Author Archive for: Editor
Entries by Jeff Westover
Christmas During the Civil War
By Mary Hansel Christmas is a joyous time. People spend the occasion with family and friends and their celebrations are full of rejoicing, love and jollity. It is hard for us to imagine what it would be like to have Christmas during war time, especially a war where countrymen fight each other. During the years […]
Washington’s Christmas at War
By Jeff Westover It would be a Christmas to remember. And it would be a Christmas that made history and inspired a budding nation. The story of Washington crossing the Delaware in the middle of the night is so well known that many forget it happened at Christmastime – and that Christmas in and of […]
Top 10 Things Never to Say on Santa’s Lap
10. Well, I guess it depends on your definition of naughty. 9. The doctor says it’s not that contagious. 8. I have a really good recipe for reindeer meat. 7. Sorry. I’m pretty nervous. Next time I won’t drink so much water before I come. 6. You can’t believe everything Mommy says, you know. 5. […]
Charles Dickens: A Merry Old Soul
By Jeff Westover Life and times were hard in London of 1824. For one boy in particular, the second of seven children, life was especially difficult. At the age of twelve, his father was tossed into a debtor’s prison, leaving an already poor family utterly destitute. The entire family moved into the prison with the […]
Nothing
By Jeff Westover The first Christmas for us really wasn’t so hard. After all, we were in love and there was nothing else more important. Sure, being a couple changed the holidays for us but wasn’t everything else different too? It wasn’t until life and routine settled upon us that it got difficult. First came […]
Santa Speaks 2010
Every October Santa sits down to be interviewed by a media personality. This has been his tradition almost as long as there has been a modern media. This year, Santa sat down with legendary West Virginia newsman Rusty Belz of radio station WVIP. This year Santa talks about retirement, Christmas in tough times, what he […]
There’s Something About Merry
It falls from our lips without much thought: “Merry Christmas!”. But what is it we are really saying? In an informal survey conducted recently more than 84 percent of Americans asked thought that the word “merry” meant “jolly”. Taken in context, many around the world do indeed celebrate a “jolly” Christmas these days. But that […]
Who Put the X in Christmas?
In recent years many retailers have come under fire for using the word “holiday” in substitution for the word “Christmas” in their advertising. But some have problems with the term “Xmas” as well. Just ask gift shop owner Trent Wilson. He meant no harm when he used the term “Xmas” in a 2007 ad he […]
Santa Speaks 2009
Santa met this year with Jeff Westover, editor of My Merry Christmas.com, where these interviews have been hosted for over a decade. As you know, once a year and only one a year does Santa sit down with a member of the media. Santa grants these interviews only if they are published verbatim and do […]