Christmas Spirit in Every Note and Nostalgic Winter Tales

As we popped the caps off those imperial stouts, never did I imagine my taste buds would embark on such an adventurous journey. Anchorage Brewing Company, you've turned this beer skeptic into a curious explorer with your exceptional brews. This episode wraps you up in the warmth of our podcast family, as we revisit the delightful stout tasting session that had everyone chiming in with laughter and playful banter. We also tip our hats to listeners worldwide, leading into a cozy countdown of our community's favorite episodes. From album reviews that strike a chord to family stories that tug at the heartstrings, we're spreading cheer from the US to Germany and beyond.

Gather 'round as I share the holiday tunes that define the soundtrack of our lives come December. There's something about the raspy soul of Bob Seger and the humanitarian cry of Band Aid that makes the season resonate with an emotional depth. I'll take you through the melodies that stir the Christmas spirit in us—those by Nat King Cole, Mercy Me, and a medley of others that are the backdrop to our festive traditions. As we reflect on the biblical narrative at the core of Christmas, we wrap ourselves in the true essence of the holiday, reminding us of the joy and togetherness that define this time of year.

Prepare to be moved by the tale of Dylan and his unforgettable Christmases with Santa Claus, a story that exemplifies the profound kindness the season is all about. As I recite "Twas the Night Before Christmas," feel the timeless magic of the verse envelop you, a fitting close to our yuletide gathering. Sending you off with a heartfelt holiday greeting, I invite you to carry the spirit of these stories and songs into your own celebrations, sharing the joy and wonder they bring with all those dear to you. #tellyourstory #spotify #thebenmaynardprogram #familymatters #christian #christmas #santaclaus #twasthenightbeforechristmas

Thanks for listening! Follow me on Instagram: benmaynardprogram
and subscribe to my YouTube channel: THE BEN MAYNARD PROGRAM
I also welcome your comments. email: pl8blocker@aol.com

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hey everyone, welcome into the Ben Maynard program. Thanks for being here. Before we get started, a little bit of housekeeping to take care of. As a reminder, the program is available on multiple podcast outlets like Apple Podcasts, amazon Music and Spotify, among others, or simply just do a search. Do a search for the Ben Maynard program and choose your option. I always like to steer you towards Buzzsprout, because that's where my website is, so it works out better for me. And, of course, if you can't resist my pretty face here, then you can always watch on YouTube. And if you are watching on YouTube, I ask that you please subscribe to the channel, give me a thumbs up and leave a comment. I love comments. Last but not least, follow me on Instagram. Simply Ben Maynard program. So there are plenty of ways to take in this show for your dancing and listening pleasure. And with that we'll recap the last episode.

Speaker 1: 1:13

That was the stout tasting. That was. That was a lot of fun. Yeah, it really was, and yes, it was a little left of what we do normally, but, as I said, it was a lot of fun. Got some of my family involved in it and it was a little different, bringing a little something else to you, the audience, little change of pace. We did sample several stouts and we did sample one mead and it was really good and it was really fun.

Speaker 1: 1:46

As you know, I'm not a big drinker, so that was something new. I don't drink beer, period, and I still, I still, I'm still not going to consider myself a beer drinker. I don't consider these imperial stouts to be beer at all Because there's nothing. To be honest, there's nothing beer about them as far as the way they taste and the way they look and and all that good stuff. But it was a lot of fun and, as a matter of fact, we got some good response on that episode and I have promised you before and I'm trying to stick to my word that if you leave comments I'm going to read them on the air. So I'm going to get into that. Let me see, get into that episode here. Let's look. Yeah, I mean we didn't get a ton of comments, but we have some and, as I said, I'm going to read them. So the first one came from Mark Roth and he said Great show. I really enjoyed how much you guys loved the stouts For Stout newbies. You all sounded like veteran stout drinkers. So thanks a lot for that, mark.

Speaker 1: 3:00

That's what we tried to do. You know we don't want to come out here and do something like this and then make it sound like we don't know what we're talking about. So we have in our research or I shouldn't even say our research in our search for what we were looking for in those stouts. As I said before, if you, if you, if you watch the show or you listen to it, then you know what I'm talking about. But in in our journey to find that that perfect stout that we had had over the past summer, we've done a lot of looking, we've done a lot of searching, we've done a lot of sampling and we've done a lot of asking people that are supposed to be in the know. So we have a little experience in that and that's why, even for newbies, we could sound like we know what we're talking about because we do, we do our, we do our homework and we want to deliver a good, fair description of what it is that we were sampling that night. So anyway, all right, enough rambling there. Another comment this was from, I guess, also known as glassman. He says oh my gosh, that was so wildly entertaining. Thank you, darren, for the link. Oh, so he must be a friend of Darren's.

