On a Different Note…

by Liv Stecker

Some people believe a good voice is something that you have to be born with, but Stazya Richman disagrees, and she’s got the background to prove it. Like any skill or talent, a singing voice is an instrument that is learned and developed over time through hard work, training and dedication. A local treasure trove of talent, Stazya has committed her decades of investment to the community in Northern Stevens County.

Born in the Maryland, Stazya began studying music as a young child with the violin. When she was 11 years old she began to take voice lessons from the coach of her older sister, and launched what would become a lifelong passion. After high school, Stazya attended the Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, followed by the University of Maryland and the State University of New York at Purchase, which was a newly formed arts college staffed by artists and performers from New York City. Stazya’s studies focused on early music, including medieval, renaissance and baroque styles. She also attended the Ali Akbar Khar College of Music in San Rafael California, where she studied classical Indian Music.

After relocating to California, Stazya spent several years in the 1980s traveling the world, freelancing as a vocalist, giving workshops and recitals all over the globe, spending large amounts of time in Europe. Stazya says that her voice as a young woman was a “sweet” sounding voice, but as her studies expanded in  classical Indian music and more styles, she began to tap into a broader, deeper range that surprised even her. Among many other misconceptions that Stazya says are widely held about singing voices, one is the little known fact that “the female voice doesn’t mature until the age of 24, and in men, 25-26.”

Stazya left California in 1991 when she was pregnant with her oldest son. She moved to Stevens County where she spent the next few years raising her two boys in the Onion Creek area north of Colville. During this time she recorded the album Songs From Within, which is a collection of world devotional songs in different languages and styles that hearken to her broad musical education.

In 2000, Stazya began to work some local high school students in her neighborhood, tapping into her years of professional training and performing to develop young voices in the community. She helped occasionally at Onion Creek School, where her children attended until high school. She offered voice lessons two days a week at the House of Music in Colville where she collected a couple dozen students of varying backgrounds and musical ambitions. While much of her education was in early classical music, Stazya was able to teach and coach voices for styles across the spectrum, including jazz, world music, blues, and much more. “No matter what style, the technique is the same.” she says, “I use a good, clean, classical technique which can be plugged into whatever style you sing.” Even pop music performed with a microphone requires the same projection techniques that stage and theater singers without audio technology employ.

Stazya maintains that the most commonly held misconception about singing is that people are born with or without a “good” singing voice. “Tone deaf does not exist.” she says, “you can relate it to any learned skill, like drawing. The more you work on it, the more you understand it.” In fact, Stazya insists that some of the best singers are the ones who have worked harder and longer on developing their skill than those who are born with intrinsic musical talent and don’t put the time in. “Those who work can achieve their goal, and then go beyond it.” She reiterates, citing success stories she has experienced over the years with students who grew up believing they were tone deaf.

Over the last 15 years, Stazya has worked with students of all ages and ability levels. Many of her students have gone on to study music after high school in college jazz performance programs. Stazya has mentored singers from local schools, and many homeschooled students as well. She has helped out with high school music programs and theater and drama endeavors as well.

Stay plays "Martha" in the Woodland's Theater production of Secret Garden

Stazya performed as a soloist with the Woodlands Theater choir in their production of Fauré’s Requiem, launching a long term relationship with the community theater. She met Thomas Hart in her involvement at Woodlands and played a lead role in the musical he composed called Tastes Like Chicken in 2009. She and Hart formed the band Stazya and the Naturals along with Adam Huff and other local musicians. The band  has become a local favorite, performing musical favorites of all genres for live audiences. Stazya and the Naturals recorded an album called Look to the Sky which features a mix of some of their widely varied style.

Since 2007 Stazya has worked as the vocal director for musical productions, as well as performing roles in several productions, including Annie, Drowsy Chaperone, South Pacific, Little Shop of Horrors, Secret Garden, Suessical, and she is on board again for the upcoming Addams Family in 2016.

Prior to her involvement at Woodland Theater, Stazya performed at Spokane’s Bach Festival under the direction of Gunther Schuller for seven years. The schedule for the festival came into conflict with her projects at the Woodland Theater and Stazya decided to invest her talents closer to home.

She now offers vocal lessons and coaching out of her home in Colville as well as once a week in Chewelah at the newly established Aaron Huff Memorial Cultural Center. She mentors student recipients of  vocal scholarships from both Colville High School and Junior High, and works with the local school choirs when time allows.

