Christmas

CLAREMONT, Calif. -- An unusual nativity display at a Claremont church that conveyed a gay couple was vandalized over the weekend in an incident authorities are investigating as a hate crime.

Patti Playpal came into Sheila Love's life one Christmas when Love was 6 or 7 years old. The child-size doll was nearly as tall as little Sheila was at the time, and had brown hair just like the little girl did.

Patti was so realistic that once, when Love and her sister left their dolls sitting on the living-room couch, their mother caught herself talking to them -- mistaking them for her children.

"She looked like me and she was my best friend," Love recalls of her long-gone childhood doll.

It's The Big Day. And as such, I won't make you wait any longer to open my gift to you.

Here it is, your eagerly awaited parody song for the Ninth Annual Standard-Examiner Life at the Top o' Utah Holiday Gift o' Music Gala Giveaway and Karaoke Extravaganza:

"Oh, you'd better watch out/ You'd better not cry/ You'd better not pout/ I'm telling you why/ Santa Claus is nothing more than an imaginary mythical figure with roots in the historic and folkloric traditions of any number of Western cultures ..."

Ha! Just try singing THAT one around the ol' holiday spinet.

Now, for the benefit of any of you young tykes out there who might be reading this -- and if you are, somebody really ought to call the Division of Child and Family Services on your parents -- let me just say that your old Uncle Mark does indeed believe in the existence of Santa Claus.

But that wasn't always the case. A little holiday story, if I may ...

LAYTON -- With the clock winding down, many Top of Utah procrastinators spent Christmas Eve morning at the Layton Hills Mall, rushing to find that perfect last-minute gift.

Although traffic around the mall was flowing smoothly and parking spaces were relatively easy to come by, plenty of shoppers scoured the stores with their shopping bags and wallets in hand.

Clearfield resident Butch Anderson made a quick stop at Foot Locker to pick up some basketball shoes for his son.

WEST HAVEN -- At the time of year when headlines abound about fighting over merchandise in stores, a local family quietly shares its message of hope.

Brad and Tammy Hunt, their extended family and friends put on nine performances of a 20-minute live Nativity and Christmas pageant for the three days before Christmas as a gift to the community.

LAYTON -- Walt Disney may have come up with the term "plussing," but Don Wilhelm is living proof of the idea.

By providing service throughout Layton, those affected by Wilhelm's work say he is the perfect example of Disney's phrase, which means taking a good idea and making it better.

Area churches have planned a number of special events this weekend that are open to the public.

Those that have submitted their holiday schedules include the following:

Brigham City

On Christmas Eve at 5 p.m., Rocky Mountain Bible Church will celebrate the birth of Christ with special Christmas music presentations, singing of Christmas carols and a Bible message by Pastor Steve Barsuhn titled, “The Best News of Christmas”.