American Church Group - Colorado

Wishing you a Merry Christmas – 80s Style

Rich Lichtenfeld, Account Executive - Nebraska

When I was five or six years old, I remember waking up and discovering a metal pedal car under the tree! I was yellow with red stripes on the sides, and it was just my size! Of course, we lived on the farm with no pavement, so my riding areas were fairly limited. It didn’t matter. I wish I still had it; It would be an antique now!

Craig Cable, Regional Director - Colorado

One year, I got a death trap of a mini-bike, which was powered by an old 3 hp lawnmower engine. I used to race up and down my street for hours on end, wearing a bright blue and white motorcycle helmet, no shirt, and cutoff jean shorts. I thought I was so cool! (Editor’s note: This story screamsCraig Cable.)

John Korsmo, Agency President/Principal

In 1998, I innocently stumbled into my parents’ closet, where I saw the most beautiful sight: theNintendo Entertainment System. We couldn’t afford the $100, but my parents had taken the plunge, and I was excited. My conscience told me I should do the right thing and tell my parents that I had seen the gift that I had been waiting for since the prior Christmas (when all my cousins got theirs). I told my parents, and they took it in stride... and then my mom TOOK THE NINTENDO BACK TO THE STORE! Christmas morning comes around, and NO NINTENDO! Finally, three years later, the year the Super Nintendo came out.. I did get the NES I had been hoping for. Thanks, Mom & and Dad. 

Dakotah Hueftle, Sr. Account Executive - Nebraska

I was 5 years old and really wanted a puppy for Christmas. I woke early and snuck up to theChristmas tree. The puppy jumped out of a box, scaring me so much that I ran into my parents’ room, telling them there was a dog with huge teeth under the tree. It turned out to be a chunky lab puppy - with normal teeth. 

Rhonda McDaniel, Client Success Advisor - Colorado & Wyoming

My favorite Christmas gift memory was the year I received a “My Child” baby doll. My brothers,sister, and I would always snoop to find our Christmas gifts each year, but this was something Inever found/saw, and it was the ONE thing I was begging for. It was the BEST surprise to open it, not actually knowing already what was inside. 

Joanne Relihan, Success Support

Every Christmas morning we would wake up to find gifts under the tree, but we ALWAYS received aStorybook of Lifesavers in our stockings! It just wasn’t Christmas without that little treat! 

Stephanie Abrell, Director of Client Experience

When I was probably 7 years old, we were finishing opening presents on Christmas morning. Just asI thought we were done, my dad said he thought there might be one more gift in our basement waiting for me. I was a little hesitant because our basement was a dark, damp, spider-filled dungeon with mystery tunnels that lead to spiderweb-covered canned vegetables (remember, I was only 7), soI thought nothing good could come from this. Downstairs, I found a beautiful, golden oak toy box with a big red bow on top. My dad told me it was in the basement because he had been building it for me. At the time, I assumed that meant my dad had worked day and night to hand carve each piece, and it blew my mind that he would spend all the time and effort it would take to build this by hand. Now that I’m older, I realize it meant it came in pieces from KMart, and he had to use a screwdriver to put it together. Even so, I loved it so much that now my kids use it to store their toys.Someday, I’ll tell them how Pappy worked hours in the dark, damp, spider-filled dungeon to build it. 

Jordan Isaacson, Sr. Account Executive - Nebraska

Growing up, each year, my grandma had all of us kids re-enact the Nativity scene, where we would dress up and have lines to memorize and songs to sing, etc. One year, we were given a little added incentive to do our very best with our roles because that year, we were told that a special surprise would be given. So one of my favorite Christmas gift memories was when my Grandparents surprised me and all of my cousins with a Nintendo 64 system for each family! My brother and I were ecstatic, but my sisters weren’t that impressed. This was for a group of kids whose parents held off on ever getting a video game system for many years, so when each of the family of siblings was surprised with this gift, we went crazy because we had never had anything like it before that night. 

Jill Kerkhoff, Client Success Advisor - Kansas 

When I was 10, I received a “teddy dog” from my grandparents. I still have it in my office to this day. 

Lyndsie Glowinski, Account Executive - Colorado

My parents got my sister and me American Girl dolls one year. They couldn’t afford the dolls and the accessories because they were so expensive, so my grandpa hand-carved a camping set to go with our dolls. 

