossroads Garden Club, which is affiliated with the club. The theme this year is “Christmas Through the Eyes of a Child.” The decorations include dolls, Santas, old books, teddy bears, older toys and treasures displayed through the house, which is at 31 S. Prospect St. The Women's Club has been called “The Jewel in the Crown” of downtown Hagerstown and...

The room goes dark. The lights of the mini-village glow as the whistle blows and the trains roll along the track, their audio footprints trailing off as they enter a cave into a mountain. Children and adults alike point with wide-eyed wonder. Trains of Christmas co-chairmen Bill Knode and Blaine Snyder sit at the helm controlling the O-scale world, their faces beaming with boyish delight at the chugging wonderland. “It's special because it's a fantasy land. Trains are part of the fantasy, but also, you know the scene.

Chances are that those presents under your Christmas tree traveled a long way to get there. And chances are, whether they came from a local retailer or were bought online, they passed through a “hub” and a distribution center at a shipping company such as FedEx or UPS or a sorting center at a local post office. The warehouses where these shippers operate tend to be busy places this time of the year with thousands of packages swiftly passing through the buildings en route to their destinations.

This year, more than 2,200 Christmas Day meals will go to area families from the caring hands of the Meritus Medical Center emergency department and staff in the 10th annual Lend-A-Hand project for the Tri-State area. More than 150 volunteers, including doctors and nurses from the Meritus Medical Center emergency department, which sponsors the annual Christmas Eve project, will prepare holiday meals for delivery in a conference room-turned-distribution point at Robinwood Professional Center.

Beaver Creek Church of the Brethren, candlelight Christmas Eve service with communion at 11 p.m. Monday. Music by pianist Nick IntVeldt and soloist Deb IntVeldt. Bethel United Methodist Church, Smithsburg, candlelight Christmas Eve service at 7 p.m. Monday. A Christmas Eve barn service at 20905 Twin Springs Drive, Smithsburg at 11 p.m. Monday. Call 301-733-8387. Blair's Valley First Church of God, Clear Spring, Christmas Eve service at 6 p.m. Monday. The choir will present a cantata, Worship the King.

April Blackburn was selecting toys for three of her five children Thursday at the annual Salvation Army/Toys for Tots giveaway program held in the former CVS building at Longmeadow Shopping Center north of Hagerstown. “If it wasn't for this my kids wouldn't really have Christmas because I have no income,” said Blackburn, of Sharpsburg. “Family can only do so much. I'm just happy for the kids because they deserve it, and it's great that they're helping children in need.” Blackburn, 34, said she was shopping for her 9-year old daughter and her 3-year old and 4-year old sons.

Carletta Leather said that at age 76, she has everything she needs. For birthdays and Christmas she asks her children to give her packing tape, a testament to how important her involvement with Operation Christmas Child has become to her. “They didn't like the idea at first,” she said. The packing tape is used to completely cover the decorated shoeboxes, that will hold gifts for needy children across the globe. Carletta has heard that the boxes are prized by the children as much as the contents inside.

Donations of toys and food are still needed for the annual Christmas Day dinner in Franklin County, Pa. Tuesday's dinner is sponsored by the Salvation Army and run by volunteers, including Lynne Newman, who is organizing the event for the 21st year. Doors open at noon at the Salvation Army building at 159 Lincoln Way West in Chambersburg, and dinner will be served until 2 p.m. Deliveries to shut-ins and others who need a Christmas meal begin normally between 10:30 and 11 a.m. Volunteers decorate the lunch room for the holiday and wrap presents as well as help cook, cut up turkeys and deliver the meals to shut-ins and serve those who come to the Salvation Army.