They represented everlasting life and hope for the return of spring.

THE CHRISTMAS STAR:
The wise man followed a bright star in the sky to the place where Jesus was born.
Still, many people prefer to believe that the strange star did appear, and that it was simply a miracle and throughout the world today, the Christian holiday has usually begun with the appearance of the first star on Christmas Eve. In general, the Christmas star symbolizes high hopes and high ideals – hope for good fortune, hope for reaching above oneself. For all human beings, regardless of religion, stars have special meaning for all share the heavens, no matter what barries keep them apart on earth.

CHRISTMAS DAY DINNER MENU:
Ham
Party potatoes
Green bean casserole
Sweet potato casserole
Deviled eggs
Vegetable tray
Relish tray
Rolls and butter
Assorted holiday cookies
Banana, nut, pumpkin breads

SANTA CLAUS:
It is amazing but true that the common, popular view of Santa that we all have today, along with all the crazy things around Santa like the sleight, the reindeer and the chimney, all came largely from two publishing events that occurred in the 1800s. Clement Moore wrote “The night before Christmas” in 1822. In the poem you can find the names from the reindeers, invents the sleight, comes up with the chimney and the bag of toys... Then, between 1863 and 1886, Harper’s Weekly ran a series of engravings by Thomas Nast. From these images come the concepts of Santa’s workshop, Santa reading letters, Santa checking his list and so on. Coca-Cola also played a role in the Santa image by running a set of paintings by Haddon Sundblom.
The red and white suit came, actually, from the original Saint Nicholas. Those colors were the colors of the traditional bishop’s robes. When we are celebrating Christmas lot of other religions have their own “Christmas”.
The Jewry- Festival of lights – HANUKKAH
Hanukkah means –dedication, it is a celebration in honor of a victorious battle for religious freedom. It lasts 8 days, beginning the 25th of the Hebrew month Kislev (november-december). During those days the families light on every day one candle on a special candleholder called Hanukkiya. After a battle 2000 years ago, the Jews had enough oil to light their holy light only one night. But somehow, the oil burned for eight days. That’s why the hanukkiya (also called menorah) holds 8 candles.

The African – KWANZAA
It is a cultural festival during which African Americans celebrate and reflect upon their heritage as the product of two worlds. It begins 26th December and lasts for seven days. Kwanzaa was founded in 1966 by Dr. Maulana “Ron” Karenga a collage professor and African American leader. He decided that the new holiday should be a harvest or “first fruits”.