Off the Publisher’s Desk 12-20-23

This is the season of giving!

During this time of year, families and friends come together to celebrate the holidays with a feast, gift exchanging and remembering of a time long past.

As I was thinking about the Christmas season, I wondered how the gift exchange got started. The only thing that I could put together was it might have started with the wise men that presented gifts to the newborn baby Jesus.

According to Matthew 2:11 tells us the story about the gifts those wise men, from the east, brought with them. “And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped Him. Then opening their treasurer chest, they offered him gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh.”

I know what gold is, I wish I had a bucket of it, but I am not aware of what frankincense or myrrh are. 

I found a piece written by Heather Adams that explains about those two items. First myrrh or myrth, “It had a greater value than gold in Jesus’ time. It is a dried gum obtained from the balsam tree, it served many ceremonial and practical uses”.

“Frankincense is a fragrant resin that comes from a type of Boswell tree found in what is now Arabia and Palestine. It gives off a strong aroma when lit.”

I found a list of notable gifts for this Christmas, and I will list just a few that made the top of the list.

First it is a Prepped Hero Fire Blanket, used to cover small fires such as cooking oil, in the house. The next is a Flight Path, the world’s most advanced golf tee.

You can get the Audient Atom, the world’s first hearing aid for less than $100. Or how about a Johnny Rolling Grill Basket, so you don’t have to turn over your grilling item.

But, if you have a bank roll that will not fit into your pocket, how about a GMC Hummer EV. This 4-door electric pickup is just what you need. I saw one on display at the Minnesota State Fair this fall. It has 24 batteries and weighs in at about 9,600 pounds and can travel about 300 miles on a charge. The price tag was over $100,000, but I was told that it would take another $50,000 above the sticker price as they are making only 1,000 of this model.

It has been a tradition in our family that we gather on Christmas Eve for a family meal followed by exchanging gifts. One of the items that always appeared at the dinner table was Lutefisk, but as there are only two of us that will eat that fish now, it is no longer available in the DeWitt house on Christmas Eve.

I can remember when I was young and having Christmas Eve meal at my grand parents home in Hersey. You could smell that fish boiling on grandmas stove when you opened the car door. Of course we had other great food items including lefse, meatballs and many items from her Norwegian cookbook.

The issue of this newspaper contains letters to Santa written by our elementary children. You can see those letters published just as those youngsters penned them, they make very interesting reading. I hope you enjoy them.

Merry Christmas

Thanks for reading!     ~Carlton