Stazya offers gift certificates for lessons, which make an excellent holiday gift for the budding talent in your family, or anyone with a little bit of curiosity and motivation. “I help children and adults with ‘pitch issues’, and other problems,” she offers, “I take my mentoring role very seriously.” Stazya sees the development of voice as important as many other facets of human growth and personality development. Unlike other instruments, it is impossible to separate the singer from the tool they are using to perform. In the same manner, it is impossible for an individual to hide behind their instrument when it is a part of who they are as a person.

To contact Stazya about vocal lessons, booking a show with Stazya and the Naturals, or other information, you can call 509-684-7761. You can also find Facebook pages for both Stazya and the Naturals and Stazya’s Vocal Studio.

From Battlefield to Builder

How the town of Gifford was born

by Liv Stecker

James Oscar Gifford was born in Linden Michigan in 1843. Before his 20th birthday he was drafted into the Union Army to fight in the civil war. On November 29th, during the Battle of Mine Run in Orange County, Virginia, Gifford took a musket ball to the left thigh that shattered his femur. His leg was amputated above the knee in a field hospital in the fog and rain of late November and Gifford was discharged from the army after his recuperation the following spring.  

After the death of his first wife, James O. Gifford married Sarah Elizabeth Williams, and soon following the birth of their fifth child, only three of which were living, they loaded the family up into a covered wagon and moved west. In 1884, James and Sarah settled near Moscow, Idaho, where they remained until 1888. As they moved west, James drove a herd of horses along with them to sell in in the burgeoning communities where they were headed.

After a short time in Pullman and Hartline, Washington, the family once again moved in their wagons up the Columbia River to settle up north on the east side of the river along with two of James’ brothers. They built a homestead and began to farm the land, and in 1896, the first Gifford post office was established. James’ wife Sarah was the first postmistress in the mail room that they operated out of the mercantile store that James built.

During their time in Idaho and the Palouse, James and Sarah had had two more children. Their five children farmed with them, and as more families arrived in the picturesque setting along the river, fruit orchards were established. In 1891, the first school began a few miles outside of the town of Gifford, but it wasn’t until 1921 that a school was built in town. In 1898 the Gifford ferry was established for shuttling passengers across the Columbia river to Inchelium on the Colville Indian Reservation.

The family run mercantile was a social hub as the community grew up around it. James and Sarah gave away commemorative china plates to customers with dates and ornate images in the early 1900s. The first mail route in the area came in from Harvey, which was known as the Chalk Grade between Rice and Kettle Falls. Eventually, routes between Addy and Inchelium, as well as Davenport and Kettle Falls were established. The ferry service kept a steady stream of traffic through the little community, including miners and fruit growers.

Before James retired in 1916 from running his mercantile, he saw Gifford blossom into a bustling community with a hardware store, church, blacksmith shop, an IOOF (Independent Order of Odd Fellows) Hall, a pool hall, hotel, service station, and the ferry service. Three of his five children had married and settled in the area or nearby. His oldest son Elmer and wife Lula took over the mercantile when James retired, Lula replacing Sarah as the postmistress. Sarah passed away in 1918.

Ira and Lizzie, two of James and Sarah’s children, lived in Gifford with their parents but never married. The oldest of the Gifford’s daughters, Lutie, married a man named Francis Ward who was drowned accidentally when he came off his horse during a cattle drive across the winter. In 1929, the youngest of James and Sarah’s sons, David, was murdered by an unstable neighbor who was poisoning the creek with arsenic.  Elmer and Lula never had children, but David had two children, and daughter Lutie had four daughters with Francis Ward before his death.

David’s son Roland married Mary Anderson Gifford who became postmistress after Lula Gifford and retired from the Gifford post office in 1986. Several generations of James and Sarah’s grandchildren still live in around Washington state, many still near the Gifford area in Northeastern Washington.

James sold the property where he had constructed the IOOF Hall for $15.00 in 1925, one year before his death in 1926 at the age of 83. The civil war veteran was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and attending regional gatherings, as well as his involvement in the IOOF.

In 1939, as work began on the Grand Coulee Dam, the town of Gifford was relocated to higher ground. At this time the remaining establishments that were moved included the store, post office and service station. The IOOF hall was moved and consolidated with the Rebekah Lodge and the Rice Lodge after the move, and it stands near the Gifford store still today. The Gifford Cemetery was also moved to Kettle Falls before the dam was completed.

