- [Miranda] This time on "Retro Tennessee Crossroads", guess what?

It's Christmas.

Al Voecks will show us how Christmas trees get their unique shape.

Janet Tyson will show us a beautiful display of gingerbread houses.

Jerry Thompson will stir up some trouble in guess what?

A Santa costume.

and Joe Elmore finds actual flying reindeer.

- Could it be true?

- Well, you'll have to watch and find out.

Hi everybody, I'm Miranda Cohen.

- And I'm Laura Faber.

And welcome to the "Retro Tennessee Crossroads" Christmas episode.

(light upbeat music) - Okay, Laura, I am so excited.

Now anyone who knows us- - I do.

I know you.

- Knows we love Christmas.

We have kind of an elfin reputation around here.

- Yes, we do.

Absolutely.

And we've got some great Christmas segments to watch from the early days of Crossroads.

So let's dive right in.

First up, have you ever wondered how Christmas trees get their unique shape?

Well, Al Voecks had that same question, so he went straight to the source.

- Here is a familiar scene at this time of year.

Family is getting together to pick out just the right Christmas tree.

Sometimes it's a rather tough decision and sometimes it takes family committee meetings to get just the right one.

But in the end, everyone goes home happy and eager to hang on the lights and the ornaments.

Now when it comes to selecting a Christmas tree, there are many ways you can do it.

Some will buy an artificial tree, others will uphold a family tradition.

They'll go into the woods and cut a southern cedar.

Still, others will buy a live tree.

They'll plant it when Christmas is over.

But most of you will go to the corner lot around town and make your selection there.

There are some who will pay a visit to one of the many Christmas tree farms throughout Middle Tennessee, such as this one in Thompson Station.

Here at Shirewood Farm, there are 17 acres of trees all carefully nurtured to look their very best for Christmas.

They all look good.

They all have that Currier and Ives appeal of a perfect Christmas tree.

Do they all grow that way?

Hardly.

In order to get a better picture of this operation, we need to turn the clock back a couple of months.

This is September.

Now most of us think Christmas trees only between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

But for the folks at Shirewood Farms, well they think Christmas trees 12 months out of the year.

Tony Shires planted his first tree on this farm six years ago.

By his own admission, son David now does most of the heavy work and that heavy work includes making sure these trees look their very best.

- [David] We shaped the white pine once a year around the 4th of July.

Then we shape the Virginia Pine, see the first time middle of May and it last to June.

In the second time, we start in 1st of September through, well, usually the whole month of September takes four weekends to do 'em all.

- [Al] It's a cumbersome machine that you use, but it's a lot better than doing it by hand.

- [David] Yeah, it's true.

It looks like a monster, but me and my father, we can do about 2000 trees a day.

- [Al] When you go around these trees and you shape them, do you in your own mind say, you know, this is a pretty one, this will go early or this other little scrawny one may not make it.

- [David] Yeah, you can usually tell like you know, the short fat ones that go to the grandmothers, 'cause they have, you know, usually young grandkids who wanna reach the top of the tree and put the ornaments on.

And younger families who have a small apartment who want a thin tree, you know, maybe a thin tall one or a large family who want a large circumference tree.

Maybe 10, 12 feet in height.

But you can usually tell which tree goes to what family.

- How old are these trees?

- Well, we have a six year rotation.

So the first flight is six years old and it goes 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1.

And the tree's usually four to five years old when we sell 'em.

- [Al] You mean that scrawny little thing way in the back will be a beautiful tree like this in five years?

- I hope so.

- Now you go way back to the back of the field here.

But those are the trees you just planted this year.

- Last March.

- Last March.

And they will grow in one year to the size right next to it.

- It should, yeah.

The young ones, they start, we plant 'em, they're about nine inches in height and the first year they should grow anywhere from 12, about 12 inches.

Then when they're two years old, between their second, third year, they should grow about 18, 18 inches to two feet.

And when they get three, they should start growing two feet a year.

And that's before shearing.

- [Al] The mothers check out the shape.

The fathers wanna make sure it has a clean straight trunk.

The children, well, they're just excited, especially when it comes time to cut the tree.

- You ready Robert?

You gonna help me cut it?

Alright, come on.

Here we go.

You ready Robert?

It's gonna go, ready.

- Timber!

- There you go.

Good job, man.

- [Al] After so much hard work, it's gotta give you a pretty good feeling to see families walk outta here happy.

