Community Corner

Five Things You Need to Know About Christmas

1) Merry Christmas! Remember today, Dec. 25 all town offices, post offices, schools, banks and most stores are closed.

2) What’s your favorite Christmas tradition? A Yule log? Cookie baking? Tell us in the comments section below.

3) Will there be a White Christmas? Check out the weather widget above for updates throughout the day.

4) According to authors James and Kay Salter, a Germany choirmaster invented the hook-shaped candy cane treats in 1670 to amuse children choir members during Christmas services. The candy cane shape is Biblical, resembling the hooks carried by the shepherds who were the first to hear the news about Jesus’ birth, according to the book of Luke. The traditional peppermint flavoring came 200 years later.

5) Ah, mistletoe. How romantic, how lovely, how … inspired by bird poop? Birds help mistletoe grow by eating the plant’s berries, while the mistletoe seeds in the bird excrement can then germinate, according to the San Diego Natural History Museum. Mistletoe’s name derives from this inglorious beginning: the Anglo-Saxon “mistel” (dung) and “tan” (twig), or “dung on a twig.”

Lauren Burgoon contributed to this report.


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