Christmas Newswire

The Coalition of Environmentally Conscious Growers, a 501-C (6) was founded by two Oregon farms in August 2007. Its mission is to certify that the live Christmas trees grown by its members have been and continue to be responsibly grown. Currently, there are four members of the organization, including the largest and fifth largest tree farms in the United States.

Water and soil management, as well as fertilizer and pest management, are examined by a third-party certifying company that is an experienced agricultural organization. In addition to being certified, members are interested in having their retail customers and the public-at-large further aware of live cut trees. Therefore, a significant marketing campaign is conducted nationally which includes radio, television, print and internet media coverage, plus various sales tools such as point-of-purchase materials and hang tags are made available to members of the Coalition.

Members say that their retail customers really like having the trees certified as “green” because the consumer is highly aware of the green movement in America.

Since the introduction of fake Christmas trees in the United States, a stream of misinformation has been disseminated. The Coalition addresses the marketing and awareness aspects of live cut Christmas trees and dispel the false claims through media. Christmas trees are not deforesting the country. Instead, they are grown as row crops, and for every tree that’s cut, another is planted. The misinformation continues and the Coalition continues to bring the truth to light.

Greg Rondeau and Mark Arkills of Holiday Tree Farms (the country’s largest grower) commented that, “Our customers understand how valuable it is to offer their customers certified grown Christmas trees.” Joe Sharp of Yule Tree Farms said, “I think it’s time for the Christmas tree industry to treat our trees as the eco-friendly consumer product that they really are.”

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The month of July usually kicks off the flow of news about Christmas in the media thanks to the jolly gathering of professional Santas around the world. In years past we have seen them meet in Branson, Missouri talking about plans to make a reality television series on the life of a working Santa Claus. The media is quick to picture groups of Santas cheerfully meeting together to play baseball, take classes on how to correctly portray Santa Claus or to dance with Mrs. Claus. This news charms the world as it kicks off the run up to each Christmas season.

But hearts are not merry these days in the world of Santa Claus. The Wall Street Journal is blowing the lid off the story of bad Santas who just can’t get along. And Santa Claus — and Christmas — is getting a black eye in the process.

These men — paid professionals who portary Santa Claus to millions of kids from big parades in Hollywood to a mall near you — are fighting like raging school girls. Charges of embezzlement, violence, and ethics violations have bubbled up from the society of Santas worldwide and are now presented in the anti-Christmas media just in time to kick off the 2008 holiday season.

It might not be the publicity these Santas were seeking as they begin booking their 2008 season. But it is the publicity they are getting and richly deserve after years of promoting a saint for the purposes of lining their own grubby pockets.

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Robert J. Anderson, a former child actor best known for playing the young George Bailey in the 1946 Christmas film classic “It’s a Wonderful Life,” has died. He was 75.

Known as Bobbie when he was young and Bob as an adult, Anderson died Friday of melanoma at his Palm Springs home, said Stephen Cox, a family friend and author of “It’s a Wonderful Life: A Memory Book.”

Anderson was 12 when director Frank Capra cast him as Jimmy Stewart’s youthful counterpart in the heartwarming tale set in Bedford Falls. As the adult George Bailey contemplates suicide, his life is told in flashback so his guardian angel Clarence can get to know him. Young George rescues his brother from drowning, dreams about being an explorer and saves the town pharmacist, Mr. Gower, from accidentally poisoning a customer.

In 1996, on the 50th anniversary of the movie’s release, Anderson recalled shooting scenes with H.B. Warner, who played Mr. Gower.

“He actually bloodied my ear,” Anderson told Cox for a Times story. “My ear was beat up, and my face was red and I was in tears. . . . I didn’t know what we were building for. H.B. was perfect. He reached the crescendo. At the end when it was all over, he was very lovable. He grabbed me and hugged me, and he meant it.”

The film, which initially flopped, became a holiday favorite in recent decades after it started airing repeatedly on TV when the copyright lapsed in the 1970s.