- [David.

Yeah, it Does.

We've had a lot of comments from families that just moved in from Michigan because of the Saturn plant and yeah, you can see 'em come in their station wagons and all the kids just want to jump out of the car as soon as you know their mama can grab 'em, put their coats on, they just start running out there and they spend hours just looking for trees.

And yeah, a lot of people get satisfaction.

- Right now all the activity is down there on the lower part of the farm.

Seemingly no one really cares about these little guys up here.

But it's only a matter of time before the people who are now down there will be up here taking a look at this little guy who will light up the eyes of some youngster at Christmas six years from now.

And perhaps that youngster isn't even born yet.

("O Christmas Tree") - Absolutely beautiful place.

You know, I covered a country cove Christmas tree farm a few years ago.

Absolutely gorgeous.

The smell is unbelievable, but that is hard work.

- Which is why the Faber family went to artificial after a couple of trips, a couple of years, we had a cut down tree, but then we were of artificial from then on.

Okay, we have got the Christmas tree situation sorted out.

What's next?

- Okay, well if you're gonna have a great Christmas, you know what you need?

A gingerbread house.

- Of course, it's not Christmas without one.

And Janet Tyson knew this was true as well.

She went in search of a collection of gingerbread houses fit for Santa himself.

- One of the joys of the Christmas season are the tastes and smells that originate in our kitchens, cakes and candy and cookies and breads and treats reserved especially for this time of the year.

Close your eyes and imagine the smell of warm gingerbread fresh from the oven.

Now open your eyes and take a look at a whole city of gingerbread confections that are just too pretty to eat.

They capture the fantasy of the season.

They evoke the warm, nurturing feelings of home.

They look so delicious, you can almost taste them with your eyes.

This world of gingerbread greets visitors to the Vanderbilt Plaza Hotel.

This is the sixth year the hotel has sponsored this gingerbread house contest and silent auction.

Entrants compete for prizes in several different categories.

Visitors bid on their favorite piece of gingerbread real estate and the proceeds go to the Nashville General Hospital's Children's Ward.

An appropriate charity, since children become so enthralled with this fairytale world of fragrant cookies adorned with all manner of candy and gum and icing and sugar.

Best of show winner, Nell Paris, lost track of the hours she spent creating this replica of her daddy's barn, complete with a menagerie of farm animals and that famous southern ad campaign.

- I kept adding to it.

I kept creating all these animals that had been on my daddy's farm and these are just childhood memories and I just kept on creating one after another.

It was hard to find cookie cutters the right size, so I had to just cut 'em out, make my own pattern, and just cut 'em out with a knife, you know?

And that was the way I did it.

- [Janet] Though she knows the trip to Acapulco she won will be fun for her and her husband.

She says the most fun came from figuring out how to execute her design.

- My little horses, my husband was trying, I was trying to harness them up, you know, to the wagon.

And so I guess you can visualize two grownups over two little gingerbread horses arguing over how to harness up two little mules.

I called them my daddy's mules, you know, and all of these are surprises, you know, and you just really, it just is a real great pleasure and joy and seems that adults become children when they come out and see all these creations.

- [Janet] Joey Valenti won the children's category with his house showing St.

Nick descending the chimney.

He and his mom spent four hours assembling the cozy cottage.

- Well, we used slivered almonds for like the planks on the side of the house and Golden Grahams on the roof, then just gum drops, lot of gum drops and jelly beans.

- And how did Joey like his first gingerbread construction job?

- Besides sports, that was the funnest thing I've done this year.

- [Janet] Building a gingerbread house is one of the funnest things you can do as a family.

And if you're not sure how, Vanderbilt Plaza holds workshops for kids and their assistants.

The participants are provided with everything they need for building their dream home.

Of course, there is an overpowering temptation to sneak a sample of the materials.

For two hours, these little faces become studies in creative concentration.

And don't forget daddies can do this too.

You can see the pride of accomplishment in their faces as the walls go up and the adults probably feel relieved that this mess is somewhere else besides their kitchens.

And who knows, these young architects may go on someday to a grander scale like this giant gingerbread shoe built by the Vanderbilt Plaza chef Tom Allen and his staff.

- Well, it probably took probably 10 people total and three of us on a three day schedule working about 10 hours a day, 90 hours total to finish it.

- What do they eat?

- Gingerbread house.

- Yeah, and look at the M&Ms.