Speaker 1: 4:34

I thoroughly enjoyed the entire episode. The thoughtful consideration of each stout and the tasting notes were great. Jim, aka the bourbon beard of knowledge, had very insightful notes on the different kinds of bourbon barrels used and the notes that they might impart on the stout. Ben's two nephews and his wife were very fun. Often had separate conversations amongst themselves and I had a blast watching Ben trying to herd the cats in an effort to maintain, maintain sorry about that Control of the podcast during an hour plus where 15 to 19% stouts were consumed. Overall, fantastically fun, great tasting notes, awesome banter and an hour that was just fun to watch. Cheers to you all. Great job, ben. You had your hands full about 30 minutes in and on. Great job to the tasters, perfect amount of tasting impressions and fun banter. Cheers to the brewery First class pizza, mr K's Anchorage brewing, the stout tasting crew and to Ben Yep, yeah, I was pretty lengthy, but that summed it up.

Speaker 1: 5:50

That summed it up. If you haven't seen the episode, take it in. Yeah, good stuff, and I'll do it again. I just oh, let me read this last one here. I have another one says this is from Miljan video. Okay, hey, ben, enjoy the episode, even though I don't drink.

Speaker 1: 6:14

Haha, I sent you an email, a cooperation inquiry. I'm not sure I'll have to look for his email. Yeah, I'll have to look for that one. See, see if I can find that somewhere. So, as I said, leave a comment. If, if, as long as I don't get 10 or 20 comments on an episode, I'll, I'll read them on the air. So I do. I appreciate the comments, I appreciate the interaction and the fact that you're all interested. But, yes, a big shout out to the brewery in Placentia, the shout out to first class pizza in Irvine. Shout out to those guys, shout out to Mr K's liquor, also in Placentia. And another shout out to Anchorage Brewing Company, because without Anchorage Brewing Company, none of this, none of this would have started. The journey would have never taken off.

Speaker 1: 7:20

So listen, with that, let's get into why we're here. Today is the Christmas show, got some fun stuff lined up for you. I hope you really enjoy it. But before before I get into all the fun and frivolity, I want to. I want to go over a state of the podcast. Okay, and so what that is? I'm going to give you some statistics on this show so you can see where, where it is, where it's going and, you know, give me an idea of what's going on.

Speaker 1: 8:05

I won't sit here and claim that after two months of now broadcasting that I have millions of listeners, millions of followers. That would be, that would be silly. But I can tell you that I'm having a ton of fun doing this. I do appreciate everyone who is listening and appreciate everyone who is taking it in and watching on YouTube. The reason why there are the the platforms that I put this on, is because not everyone has the time to invest in sitting down in front of their computer or, if you want to stream it on your television and watch YouTube for 45 minutes, an hour, hour and a half, even two hours. So, of course, that's why I want to put it out in the audio version so that you can listen to it at your leisure. Download it, start, stop all that good stuff. But you know I appreciate no matter how you take this show in.

Speaker 1: 9:12

With that, I want to get started on a few things I'll. I'll start by going over the the top five episodes on YouTube. Let me adjust this really quick. Sorry, there we go. Yeah, the top five episodes on YouTube and I put out 17. Okay, 17 episodes, we're gonna go to the top five. Let's see it. Number five that would be the newest one, the stout tasting, as I said, it's getting. It's getting some good response, good traction, and I appreciate everyone for that.

Speaker 1: 9:53

At number four, episode 12, that was Ben and Eddie. Sit down and get serious. That was my friend, eddie, who came in studio. We talked about his two-year battle, or nearly two-year battle, with cancer and how that's going. Good, good stuff, great conversation. At number three is episode five. That's Broadway Brian or GQ Brian, which is it? That was my friend of 28 years, brian Jaffe. We had some good conversation there. We reminisced a little bit and and so just good stuff. And Brian Brian will Will definitely be on the on the show again.

Speaker 1: 10:38

We'll have him on again in the future. I Could get most of these people on right now, but with 17 episodes I don't really want to do that to you, the, the homing car listener or or viewer. I don't want to bring everyone back so soon. So I want to give their give a little bit of breathing room in between all this stuff and Give give you some variety to choose from. But Brian will definitely be back on the show. At number two is episode six. That was deep cut.

Speaker 1: 11:12

Dennis, that was the first in studio guest and that was that was a real fun one, talking about his you know where his love of music had started and his first concert experience and that type of stuff really really good conversation. And speaking of my friend Dennis, he had a. He had a little back procedure today, so I want to, I want to shout out to Dennis I hope everything went well, I hope that you are home and you are resting and recovering well and that I'm gonna see you again soon, very soon. And and, by the way, dennis will be back on the show as well because he's got such a Such a breath of His love of music where I think I have a great knowledge. But I I describe it as my knowledge is very circular and it's in my world. It's the bands that I like, the musicians that I like. I Go deep into them. I know I know a lot about them, but Dennis really stretches out his music world, so I definitely will have him back in and we'll talk a little more about that.

