This time of year is a reminder of family, tradition, harmony, and festivity. To many of us, the holidays bring back great memories. Chenango County Cornell Cooperative Extension recently held a contest asking readers to submit their favorite Christmas tree memory. Winners received a $25 gift certificate toward a fresh cut Christmas tree from a local tree farm. Here are some of the winning entries ...

My Favorite Christmas tree Memory
By Lisa A. Jones, Sherburne
When I was a little girl, I remember the excitement that would build up when Christmas time would come. We lived on a hill at the base of what used to be called Hunt’s Mountain in Sherburne, where the trees grew tall with the winds whispering through their boughs and the water was so cool and sweet and plentiful, you weren’t scared to cross a stream and bend to scoop a handful up and take a drink before you went on your way. Things were easy back then, memories good, and Christmas time meant that not only would Santa be coming, but two weekends before Christmas, always on a Saturday, my father and I and maybe my older brother would go down the hill below to our neighbor’s tree farm, and cut a tree. We would drag it up our hill and begin the process to make our tree beautiful.
One year, as we walked through the woods to look for that perfect tree, we saw a family that we didn’t recognize, walking through our woods. They didn’t appear to have much, the kids looked cold and didn’t have nice warm coats like mine, and the mom and dad had a worried look on their faces as we approached them. As they introduced themselves, we came to realize that they were from Norwich and had been driving around the roads looking for an area that the trees seemed plentiful so that maybe they could have one for Christmas. There was no money to buy one this year for them. The dad was out of work and the mother was expecting their fourth child within the New Year, and it didn’t seem they had much hope to go on. My father told them they could have a tree, it wasn’t a big deal, and so they picked out a very small one, less than four feet tall. I asked them if they lived in a very small house, and the dad said no, that they just didn’t want to be greedy and take a larger one, and that they only had a small car and there was no room in their trunk for it either. My father told them if they picked a larger tree out, he would bring it down to them in his truck, and they reluctantly agreed.
When we got back up to the house with our own tree, we also had a seven foot full bushy tree to take to our new found friends. We told my mother what had happened, and she went through our cupboards, our freezer, and fridge and put many things in boxes for us to take to them, including a ham that my father had just gotten as a gift from his employer. She also instructed me to go to my closet and get some things together for the two little girls to wear that I had out grown. As we all did this, Mom got together some ornaments and several strings of lights to take to them as well, for their tree. When we arrived with the tree and all the items for that family, the father stood on the front porch and tears rolled down his cheeks. They all thanked us for what we had done, and we left there feeling as if the real Christmas spirit had truly touched our hearts.
We all need to experience times like that, as it brings us closer to God, and closer to knowing ourselves. No matter how old I get, I always look back on that snowy Saturday in 1978, and I am glad we touched that family’s life. I know they touched mine. May peace be with all of us, Merry Christmas, everyone.

Cat Lover’s Christmas
By Donna Anderson, Norwich
First of all, let me say that I am a cat lover. My parents have always been cat lovers too, so we always had cats when I was growing up. I'm 47 now, and still love cats.
When I was a child, I was allergic to pine, so we always had an artificial tree. The cats never seemed to bother it too much, other than occasionally knocking off an ornament or two.
The year I turned 16, my parents got 2 kittens over the summer. The kittens were about 6 months old by Christmas. These kittens were different than any we had had - they loved to climb the tree - right up the middle!
Day after day, we would come home to find the tree tipped over, or nearly tipped over. My dad tried putting bricks on the tree stand, but they still tipped it over. He tried tying the tree with fishing line, but they still tipped it over. We tried disciplining the cats, but they still tipped it over. Finally, my dad had had enough. He was determined to outwit the cats. He drilled holes in the floor, right through the carpet, and put huge screws through the legs of the tree stand. We left that day, wondering what would happen. It worked - the tree was still standing when we got home. The cats were never able to knock it over again. To this day, there is a nice house on Tanner Hill with 3 holes in the floor, where we had to outsmart our cats.
Dad won this battle, but on November 5th of this year, he lost his final battle, this time with prostate cancer. This is my tribute to my Dad - Dad, I'll always remember the year you had to put holes in the floor to save the Christmas Tree.

Cornell Cooperative Extension would like to wish everyone a happy holiday. Cornell Cooperative Extension enables people to improve their lives and communities through partnerships that put experience and research knowledge to work. Cooperative Extension provides equal program and employment opportunities. Visit us online at www.cce.cornell.edu/chenango.