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Sam and Katherine grew up within three miles of each other. For entertainment at Christmas time they attended the pageants at the local :hurches, usually held the Sunday before Christmas. After Christmas, the Sunday schools were closed until the weather changed in March or April. Ned and Elisabeth Johnson of Sperryville remember when they used to gather a truckload of Sperryville youngsters “and away we would go to look for Christmas trees.” Bundled up in mittens, coats, scarfs and stocking caps, the kids would wander through an overgrown field near Castleton, looking for the perfect tree to take back and decorate for the family living room. “The children just covered that field,” Ned recalled. “I’ll never forget one yeaT that Tish Kilby cut this little tiny tree,” he said, holding his hands just about a foot apart to illustrate the size of the miniature evergreen. “She made the whole trip with this 12-inch tree clutched in her little hands just as hard as she could hold onto it.”
When he was a boy, Ned’s family used to celebrate Christmas Eve with fireworks displays. “1 had fireworks every year from when 1 was a youngster until we were married.” But the explosion of a roman candle in his bride’s hand put a stop to the old family custom, he added.
Elisabeth remembers the pageants held in the auditorium of the old Sperryville school, the room overflowing with parents and children who had come to see the reenactment of the Christmas story.
Some of the scenes from those long ago Rappahannock Christmases are still here today for families to enjoy. "Take your children up on the hill overlooking Sperryville on Christmas Eve,” Ned Johnson suggested. “It’s such a beautiful view. It looks just like the little town of Bethlehem.”
“One Christmas I remember best is the year the Baylor Choir sang at the Baptist Church. We all took members of the choir home to spend the night and we had this tremendous snow storm,” remembered Nancy Reeve. “We built a big bonfire on Emily Miller’s hill
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