In the holiday classic “A Christmas Story” the main focus of the movie is the desire and outright obsession of young Ralphie to convince his parents, Santa Claus or anybody else that would listen that he needed a Red Rider BB gun for Christmas.

“You’ll shoot your eye out,” you’ll remember is what poor Ralphie was met with at every turn.

Substitute a gold Schwinn stingray bicycle for that Red Ryder BB gun and during the weeks leading up to Christmas in 1963 I could have very well been Ralphie (minus the horn-rimmed glasses).

About two months before Christmas that year I was with my dad at a West Frankfort business where he was getting tires put on an old truck that he used to haul coal. Along with tires the store sold a variety of items including bicycles.

As I wondered around that day I spotted a bicycle that was unlike any I’d ever seen. It was a Schwinn stingray, metallic gold and it had what was called butterfly handle bars and a banana seat. The front tire was a little smaller than the knobby tire on the back. It had chrome all over it and a price tag of $39.95. In order to appreciate that price you have to think in 1963 dollars. That $39.95 was more than my dad made in two days working in the mines.

As I stared at the bike I learned an early lesson in life – there is such a thing as love at first sight.

Before we left I coaxed my dad over to the bicycle to show him. He casually glanced at it, obviously not nearly as impressed as I was and then quickly burst my bubble.

“That’s too much money for a bicycle,” he said matter-of-factly, and then abruptly turned and walked away.

Did his seemingly uncaring attitude faze me? Of course not and in fact it spurred me on to scheme and plot my strategy. In the following days I concocted every reason imaginable why I should have that bike and brought it up on a daily basis. And for every good reason I had my dad gave me the same stern answer.

“That’s too much money to pay for a bicycle,” he would say and then promptly change the subject.

And the harder I would persist the more short and abrupt were his answers. I was in a gloomy mood two days before Christmas when I gathered with a group of fellow heathens, as we did nearly everyday, to play basketball. Once again, keep in mind that this was during an era when kids actually played outside. The house where we were playing was about four blocks from where I lived, but was located directly across the street from my Aunt Thelma. Shortly after I arrived at the pick up game one of my friends told me that he had seen my dad and mom at my aunt’s house earlier in the day.

“I couldn’t see exactly what they were doing but they were putting something in her garage,” he said.

Realizing even at that young age that curiosity killed the cat I still couldn’t stand it and had to do a little investigating. Shortly before dark that night I walked down the alley and with the help of a milk crate looked in the window of the garage.

And what to my wondering eyes should appear … but that gold Schwinn stingray bike. I was elated and excited and joyous and scared to death – all at the same time. You see, I’ve never been able to lie about anything in my life without my eyes giving me away, so I had to pretend like the events of that afternoon never happened and then turn in an Academy Award acting performance on Christmas morning.

Much like Ralphie and that Red Rider BB gun, my love for that gold Schwinn new no bounds. I had to pull it off.

I’m certain I had a little extra spring in my step in the final days leading up to Christmas morning when we opened our presents but I managed to contain my enthusiasm and keep my mouth shut (which was no small task for me even back in those days).

On Christmas morning I bounded out of bed and turned in an acting performance that was, if I say so myself, simply superb. I hooted and hollered, yelled and screamed and within a matter of minutes I was riding that spectacular bicycle down the street with the cold December air hitting me in the face. It really does seem like it was just yesterday!

Of course, during that fateful Christmas in 1963 I also learned an important lesson that I filed away for future reference with my own children. Parents should never, ever hide Christmas presents in a building with a window because you can never tell when some nosy kid is lurking in the shadows.

More than 55 years later I can still recall what a wonderful Christmas I had that year. There has never been, or will there ever be a better Christmas present than that Gold Schwinn Stingray with the butterfly handlebars and banana seat!

From my little corner of the world to yours … Merry Christmas!

By Jim Muir

Christmas is traditionally a time for joyous celebrations, family gatherings and wide-eyed children who are enthusiastically anticipating the arrival of Santa Claus.

However, for many others the Yuletide season is a test of strength and endurance while trying to find a new-normal in dealing with the death of a loved one and a central figure in holiday celebrations.

The latter is the case for the Tom LeVault family as they attempt to come to terms with the loss of family matriarch Brenda LeVault, who passed away on October 18, 2019 from chronic respiratory failure and pneumonia. Only 72 years old when she passed, Brenda and Tom, who lives in rural Sesser, were married for 56 years and are the parents of four children, son Larry and daughters Tawana, Jackie and Lisa. The couple also has 11 grand-children and two great-grandchildren.

While Brenda is fondly remembered for many things, her big personality and even bigger love of all-things Christmas are near the top of the list.

