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Speaker 1: Caalaroga Shark Media. Right there, I'm Johnny Mack with five

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good news Christmas stories. Operation Evergreen is preparing to send

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dozens of Ohio grown Christmas trees to US service members

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stationed overseas. The programs now and it's thirtieth year. It's

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a partnership between the Ohio Department of Agriculture and the

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Ohio Christmas Tree Association. This year, around fifty trees will

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be shipped to military personnel serving in Kuwait. Brian is

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the director of the whole thing. He says, sending a

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piece of home overseas lets our servicemen and women know

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they're in our thoughts. We hope these Christmas trees and

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wishes of appreciation bring joy and cheer this holiday season.

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Tree growers from across the state donate the evergreens. They're

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inspected for pests and disease before being wrapped and sent overseas.

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The ornaments are created and donated by local schools, churches,

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and veterans groups. Let's take a look at some traditions

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around the world. In Wales, one of the countries oldest

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customs is the merry Luid. I hope I pronounced that right,

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and I probably didn't anyway. It is a decorated horse

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skull mounted on a pole and carried by a group

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of performers. The horse skull carriers go door to door,

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singing and engaging residents in rhyming exchanges before being invited

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in for refreshments. The practice actually predates Christianity. In Caracas, Venezuela,

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Christmas morning begins with families traveling to mass on roller skates.

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You didn't think I was going to say roller skates. Yeah,

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streets are close to traffic, so people can roller skates

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safely through the city, creating a festive atmosphere filled with

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music and crowds and roller skates. That's a lot of fun.

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In Japan, families marked the holiday with a meal from

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Kentucky Fried Chicken. You know, not the worst idea. That

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tradition began with a marketing campaign in the nineteen seventies,

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and it's stuck around Salving, California. They're getting ready for Christmas.

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I was just there. It is a cute little town

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known for its Danish heritage. It's about two hours north

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of la maybe a little less than that. The whole

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town has this Denmark theme. It's like you just magically

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woke up in Europe and each December it transforms into

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a European style Christmas village. If you'd like to know

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more about Solvng, specifically, our podcast Travel is Back. I

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recently dropped an episode about Solvang, so you can hear

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my experiences there. I had a great time. Founded in

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the early nineteen hundreds by immigrants from Denmark, Solvang is

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the home of places like Olson's Danish Village Bakery and

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Mortensen's Danish Bakery. Nutcrackers fill store windows, and that was

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true in like October when I went and families can

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take holiday photos in Hans Christian Anderson Park and I

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was there and it was live music there. Anna is

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a spokesperson for Solvang and says Solvang is the destination

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for people that really want that European Christmas vibe. It's

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one of the couple times of the year where the

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village is most magical. It's like this escaped to another country,

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but you're still in SoCal Jewel Fest goes all the

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way into early January with the annual Christmas tree burn

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that's of course overseen by the Santa Barbara County Fire department.

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It's an unofficial goodbye to the holiday season for locals

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and visitors. Really cool town. You should go there at

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least once. Brian May you know him from the band Queen.

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He has a new Christmas song. This one is called

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Praise Your Name, recorded with longtime collaborator Talia Dean and

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the award winning Saint Anne's Catholic High School for Girls

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Gospel Choir. On social media, Brian said, only the most

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epic Christmas track ever. All Right, my wife is upstairs.

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She's just been watching Christmas movies for about three weeks now.

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Just out yesterday, a royal date for Christmas. That's right.

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A European duke arrives in the US, but his bags

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get lost in transit. As a result, he meets Bella,

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who owns a boutique because that's how Christmas movies go,

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and that gives him a royal makeover. You'll find that

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on Great American Family. How about a Sprinkle of Christmas?

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You see there's Libby the Baker. She finally opens the

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bakery of her dreams in time for Christmas. However, she

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gets into a feud with an actor who gave her

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business a bad review. I wonder what'll happen there. That

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one's on Real One. How About a Vineyard Christmas? Heather,

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who I think is a podcast host in this one,

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tries to create a Christmas episode by featuring a winery.

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The problem the owner of the winery, Rooty, may be attractive,

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but he gets in her way a little bit too much.

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That's also on Real One. I wonder if they'll get

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together in the end. How about Becoming Santa from twenty

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fifteen that follows Nick, a man who has completely lost

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his Christmas spirit. To get it back, he becomes Santa

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for the holiday season. That's on Lifetime. Christmas Casanova sees

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another podcaster, what is going on? How come I don't

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have a Christmas movie? This is about a lease? She

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tries to spice up her Christmas content by doing extra

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episodes on Sunday? Is that what she's doing by helping

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Daniel fine love. However, things start to back fire when

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she realizes he's chasing the wrong person. I wonder who

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the right person is? Huh? Alise? That one's on Real One.

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And those are your five good News Christmas stories for today.

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Ho Ho Ho