Christmas

A team of more than 40 volunteers from Tower Federal Credit Union, headquartered in Laurel, and the Gilbane Building Co. helped renovated the Laurel home of a disabled Navy veteran April 27 during Prince George's County's Christmas in April effort. Because of roof and foundation leaks, up to 2 feet of water had damaged the first-time homeowner's house after a heavy rainfall. The volunteers repaired roof leaks and gutters; replaced a storm door; installed a new front porch and repaired and painted the back porch; removed dead bushes and trees in the front yard; and added new flower beds.

Crabs for Christmas? Yes, please. For three decades, David DeBoy has been singing his sad tale of an expatriate Baltimorean stuck in Houston on Christmas Eve, sadly lamenting to Santa that the only present he really wants is a big bucket of steamed crustaceans. That's a sentiment any local resident should be able to appreciate, and it's made the singer-songwriter responsible for "Crabs for Christmas" something of a hometown hero. "I'm just so incredibly touched that people like it as much as they do, that they sing it as much as they do," says DeBoy, who is celebrating the song's 30th anniversary with a new CD featuring his signature song and an 12 similarly Baltimore-centric tunes.

On May 26, 2003, ANNA E. CHRISTMAS. Family hour will be held on Saturday, June 14, at 10:00 A.M., at Metropolitan United Methodist Church, 1121 W. Lanvale St., Baltimore, Memorial Service to follow at 11 A.M.

Browse through more than 500 holiday cookie recipes on this site. Check out reviews of the best Christmas cookie cookbooks, submit your own recipe or read through forum postings for personal tips and advice about the greatest cookie creations around.

The challenge to keep Christ in Christmas began several years ago. Since then we have seen efforts across our nation to remove Christ from the public arena. The local pastors of the Susquehanna Ministerium made the appeal to remember the reason for the season yet again this year, and a number of Havre de Grace residents, businesses and churches have been very gracious in honoring this challenge by displaying a nativity scene during the Christmas holidays. Even more families have joined the effort.

I'M AT A crafts shop and I'm looking at the works of art in the display cabinet. There's a very expensive handmade necklace of sterling. It looks like a string of ordinary paper clips, but of course they aren't ordinary.The necklace is giving me a kind of deja vu.What does it remind me of? Why does it look familiar? It reminds me of a Christmas past.I flash back to a Christmas right after the Depression when things were simple, things were sparse. Things were probably difficult for my parents.

April is the dandiest of months. It is full of renewal. Flowers bloom into a new season, infecting people with the optimism of sunlight. There are chores to be done, for sure, such as cleaning the house and the barbecue grill. But no one minds a bit of extra work because the ups and downs of winter are finally over.Thousands of Marylanders are gearing up for extra work on April 25, when the third annual Christmas in April will take place here. Part of a national drive to aid help needy neighbors in the American barnraising tradition, this year's event will send volunteers, supervised by building professionals, to fix up the houses of scores of homeowners throughout the state.

Tower Federal Credit Union employees teamed up with volunteers from the Gilbane Building Co. and other local organizations and subcontractors to work on upgrading a home in Laurel in support of Christmas in April, a national nonprofit that rehabilitates homes for low-income homeowners, particularly the elderly and those with disabilities. The volunteers arrived early in the morning on Saturday, April 28, and put in a full-day's work providing much-needed repairs at the home of an elderly Laurel resident who uses a wheelchair.

MOUNT PLEASANT, N.C. -- Last Christmas my son received a delightful Disney tape entitled ''Christmas Around the World.'' In it Santa escorts Mickey around the world, and he learns the customs of various lands, such as singing ''Santa Lucia'' in Sweden and the tradition of ''Las Posadas'' in Mexico.At the end, Santa explains to Mickey that the Christmas spirit means keeping the gifts of peace, joy and friendship in one's heart. He reminds him that we are all the same big family with the same hopes and dreams, and pronounces a benediction of peace on earth -- all year long.

Had enough of Christmas with Kathie Lee? Ready to lose your lunch if forced to watch another reworking of "A Christmas Carol"? Find yourself wishing that, just once, Clarence decided the water was just too cold for him to jump in and save whiny George Bailey?May I suggest you check out Comedy Central tonight?Significant portions of the American viewing public -- for instance, those who offend easily -- should go nowhere near the Christmas episode of the animated, determinedly tasteless "South Park" (10 p.m.-10: 30 p.m.)