A passage from her obituary, written by her family, shows the impact she had on her loved ones. It reads:

The world became a little quieter with her passing. Her sassy, fierce, no-holds barred approach meant she left this world in true ‘Brenda Fashion’ – her way and on her terms. You never had to question where you stood with her. She loved deeply and openly. She was everyone’s biggest cheerleader. She never turned those in need away. Her door was always opened and you were always warmly welcomed. She was the only women we knew who could take a meal for a few, and turn it into a meal for plenty. Her children’s friends became her kids. Brenda played many roles, but her favorite was just being Nanny to her grandchildren.

As late November rolled around on the calendar the LeVault family was faced with the decision about how to handle Christmas. One of Brenda’s passions about her favorite holiday involved a huge ‘Christmas Village’ – a village that had taken on a life of its own throughout the years. What started for the family 20 years ago with three small pieces has now evolved into a three-level village that covers three walls of a large room and has more than 1,000 pieces and moving parts.

Following Brenda’s death, Tom said he had no intention of tackling the annual project of putting the village out.

“My first reaction was that I was not going to put the village up this year, but when I mentioned that I got three good ‘butt-chewings’ (pointing at his three daughters) and it was sternly suggested that … ‘yes we are putting the village up,’” said Tom, a retired coal miner and farmer.

Waving his arm around the room at the mammoth Christmas Village display, Tom added: “And you can see who won that discussion.”

It’s fitting that putting the village together each year is a family affair because many of the purchases of the many different items on display were also a family affair.

“We have all been shopping and we would see something for the village and call mom to see if she had this piece or that piece,” said Tawana. “It’s been a family affair since the beginning.”

While all three daughters admitted that they are still trying to come to terms with the grief of losing a strong influence in their lives, they all agreed that the village had to go up this year.

Click on link to see video of LeVault Christmas Village.

jackie halley video

“It’s tough this year because Mom is not here to boss everybody around,” said Tawana with a laugh. “But, it has been a help to me to see the Christmas village come to life again. I don’t think any of us really wanted to do it … but we knew we had to do it.”

Jackie said if she acted on her true feelings, she could easily “skip Christmas this year.”

“I know that none of us wanted to put the village up this year, we really didn’t have the heart to do it,” said Jackie. “But, we also knew we had to do it. It’s funny, but seeing the Christmas village back up again has helped me. And I know that my mom would be happy it’s up.”

Lisa said she shared the same feelings as her two sisters.

“It’s one of those things in life that you don’t want to do but you know you have to do,” Lisa said. “It has helped me to try and get through December and Christmas, but it’s not easy for me. I know my mom would be happy and I’m happy to help carry on a family tradition.”

The meticulous detail of the village is nothing short of amazing, with a city section, a country section, a carnival, movie theater, churches from every denomination, museums, town hall buildings, people, animals and everything imaginable in between.

Tom pointed out Brenda’s favorite piece, a deer nose to (carrot) nose with a snowman and his favorite, an ‘outhouse’ with the door swung open wide and a man reading a newspaper.

“Every piece has a story behind it and a memory,” Tom said.

To guarantee that the village has the same look every year the LeVault family even put together a scrap book with pictures and details of where every piece is supposed to be. For example one picture might be marked Section A, Row 2 to show exactly where that piece goes while another is marked Section K, Row 3. The family estimated it would take one person working all day two weeks to assemble and put the entire village together.

Pointing to a large couch near the recently-assembled village, Tom recalled better days.

“I can’t tell you the hours that me and Brenda sat on that couch in the dark with just the lights of the village,” he said. “It is just beautiful at night.”

With the village completed for this year father and daughters are now tackling what was referred to as: Brenda’s 9-foot Christmas tree.

“There’s one place in the house where it will fit and Brenda had to have a 9-foot Christmas tree for that spot,” Tom said. “That will be the next project, and that would make her happy.”

While the village and the tree will be completed there is one area of Christmas where all three daughters and husband Tom agree that they can not meet Brenda’s standards.

“She bought presents and then she bought more presents,” said Tom. “She had one room here at the house that she would stack presents after they were wrapped and it would be full and head-high by Christmas. It was nothing for her to go through 100 rolls of wrapping paper.”

Tom encouraged family and friends to bring their children to see the village on full display. Family members will be on hand Sunday, December 8, 2019 from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. for anybody wanting to get an up-close look at the Christmas village. The address is 7292 Peach Orchard Road, located southeast of Sesser.

“Nothing would make Brenda happier than to know that people are enjoying something she loved so much,” he said.

Tawana summed up the overall feeling for her family.

“We know she is in a better place and she is not struggling with her health,” she said. “We all know that Christmas will never be the same without her but seeing the village come to life, it just touches your soul. We know she’d be happy with what we’ve done.”