Nov. 16, 2025

Even More Christmas Movies for your to watch

Show Notes
Transcript

Johnny Mac presents five uplifting Christmas stories, starting with Operation Evergreen, which sends Ohio-grown Christmas trees to US military personnel in Kuwait, fostering a sense of home for the troops. He highlights various global Christmas traditions, including Wales' ancient horse skull custom, roller skating to mass in Venezuela, and Japan's unique Kentucky Fried Chicken tradition. Mac also shares insights into Solvang, California’s Danish-themed Christmas celebrations. Additionally, he discusses new Christmas movies and a festive song by Brian May featuring the St. Ann's Catholic High School for Girls Gospel Choir. Lastly, he lists several heartwarming Christmas films available for streaming.

5 Good News Stories is a daily podcast with five positive, uplifting news stories to brighten your day. New episodes every day. Follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Part of the Caloroga Shark Media network

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Caalaroga Shark Media. Right there, I'm Johnny Mack with five

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good news Christmas stories. Operation Evergreen is preparing to send

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dozens of Ohio grown Christmas trees to US service members

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stationed overseas. The programs now and it's thirtieth year. It's

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a partnership between the Ohio Department of Agriculture and the

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Ohio Christmas Tree Association. This year, around fifty trees will

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be shipped to military personnel serving in Kuwait. Brian is

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the director of the whole thing. He says, sending a

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piece of home overseas lets our servicemen and women know

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they're in our thoughts. We hope these Christmas trees and

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wishes of appreciation bring joy and cheer this holiday season.

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Tree growers from across the state donate the evergreens. They're

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inspected for pests and disease before being wrapped and sent overseas.

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The ornaments are created and donated by local schools, churches,

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and veterans groups. Let's take a look at some traditions

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around the world. In Wales, one of the countries oldest

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customs is the merry Luid. I hope I pronounced that right,

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and I probably didn't anyway. It is a decorated horse

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skull mounted on a pole and carried by a group

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of performers. The horse skull carriers go door to door,

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singing and engaging residents in rhyming exchanges before being invited

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in for refreshments. The practice actually predates Christianity. In Caracas, Venezuela,

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Christmas morning begins with families traveling to mass on roller skates.

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You didn't think I was going to say roller skates. Yeah,

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streets are close to traffic, so people can roller skates

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safely through the city, creating a festive atmosphere filled with

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music and crowds and roller skates. That's a lot of fun.

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In Japan, families marked the holiday with a meal from

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Kentucky Fried Chicken. You know, not the worst idea. That

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tradition began with a marketing campaign in the nineteen seventies,

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and it's stuck around Salving, California. They're getting ready for Christmas.

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I was just there. It is a cute little town

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known for its Danish heritage. It's about two hours north

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of la maybe a little less than that. The whole

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town has this Denmark theme. It's like you just magically

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woke up in Europe and each December it transforms into

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a European style Christmas village. If you'd like to know

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more about Solvng, specifically, our podcast Travel is Back. I

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recently dropped an episode about Solvang, so you can hear

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my experiences there. I had a great time. Founded in

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the early nineteen hundreds by immigrants from Denmark, Solvang is

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the home of places like Olson's Danish Village Bakery and

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Mortensen's Danish Bakery. Nutcrackers fill store windows, and that was

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true in like October when I went and families can

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take holiday photos in Hans Christian Anderson Park and I

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was there and it was live music there. Anna is

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a spokesperson for Solvang and says Solvang is the destination

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for people that really want that European Christmas vibe. It's

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one of the couple times of the year where the

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village is most magical. It's like this escaped to another country,

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but you're still in SoCal Jewel Fest goes all the

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way into early January with the annual Christmas tree burn

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that's of course overseen by the Santa Barbara County Fire department.

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It's an unofficial goodbye to the holiday season for locals

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and visitors. Really cool town. You should go there at

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least once. Brian May you know him from the band Queen.

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He has a new Christmas song. This one is called

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Praise Your Name, recorded with longtime collaborator Talia Dean and

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the award winning Saint Anne's Catholic High School for Girls

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Gospel Choir. On social media, Brian said, only the most

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epic Christmas track ever. All Right, my wife is upstairs.

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She's just been watching Christmas movies for about three weeks now.

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Just out yesterday, a royal date for Christmas. That's right.

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A European duke arrives in the US, but his bags

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get lost in transit. As a result, he meets Bella,

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who owns a boutique because that's how Christmas movies go,

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and that gives him a royal makeover. You'll find that

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on Great American Family. How about a Sprinkle of Christmas?

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You see there's Libby the Baker. She finally opens the

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bakery of her dreams in time for Christmas. However, she

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gets into a feud with an actor who gave her

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business a bad review. I wonder what'll happen there. That

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one's on Real One. How About a Vineyard Christmas? Heather,

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who I think is a podcast host in this one,

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tries to create a Christmas episode by featuring a winery.

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The problem the owner of the winery, Rooty, may be attractive,

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but he gets in her way a little bit too much.

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That's also on Real One. I wonder if they'll get

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together in the end. How about Becoming Santa from twenty

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fifteen that follows Nick, a man who has completely lost

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his Christmas spirit. To get it back, he becomes Santa

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for the holiday season. That's on Lifetime. Christmas Casanova sees

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another podcaster, what is going on? How come I don't

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have a Christmas movie? This is about a lease? She

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tries to spice up her Christmas content by doing extra

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episodes on Sunday? Is that what she's doing by helping

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Daniel fine love. However, things start to back fire when

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she realizes he's chasing the wrong person. I wonder who

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the right person is? Huh? Alise? That one's on Real One.

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And those are your five good News Christmas stories for today.

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Ho Ho Ho