Speaker 1: 12:30

The number one episode on YouTube is Episode 11 the journey studio albums ranked with my buddy, spaz. That was a lot of fun, as all of these shows have been really just a ton of fun. So, yeah, that one has obviously gotten the best response and it's doing quite well. We had a ton of fun you doing that that show and, again, spaz will be back on as well in one form or fashion. We'll. We'll either do another, another music related episode or we'll figure something else out. We're talking about a few things you know. Obviously. You know when him and I go back, we go back 45 years and we both love music the way we do. We have a lot to cover. So, anyway, so now the audio version of the podcast, which I get my statistics off of Buzzsprout. I could really dive Deep into these stats, but I don't want to bore you with a lot of stuff that really, some of it makes no sense to me, and if it's not gonna make sense to me, it's not gonna make sense to you and it really doesn't matter at this point. Anyhow, this is just for fun, so Okay, so the audio version of this Is actually a little bit different than the YouTube top five.

Speaker 1: 14:01

At number five At number five, there are three, three episodes that are tied for the for the the top five spot or the number five spot, sorry. The first one is the Steve a Jerry album review episode. I didn't write down the episode number here on my notes. I think it was episode number, might have been episode number two. Also tied for for number five was the journey studio albums, ranked with spas. And then the third one at the fifth spot was the episode with my wife Catherine and I where we kind of let you look into our lives a little bit and give our story of how we met. There are three episodes at the number four spot the Kiss Live albums ranked, the Loverboy episode that was where I went through their catalog. And then the episode where I ran to it a little bit on farewell tours and what exactly does that mean. Then, at number three, there are two episodes tied for that spot. My niece Gianna Tells her story, so where she talked about her being adopted and and Reuniting with her biological family many years later. Also my niece Marina, where she dropped in and that was just a, that was just a surprise Thing running up into the studio and hit and record. Okay.

Speaker 1: 15:44

So at number two we have two episodes. First one is deep cut Dennis, which is certainly one of those episodes I mean it was number two overall Um, just getting great response. So, uh, let's see. Then, uh, oh, and then also the, the episode with ben and or me I'm, I'm writing, I'm looking at my notes here, I write my name Uh, the episode with eddie and I in studio. So those two episodes Are tied at number two.

Speaker 1: 16:14

Then in the number one spot this is going to surprise people, actually surprised me as well At the number one spot, and this is just the audio version of these. So this is when people are listening on apple podcasts, spotify, amazon music and wherever, but two episodes tied for the first spot. Uh, that was Broadway Broadcasting, that was Broadway Brian or GQ Brian. And then this is the one that really surprised me a lot the Aldo Nova concert review. And I know, I mean not that, not that I I didn't like the episode, not that I, I think it was. It was, um, not up to par. It just shocks me that that one there Is in the number one spot as far as the audio Version of the of the show. So it's just kind of cool. Uh, let's see another one here.

Speaker 1: 17:11

Another stat Is the top, the top apps that are being used when, um, the show is being listened to. Let's see, uh. So I'll give you the top three. 12 of you out there are listening to this podcast on Spotify, 28 percent of you are listening Through the web browser. And now I'm assuming that means that You're doing the search for the Ben Maynard program and you are listening on, uh, buzz sprout. I'm assuming I could be wrong, but it wasn't very clear. And then the number one, the number one app that's being used to listen to this podcast Is apple podcast, with 40 percent of 40 percent of the audience out there taking it in on apple podcasts. All right, so I think my last, yeah, I think my last uh bit of stats right here. Yeah, this is really cool.

Speaker 1: 18:26

Like I said before, I don't have a huge audience to this point. It is slowly growing. But you know, more importantly, I'm having a lot of fun and I am trying to grow this audience. Um, I certainly hope that you enjoy the content that I bring you Show in and show out. Somebody's enjoying it, because this is what I thought was really cool.

Speaker 1: 18:50

I think I mentioned it a few episodes back, but this podcast is international, it is worldwide. Um, and I just I just love that. I never thought that when I, when I started this two months ago, that I would be saying that so it's kind of cool and uh, so I'm gonna give you the top countries that are listening to the Ben Maynard program. Uh, let's say, uh, let's see, there are three, five, there are eight separate countries throughout the world that are listening to this, that are listening to this podcast, and I think it's really cool. Uh, I'll give you some of those.

