It’s that time of the season when Christmas trees adorn many households and the splendor of many decorated trees is exceeded only by the blessed angel that sits on top. Some may wonder what began the custom of an angel atop the tree and this is the story of the beginning of that tradition.

It began some years ago, no one knows exactly when, but it was the year when the elvish flu swept through the Northland. Needless to say it happened at the worst of times-when the elves were all busy making toys for all those on Santa’s “nice” list. Working with a reduced staff, Santa and the few healthy elves put in many extra hours getting ready for the magical day. Finally, Christmas Eve arrived and Santa, though he and his helpers met their quota, was beyond exhaustion; but Christmas must go on.

As he was getting into his Christmas suit he realized it was badly wrinkled, dirty from the soot of many chimneys from the previous year, and missing more than a few buttons lost during excursions through narrow chimneys. “Mrs. Claus”! he exclaimed, “this suit is in terrible condition and I’ll freeze if I can’t button up. I can’t be seen in this”. Mrs. Claus told him to quit griping. “The cleaning and tailor elves had to fill in to make toys-besides, no one sees you anyway”. This did little to make Santa happy but he had no choice. He bagged the toys and went grousing to the barn to make ready his sleigh and reindeer.

In the barn he found his sleigh in disrepair. One runner was broken and some seat bolts had come loose from last year’s trip through some turbulent weather. Santa was furious and demanded to know why the sleigh was not in top condition. He called the head maintenance elf who explained that his staff had worked extra hours filling in for sick elves making toys and were not able to tend to their normal duties. Frustrated, Santa realized he had to fix the runner himself and he would have to live with a wobbly seat; there was just no time to fix both. He jacked up the sleigh but the only serviceable runner he could find was from his old, smaller sleigh. He could see that although this runner would fit, the sleigh would lean to Santa’s left and he would have to be careful indeed during takeoffs and landings. Frustrated at the delay he began to hurry and as he was lowering the jack, it slipped and the sleigh fell on top of his foot. Screaming in pain he called for the maintenance elf who helped get the sleigh off his foot.

He limped over to the stalls to ready his reindeer and noticed Rudolph was missing. “WHERE IS RUDOLPH?” he bellowed, “I NEED HIS SHINING NOSE TO NAVIGATE”. None of the reindeer knew, but time was getting short and they had to go.

He hitched them up and moved the sleigh to the runway and the reindeer began to run. The sleigh was accelerating but was listing to Santa’s left. The loose seat was rattling and Santa held the reins with one hand and used his other to hold tight to his coat trying to ward off the chilling wind all the while hoping he wouldn't fall off the seat. He was behind schedule and he was worried about how he would navigate through the foggy areas without Rudolph. In addition, his foot continued to throb with pain. What else could go wrong? Poor old Santa was in a VERY FOUL mood and not to be messed with.

At that moment, as the sleigh began its ascent into the starlit sky a light shone in the distance. As the light drew closer an angel with tree in tow converged on the sleigh. “Santa”, a sweet and cherubic voice sang from the night, “I have your Christmas tree. What would you like me to do with it?”

…………..and that, folks, is why to this day we see an angel sitting atop the Christmas tree.