Anderson was born March 6, 1933, to a Hollywood family. His father, Gene Anderson, was involved in production at Columbia Pictures, and his uncle, William Beaudine, was a prolific director. Bobbie Anderson first appeared on screen as a toddler and went on to roles in the 1940 Shirley Temple movie “Young People,” “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” (1945) and “The Bishop’s Wife” (1947), among others. He also appeared on TV, including a supporting role to Disney’s “Spin and Marty” characters in the 1950s.

After serving in the Navy as a photographer, Anderson became an assistant director, production manager and producer for various studios.

“Most people don’t know what happened to him, mainly because he stayed behind the cameras,” Cox said Saturday. “Not that he didn’t like ‘It’s a Wonderful Life.’ He was very proud of his work in it.”

Anderson is survived by his wife, Victoria; three sons, John of Lake Arrowhead, Bob Jr. of Long Beach and Joe of San Bernardino; three daughters, Kathleen Inman of Nyack, N.Y., Deborah Gutierrez of Boise, Idaho, and Heidi Anderson-Robinson of Ventura; 11 grandchildren; a brother, Beau Anderson; and a sister, Virginia McAfee.

Services are pending. Instead of flowers, donations in Anderson’s memory may be made to the American Cancer Society.

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The plug may be pulled on the candy canes, Santa characters and toy soldiers that have lit up downtown streets for the past two decades.

There’s a plan in the works to replace the traditional Christmas decorations with “more general winter-oriented designs” as early as this fall.

“In the last few years we’ve got more and more comments on the Christmas decorations getting really dated,” acknowledged Jim Taylor, with the Downtown Business Association, the organization pushing for the extreme holiday makeover.

They were bought in 1987 and refurbished 10 years later, he said.

Taylor vowed the changes would be anything but dull. Among other things, he envisions “spectacular” two-metre snowflakes and stars made from energy-efficient LED lights hanging from light standards throughout the core.

Larger displays could be set up in future years at some of the key entrances into the downtown, Taylor said.

Instead of just being illuminated for the holidays, Taylor said the formations could go up in late October and remain powered until early April.

“Why would we just keep it lit for November, December and January?” Taylor said.

“We’re a winter city. We should be celebrating being a winter city.”

A report to city council estimates the cost of the upgrade at $400,000.

The city would pay the upfront costs - but would be repaid by downtown businesses, who would also foot the maintenance and power costs.

Mayor Stephen Mandel said he likes the idea, stressing Christmas would still be celebrated downtown, even if the colourful lights of Jasper become a plainer white.

“It’s not going to take away from Christmas - I hope not,” he said.

“We’re still going to have a tree, which probably won’t be that energy efficient … and people can look at that.”

Mandel said the manger scene, featuring live animals, will also continue to be set up outside city hall.

Coun. Ben Henderson said he has no problem getting rid of Christmas-specific lights in areas such as Jasper Avenue.

“There’s two things I like about it. One, it’s not just Christmas lighting, it’s winter-long.

“And two, is that there is a commitment to using LED.”

News of the proposed change was met with mixed reaction from Edmontonians enjoying the sun in Churchill Square yesterday.

“White lights have no spirit,” said Julia Buckholz. “I like the (old lights) because they’ve been around since I was a little girl.”

Debra Jinks disagreed, saying the old lights were starting to look “ratty” and that it was worth it to spruce them up.

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Poor Port St. Lucie, Florida. For years they have been teased in the media because their Christmas tree kept dying. Season after season the city spent thousands in an effort to replace a beloved city symbol in a tree that had served well for decades but succumbed to a disease. They planted new trees each year for six year before finally giving up and paying an outrageous rate for an artificial tree last year.

So this year, they are trying to get it right.

Having been burned with an unpopular $11,750 Christmas tree rental last year, city employees are asking council members early this year whether they want to continue renting a pricey tree - and take advantage of an early-bird discount before June 28 - or forego the holiday tradition in this tree-challenged city.