Speaker 1: 19:44

This show is being listened to in Japan. Thank you very much for that. Oh jeez, thank you to Japan. Thanks for listening. I greatly appreciate it. Whoever you are out there, thanks for taking it in France and Greece. Those three countries are tied at the same spot for the percentage of listeners that are taking it in. So, japan, france, greece, thank you so much. You have no idea how much I appreciate it. All right, then we have two in the same spot Switzerland and Australia. Yes, I'm all the way down under. It's great.

Speaker 1: 20:33

Then, after that, the next highest percentage of listens or downloads is Germany. Yeah, germany. I'm looking at my notes and I have to shake my head because I just I think it's great. I think it's really really great. And then the top country that listens outside of the United States is the United Kingdom. So the higher percentage there outside the United States is Germany and the UK. So just to let everyone out there know, I can no longer walk the streets of Germany and the United Kingdom. I'm going to get mobbed. What can I say? I think it's awesome. So, outside of the United States, 17% of the listeners are worldwide. 83% of you are right here in the United States. So, no matter where you listen, I greatly appreciate it. I can't say thanks enough. It just it means a lot to me and that's why I just I hope that it continues to grow. I hope that you will spread the word and tell everyone that we bring some good content here.

Speaker 1: 22:04

It's not the most professional setup. It truly isn't. I know that. I know that I'm still quite raw at this and new, but as I said way back when two, two plus months ago you were going to see this go from the ground up to professional broadcaster, you've seen some changes in studio already. I've tried to make some changes equipment wise to deliver better stuff.

Speaker 1: 22:36

Sometimes I mess up. I don't even address it, but sometimes I mess up in trying some different things. I told you before there's no edit button on this stuff. We hit record and when we're done we stop. So you're going to get this show I'll use the phrase again, warts and all. But thanks a lot for taking it in and I hope that you have seen changes.

Speaker 1: 23:03

I think I'm getting better at this as far as being a broadcaster, and I think we're just doing things right. I'm not going to, I'm not going to bring you things that I don't, I don't think you need. Okay, so that's it with that. Yeah, thanks everyone for taking it, taking in the show. It just means a lot to me and that's why I say at the end of every episode tell a friend, because if you tell one friend, then they're going to tell one friend, and so on and so on. And word of mouth is really the greatest form of advertisement that you can get. It truly is. It's tried and true throughout the ages. All right, so enough of state of the podcast. All right, throw those out over there. Now they're at my feet, get them out of here, okay. So I said that. Oh no, no, no before, sorry. One more thing before I go on and we get into the Christmas show.

Speaker 1: 24:17

I did want to say this that the one good thing about YouTube is that when you click on a video, you can you know you as a viewer. You can see how many subscribers there are to a particular channel, you can see how many comments, you can see how many likes there are, all that stuff. It's, it's right there for you. So everybody knows that at this point I have 41 subscribers. It's yeah. I mean it's kind of cool, because who am I? I'm nobody special, but my goal, my goal, was to have 100 subscribers by the end of the year. Well, at the time of this show being recorded, you can see I'm about 59 shy of that. So unless all of you out there taking in this program subscribe, I'm going to fall short. So a little help, please. Thank you so greatly appreciated. All right, last, that was it. That was it Last comment on our state of the podcast and we're going now to. We're going to now move on to our Christmas segment of the show.

Speaker 1: 25:32

I love Christmas a lot and I'm sure most of you out there do as well. I'm sure all of you out there do as well. I certainly hope so for more for, for one reason or another, multiple reasons, and I love Christmas music, but I'm not I'm not always so into the how do I say it? I love traditional Christmas music, the stuff that I grew up listening to when I was a kid, that my my parents would would have playing on the stereo at home. But I like it when rock acts since I do come from a rock, the rock space, or I you know. I just like it when other artists take these Christmas standards and do their thing with them, put their signature on them, make them their own. I love some of that stuff. So what I did here is I put a top 10 list of my Christmas songs, so I'm going to share those with you and I can't play them.

Speaker 1: 26:42

I was before I, before I started recording, I was doing a little test run, trying to play little snippets of of the top 10 here, my top 10. And it wasn't coming through the microphone. I don't know if it was for some. I was trying to play it on my, on my phone, holding it up to the microphone. I even tried to play it on my laptop and had a microphone closer to the laptop. Just wasn't coming through something. The sound was muting out the microphone and it was just in and out, and so it was real, real patchy and it certainly wouldn't make for a very professional broadcast.

