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Editorial: Magic of Christmas Past
Op-Ed · December 18, 2014


A Christmas Past celebration, a wonderful event every year, certainly did not disappoint this year, either.


From the Hoover Complex to the downtown, the two-day event Dec. 5-6 drew so many people to enjoy the Christmas spirit with great activities and sights and sounds for the entire family.

We really find a lot of charm in the “past” part of the event, and how there was so much going on that weekend that took us back to simpler times, times that seem much more joyous in retrospect.

The University of Iowa Holiday Tubas, for example — just brass, talent and practice set the tone for the lighting of the Christmas Tree. Whether you stood to listen specifically at the musical group or whether you heard it in the background while walking down the street, the unsynthesized music drew you in like nothing else.

The Gibson family’s train exhibit captures nostalgia and joyous anticipation. Watching the trains go around makes us think of Christmas morning — train sets are one of those idyllic presents of old we see in many drawings and paintings and movies. And who hasn’t stopped to stare into the glowing lights in all those snowy-village miniature homes and buildings of which the trains weave in and out? It can take one into a dreamlike state and forget the world around you.

When you leave the Gibson trains in the West Branch Fire Department and step outside, all of the businesses and Town Hall with lights and decorations against the backdrop of a downtown filled with historic buildings almost makes it feel like stepping into a full-sized version of that snowy village.

The bonfire outside the West Branch Fire Department for hot dogs and s’mores, the hearths of the hand-built brick fireplaces constructed by the Lions Club for roasting marshmallows, and the cinder-block stove erected by the Boy Scouts to cook doughnuts — the flames and embers in the nighttime setting make a surreal atmosphere that almost magically sends away the worries and concerns of life.

And the clop-clop-clop of the horses pulling carriages through the downtown and Hoover Complex only adds to the throwback atmosphere.

There are so many things we did not mention here, like music at the Hoover Library-Museum, a soup supper at West Branch United Methodist Church, the Young Footliters play in the Figge Auditorium … there is so much going on it is difficult to get around to do it all.

Congratulations to Main Street West Branch, the City of West Branch, the Hoover Complex and all of the businesses, groups and churches who make A Christmas Past so special and memorable. There is nothing else that compares.