For a man who lost a leg on a bloody Civil War battlefield before he was 21, James O. Gifford was a mover and shaker of his time, leaving behind a legacy of perseverance and tenacity. After suffering the loss of his leg, his first wife and two infants with his wife Sarah in Michigan, Gifford was a man on a mission. Leaving his excuses behind him, he took on  a cross country trek, driving horses and leading a covered wagon with a wife and three young children, including a new baby, to start a new life in the west. He planted the seeds for generations of pioneers in Stevens County, hard working families who have built our communities into what they are today.

Retail Gourmet

By Liv Stecker

Peter Hallam has set out to tap into the gourmet side of Stevens County. In September, Hallam took over Colville’s Kitchen Korner, a downtown business fixture that has served Colville for many years. Bringing with him two decades of retail experience, Peter’s goal with the cozy Main Street location is to provide a shopping experience that expands enjoyment and productivity in the kitchen, while exposing customers to new culinary ideas and adventures.

For over ten years, Kitchen Korner has specialized in giving shoppers a unique place to find both domestic necessities and novelty gifts, offering a wide range of critical tools and whimsical trinkets for the cook, winemaker, baker or brewer in the area.

Hallam himself is a long-term fixture in Colville, having graduated from Colville High School before moving around gathering experience in retail management. Most of his career has been spent working for jewelers, where Peter picked up the skills of design and repair that won him a loyal following locally. Recently employed at Colville Jewelers, Peter saw the opportunity to expand his horizons when the previous owners of the Kitchen Korner were ready to turn over a new leaf. Leaving the jewelry store was a tough choice, but Hallam’s faithful jewelry customers have already found him at his new location, popping in to browse around the colorful atmosphere.

After stepping into Kitchen Korner in September, Peter is replenishing and expanding the stock, continuing bestselling favorites, adding new lines and products and fulfilling special orders. In addition to kitchen utensils and gadgets, bake ware, canning and processing supplies, Kitchen Korner features a winemaking and brewing supply section, which Hallam has plans to expand.  Replacing ready-made beer kits with fresh bulk supplies, he will offer local beer makers more flexibility in their brewing options. “A lot of the local guys like to make their own recipes, so this gives them choices.” He says about bringing in local hops and grains.

Kitchen Korner also features local gourmet specialty foods including locally roasted coffee, a small selection of novelty eatables and specialty teas. He plans to expand this selection somewhat, and will be the exclusive retailer in the Colville area selling Scott Brothers Coffee, a company from Curlew, Washington with a passion for providing carefully sourced, roasted and prepared coffee.

Hallam has big plans for Kitchen Korner and the faithful customers who love it for the unique shopping experience it provides. Price and selection-wise, Hallam says he tries to “keep it right between Williams and Sonoma and Walmart.” A collection of giftable, as well as useful gadgets fill the small space in the corner store. Customers can find specific tools including thermometers, pressure cookers, prep supplies and scales, as well as fun and frivolous kitchen additions.

Kitchen Korner is open 10:00 AM – 5:30 PM Monday through Friday and 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM on Saturday. Stop in for a sample of Scott Brothers Coffee and take in the cozy and colorful shopping treat on 202 S. Main Street in Colville.

Keeping the Holiday Spirit Alive

by Liv Stecker

In the midst of the bright bustle of the holiday season, families are unpacking decorations that have been handed down through generations, singing carols that were born centuries ago and wrapping trinkets large and small as gifts for loved ones.

Over time, traditions have become such fixtures in our holiday celebrations that we forget why we do them. Our actions and words and the foods that we eat are all steeped in meaning that has been long abandoned, if we ever knew it in the first place. Because we live in a multicultural world full of easily offended proponents of every religion, non-religion and worldview, we find ourselves forced to either tiptoe cautiously around each other or boldly proclaim our own expression without apology. Maybe remembering why we do so many of things would help make them less offensive, or at least more easily defended, understanding that at the heart of it all, the holidays are all about peace on earth and goodwill toward men.

To start with, let’s look at the Christmas Tree: Much like cut flowers or garlands of greens, it no longer strikes most of us as odd that we like to bring vibrant, living plants into our homes where they can wither and die and drop needles like a harbinger of the end of Holiday Cheer. However, historically speaking, humans have decorated their homes with evergreen boughs in the winter ever since the decorating of human homes has been documented. In the pre-Christian world, the green branches represented both the promise of everlasting life and the hope for spring and new growth after the death of winter. The first full-on Christmas trees were brought indoors by German Christians in the 16th century, as a token of the same hopes and beliefs that the earlier pagans held. It was Martin Luther, after a walk outside in the brilliant winter starlight, who first adorned his Christmas Tree with lighted candles in an attempt to capture the beauty of nature in the warmth of his home for family and friends. The Christmas Tree has faced its share of enemies over the years, but none so cantankerous as the early American puritans who heralded the tradition as heathen debauchery and outlawed it for many years in our young nation. Reason won out eventually as European immigrants moved across the continent, rekindling warm family traditions and bringing Tannenbaum back to our repertoire of traditions.