Speaker 1: 27:22

So I decided, well, I think it was four or five attempts at doing it. I said, yeah, I guess I'm just not going to play music. So you are all going to have to seek out the songs for any that you're not familiar with and put your own playlist together. I do, I have a. I have a Christmas playlist on my, on my phone. I think it runs about two and a half hours or so. I just love it, I love to get in that mood, and so I decided I would put together my top 10 and share them with you. So I don't even have like anything. I'd have no drum roll, none, none of that stuff.

Speaker 1: 28:04

But at number 10 is Joseph and Mary's boy by Alabama. It's, it's just a really, really cool song. This one's more of a. This is probably a little bit, a little bit more well known. At number nine come on Christmas by Matthew West. It's a real fun song, real bouncy. Yeah, it's all I can say. It's just and it's, it's, it's really good.

Speaker 1: 28:37

Number eight Santa Claus is coming to town by Bruce Springsteen and the East street band. In years past that one was so much higher on my list. But over the years other ones have come in and kind of bump that one down. But I I just love that song. It's just so cool, it's just a great version. And I love it. The end, where you know they're towards the end of the song, bruce is trying to go through the chorus and he keeps cracking up and I'm not sure why I don't. To me it seems like something that maybe Clarence Clemens was doing somewhere on stage, because you hear some ho ho ho's in the background. That seemed like maybe that was what was cracking up Bruce in that one. But number eight Santa Claus is coming to town. That's a really good one.

Speaker 1: 29:33

Number seven Twas the Night Before Christmas by Gary Hoey, and for those who are not familiar with Gary Hoey, he's just a tremendous guitar player and he's done a lot of instrumental work, worked with a lot of artists, done a lot of writing with a lot of other artists. But every year he has, he puts together his Christmas show and he goes around and tours, tours clubs with it and it's usually called Ho Ho, hoey. And so in the month of December, he'll throw a string of dates together and just puts on a great show as a great band. And this particular song right here is just, it's so good. All right, number six goes back many, many years. Love it. Love it, father Christmas, by the kinks, I just dig it. It's just so cool. Father Christmas, give us some money. We got no time for your silly toys. Yeah, beat you up if you don't hand it over, you know, or whatever. So that's, this is so cool.

Speaker 1: 30:49

At number five, number five I guarantee most of you had no idea the song even existed. Yelling at the Christmas tree by Billy Idol. What a cool song. And if it weren't for the ones that are ahead of it, you know, four, three, two and one this would probably be number one. Yeah, of course it would. This song is on Billy's album the Devil's Playground. I believe that one was released in oh six. I believe it was such a good song and well, I don't want to go off on a tangent, but you got to check out that album itself. What a great album and there's such a cool song on that album. So check it out. Yelling at the Christmas tree by Billy Idol at number five At number four song kills me.

Speaker 1: 31:37

Oh, it just gets me right here. You know how I feel about music. You know how I feel when it hits you right here in the chest. Little Drummer Boy by Bob Seager in the Silver Bullet Band. Man, what a great version. What a great version. And I grew up I don't gosh, I wish I could remember the name of the, of the artist that did that version way back. I think it's from the 60s. But I grew up listening to that one and it's so good. I guess I call that one the original version. But when I heard this version here by Bob man, just the passion with which he brings those lyrics so so passionate, so good, so good, so good, so good, so good. But unfortunately it's right there at number four. But it's just good stuff, all right. At number three I'm sure you're all familiar with this one. I'm sure you're all familiar with this one. I'm sure you're all familiar with this one. And it's just a. It's number three. Hey, it's a good song. Do they know it's Christmas? By Band Aid.

Speaker 1: 32:42

We all know why, the reason why that song was written and why it was recorded. All the British artists came together. Bob Geldof wrote the song. We know it was to provide aid to the folks in Ethiopia. At the time they were going through famine. But the lyrics in that song say so much and they're great, great lyrics and each artist that has a line in that song. They seem to really just for me. I just feel their passion that they bring to it as they're singing it. And I think my favorite line in the song is by Bono, for whatever reason, it's just. It's like the period at the end of that statement before they all go in start to go into the pre-chorus and it's well, tonight, thank God, it's them instead of you, and the way he just belts it out, it's just so good. So, yeah, number three. Do they know it's Christmas? By Band Aid. At number two. I have two songs. I have two songs tied for the number two spot, but they're both the same song just by two different artists, and that song is the Christmas song.

Speaker 1: 34:25

I grew up listening to Nat King Cole sing that song every year and falling in love with it. And my, my dad had the cassette tape. He had this really, really interesting cassette deck, home stereo cassette deck. I won't even go into it, but he had the cassette of that and he would play that it was. It was Nat King Cole's Christmas or something along those lines, cause I think Nat actually has done a two or three of them over the years. At least there's been a couple of different compilations put together, but but that particular one, and that's the song that leads it off, and it always seemed to put me in the mood, and that whole entire album of Nat King Cole singing Christmas songs, traditional ones and and not traditional ones, so good. So that song there has always done it for me, nat King Cole singing the Christmas song, and then in 1991, I believe it was 1991, 1992.

