Christmas

Content Advisory: If Santa is real to your kids, this story may not be suitable for them.

It’s a month after Christmas, and in parts of the nation, the Santas are gathering for some rumination. From the Here & Now Contributors Network, Phoebe Judge of WUNC has the story of what professional Santas do when Christmas is over.

It is said that New Yorkers don’t go see the Statue of Liberty -- they just take it for granted. With that as premise, I took you to the River Walk in a recent report so that others could remind you how wonderful the River Walk is. Those to whom I spoke expressed too much enthusiasm for only one report, so here's a follow up.

"I’m Catherine Perez, we just recently moved to the San Antonio area from Florida."

I asked Catherine what she thought of the River Walk in its holiday finery.

"I love it! It’s busy, it’s pretty," she said.

Texas Matters: The Environmental Protection Agency drew fire from gas interests and politicians in how it handled the case in Parker County, which is west of Fort Worth, but the new report finds the agency followed all laws and rules in the investigation. Also on this show: Oil lobby contests crude oil export policy, Texas Monthly's Bum Steer Award(s) and a holiday tamale making tradition.

The Fracking Water Games: Catching Fire

If you’ve been meaning to, but haven't quite got around to seeing "The Nutcracker" this year, you’ve got one more chance at the Majestic Theatre. The Moscow Ballet returns to San Antonio to perform the ballet on Monday night.

"It’s more than my job, it’s my life," said the ballet’s Natalie Miroshnyk, who is also the audition director that chose the San Antonio children who perform parts with the Moscow Ballet in the production.

In his first Christmas Eve Mass as pontiff, Pope Francis spoke of Jesus as an infant in keeping with the first months of his papacy that have been dedicated to the most vulnerable in society.

Speaking at St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Francis noted that the first to learn of the birth of Christ were shepherds, who were considered "among the last, the outcast."

"You are immense, and you made yourself small," he said of Jesus. "You are rich, and you made yourself poor; you are all-powerful and you made yourself vulnerable."

The Associated Press writes:

San Antonio’s largest single piece of art has many fans, both local, and international. It's the San Antonio River, downtown. A pan flute fills the air with South American magic at the River Center Mall lagoon, where the barges circle and head out on their circumnavigation of the river's big horseshoe bend. 

I went down the other night to see what people thought about how the city dresses up its River Walk for the Holiday Season.

"My name is Justin Self, and I’ve been having fun just walking around and seeing all the pretty lights."

"Where are you from?" I asked.

Toni picks up her supply of food for the week, but this time she's picking up something extra -- a Christmas tree. She and many more existing clients of the Baptist Temple got the chance to pick out a tree to go along with their holiday meal.

"Some mac and cheese there, there's some rice, and each one of them is different, but we try to make sure that there's some vegetables, some protein," said George Zayas Bazan, the pastor at Baptist Temple. Zayas Bazan said the San Antonio Food Bank distributes food in bulk twice a month -- 16,000 pounds worth.

No one is predicting a white Christmas for San Antonio, no one except Cameo Theatre, a local theater troupe that is putting on a production based on the 1954 musical starring Danny Kaye and Bing Crosby.

Cameo manager Jim Zaccariah talks about their production of "White Christmas."

"It’s got a large cast of 25 people. A large ensemble cast," said Zacchariah, who said the group has more or less followed the movie plot, but with a few twists.

“They’ve added more Irving Berlin songs, so if you’re an Irving Berlin fan, this is the musical for you,” he said.

You’re down on the River Walk, the barges floating by, when all of a sudden you see a barge floating by full of Christmas carolers.

“It is one of the most fun things that we do all year long," said Nancy Hunt, executive director of the Paseo Del Rio Association.

“We provide barges that people can rent. You can bring a church caroling group or a boy scout troop or a girl scout troop. And you board the barge and you sing carols along the River Walk," Hunt said.

Wow! Talk about a San Antonio holiday.

Texas Matters: The holidays are a time of stories. There is the divine story of the birth of Jesus and the almost infinite volume of personal stories from each of our families. There's the story of the magic of Christmas seen a child's eyes, then told many years later after that child became an adult. Texas Matters pauses to listen to those stories and we encourage you to tell your stories to your loved ones.

* This program originally aired on November 27, 2009.

A Remembrance Of The Holidays