7

Christmas or Happy Holidays, or some other seasonal greeting. The cardboard letters were decorated with the foil from King Cole or Red Rose tea packages, or tinsel garland. Each boy and girl memorized a short few lines of verse to recite when he or she held up the letter. The monologues were a presentation of a few hundred words delivered by an individual student. The dialogues were short, often humorous, little plays staged by several students. Inevitably, someone would forget his lines and the teacher, who would be standing off to the side behind the bed sheets that acted as stage curtains, provided the prompting. The primary grades performed a seasonal song, the opening chorus. Singers and non-singers were expected to take part so the