Martin Luther and family enjoying a glowing Christmas Tree

Wassailers in Olde England

The tradition of traveling door to door through snowy neighborhoods singing Christmas Carols (carol derives from the French word carole, which is a circle dance with singers) is another that pre-dates Christianity but has merged solidly with religious practices throughout the years. Christmas Carols began sometime in the 4th century as liturgical chants at Christmas church services. Over time, the church branched out and borrowed tunes from popular music to set religious and holiday themed lyrics to, and then joined in the much older Anglo-Saxon tradition of wassailing, which is toast that means “be in good health”, where neighbors would travel door to door singing tunes in exchange for food and drink, a custom in the winter and at harvest time. Similar to trick-or-treating, wassailing was believed to bring households good luck as they blessed their neighbors with goodies and beverages by which to be toasted and blessed. Hence the odd, greedy sounding lyrics demanding figgy pudding, among others.

In Jewish tradition, the holiday of Hanukkah, or the Festival of Lights, celebrates an eight day miracle during the dedication of the reclaimed temple after a fight for religious freedom in the 2nd century BC. The Temple was destroyed during the fight, and the Macabee warriors found only enough oil to light the lamp for one day, but the flame miraculously flickered on for eight days. The candles of the menorah represent the eight days of light, with a ninth, the shamash or helper candle, to help light the others. Traditional Hanukkah foods, such as latkes (potato pancakes) and jelly filled sufganiyot donuts, are fried in oil that symbolizes the miraculous substance that brightened the temple for eight days.

A 1902 rendition of Santa Claus

Whether you call him Sinterklaas, Pere Noel, Father Christmas, or Santa Claus, most cultures with any european roots preserve the long held tradition of a jolly old soul who visits the homes of good little girls and boys to deliver gifts during the Yule Season. The real Saint Nicholas was a 4th century Greek Bishop who dedicated his life to the care of the poor, feeding and providing for the impoverished people in his parish. Prior to the advent of Christianity, Germanic peoples celebrated the Yuletide with appearances of Langbaror, or “long beard”, a Norse name for the god Odin, who not coincidentally bears the long white beard and robes of the Santa Claus we’ve come to know and love. The merging of the Norse Jolnir, or “yule figure”, the Dutch Sinterklaas (Saint Nicholas) and Father Christmas, who was born as the emblem of good cheer in old England eventually burgeoned into a globally recognizable character. True to the mission of Saint Nicholas, the portly man with rosy cheeks is the representation of joy, giving and goodwill toward men. It was once again the influential Martin Luther who moved the traditional gift-giving to children from Saint Nicholas’ name day on December 6th, to the 24th of December, and suggested the gift giver as Christkind, or “Christ child”, which has been loosely translated into Kris Kringle in North America… and the alias of jolly old St. Nick.

The Magi travel with gifts to the Christ Child

The tradition of exchanging gifts with friends and family  is attributed not only to the influence of Saint Nicholas and his generous spirit, but can be traced back to the Roman holiday Saturnalia, which was observed with gift exchanges in late December and later replaced with the official Christmas holiday by the Roman Catholic Church. In a move to make the transition from traditional holiday celebrations to Christian holidays, the church kept some of the old customs in place and assigned them new meaning. In this case, the tradition of gift giving became symbolic of the gifts brought to the infant Jesus by the Magi, or wise men from the east.

The Christmas holiday did not enjoy widespread observance in North America until the mid 1800’s, due largely to the influence of early puritan settlers in the United States. In the late 17th century, Christmas celebrations were actually outlawed in Boston, one of the largest cities at that time. After the revolutionary war, Christmas in the United States took another blow as it was seen largely as a British Holiday. In the early 1800’s the holiday began to make a resurgence with a little boost from emerging literature that rekindled the spirit of Christmas. Washington Irving, Charles Dickens, and Clement C. Moore, the author of “A Visit From Saint Nicholas” (commonly known as The Night Before Christmas) all contributed to a nostalgic return to British and European traditions that were rich in family and community celebration.

