My favorite Christmas memory is at my mom and dads. Pam and I, with our kids, would go to their house on Christmas Eve. We would have dinner first. Then take the kids looking for Santa. When we came back, surprise, Santa had come. We would open gifts and enjoy family time. Then end the evening with Midnight Mass at St. Mary’s Catholic Church. - Rich Cantillon
One of my favorite memories growing up was the Conoco Christmas parties. They held it at Hutchins Memorial and would have Santa come out on stage for a show. Then every child left with a present according to their age group and we had cookies and cocoa. It amazes me now how such a large corporation took care of their employees and their families. Definitely something we are missing in today's world. Precious memories I will cherish forever. - Becky Treece
My Favorite Christmas memory: On Christmas Eve my brother and I were able to open one gift of our choosing. I would normally ask my mother for her opinion, now I realize she would help so we could sleep in new PJ’s that night because that was normally the gift we opened on Christmas Eve. Then we sat out cookies and milk for Santa and she would tell us to go to bed so he could come. I would always be the first one to wake on Christmas morning and my favorite thing was the stocking! It was overflowing with all the little things we loved as kids. Example, beef jerky, crayons/color book, an apple and orange, slinky, socks, possibly a watch. My list could go on and on, but my point is I have passed this tradition down to my own children and today they are 21 and 26 and if you ask them what they want for Christmas they will say “a stocking!” I loved to see the enjoyment on their faces when they were young sifting through their stockings Christmas morning and it still takes me back to my childhood. - Monica Bell
Every year while growing up the family would get up and enjoy getting to see what Santa left and opening presents. We put our things up and ate breakfast. About 11 my dads side of the family would start showing up with their favorite food and goodies. We would have around a hundred people filling the basement, living room, kitchen and if nice in Iowa some would be outside chatting. I so miss them times at Christmas. We so enjoyed the goodies that others made and we looked forward every year just to have them. Merry Christmas everyone. - Kathy Buck
My favorite memory came when I was 50 years old . It was the first time in years I had all my kids and my grandkids all together in one place. I still look back at the pictures and can see how blessed I was that day . We have had a lot of loss my sister ,brother ,my Mom and the worst was my niece was murdered . But Christmas 2018 was and will always be special because of family! Merry Christmas to all ❤️ - D White
I have two favorite Ponca City Christmas Memories. The first started Christmas Eve, a few years back, at the Circle Bar C where Dan and I now live (aka, the 360 or the OCCR - Osage County Chicken Ranch where I raise laying hens to put eggs on the table plus a few to share). The kids both made it in for Christmas that year from their homes too far away for a Mom's heart. My daughter and I were already in our Christmas pajamas, fuzzy robes and slippers, when the boys presented us with a Christmas Eve Scavenger hunt for our Christmas gifts! It was nearly midnight, and the cold black sky was filled with stars. The clues led us out to a detached garage, across the South pasture and back to the North pasture where another clue led us back to the house, to the fridge for my gift, and then back outside to the shop rafters for my daughter's gift. We could hear the guys laughing as they watched our flashlights bob across the pastures, our fuzzy robed figures focused on following the clues to the prize at the end. We laughed and shivered and raced around in the dark making memories that put a smile on my face every year when Dan hands me the first Christmas clue to the holiday surprises that await. This year will be different...distant. But the memories, and the traditions, keep us close. Like duct tape. Because the second tradition always involves at least one roll of duct tape. EVERY year the men make a contest of making the packages harder to get into! It is always guaranteed that there will be at least one roll of duct tape and a lot of laughter involved. There have been unmarked gifts that had to be broken into, and then we figured out who it was for...duct-taped boxes filled with rice...layers of duct-taped boxes with prizes hidden between the layers of duct tape...duct-taped, glued, screwed and nailed boxes....I can't wait to see what this year brings. - Rosalie Dawson
My dad ( Chuck Hoddy ) played Santa for area families. I enjoyed driving him to the parties and seeing peoples reactions to seeing Santa while driving there. He had a red pickup at the time, I called it our sleigh to deliver gifts. He had invested in a really nice Santa suit and wig/beard. I thought it was special to be able to say that "Yes, my dad IS Santa Claus. - De Steele
My favorite Christmas memory is getting dressed in matching jammies the night of Christmas eve. We gather on the couch after laying out milk and cookies for Santa and then we read the book, “the Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey.” My children have adored this book and each year we try another book, they clamor for more Toomey! It has become a staple in our home. - Adam Leaming
A favorite Christmas memory of mine was just a simple materialistic tradition as a child. Every year my dad would take my brothers and I to Merle Norman downtown to shop for my mother for Christmas. We loved to lavish my mom with gifts.When I became a teenager, my dad stopped taking me on that shopping trip and it then became tradition for him to buy my mother and I all matching gifts from Merle Norman. I always looked forward to those gifts of jewelry, cosmetics and fragrances every year! I also loved the store wrapping of those gifts! They were always exquisite! - Sherri Bosworth
I will have to say a favorite Christmas memory for me didn’t come as a child it was as an adult. A few years ago we had the opportunity to go out and be a blessing with the “Santa Cause 2” There was a Santa and we were the elves, there were children that was not on the angel tree or anywhere else and the “Santa Cause 2” got their information. There were elves at a facility that was wrapping the gifts, and others were putting together where they needed to be distributed. We would be given the children’s names and the address and as we pulled up to the home the 3 of us elves would go up and knock to make sure that the kids were there, and let the parent/guardian know that Santa was there to deliver gifts. The expression on the faces of the parent/guardian, and the children’s faces was priceless. Santa would sit down with the children around him and read the story of the birth of Jesus and then we would hand out the gifts. The parent/guardian would ask where are you from and we would just tell them the North Pole they always had this look of confusion, Not only was this a surprise for the children but also for the parent/guardian. It was a special thing to be able to be a part of. But most of all the excitement in those children’s eyes when they had Santa show up to their home, and the Parent/guardian the excitement they had also especially when they didn’t think the children would get Christmas presents because they were not able to provide. - C Mackie
"My favorite Christmas memory is going to the Rotary Christmas Party held each year at the Ponca City Country Club for the children of Rotarians. The room was always packed. We would sing our hearts out so Santa would arrive to hand out gifts (which our fathers must have wrapped and given to Santa ahead of time because the gift was always the best!). We received good food, yummy dessert, present, candy and, most importantly, special time with our fathers." - Mary Steichen
Every memory is precious but for me, this is a standout. I was just a young girl. The people in my home town who owned the Ford dealership had the most beautiful Christmas tree. It was an aluminum tree with a colored revolving light on it. This was in the fifties. I would wait until dark and then set across the street on the curb to watch it. I was fascinated with the beauty of that tree. Skip ahead thirty years and my family and I were sitting in the living room with our own beautiful tree with the wheel of color on it. Fifteen years later the tree showed up again bringing back a memory of Christmas past. Fast forward to today, being an eighty six year old lady, this memory is still very vivid. What a joy to remember that little girl on the curb and the happiness she had. - Betty Young Cutler
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