- [Janet] Chef Allen's gratification usually comes when someone congratulates him on a fine meal.

But since no nibbling is allowed here, what's his reward?

- Just seeing the faces of children that come in here and just the oohs and ahs of people that can't believe that we could do something like this in a matter of three days.

And I don't know, just the whole Christmas spirit involved with it.

- [Janet] Deep in the forest where all dreams come true is a gingerbread house just waiting for you.

Its roof is a mixture of sugar and spice and the chimney is made of everything nice.

The house is surrounded by green sugar trees and you may eat just as much as you please.

Deep in the forest where all dreams come true is a gingerbread house just waiting for you.

- Absolutely beautiful.

You know I toured those a couple years when they were at- - I was with you, I remember.

- Yes, yes.

- When they were at Lowe's.

But we did a story a couple years ago on Molly Kirland Smith, who is a gingerbread champion and she did a beautiful house to benefit Le Bonner Children's Hospital, lights, elevators, you name it.

- So intricate.

I was with you for that trip.

- Yeah.

I remember.

- We're together a lot.

- Yes we are, we are.

We don't go anywhere alone.

- Yeah.

Beautiful stuff.

- Yes, absolutely.

Well, from the sublime to the ridiculous.

- As it was sometimes when a Jerry Thompson story would come up in those old shows, Jerry Thompson had a lot of great ideas in his tenure on "Tennessee Crossroads".

Was dressing up as Santa and visiting a mall on of them?

Well, you'll have to decide for yourself.

- Oh, ho ho.

Merry Christmas.

Oh, ho ho.

Merry Christmas.

Now here's a fellow that becomes a very familiar sight this time of year.

I've often wondered how he showed up at so many places.

Now I know.

Merry Christmas.

It's a rare honor that Santa would ask a fellow to help him out.

So when he asked me to stand in for him recently at Church Street Center, I jumped at the opportunity.

- Now.

- All right.

- The hair.

Does that feel snug?

- Well now how would I know how hair feels?

(laughs) - Okay.

- It's an unusual feeling, I'll put it that way.

After being transformed into Santa, I certainly had a lot more respect for what those jolly old gentlemen go through.

And I also found that grownups all love Santa and some kids aren't so sure.

Oh, Lacey, do you wanna stand right up here beside me?

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- Hi.

- Hi.

- What's your name?

- Eric.

- Eric?

And what's your name?

- Ashley.

- What?

- Ashley.

- Hi Ashley.

Now you wanna be a reindeer?

Come here.

Lemme put it on.

You make a fine looking reindeer Rocky.

You continue to be a good boy for Christmas morning.

Maybe we'll have some surprises, okay?

These women, all from the Baptist Sunday School Board had their picture made with Santa to send to a sick friend in the hospital.

- Don't you just love this?

- I love it.

After Santa finishes his stint in the sleigh, he has a chance to walk around the mall and wish all sorts of people from all parts of the world a very merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas.

- Yes, you have a long way to come down to Australia.

But our father Christmas is dressed up exactly the same way.

- Is that right?

- Yes.

- Well that's wonderful.

Even Santa is not immune to an aggressive newspaper salesmen.

But he does show a lot of restraint, especially when it's not his favorite newspaper.

- Afternoon edition of the 10.

Our Nashville Banner's on the house.

Just for you, all right?

Just for you.

- What would make you think I'd want a Nashville Banner?

- The Nashville Banner, sir, it's got all the latest news in it.

It's got all the latest breaking stories as far as it goes for getting those kids to get those prizes on time and get those presents on time.

- Don't you have a copy of the Tennessean?

- I don't even have a copy of the morning Tennessean.

I should've brought you a copy of the morning Tennesseean, shouldn't I?

- They go fast, don't they?

- They go fast.

They go like hot cakes.

- You know why?

- Why?

- It's got the greatest column in Tennesseean.

- The greatest.

- On the second front, on the B section.

- On the B section.

- Down there, it's called "Thompson Station".

Have you ever read that column?

- Yeah, sometimes I do.

- That's a great column.

- Great column.

- They go that fast.

- Really?

- Yeah.

I don't want anybody to catch me with that one.

- Oh, okay.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

- Okay, but Merry Christmas to you.

- Merry Christmas.

You heard the news first right here, Santa.

- All right, thank you.

- Thank you.

Being a stand-in Santa is not something a fellow would wanna do every day, but once a year it's sure rewarding to see the smile Santa brings to faces of both young and old.