In the light of so many beautiful and festive traditions that bring us together from so many cultures, it’s heartwarming to realize that behind every one is the common theme of generosity and joy toward our fellow man. Whether the customs we observe spring from the roots of our European ancestors before the Angels heralded the birth of Christ, or they evolved from the kindly acts of a devoted bishop, or they tell the story of a the triumph of a people to be free in their worship, all of our holiday traditions serve the purpose of bringing us together with loved ones in peace and harmony. Embrace the history steeped in all of the practices that we observe during the holiday season, enjoy the richness that our collective backgrounds grant us, and find value the roots that go back centuries to make us who we are as human beings. And God bless us, every one.

The 12 Plays Of Christmas

by Liv Stecker

I set out to make a top ten list of Holiday movies with the help of my family and friends. Having relatives and acquaintances from all walks of life, I knew that throwing a poll out there would give me a pretty well rounded version of all of the must-see Christmas movies. I was not disappointed with the results.

After mediating semi-heated conflicts over which version of the Grinch was better, whether George C. Scott was the best on-screen Ebeneezer Scrooge ever, and whether A Very Minty Christmas Featuring the cast of My Little Pony characters should even be allowed in the running, I came out with a diverse and satisfying, if not much too long, list. It didn’t help that I had convinced my exchange student from Vietnam that any movie with snow featured in it could be technically considered a “Christmas Movie”, so she kept throwing in suggestions like Snowpiercer and all of the Harry Potter movies.

I also had to filter out movies that I would consider less than family friendly, which bumped several very popular suggestions, including Love Actually and Die Hard.

So, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, inlaws, outlaws, cousins and creatures, I present for you, the 12 all-time-best Holiday Movies (please note that a limit of ten was impossible, and the only reason I could make 12 work was because it’s festive).

It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) - George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart) is a boy with big dreams, and after real life in a small town leaves him struggling just to get by, he questions his value on earth. Enter the angel Clarence, to set the record straight. No movie, in the seventy years since it’s release, has done a better job world-wide of reminding us how beautiful life is - every hair-brained, haphazard minute of it. Available to rent on Amazon, Google Play and vudu.

Elf (2003) - This “new” classic was the most widely agreed upon favorite among my friends and family, with the exception of my younger sister, who can’t stand Will Ferrell. While this raises the question of the condition of my poor sister’s mortal soul, the rest of us feel that this warm-fuzzy story of a childlike adult human who has been raised by Christmas Elves is the best way to spend at least 50% of the nights in December. Buddy the Elf travels to the scary world of New York City to find his biological father, and as a result, save Christmas for the whole world. It might just be the thing that saves your soul as well (sister!).  Rent it on Google Play, Amazon, and Netflix in DVD form.

White Christmas (1954) - Without argument, this post World War II Irving Berlin traditional classic has it all: the comedic genius of Danny Kaye, the melodramatic croon of local boy Bing Crosby, the starlit feet of Vera-Ellen and the fireside comfort of girl-next-door Rosemary Clooney. Irving Berlin composed the song “White Christmas” for a previous film, Holiday Inn (see below), and the success of the song took on a life of it’s own. It’s a feel-good love story with history and drama and hilarity all built in. You can rent it on Amazon, vudu.com and Google Play. It is also available on DVD from Netflix.

Christmas Vacation (1989) - In an attempt to keep this list family friendly, I had to filter out a couple of titles that came highly recommended, but I wouldn’t feel comfortable watching with my 12 year old. This one totters on the brink of barely acceptable to some of the more conservative holdovers, and reasonably so. HOWEVER: Being a rational human being, and appreciating the value of laughter, I have to say, every year I laugh until I hurt watching this movie. So if you are sensitive to a smattering of obscenities, brief suggestions of scantily clad women, and some mild vulgarity, this one might not be the best pick for your family. If you can handle it, the benefit outweighs the damage, I believe. It’s the story of the All-American family with the best holiday intentions, and how, inevitably, everything that can go wrong, will. It’s relatable and hilarious, every single time. Available on Amazon, vudu and Google Play and Netflix DVD.

A Christmas Story (1983) - Set in 1950s midwestern America, the story of Ralphie and his suburban family is another piece of cultural history for many of us. Told through the eyes of an elementary aged youngster, he experiences the holiday in true American style, complete with misadventures, neighborhood dilemmas and the realization of his mother’s worst nightmare when he nearly shoots his eye out with the prized Red Ryder pump action BB gun. Watch it on Amazon, Google Play, and YouTube.

