Star One Smart Blog's

...are not hard times.

These were some hard times..

Children looked forward to Christmas even in the worst of times.

"We always had a tree," Stratton said.

"We went with Dad to get it. We made homemade ornaments. There was no electricity when I was very young and Mother wouldn't let us have candles." Few people could afford to buy gifts from the store or catalog.

"We made things for each other," she said. "We didn't buy anything. The girls would get a doll or clothes. The boys usually got clothes. We were thankful to get anything."

The whole family enjoyed the Christmas programs at church when Santa came.

"We were delighted to have hard candy and an orange," she said.

Mountain people didn't have much, but they shared what they had and made it through the hard times.

Let's remember those less fortunate, and help out where we can, shall we? Give a little bit more to a charity that's going to truly help the children.

A Church-based charity is the best bet, I'm guessing.