The annual Star/Journal Christmas Story Contest has chosen the winners for 2018. Unfortunately the number of
entries received was much lower than expected this year. However, those who did enter the contest provided exceptional
stories and the judges said they had a tough time choosing between the submissions.
Two divisions were offered: Division 1 for youth from kindergarten to grade 3, and Division 2 for grade 4 to grade 7.
One of the judges commented, “We love reading these stories from our young people, they not only show a good
understanding for their ages of putting the English language onto paper, but they also show imagination, problem
solving, and the ability to gather their thoughts. Telling an interesting story is something young people do all the time
amongst themselves and their family, it’s how we learn to connect with each other, how we learn to express ourselves,
and how we learn to put into words what we see, what we believe and what we imagine and dream. Congratulations
to these youngsters, and we applaud each one for writing such entertaining Christmas stories.”
Division 1 for youth from kindergarten to grade 3:
1st Place - A Christmas Story
By Avary H., Grade 3
Once there was a taco. She was a very lonely taco. Her name was Diana. She didn’t have any friends except for …SANTA!!! That’s why she loves Christmas. She used to decorate and decorate but she stopped for one reason only. Do you know how Diana the taco is friends with santa? Well.. she is moving in with Santa!!! Do you know Santa’s a really good friend because he lets you help with everything. It’s kind of fun! Santa can be kind of picky about the toys (seeing how many toys the elves make for Santa) you never know how Santa will act as he could be really grumpy when the toys are not perfect. He could be really joyful and sweet when the toys turn out perfect. Diana is not always nice. Once Diana played a really mean prank. She disappeared into a locked box and she hid behind a chair. Santa got astonished, he threw a chair across the room because he was amazed!! He has never seen a magic trick like that before. So when santa is happy he tends to get …over protective. And it does not look pretty. So when Santa sat down to eat he got really protective about others but not himself and Santa was a vegetarian and didn’t notice that he got a plate of chicken instead of a salad and some beans. Diana the taco noticed what he got and saves Santa from getting food poisoning. Santa was so proud of Diana because Santa couldn’t of done Christmas without Diana so everyone lived happily ever after. The End.
Division 2 for youth from grade 4 to grade 7:
First Place - When Santa’s special reindeer “Rudolph” got lost who found him, and how did they do it?
By Curtis Farrow, Grade 6
Once upon a time there was a reindeer named Rudolph. Rudolph was getting very excited because Christmas was coming up and Rudolph was going to be the head of the team because of his shiny nose. Around 10 days before Christmas there was a big snowstorm. Rudolph went outside to go to his stable. The snowstorm was so strong it picked Rudolph straight up into the air. Santa saw him flying in the air and didn’t know what to do. Santa ran to his room where Mrs. Claus was reading her book and told Mrs. Claus that Rudolph just shot straight into the air! Mrs. Claus said “we have to figure out some way to find Rudolph, so he can lead your sleigh on Christmas.” Mrs. Claus had an idea to put posters up around the whole entire city of Barriere that Rudolph went missing. About 4 days later on one sunny afternoon, Fred MacMurray was walking down the street and saw the poster on a telephone pole. He read it and he saw that Rudolph was missing. So later that night Fred MacMurray went looking for Rudolph. He heard a very weird noise and walked towards it. There was a very deep hole surrounded by snow, and Rudolph was standing in there he looked frozen. So Fred MacMurray ran home as fast as he could and called Santa and told him where Rudolph was. Fred MacMurray went back to the deep hole and Santa met him there about 10 minutes later. Santa brought warm blankets and some hot chocolate for himself and Fred MacMurray. So Santa sprinkled flying power on Rudolph. So Rudolph flew out of the hole and thanked Fred MacMurray for finding him. Then Santa gave Fred MacMurray a gift. The gift was a season’s pass for Sun Peaks because Fred MacMurray loves to snowboard. Santa said a quick thanks and went back to his shop to finish making the presents and kept an eye on Rudolph, so he didn’t get blown away again. That is how Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer got saved. In the end Fred MacMurray saved Rudolph and saved Christmas all together.
