Free Kringle Radio to Fight Coronavirus

Jeff Westover Christmas Music March 13, 2020free Christmas music 1 Comment

At the suggestion of a loyal Christmas fan we’re pleased to announce an unprecedented free access period to Kringle Radio for all visitors to MyMerryChristmas.com. We normally offer this access only at Christmas and other special events. But given the extraordinary circumstances worldwide with the Coronavirus we feel the gift of commercial free Christmas music would be a great way to de-stress and enjoy the season of peace a this time. Kringle Radio is our year round stream of commercial-free Christma music normally reserved just for premiere members of the Merry Forums. Since we too will have some down timeRead more

The Con of ChristmasCon

Jeff Westover Christmas News March 11, 2020March 10, 2020ChristmasCon, Hallmark 0 Comment

Last year the world saw the debut of something called ChristmasCon. Sounds fun, eh? With all kinds of hype and good PR the event held in New Jersey in early November 2019 drew thousands of attendees. The Hallmark driven event featured stars from made-for-television Christmas movies, hosts of Christmas podcasts, and vendors of Christmas wares. There was just one small problem with the whole thing: it was missing Christmas. ~ What It Really Is ~ MyMerryChristmas.com did not go to Christmas Con. But we sure heard a lot about it from some that were there. They really were not allRead more

What Coronavirus Means for Christmas

Jeff Westover Christmas News March 4, 2020March 4, 20201918, Christmas, coronavirus, flu, pandemic 0 Comment

In 1918 the Spanish Flu pandemic hit in three waves – once in the spring, then again in the fall and once again in the new year of 1919. The second wave of the flu was the most deadly, killing more than 195,000 people during that stage of the event. In Western New York State a young mother of two came down with the flu in early November. Her flu morphed into pneumonia, a common part of the Spanish flu sweeping the globe that ultimately infected 55 million people. She was my great-grandmother. Her passing changed the course of ourRead more

Fill Your Heart with Christmas

Jeff Westover Christmas Music December 16, 2019December 16, 2019 0 Comment

You simply would not believe how many requests we get to feature new Christmas music. From artists known and unknown the month of December is filled with a steady stream of new songs. So why don’t we feature more of them? Honestly? Most of what we receive just isn’t all that great. Musicians tend to fall into two groups: those who want to make it big and roll in the money…and those who do it for deeper reasons. When it comes to Christmas music the separation between those two camps is huge. So many just want to use Christmas asRead more

Don’t Send Money – Send Names

Jeff Westover Christmas News December 3, 2019Christmas cheer, elderly, spreading Christmas cheer 0 Comment

Operation Christmas Cheer is now in its 14th year. This simple effort first collects names and addresses of the elderly, the ill or the downtrodden so that well wishers can extend a simple greeting of Christmas cheer. Then the list is distributed so that the Christmas community online can send them cards. In order for this effort to be successful we need names and addresses. The date for distribution of the list is December 8th. So we need names and addresses as soon as possible. This simple little effort every holiday season has over the years lifted many spirits. WhileRead more

Anonymously Singing of Silent Night

Jeff Westover Christmas Music December 1, 2019Silent Night 1 Comment

We received dozens of notices about new music everyday in November and December. Most come from publicists or new artists themselves. We are grateful to receive them. Occasionally we receive tips on new Christmas music from our readers. We have learned over the years to trust these suggestions. Here is one that came late last night that we just love: Silent Night celebrated its 200th birthday last year. We have seen many different renditions of it over the last 12 months. This version stands out because we do not know who these artists are. Can anyone tell us? Silent NightRead more

Introducing The Christmas Hall of Fame

Jeff Westover Christmas History, Christmas News, Christmas Online November 28, 2019November 28, 2019 1 Comment

Over the years we have openly mused in dicussion on the Merry Forums — who would we put in a Christmas Hall of Fame? We no longer need to wonder about that question. We can now do something about it. We can approach all the great debates of Christmas and settle them: Who played the best Scrooge? Which is more important, the Angel or the Star? Is Die Hard a Christmas movie? There are individuals we could honor, if only to keep them in the memory of a rising generation that scoffs at all history. People like Clement Clark Moore,Read more

Inconvenient Facts About Thanksgiving

Jeff Westover Thanksgiving November 27, 2019Thanksgiving 0 Comment

Every year now we seem to find new ways to corrupt Thanksgiving. The facts about Thanksgiving have always been kind of inconvenient. It’s true history, meaning and origin has somehow created a state of endless debates. There are debates about stores open on Thanksgiving, debates about how Thanksgiving is taught wrong in schools, debates about debating politics at the Thanksgiving dinner table and now even a debate about if we should call Thanksgiving Thanksgiving. It is a pretty simple holiday – a celebration of gratitude for life’s goodness. Who can’t get behind that? For that Thanksgiving has become in theRead more

The Christ Child

Jeff Westover Christmas History, Christmas News, Christmas Video, Sacred Christmas November 24, 2019#LightTheWorld, Jesus Christ, Nativity story 0 Comment

A new minimalist short film has been released depicting the birth of Christ in a more Biblical way. The Nativity story has been so romanticized in film, song and the written word for so long it is refreshing to see the story set back in a more original context. The result is a richly human look at what it must have been like. Produced by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the 18-minute film pops with overlooked details that many miss or merely do not know: The Shepherds we not ignorant of Christ and were jubliant at hisRead more

Traditions of Christmas Stress

Jeff Westover Christmas Past November 21, 2019November 21, 2019Carolyn Wells, Christmas stress 0 Comment

Stress at Christmas is a fact of life. In fact, it could be called a time-honored tradition. In our ongoing exploration of Christmas past we stumbled upon this poem, titled The Christmas Nightmare, written by Carolyn Wells and published in newspapers for Christmas 1900. It could have been written today: On the night before Christmas there’s something amiss With your placid, habitual slumber; You suddenly find that your overworked mind Is harassed by cares without number. You are stirred by the thought that the gifts you have bought Are less than your friends have expected; And your heart is besetRead more

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