San Xavier Mission School Christmas

The Mission School is located on the Tohono O'odham reservation. It is the third largest Native American Nation in the U.S.  Each year, my Eastern States Club sponsors the children of the school:  grades 1-4. We provide a complete turkey dinner, a visit from Santa Claus and a special gift for each child.

In return, they present a Christmas pageant.  I took the photo shown in the blip while the chorus was singing "Away in a Manger."  The first extra is adorable.  The kids were wearing sheep head masks.  The next extra was taken during their special rendition of "Silent Night."  What made it special was that they sang the second verse in their native O'odham language.  Finally, Jesus, Mary and Joseph are joined by angels.  As you can tell from the extras, getting kids to pay attention is like, well, herding sheep!

It's a wonderfully rewarding and heart-warming evening. Watching these beautiful children reminds us about the real meaning of Christmas.  Linus, in this scene from A Charlie Brown Christmas, sums it up for us.