The WAY to WOW Shows
Christmas Eve Celebration
December 24, 2025
Automatically generated from YouTube captions; names and wording may contain errors.

[0:01] Who are you? [music] And where are you going? [music] What do you want? Hello and welcome to this special edition of the Way to Wow shows uh in in honor of uh Christmas and Christmas Eve which is today. I'm your host Kevin Bemel and um this is uh this is part of a series of periodic episodes I do on various national holidays. So this will

[0:39] wrap up this year. Um this this in in indeed will be my my last broadcast for 2025. And I I want to start out uh by thanking you my viewers for uh for joining me this year. Uh some of you join live, others uh watch uh on on YouTube or uh you know various other platforms. Um I've been very fortunate this year. My audience has grown from a few hundred to over 1600 or my subscribers I should

[1:14] say. And um I've I have I've had a lot of wonderful guests. We've had terrific conversations and I hope that I've shared some ideas with you and my my guests have shared ideas with you that have made your your life better, more enjoyable. Um maybe you had a tipple or two with me at Jiggers's place where we have a cocktail and a schmoo every other Thursday. Um but uh you know th this is a a good time of year to uh reflect back and and uh spend some

[1:51] time focusing on gratitude uh not just in the the business arena of course but for for family for friends uh and uh for all of the wonderful blessings that uh that that we all enjoy. So, uh, a, as has been my practice, uh, for the last, I think, couple of years, uh, I I I talk a little bit about, um, Christmas, um, from from the Jewish perspective because that's what I am. Um, and and then I'm going to

[2:28] read, um, the uh, wonderful um, poem, A Visit from St. Nicholas. uh and uh and then uh we'll we'll sign off for the year. So, as as you um probably know, um Jews don't celebrate Christmas. Um but um many of us [laughter] kind of kind of revel um in the atmosphere of this time of year. uh people seem to be more relaxed, happier,

[3:04] uh in a festive mood and um I I that that I think benefits to everyone in our society whether they're celebrating Christmas or not. Um in in past years, I've I've generally wished people a merry Christmas because it is the most important holiday uh going on at this time of year. uh Christmas to Christians is a uh much more important uh celebration and holiday than for example

[3:39] Kaneka is is to Jews. Um in in in Judaism we have festivals which traditionally meant um um they were observed like the Sabbath where uh from sundown of the day before the holiday until sundown of of the of the um second day of the holiday basically um there are all kinds of prohibitions on activities. We don't drive in cars. we um don't adjust electronic devices

[4:14] um and uh and other things like that. Um Kaneka has does not have those restrictions. It's it's a wonderful celebration. I was at a Kaneka party uh last week at a friend of mine's home, friends of mine's home, uh a husband and wife that I've known for many many many years. And it's always a pleasure to to go there and kind of reconnect with people that typically I only see that one time a year. Um but but but um Kaneka does not have a Hanukkah is not a um a biblical festival like um like uh

[4:52] Passover or uh sukus or shuis or for that matter roshashana and yam kipur. All of those are mentioned in the Torah. the first five books of the Hebrew Bible. Um, but uh, Kaneka is not. And whereas Christmas is Christmas and Easter, as I understand, and I'm no Christian theologian, but I as I understand are perhaps the two most central days uh to uh, Christianity. um celebrating the life of of of well on

[5:28] the one hand the birth of of Jesus um um Christmas and then the the his his resurrection on on Easter. So um um this year I I I started wishing people the joy of the season. It sounds a little old-fashioned, I suppose, but those of you who watch the show know me and they you know I have a bit of an old-fashioned uh bent to me. I am I'm after all one of the last people wearing a tie every time you see me. Uh and this particular tie is is close to 100 years old. I'm I got it from my uh great uncle

[6:07] and uh and so uh uh it's uh um I I you know I it's kind of a universal greeting and and I think some for me something more meaningful than happy holidays. Happy holidays. uh seems a little bit sterile to me frankly. Whereas the joy of the season uh you know it it seems to sort of measure out the joy u that comes from this at this time of year in in in you know from the various holidays um uh that that are

[6:42] happening. So, uh, you know, beyond that, uh, I I I think that, uh, um, I know many of my Jewish friends listen to, um, Christmas music, uh, this time of year. Um, I do. I started the day after Thanksgiving. Um, I I'm earlier this um earlier this year or I should say earlier this month I um worked on a project with my longtime producing partner Rick Carter and I picked him up uh in the morning and he got in the car he's calling like why are you playing

[7:19] Christmas music? Well, it's beautiful music, you know. And you know he he didn't he didn't mind it. He was just you know kind of perplexed. So um but but also um wonderful movies. I I took some colleagues uh to see the original version of The Shop around the corner with Jimmy Stewart and uh Margaret O'Brien, I believe, is the is the um actress in the movie. Uh and and we had then we had a little uh sort of holiday cheer afterwards. We went to a a

[7:54] pub down the street and uh I I intended to go to a lot of other movies um that are playing at a wonderful theater in Elsagundo called the uh um Oldtime Music Hall. Um I I had hoped to see uh Christmas in Connecticut and it's a Wonderful Life. Unfortunately, I was was sick for a good part of of this month and so uh could couldn't get out there but you know perhaps next year and uh I went and saw the Nutcracker Ballet um by the Los Angeles Ballet. It was a beautiful performance. Uh and u perhaps

[8:31] the best part was um seeing all the parents there with especially young children and uh noticing the the wrapped attention the these children paid to to watching the the beautiful uh dancing that was going on. Uh I I I don't recall the first time I saw the Nutcracker, although I'm pretty sure I was a child or perhaps maybe a young teenager. And uh I've taken my my daughter to see it. And uh again, it's a lovely uh uh a lovely cultural event

