When I was about eleven years old, I got a BB gun for Christmas. It was the best present that I ever got. The American Radar Site opened on Fox Harbour Hill in 1957 and for the next few years we would go to the Site to the Christmas party. Every child in the community would get a nice present there and a box of goodies each, from some school in the States. Of course there would be all kinds of Christmas goods at the party and the whole community really enjoyed it.

Things changed after that and times became better. Well, I don't know if times became better but there was a lot more stuff around. These days it is gone beyond and most times the Christ in Christmas is forgotten.

I certainly see a big change in Christmas when I look back to eighty-five years ago when I was a child. Back then people had very little money, if any at all. Parents could not afford to buy presents for their children like they do today. In those days children got very little on Christmas Day, but they were always thankful and happy for the little they did get. Children today get all sorts of presents. They are rarely happy with what they get and they are always wanting more and more.

When I was a young girl growing up in Deep Water Creek, Christmas was always a happy time for my family and community. In those days every house wouldn't have a Christmas tree. In fact, there would be only one Christmas tree in all of Deep Water Creek. Two or three men from the community would go out and get a big tree. On Christmas Eve usually the women of the community would gather together and set up the tree in my family's kitchen. There was only five families living in Deep Water Creek at that time. Our family was the biggest, we had a big kitchen and so the tree was set up in our house. The woman would decorate the tree with shiny wrappers that had came off packages bought at the store. It was not much to decorate a tree with, but it was all we had at the time and you could only use what you had. Each year the Grenfell Mission would send a box of used toys to communities on the coast just before Christmas. I remember the women would get the toys and place a name tag on it for the child it would belong to. The presents were left unwrapped as there was no wrapping paper back then. The big gifts were placed under the tree, but most of the gifts were tied unto the tree for decoration. I remember myself and the other children watching the women and wondering which present was ours.

When the presents were all sorted all the families would gather at our house. It was such a fun and exciting time. Everybody would be laughing, carryin' on and having a good time. The children would be all excited, wondering and asking, "When is Santa Claus coming?" Later in the night Santa Claus would knock at the door. The children would be so happy. One of the men would dress as Santa but we were young and thought it was really Santa Claus. The man would not have a proper Santa Claus suit like they do today. He would dress up in funny looking clothes and have something covered over his face. He looked more like a janny than Santa Claus! Santa would come in and sit down. The women would take the gifts from the tree and call out the children's names. One by one we would go up and get our presents from Santa. Some children would be afraid but not me. I always went up, sat on his knee and got my present. Every child would get only one present each. One year I got a small toy piano. It was second hand, but I thought I had a pot of gold. When the presents were all given out the tree would be taken down again the same night.