Speaker 1: 35:50

I'm listening to my buddies, mark and Brian, as they do their Christmas show and for those who are unfamiliar, they would have a lot of a lot of music artists come out and and play some of their music and always play a Christmas song as well. But they recorded this, this show, and then they would play it back for broadcast. And the writer of that song, mel Torme, came out and sang that song, just with a little piano accompaniment and him sitting on a stool singing, and I wept as he was going through the lyrics of that song and especially as he came closer to the end of it. The tears were streaming down my cheeks the first time I heard it and I couldn't believe what I was hearing. So do yourself a favor. Everyone is familiar with Nat King Cole's version and it's absolutely gorgeous. But go out. It's not available on any streaming service. However, for those listening, for those watching on YouTube, you just go out and search Mel Torme, the Christmas song, and it's about a four minute and thirty second version. That is the one from the Mark and Brian Christmas show. Just go out and listen, just look it up, find it, play it and tell me if it doesn't make you cry. Okay, great, great stuff, great stuff, okay.

Speaker 1: 37:37

So at number one on my top ten Christmas songs is God Rest Ye, merry Gentlemen, by Mercy Me, and I wish I could have played these songs. I wish I could have played clips of them for you. It just wasn't going to work out and I'm sorry for that. But this song now, this song was not my number one song until last year when I, when I heard this, I wasn't even familiar with this version here, and it is so powerful. There's, there's an orchestra in it, I can't even describe it. There's a choir singing an orchestra and that orchestra and that choir coming together and singing makes this song so powerful. I mean, it is a power punch. When you hear this song, it's pretty darn heavy, it really is. Look, you can say, oh well, it's heavy, is heavy metal. You know it's not what I'm talking about. Listen to the song and you'll understand exactly what I'm saying. Great stuff, great stuff. And so so two years ago, yeah, it actually took over the number one spot on my on my list.

Speaker 1: 39:07

So with that let me wrap up, or let me recap the top 10, and I'll go a little quicker this time. Alright. Number 10, joseph and Mary's Boy from Alabama. Number nine Come on Christmas by Matthew West. Number eight Santa Claus is coming to town by Bruce Springsteen in the East Street. Band Number seven Twas the Night Before Christmas by Gary Hoey. Number six Father Christmas by the Kinks. Number five Yellen at the Christmas Tree by Billy Idol. Number four Little Drummer Boy by Bob Seager in the Silver Bullet. Band Number three Do they Know it's Christmas? By Band Aid. And then two versions of the Christmas song, one by Nat King Cole and Mel Tormey. I just had to. They lock up the number two spot and then, at number one. God rest ye, mary, gentlemen, by Mercy Me. So that is my top 10, right there. Okay, cool On to the next thing, talking about Christmas earlier, and I was saying that I love Christmas.

Speaker 1: 40:14

Christmas is a great time of year, but I don't want to just say Christmas. For me, the holiday season starts with Halloween. It's just, it's that fall moving into Christmas and there's just a different. There's just something different about the air, there's something different about I can't describe it, but I but I love this time of year, it's my favorite time of year.

Speaker 1: 40:49

I believe that this time of year especially, we all feel that it's important for our families to get together during the holiday season Thanksgiving and Christmas, and for my family, those are huge holidays. For us, they really are, so much so that that we actually have a what we call Italian Thanksgiving, and we do that about 10 days to two weeks prior to Thanksgiving, so that others can you know, so that everyone can have their own individual Thanksgiving, and then, even at that, still half the people that come to Italian Thanksgiving are at my house with Catherine and I, as we put together Thanksgiving as well. We'll host Italian Thanksgiving, and then we'll host Thanksgiving, the actual holiday too. So we get big crowds for those two and then, and then, you know, comes Christmas and, being the size of my family, we have a big celebration and it's about coming together as family. Sure, we see each other throughout the year, some folks more than others, but there's just something special about being able to come together that during, during this time of year, and we put together big celebrations.

