GaryOsberg.com

Good morning from Collegeville,

Six days until Christmas. I have all of my shopping done and now I simply have to pace myself on the cookies and candy.

Children love Christmas, as well they should. As with most families, some years, Christmas gifts were easy to come by and some years the budget would not allow for much. The Christmas of 1956 was a memorable one for me. My mother had to make a change due to Dad’s inability to handle alcohol. We were living in an apartment in Little Falls. That Christmas, Santa brought us six big Tonka Toy 18 wheel trucks. There was a cattle truck, an oil tanker, a freight truck and three more. This was a perfect gift for a family with five boys. For many years I had the impression that they were from some sort of social agency that served the poor. It turned out that the “Santa” was Dewey Johnson, a classmate of my mother from the Upsala High School class of ’37. Dewey’s friend was one of the founders of Tonka Toys. Dewey had already passed on before I learned the “rest of the story”, so I never did have a chance to thank him.

Perhaps you know of a family that has come upon hard times and they could use a “Secret Santa”.

Here is the link to getting the 24 foot Christmas tree into The Great Hall: http://bit.ly/7H3YDf

The APHC show this week is live from The Fitzgerald Theater on Exchange Street in Saint Paul. Special guests include the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers with violinist Sara Pajunen, and vocalists Heather Masse and Lynn Peterson. Plus the Royal Academy of Radio Actors, Tim Russell, Sue Scott and Fred Newman. Garrison will bring us the latest News from Lake Wobegon. Enjoy the show.

“Life is what we make it. Always has been, always will be.” Grandma Moses