2nd Place - What we do on Christmas Day
By Bobby-Raye Farrow, Grade 7
Christmas morning at my house is… let’s just say a bit crazy. So where do I start, well let’s start at Christmas Eve. On Christmas Eve we all get to open one present and only one. After that we see were Santa’s at, then we put out his milk and cookies; sometimes we even put out carrots for his reindeer. We usually have to set a time that we’re aloud out of bed by or else some of us will be up at 4:00 o’clock. Then none of us can ever sleep because we are all so excited. The next morning we get up and once all 4 of us kids are up, we go and bug Mom and Dad. Once their finally out of bed we open our stockings first. Then we all start yelling at them to look, look at this, all at the same time. Mom and Dad usually get overwhelmed and ask us to settle down. After that we open our presents from Santa Clause. Seeing my brothers and sisters faces filled with joy and such surprise is always so funny. Then the chaotic part comes, were we open presents from Mom and Dad, Aunties, Uncles and Grandparents. We start with the ones from Mom and Dad sometime we open the wrong ones because we are all so hyped up. Then we have to wait to open the other ones until the people who gave them to us arrive. That is the boring part. My G-pa and G-ma usually comes at around ten o’clock and then we open more gifts. Sometimes for lunch we eat candy and oranges because we are not that hungry. After that we head out to my cousins house and we have a delicious dinner and we then open more presents and we play fun games. One of the games we play is were we have to try and open a gift wrapped in many layers wearing oven mitts. When it is time to go home we pack all of our things up and we say our goodbyes and Merry Christmas. Even though our Christmas can be very crazy with six of us it is still very, very fun. So now that you know what my Christmas is like. I hope you have a Wonderful Christmas to all and to all a good night. The End
Tied For 3rd Place - When Santa’s special reindeer “Rudolph” got lost who found him, and how did they do it?
By Grace Farrow, Grade 4
One day on a shivery afternoon Rudolph went for a walk. He found a rabbit, the rabbit was lost. So Rudolph tried to figure out where the rabbit lived, he finally figured it out. He took the rabbit back to the rabbits home. Rudolph was trying to get back to the North Pole, but there was a blizzard. Rudolph could not see, the snow was blinding him. He decided to rest in a hole he found in the mountain. In the morning he was so hot, he didn’t know why. He looked around and noticed that he was in a time machine. Rudolph had got transferred into a house by the time machine. It was so loud in there because there was a bunch of little kids, all running around crying. The time machine had transferred him to Christmas day. The kids were upset because Santa had not come. The reason Santa had not come was Rudolph was not there on Christmas Eve to help guide the sleigh. He was so nervous he fainted!! Two minutes later he got transferred again, back into the hole. He decided to get out of the hole as quick as possible. He was so confused that he didn’t know which way to go, so he decided to go left. He walked for so long and then he finally found this one candy cane standing up. Then he looked forward and he found a couple more. He said to himself “well I should probably follow them, they look like there is something ahead.” So that is what he did. All of a sudden Rudolph could see the North Pole Sign. He had made it home in time. Mrs. Claus and Mr. Claus were setting up the tree. They looked over and were so excited to see Rudolph had come home. The elves led Rudolph into the barn to get him tacked up. He had gotten home just in time to take the sleigh out. “Bye Santa,” said Mrs. Claus. Before Santa left the town to go home he said “Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight!!”
Tied For 3rd Place -Rudolph gets lost!
By Thomas Pullen, Grade 4
On a snowy December afternoon this story began with the laughing of some reindeer. Rudolph is getting bullied by the other reindeer. “Your nose is so big, red and stupid” said dasher. That made Rudolph very sad so he said to himself “I’m going somewhere else tomorrow, to get rid of these jerks”. The very next day, bright and early, Rudolph goes to Canada. It’s a one day trip. He finds a horse stable and camps there for the night. In the morning he sees the calendar through the window of a house. He reads “Thursday, December 20, 2018. Hold the phone, Christmas Eve is in 4 days!” Rudolph is lost! He can’t remember where he was. Then a boy came and said “Rudolph what are you doing at my house?” “Well… the other reindeer bullied me so I flew here. I rushed here and I can’t remember where I am. I’m lost now” said Rudolph. “I can help you get to the north Rudolph. I’m James” says James. “You don’t need your jacket, James” says Rudolph. So James hopped on to the reindeer and got him back to the North Pole. “Why isn’t it cold up here”? says James. “It’s the magic” says Rudolph. Once they got to the North Pole Rudolph says “Thanks for getting me here”! “No problem” says James. “You can wish for something” says Rudolph. “I will” says James. The boy went to the workshop and said “can I have a bike for Christmas” to Santa. “As a gift, you will have a bike for Christmas” says Santa. So on Christmas the new bike was found in the stable. His parents said “Santa got you a bike?!” “It’s a long story” said James. There was a note on the bike that said thanks for saving Christmas James, from Santa. The End