Speaker 1: 42:15

It's not and it's not about the buying gifts and giving gifts, receiving gifts, the commercialization of Christmas, and I don't want to poo poo that at all. If that's the way you celebrate your Christmas, great. Because I think, honestly, for a lot of us, as we, you know, we grew up as kids and that's what we thought of, you know, we thought wake up on Christmas morning, you know, run into the living room or wherever we had our Christmas tree set up and unwrap gifts that came from Santa and okay, that's, that's awesome, that is that's great stuff. But what I, I guess, what I don't want, to get lost in the whole shuffle, is the reason, the true reason, as to why we celebrate Christmas. I love all that other stuff, I love family, but I don't want, I don't want this to get lost in the mix and I'm going to throw my notebook down here for a moment. Hold on, let me get my glasses on. Let's see. Let's get this. By the way, I have two stories that I'm going to read here on the show, one right now, and then the next one will close out. Let me reposition myself here and the next one will close out, will close out the program. So yeah, I'm trying something new here with the microphones, as I as I, as I told you earlier, you know I experiment with the equipment and positioning and all this kind of stuff. You know, I just want to bring you a better show and I want to be better at doing that too. So the first story I want to read as I said, I don't want this to get lost at all and I want everybody to remember the reason why we truly celebrate Christmas and it's written right here in the Bible, in Luke, chapter number two, and it goes like this In those days, caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world.

Speaker 1: 44:49

This was the first census that took place while Corineas was governor of Syria, and everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judah, to Bethlehem, the town of David, because he belonged to the, to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in clothes and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them and there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby keeping watch over their flocks. At night, an angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them Do not be afraid, I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today, in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you. He is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be assigned to you. You will find a baby wrapped in clothes and lying in a manger.

Speaker 1: 46:17

Suddenly, a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel praising God and saying Glory to God in the highest heaven and on earth. Peace to those on whom his favor rests. When the angels had left them and gone into heaven. The shepherds said to one another let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about. So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the baby who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread word concerning what they had been told to them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured upon. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.

Speaker 1: 47:40

And that's the reason why we celebrate Christmas, and I just don't want to. I don't want us to lose sight of that. It's so great to celebrate it in other ways. It's so great to be with family. It's so great to decorate. I'm sitting right here in front of my tree, right here in my living room. It's great to do all that stuff, as long as we don't lose sight of it. So that's it no more preaching, no more Bible thumping or anything like that.

Speaker 1: 48:11

All right, what I did want to share with you I'm going to try to put this together so that you all understand what I'm saying. For kids, santa Claus is like everything when it comes to Christmas, and Santa and I have been friends for oh gosh probably almost 40 years. I'm quite serious when I say that Santa Claus and I are very close friends and Santa has a way about him. I do believe, honestly. I do believe that there is a certain, there's a certain magic about Santa and I've seen it. I've seen it firsthand, I've seen it work, and that's what I wanted to share. I have a lot of stories of Santa actually doing his thing and bringing love and Christmas cheer to people, putting smiles on their faces and all that good stuff. But there's this one particular story I wanted to share with you before we close out. And, as I said, santa and I have been friends for a long time and we hang out during this time of year quite a bit.

Speaker 1: 49:46

So Santa was doing this, santa was doing this thing. It was a I don't want to call it a picture taking opportunity, but Santa was doing some work for some friends of mine in the uptown Whittier area, which is here in Southern California, and they had provided a chair for him to come in as he arrived to sit on and kids would line up and take pictures with him. So there was a photographer there as well, and that night, for whatever reason, the crowd was really light. I saw Santa taking each one of these kids and spending time with them and really talking to them and getting I mean, really coming face to face with them. And there was one. There was one boy. I remembered seeing this. This happened.

Speaker 1: 50:52

This one boy had come up to see Santa and his mother walked up with him and, hi, santa, this is, this is Dylan. And Dylan was about five, five or six at the time. And she says hi, santa, this is Dylan. And I heard Santa say oh hi, dylan, how are you? And Dylan didn't speak. Dylan had, he was, he was mentally challenged, so he really didn't speak and so he spent time. He spent God, this gets me. He spent time with Santa. Oh gosh, this is some years ago, so it's hard to remember how much time, but you know, probably a good five minutes talking to Dylan, sat him on his lap. They took some pictures and I remember Dylan coming back the next year and the next year and I would sit.

Speaker 1: 51:57

I would sit and I watched Dylan standing in line to see Santa and I say, hey, that's, that's Dylan, that's that kid, yeah, and I would watch Santa do his work, never forgot, never forgot Dylan's name Every time. Dylan was there for those next two, three years and then this year Santa was doing the same, the same function, and it had been some years since Dylan had showed up. And uh, I saw Santa sitting on his chair, the line of kids and line of parents and oh my gosh, santa's like a rock star. I mean it's just, it's amazing and he's so good with the parents and he's so good with the kids and that line just goes on forever. It really does.

Speaker 1: 53:06

But I saw this kid in line. I didn't see him until he came, until he was at the front of the line. He was next in line to come up and and see Santa. And uh, he comes walking up with his mom and she says hi, santa. I heard Santa say Dylan, you came back. I haven't seen you. How are you doing, buddy? And Dylan and his, you know, in his condition. He didn't say much, but he had a big smile on his face, so he knew.

