"Christmas...Once Upon A Time..." Ahh, yes, now isn't that exactly where every great Christmas, and every great Christmas story, always begins...Once Upon A Time. Now, tonight's songs and stories are actually THREE stories in one - three special stories told by our friends, The Front Porch Country Band...and somehow, magically some would say, all the stories tell us, well, the very same tale - different sides of the tale, to be certain, but it's all one story, really...the true story of Christmas.

The first of our three stories tonight is especially for the children. And that really means all of us, doesn't it...for surely if we cannot come to Christmas as children, we'll miss all the magic of the season...

So gather round, children, and bring your parents along...together we'll sit back, think back, and enter a time not so long ago...when we could all enjoy a "Country Christmas Eve" with our entire family, right here around the fireplace!

"...Christmas...Once Upon A Time..."

Sometimes memories of Christmas past can rekindle feelings of loneliness from the loss of someone we love...feelings that can feel harshest and coldest during this Holiday Season...

When the winter winds of Christmas blow cold...and lonely...

This is North Country...the place where frozen Northern Winters can highlight the personal pain and passions rumbling just beneath the season's lights and colorful exteriors which glisten so brightly this time of year. This is the other side of Christmas. "On a midnight clear...it can sure feel cold 'round here..." North Country can leave us alone in our heartache...contemplating visits from the ghosts of Christmas past..."

Ah, yes..."Christmas...Once Upon A Time..."

On that very first Christmas Eve, no one knew exactly what lay in store. The world stood waiting. And watching. After hundreds of years, tonight it seemed that everything was about to change. But how? That first "Night Before Christmas"...all the world waited...apprehensive with fear and wonder...what would really happen..."Come Christmas..." The scriptures tell us the story.

"...And there were in the same country, shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid..."

"And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger..."

"And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men..."