What was your favorite Christmas present as a child?

Published 11:00 am Thursday, December 23, 2021

The Meridian Star asked local community members to reflect on a favorite Christmas gift they received as a child. What follows is their responses.

“When I was 10 years old, I really wanted a Mongoose bike with pegs on it,” recalls Coach Cordera Eason. “I wanted to be able to go bike riding with all my friends. I remember waking up to see it early Christmas morning. I went riding on that bike at 5 a.m., and I forgot to let me parents know. They were still asleep when I left the house. I got in trouble, big time, when I returned. It was still my favorite gift! I wanted to be able to go bike riding with all my friends. I remember waking up to see it early Christmas morning. I went riding on that bike at 5 a.m., and I forgot to let me parents know. They were still asleep when I left the house. I got in trouble, big time, when I returned. It was still my favorite gift.”

A Christmas gift Odie Barrett remembers most was a small battery-operated motorcycle he used to zip through the rooms of his childhood home.

“I was probably four or five (years old),” said Barrett, the Lauderdale County Emergency Management Director.

Nowadays, children can drive around in battery operated Humvees or superhero themed cars, but for Barrett that small motorcycle spawned a love of motorcycles that lasted for decades to come.

Several years later, around six years old, Barrett traded up to a Honda 50, and continued to ride through his time in the U.S. Navy.

“I rode it for a few years, then went to an 80, moved up to a 125,” he said. “That’s where I stopped for a little while, and then when I was in the Navy I had a motorcycle.”

Although he doesn’t ride motorcycles anymore, Barrett said he remembers how it all started with the little battery operated bike he opened on Christmas day years ago.

“That got me going, and I rode all the way from dirt bikes to street bikes,” he said. “I probably quit riding in 1994.”

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“My most memorable Christmas gift as a child was a C-130 airplane model about 3 feet long that dad helped me build,” said Lauderdale County Coroner Clayton Cobler.

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Marion Police Chief Randall Davis remembers the excitement of seeing the brand new bicycle he got on Christmas Day as an 8-year-old boy.

“I’ll never forget that,” he said.

There was just one small issue.

“I couldn’t ride a bicycle,” he said.

Davis’ twin sister had already learned how to ride a bike, but he had not. So, the future police chief got to work teaching himself how to pedal and stay balanced.

“I got to where I could kind of push it and hop on,” he said.

It took time, but Davis kept at it until he was able to ride a bike just like his sister.

“That just goes to show you, if you keep at it, it’ll always work out,” he said.

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“When I was two years old, mother died, so I lived with my grandmother and aunt until I was 12,” recalls Nancy Chisolm. “When I was six years old, we drove to Sears and Roebuck in Tupelo to Christmas shop, an hour away from their house. I saw a toy Santa, and six-year-old Nancy wanted it badly. My grandmother and aunt told me that it was too expensive. I put that special Santa on every list I had. On Christmas Eve, our neighbor came over and asked what I wanted, and I told her all I wanted for Christmas was that Santa. Little did I know, my grandmother and aunt took off, praying that Santa would still be there. On Christmas morning, I found him under the tree. Of course, I didn’t know this until many years later. I found out they drove as fast as they could, and only got there 10 minutes before the store closed. Now, my Santa is worn and a little dirty, but he is just as as special.”

Meridian Fire Chief Jason Collier grew up spending time in the woods hunting with his family.

“I loved to go hunting with uncles, and my dad and grandfather,” he said.

Since he didn’t have a rifle of his own, Collier would borrow one from a family member so he could join the family outing.

On Christmas day, when he was 12 years old, Collier unwrapped a rifle of his own, a Marlin 30-30.

“I still got it,” he said.

Collier said it took him a few years before the rifle put meat in the freezer, but it has since put plenty of meals on the dinner table and continues to do so.

Singer Todd Tilghman doesn’t remember any special gifts from his childhood, but does have this holiday memory as an adult:

“I do remember that in 2009, we found out we were going to bring (our adoptive daughter) Judah home in early 2010, and we found this out right around Christmas,” he said. “I guess that might be the most memorable. We had waited and worked so hard, and we were disappointed she wouldn’t be home for that Christmas, but super excited to know the time was so close.”