Speaker 1: 53:44

And we talked, or you know, I saw Santa talking with his, with his mother and him for a moment or so, and uh, so they took their picture and uh, and so then Dylan walked off, his mother grabbed his hand and I think this has probably been a good uh, 12, 10 or 12 years since since, uh, santa had seen Dylan. And as they walked off, his mom turns around and I watched her, I watched her from the side. They're looking at Santa and she turns around and she was so blown away and so appreciative and she says thank you, santa, for remembering his name. And I mean, just as it's hitting me now, it hit me that night and I was like, oh, I'm going to be okay, I'm going to be okay, I'm going to be okay, I'm going to be okay, I'm going to be okay. And as it's hitting me now, it hit me that night. I was like, oh, my gosh, you know she appreciated what Santa did so much.

Speaker 1: 54:57

And, uh, that's the kind of guy Santa is Okay. I mean, he's not uh, he's certainly not our uh, he's not our savior, but he's a rock star and, and, and he does such a good job at trying to do his thing and stay in his lane, make kids happy, make parents happy, spread Christmas cheer, and there's a timer, too, where he makes a miracle happen. You know, and, boy, that just was something else. It was something else, I tell you. So, uh, santa was out there working his magic and he, he definitely delivers from time to time. That's yeah. So I just wanted to sorry about that. Thanks, santa, thanks, appreciate it. Yeah, he's not around right now, but, boy, you know that box of tissue that's up at the studio, I should have it here. Oh, anyway, I just wanted to share that with you, uh, since we're talking about the spirit of Christmas and we're talking about the real reason why we celebrate, and uh, so I thought that would be something to share. So, thanks for listening to that.

Speaker 1: 56:24

All right, we're going to finish this up right here. How do you know we're finishing up? Ha, my oh gosh, my favorite story, my favorite Christmas story of all time, and I don't know if you'll be able to see it, but is this one right here? And it's twas the night before Christmas. Okay, yeah, don't bump the mic. What a fabulous story it is Written many, many years ago, I think, 18 feasts, 18 something.

Speaker 1: 57:03

Let's see. 1822 is when this, when this story was written, and, uh, by a guy by the name of Clement C Moore. So I thought that I would share this and I'm going to move this up a little bit right here. Okay, so just bear with me, because I'm going to move up and sit on the edge of my chair as I read this to you. So close your eyes, sip on your hot cocoa, sip on your stout, have a cup of coffee, whatever it is, and take it in. This is, uh, again, my favorite Christmas story.

Speaker 1: 57:44

Twas, the night before Christmas. Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there. The children were nestled all snug in their beds and the kids were all hung in their beds, and the kids were all hung in their beds, and the kids were all hung in their beds. Children were nestled all snug in their beds while visions of sugar plums danced in their heads, and mama in her kerchief and I in my cap had just settled down for a long winter's nap when out on the lawn there rose such a clatter, I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter. A way to the window, I flew like a flash, tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

Speaker 1: 58:49

The moon on the breast of the new fallen snow gave a luster of mid days to objects below when what, to my wondering eyes, should appear but a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer with a little old driver, so lively and quick, I knew in a moment it must be St Nick, more rapid than eagles, his coasters. They came and he whistled and he shouted and he called them by name Now Dasher, now dancer, now Prancer and Vixen, on comment on Cupid, on Dunder and Blitzen, to the top of the porch, to the top of the wall. Now dash away, dash away, dash away. All as dry leaves before the wild hurricane fly when they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky. So up to the house, top the coasters, they flew with a sleigh full of toys and St Nicholas to. And then in a twinkling I heard on the roof thing and pawing each little hoof.

Speaker 1: 1:00:15

As I drew in my head and was turning around down the chimney, st Nicholas came with a bound. Oh, that was terrible. He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot and his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot. A bundle of toys he had flung on his back and he looked like a peddler just opening his pack. His eyes, how they twinkled. His cheeks were like roses, his dimples how Mary, and his nose was red just like a cherry. His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow and the beard on his chin was as white as the snow. The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth and the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath. He had a broad face and a little round belly that shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly.

Speaker 1: 1:01:23

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf, and I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself. A wink of an eye and a twist of his head soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread. He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work and he filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk and laying his finger aside of his nose and giving a nod up the chimney. He rose, he sprang to his sleigh, to his team, gave a whistle and away. They all flew like the down of a thistle, but I heard him exclaim as he flew out of sight. Merry Christmas to all and to all, and good night Merry Christmas to you and your families. Thanks for listening. This is the Ben Maynard Program. Tell a friend.