By ROWENA PLETT

Staff writer

“Oh, what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh!”

Helen Fadenrecht of Hillsboro can personally relate to this phrase from the popular Christmas tune, “Jingle Bells.”

Fadenrecht grew up in a large family in North Dakota. When Christmas came, they all piled into a bobsled pulled by two horses and rode to the Christmas program at her country school, singing songs like “Jingle Bells” and “Up on the Housetop” as they went.

Bonnie Fast of Hillsboro grew up in rural Marion. The 80-year-old widow misses holiday times together with the family. She has two daughters, one in Colorado and one in California.

She sees them frequently but it is not always possible to get together with everyone at Christmas. Families spread out, she said, and sometimes finances are an issue.

“You don’t have the closeness you had years ago,” she said.

However, Fast is thankful for friends and is happy with her life.

“If you have good health, you have everything,” she said.

She plans to spend Christmas with her daughter from California.

Beverly Richards of Hillsboro grew up at Henderson, Neb. She cherishes the times her youth group went caroling after the church program on Christmas Eve.

She said the group visited homes in town and in the country, staying out until 2 or 3 a.m. The memory of those times singing carols out in the wide-open spaces will stay with her forever.