[9:09] that happens around this time of year. Uh, I was not the only Jewish person there, I assure you. Because [laughter] um, several came up to me because I were a Yarmakista, so they knew I was Jewish and we chatted. The lady behind me was Jewish and she was we were talking, etc. So, um, it [clears throat] again, it's just I I think it's a a time of year of warmth. Uh, I was chatting with my uh, sister Marley yesterday and she said, "What what are you up to lately?" I said, "Well, I'm watching a lot of Christmas movies. I think they're all originally made for Hallmark and

[9:45] Life Lifetime Networks, but there's something very charming about them. Um, most of them are kind of, you know, boy meets girl movie or or boy reconnects with uh, you know, sort of high school sweetheart movies, that kind of thing. They're very charming. They remind me of um Disney movies when when I was a child and and uh you know they're they're they're lovely to watch and and uh they have a lot of heart. So uh I don't find that in in in much uh much of popular

[10:21] culture these days. So So you know, like I said, just kind of my reflections on this time of year. I I hope you've been enjoying it. Hopefully, you've you've gone to a party or two and been able to spend some extra time with uh with with family and friends. Um among my colleagues, um we we've started reminding each other that uh we work to live. We don't live to work. And

[10:57] uh while we work hard and sometimes we work long hours uh the point is is not to live to work hard and work long hours. The point is to work hard and sometimes work long hours so that we can live we can en enjoy time with our our families, our loved ones. We can spend time with people in our communities and we can enjoy the sort of annual cycle of life, the larger,

[11:33] the larger cycle of life, the events, the the you know births and birthdays and anniversaries of life and also um be there during the difficult times of lives. the losses and and such. And so, uh, you know, again, I I I I if if if I could leave you with one thought for this year, it's it would be that I I I hope that that you are working to live and and not the opposite.

[12:08] And, uh, so, um, you know, would be would love to hear your thoughts about this time of year, this this this this season of joy. Um, all of my social media links will be in the show notes to this episode when it posts on YouTube and feel free to share them with me if there's something private you want to share. My email address will be in the show notes as well. And uh so um you know without further ado as we say um I'm going to read uh a visit from St. Nicholas. So

[12:45] just as a little bit of background. So this uh lovely poem was written by Clement Clark Moore who uh was born in New York City in 1779. He was the son of Benjamin Moore, a prominent Episcopalian bishop. Uh I I I as far as I know, no connection to the paint company. [laughter] Uh he graduated from what was then Colombia College is now Columbia University in 1798. He was a professor of oriental and Greek literature as well as biblical learning

[13:20] at the general theological seminary in New York. Uh a school for which he donated the land. Uh Moore's famous poem, A Visit from St. Nicholas, commonly known as was the night before Christmas, was written in 1823. So it's over 200 years old now. It was initially published anonymously and it became a holiday classic uh largely shaping the modern image of Santa Claus. So, uh, Clement Moore lived much of his life in Manhattan's Chelsea

[13:56] neighborhood, uh, where he contributed to the area's development. And he passed away in Newport, Rhode Island, the the location of a large, uh, naval training facility. He passed away in 1863 um just uh just around the time of the American Civil War. So uh a visit from St. Nicholas. It was the night before Christmas when all through the house not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. The

[14:32] stockings were hung by the chimney with care in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there. The children were nestled all snug in their beds while visions of sugar plums danced in their heads. And mama in her kirchief and I in my cap had just settled down, settled our brains for a long winter's nap. When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter, I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter. Away to the window I flew like a flash, tore open the

[15:07] shutters, and threw up the sash. The moon on the breast of the new fallen snow gave a luster of midday to the objects below. When what to my wondering eyes did appear but a miniature sleigh and a tiny reindeer? With a little old driver, so lively and quick, I knew in a moment he must be Saint Nick. More rapid than eagles his coroursers they came. And he whistled and shouted and called them by name. Now Dasher, now Dancer, now Prancer and

[15:42] Vixen. on Comet, on Cupid, on Donner and Blitzen. To the top of the porch, to the top of the wall. Now dash away, dash away, dash away all as he leaves that before the wild hurricane. As leaves that before the wild hurricane fly, when they meet with an obstacle mount to the sky, so up to the housetop the coroursers they flew, with a sleigh full of toys and St. Nicholas, too. And then in a twinkling I heard on the roof the prancing and paw pawing of each

[16:18] little hoof. As I drew in my head and was turning around down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound. He was dressed all in fur from his head to his foot and his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot. a bundle of toys he had flung on his back, and he looked like a peddler, just opening his pack. His eyes, how they twinkled. His dimples, how merry! His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry. His droll little

[16:53] mouth was drawn up like a bow, and the beard on his chin was as white as the snow. The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth, and the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath. He had a broad face and a little round belly that shook when he laughed like a bowl full of jelly. He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf. And I laughed when I saw him in spite of myself. A wink of his eye and a twist of his head soon gave me to know I had nothing

[17:29] to dread. He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work, and filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk, and laying his finger aside of his nose, and giving a nod, up the chimney he rose.

[17:48] >> [snorts]

[17:48] >> He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle, and away they all flew like the down of a thistle. But I heard him exclaim, he drove out of sight, "Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night." Such a beautiful little poem expressing the heart of the holiday and this time of year. So, it always kind of chokes me up a little bit. Uh,

[18:26] I really appreciate you joining me for this last um broadcast of the year. Um, these times especially are are precious to me and uh I I wish you for those of you who are celebrating a very very happy Christmas and the a new year of good health, happiness, prosperity and

[19:01] I look forward to seeing you again in the new year 2026. Just remember, Marie darling, you are my bell. courage at all times, my