For the second year, Budget Director Dave Pollard is recommending renting rather than buying a faux fir, saying it would cost more to buy an artificial tree and pay crews to erect and store it each year.

Council members tried to cancel the rental for last year in November after learning of the steep price tag but were told it was too late. The Sept. 1 deadline had passed.

Determined not to follow that course again, Pollard wrote to City Manager Don Cooper last week, asking for direction well in advance of the Christmas holidays.

Two council members said they won’t go for the pricey rental but would support buying a cut tree at a fraction of the cost. Vice Mayor Jack Kelly said he will support a tree only if a donor agrees to pay the tab, much like what occurred last year after people complained about the $11,750 rental cost.

“I’ve been told we could get a nice cut tree from up north for about $3,000,” Kelly said. “As much attention as this tree gets, nobody could get better publicity for $3,000.”

Councilwoman Michelle Berger agreed that a live, cut tree is the way to go. Anything is better than the “ugly” artificial tree displayed in front of city hall last year, she said.

“I was disappointed to think that anybody, no matter who it is, wrote a check for $11,750 for that tree,” Berger said. “Buy a cut tree, put it in the middle of the civic center plaza and let it smell like Christmas.”

Parks crews plan to move the annual tree-lighting ceremony from city hall to the civic center being built at U.S. 1 and Walton Road. Eight real Christmas trees have died of mysterious causes on the front lawn of city hall since 1999, prompting the controversial decision last year to rent.

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When the Hock family Christmas tree goes up this year, one ornament is likely to stand out.

The small, silver nutcracker, which marks a child’s first Christmas, was nearly lost.

Come December, “We would have wondered where it was,” Meg Hock said last week of the ornament that contains a photo of her oldest son, J.D.

The memento, which includes her son’s full name, John Douglas, and the year of his first Christmas, 1999, was discovered earlier this year by Jim Chadwick of Old Greenwich as he and his father discarded their Christmas tree at Greenwich Point Park.

In looking over the piles of evergreens, the 14-year-old Stanwich School student noticed the object within the branches of one of the trees.

Jim brought it back to his home in the hopes of tracking down its owner. Despite the family’s efforts, the owner remained unidentified until a story in the Greenwich Time last week helped to unravel the mystery.

The story, published Wednesday, told of the Chadwick family’s efforts to find the owners. It ran alongside a photo of the ornament.

Hock, who grew up in Greenwich and now lives in Riverside with her family, said several people contacted her family, including an acquaintance who thought the picture looked like her 4-year-old son Andrew.

Recalling that morning, she said, “I ran out to the driveway to get the newspaper, wondering if it could be J.D.”

Her hunch turned out to be correct as she found herself staring at her son’s picture.

“It’s one of the ornaments we are most fond of,” she said, noting it was the first in a tradition that would ultimately mark all three of her children’s first Christmases.

The ornament had fallen and had become nestled in the inner branches of the Hocks’ tree last year, and rather than upsetting the other decorations and lights, she said she planned on retrieving it before discarding their tree.

Excited to collect what had mistakenly been left behind on the tree, Hock said she called the Chadwicks and arranged to have her son meet with Jim so he could shake his hand and thank him.

That afternoon, she picked J.D. up from Riverside School and showed him the Greenwich Time story.

“He was so excited when he saw the article,” she said.

J.D. said last week he was pleased someone had discovered the treasure. “I thought it would be exciting to meet the man who found it.”

At the Chadwicks’ home, J.D. and Jim met, giving Hock a chance to take a photo of both of them together.

Both moms said the experience was a good lesson for their sons.

“I think it was an eye-opener that people really are wonderful,” Hock said. “You try and teach your children to be good citizens. You try and teach them that if you do good things for good people then good things will happen to you.”

In thanking the Greenwich Time for publishing the article, Patricia Chadwick said it helped to prove the value of being proactive.

“I think it reinforces the idea that you can make good things happen by taking them into your own hands,” she said.

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