How The Grinch Stole Christmas (1966) - As mentioned earlier, there was some discussion about the best version of this Dr. Seuss classic. With a courtesy nod to the 2000 live action version starring Jim Carrey, I have to say that the two have little in common other than the storyline. Because I am a radical traditionalist, the original Chuck Jones animated short will always have my heart. Plus, what could be better than Boris Karloff’s timeless narration, and Thurl Ravenscroft bellowing out the Grinch’s theme? I found this story on an audio DVD once, with the same voices as the animated movie, and it became a constant traveling companion during the holiday season. It is available for purchase on Amazon.

The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) - At last count, according to Wikipedia, there are at least 25 film adaptations of Charles Dicken’s classic tale, A Christmas Carol. I have seen a half dozen or so, and after consulting with the experts (my friends and family), the resounding conclusion is that The Muppet Christmas Carol wins the day. Not to say that George C. Scott, Mickey Mouse and Alastair Sim didn’t all do their darndest, but nobody can compete with Statler and Waldorf as the Marley Twins, Michael Caine as the most believable Scrooge I have seen, and of course, Gonzo the narrator. The original songs in this version are heartwarming, and according to even real Dicken’s experts online, the storyline is more true to the book than many versions. Watch it on Amazon, Google Play or vudu.

Home Alone (1990) - Another modern classic, this takes the traditional holiday fiasco genre and adds the twist of a young kid accidentally left to his own devices in a suburban neighborhood when his parents go to France for the holidays. Enter a pair of brutally clumsy burglars and the game is afoot! While Macaulay Culkin may have never done another worthwhile thing with his life, we don’t mind, because we take joy from his misadventures every year. Again, this movie has some mild vulgarity and profanity, if that’s a problem for your family, beware! You can rent this one on Amazon, vudu and Google Play.

Holiday Inn (1942) - Not to give Bing Crosby more than his share on the list of holiday blockbusters, but the man’s name is more or less synonymous with Christmas, and since he’s from our own Spokane, we’ll give him a free pass. Alongside the immortal Bing, Holiday Inn also stars the intrepid Fred Astaire, and tells the story of two stage performers struggling to find their niche out of big city politics and in the midst of social and global turmoil during World War II. Overlapping love triangles tell a comic story of near misses and perfect timing. This one gets bonus points for encompassing ALL of the holidays and therefore being a justifiable watch before Thanksgiving. You’re welcome. Watch it on vudu, Google Play, or Amazon.

Miracle On 34th Street (1947) - While we’re tottering on the brink of the transition from black and white to color, this one deserves a nod. The 1947 original starring the recently late and forever fabulous Maureen O’Hara, and a very young Natalie Wood, made enough of a splash to warrant a remake in 1994 (which is terrible - don’t waste your bandwidth). This movie pitches the value of childlike faith and the power of believing, even for the worst cynics. It’s a timeless message that we might just need more now than ever before. It is available on Amazon, vudu and Google Play.

Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer & The Original Christmas Classics (1964-1970) - If Costco can bundle these babies, then I can too. There aren’t many of us who can’t remember the claymation classics from the 1960s that included not only Rudolph and the first public anti-bullying campaign, championed by none other than Santa Claus himself, but Frosty the Snowman, The Little Drummer Boy, Jack Frost, and Santa Claus is Comin to Town. Narrated and acted by such memorable voices as Burl Ives, Jimmy Durante, Jose Ferrer, Fred Astaire and the recently lost Mickey Rooney, these hour-or-less gems take every one of us back to the holidays of our childhood, when things were simpler and claymation was cutting edge technology. Most of these are available on Amazon for streaming or purchase, and they often air on local networks during the holiday season.

The Santa Clause (I, II & III) (1994…) - While there are multitudes of worth-mentioning movies about the fight to save Christmas, including Ernest Saves Christmas, Santa Claus: The Movie, and a thousand more, Tim Allen takes the cake for reluctant heroes as he assumes his role as Santa Claus. A little bit comedy, a little bit love story, and a lot of heart warming holiday warm fuzzies, The Santa Clause trilogy is a great family tradition. Watch it on Amazon, Google Play or vudu.

Just because I didn’t also mention Prancer, The Polar Express, Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas, and many others is not to say that they don’t also have an important spot on the Christmas activity advent calendar, however, time being of the essence in the brief 25 days we have to observe a myriad of holiday traditions, sometimes it’s important to prioritize our time, and these top 12 get my vote, along with many other hard core tradition observers.