Dustin Strande, Regional Director - Dakotas

Growing up on a small farm in Northeast South Dakota, I loved to play with toy machinery and animals. Whether that was in our sandbox or my mom’s garden - which she didn’t always approve of! Well, one Christmas, my grandpa surprised me with my own barn that he had made and painted. I spent so many hours playing with that barn, the animals, and my machinery!

Sheba Harris, Account Executive - Colorado 

I’ll never forget the 80s commercial. Doctors are working on a patient in an operating room. The patient jumps up from the surgery with a red clown nose on. The doctors are scrambling, trying to get him to lie down. I remember being about seven years old and watching this commercial with so much joy. The game was Operation, and I wanted to bad! I told my mother and grandmother that I wanted it, and they both responded with, “We will see.” My letter to Santa that year was me pouring out my love for surgeries and how, if I got this game, I promised to be a good doctor one day. I got the game, and, like any other 7-year-old, it was fun for about 24 hours. For weeks, my mom had been finding the operating pieces on her carpet. I’ll never forget how much I wanted that game as a kid, and I purchased it again about five years ago. Whenever I play it, I can’t help but feel like a kid again!

Del Rae McCullough, Regional Director - Kansas

Some of my best memories are receiving Barbies and an Easy Bake Oven. (Yes, they came outback in the day.) The best thing for me is that my daughters, who are both moms, received thesame toys. Now, my granddaughter receives and plays with the same toys. It’s interesting to seethe same toys that are generational and still remain popular gifts, only a much-upgraded version. 

Julie Hubbart, Client Success Advisor - Nebraska & Dakotas

Every year at Christmas, my brothers and I snooped around our house to try and find ourChristmas gifts to see what we would be getting. One year, we were at our grandparents’ house and found an Atari in their closet. We didn’t think our grandparents would buy us an Atari or even know what it was, but we didn’t say anything. We were so excited to find it under our tree onChristmas morning. It turned out my parents had hidden the present at my grandparents’ house for safe-keeping. What a fun Christmas playing Pac-Man, Frogger, Asteroids, and Donkey Kong. 

Tiffany Drake- Cable, Client Success Support

One of my favorite Christmas memories is not when I was a child, but when my kids were little. My son Dryden was at the age where he was questioning Santa. His friends at school were telling him that Santa Claus was not real, but rather their parents were Santa Claus. Naturally, he asked me whether Santa Claus was real or if their dad and I were Santa. I asked him what he thought. I could tell he had contemplated this. He shared that there is no way parents can be Santa Clause as it’s impossible for parents to buy all the gifts, wrap them, and deliver them in one night. I replied that he is exactly right - that it is impossible for parents to do it in one night. He chose to believe in the magic- at least for that year and maybe another. As a child, I remember getting to drink Pepsi when we opened Christmas presents. It was such a treat! To this day, I love Pepsi! It often reminds me of those magical Christmas days being with my family, where everyone got along, and there was joy in the house. 

Amber Bricker, Director of Operations

One of the most memorable gifts I received as a kid was the Nintendo Game Boy. Of course, I had to share it with my brother, which wasn’t ideal most of the time, but it brought us closer together.Long car rides were bearable, and I still can brag to my brother about how I’m better than him atKirby Pinball. (Even though he beats me in every other game.)

Wendy Perry, Client Success Support

When I was probably 9 years old, my little brother and I loved micro-machine cars. That year, my parents got us a set of Legos so we could build garages and homes for them. We thought it was the coolest thing that my dad took a spare piece of paneling that they had put up in our family room and put it on the floor to let us draw and make our towns all over it. We got to take up the whole living room with our toys for a week, and we didn’t have to put them away every night like normal toys. 

Chuck Gosnell, Sr. Account Executive - Colorado 

I was about 5-6 years of age. Since my friend had a BB gun, I decided that I really needed and wanted one. I can remember my parents’ reluctance and silence on my request. However, on Christmas morning, they surprised me with a Daisy BB gun. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Over the years, I shot a lot of tin cans with it, and I actually still have it. I shoot with my granddaughters and grandsons at the cabin every year, and I still shoot the most beautiful Daisy in America. I even carved my initials in the stock as a kid, just like Daniel Boone