A good visit with Santa can generate enough Christmas spirit to last all year.

Already I'm looking forward to the next Christmas.

Alright.

Ho, ho, ho!

♪ We wish you a Merry Christmas ♪ ♪ And a happy new year ♪ - Ho ho ho!

- Jerry was a character, but he also was quite a reporter.

And for some context, he was a long time writer for the Tennesseean.

which is why he wanted nothing to do with that Nashville Banner in that story.

- Great storyteller.

Never knew about the Santa Claus part though.

- Okay.

How are we gonna top that?

Okay.

I don't know that we can top that, but if anyone can, it is the great Joe Elmore.

This time Joe found an inventor who put his talents to use making magical moments for kids around the holidays in the way that just have to see to believe.

- [Joe] When Freddie Roberts retired from his furniture designing business, he set his sights on inventing things, strange things.

In fact, his claim to fame may soon be this invention, he calls Moochie the Poochie.

It's a potty chair for toddlers that makes potty training fun and rewarding.

- Okay when the child wits in the pot.

(cheery music) It plays music and also it lights up.

Now if solid, you know, liquid goes in there.

Now if solid goes in there, it does different.

His ears start operating.

His ears and his eyes are connected together.

(upbeat retro beeping music) And notice it plays a different song also.

- Oh yes.

The dog's tail has a special function too.

Freddy says test marketing proves the invention works.

And now several companies are interested in mass producing Moochie.

- One company did a survey in Chicago and every single person they interviewed said that they wanted one.

I took it to a company in Nashville to get an idea, to get their opinion of it.

And I didn't get out of the reception room before a lady tried to take it away from me.

- Freddy wants to donate a big portion of his profits to charities that help children.

And that brings us to his latest invention, his pride and joy, Santa and his eight flying reindeer.

- Look at this.

- This is it.

Santa and his reindeer.

I guess reindeer do fly, huh?

- Well these do though.

- Now you know something Freddy, I don't recognize these names on the reindeer as being the ones I heard of as a kid.

- Well, a lot of these names, people in the movies copied these but these are the original names of the original reindeer.

- Oh yeah?

- Yeah.

This version right here is for flying in the southern hemisphere.

You know, it's kind of hot up there.

So this fan keeps Santa cooled a little.

There's a big fan blade that goes on top that reaches out and keeps the reindeer cool.

- Oh.

- And that way they're able to perform without getting too fatigued.

- [Joe] What does Freddy's wife Janie think about this weird creation?

- Christmas is for kids and Fred's still very much a little boy at heart, so I worry about him.

But I guess if he's got to be flying, it might as well be a reindeer sleigh.

- [Joe] Could this flying sleigh be dangerous?

You bet it is.

But just like Santa himself, Freddy is a man with a mission.

To bring Christmas joy to as many children as he can, the best way he knows how.

- [Fred] When I was a child, I fantasized about Santa Claus and flying Santa Claus.

Of course, being an orphan, Christmas is a lot of wishing and there's a lot of disappointment.

And that's kind of, I don't know if I'm trying to prove a point to myself or trying to relive the past, but maybe it's a gift to the children, to give.

Some children don't have very much hope.

And, if they see that, maybe they'll hope that there really is something to the fantasy.

(rotor buzzing) ("Jingle Bells") - Today's mission was to bring the Christmas fantasy to life for youngsters at Todd County Elementary School, where Freddy and his reindeer were a huge holiday hit.

- Well, I think it was pretty nice the way he was flying around like that.

- I thought that was really cool.

That was nice.

- I loved it.

I never saw him before and I'm really glad to see him.

- [Joe] There are many ways to spread Christmas cheer.

Freddy's may be a little crazy, but it sure works both for the kids on the ground and for the big one up there in the sky.

- Kind of seeing my mind's eye, the children as they go down the street and they see a sleigh fly by.

- [Fred] Well, it really reinforces that feeling that there is a Santa Claus and that Christmas is near.

♪ Although it's been said many times, many ways ♪ ♪ Merry Christmas to you ♪ - All right, I'm so sad.

The Christmas episode is done.

- I know.

I loved our sweaters.

I love that we got to put our sweaters on.

But you can always go to tennesseecrossroads.org and watch all of our favorite Crossroads Christmas segments and many more.

- Many more.

- And we hope you'll join us next time.

And thanks again for watching "Retro Tennessee Crossroads".

(upbeat music)