War Cry - December, 2012 Page 32

Even The Salvation Army nearly got into the Big

Ugly fever. But we decided against it when no one
wanted to be known as the Big Ugly Corps Officer or
the Big Ugly Home League Secretary.

I know much can be said (and sung) about Christ-

mastime in the city--streetlights blinking a bright
red and green, shoppers rushing home with their
treasures, snowflakes crunching and kids bunching.
The whole nine yards.

But I get as much joy from a good old�fashioned

country Yuletide scene. I want a roaring fire (in the
fireplace!), homemade pumpkin pie and even a one�
horse open sleigh ride. That's why this year I'm look-
ing forward to a Big Ugly Christmas.

I've celebrated Christmas in different parts of

the world, and the varying cultures and customs
made each holiday different, distinct. There's one
thing all have in common: the unbridled joy over the
fulfillment of God's promise of a Messiah.

The whole scenario of the Christmas story is un-

likely--but since when has God done anything that
seems likely to us? Think of it: a virgin maiden was
the first human to learn that the first Christmas was
coming nine months later (Luke 1:27). News of her
pregnancy was a PR disaster for her family. The
King of kings ended up being born in a smelly stable.
And the child's life was in immediate danger because
of a violently jealous King Herod.

Oh, and there's another unlikely circumstance.

The people had been waiting for so many long cen-
turies that when the Babe finally arrived, no one ex-
pected it. News first broke to a small clan of shep-
herds outside of Bethlehem. Even wise men from the
east knew something big was happening when they
spied a remarkable star.

And mankind has been celebrating ever since.

The birth of Jesus is a big deal. It's the biggest deal
of all time, because without Christmas there can be
no Good Friday or Easter Sunday.

So go ahead. Be a kid again. Hang the mistletoe,

watch "It's A Wonderful Life" for the umpteenth time
and volunteer a few hours at a Salvation Army Red
Kettle stand at the shopping center.

You don't have to be in West Virginia to have a

Big Ugly Christmas. You can have one right there
where you live--and that's a beautiful thing!

Major Frank Duracher is Divisional Secretary for the

Maryland�West Virginia Division and has served in

national and international editorial appointments.

The War Cry | DECEMBER 2012

SOMEWHERE AROUND 1801

, or so the legend says,

a prospector was trying to survey the legal bound-
aries of property he had just acquired in what is now
the southeastern corner of Lincoln County in West
Virginia. The profusion of trees, innumerable hollows
and an unbelievably twisting creek made surveying
the land extremely difficult.

"That is one big�ugly creek," the prospector

mused to himself.

The name stuck.
Big Ugly Creek is a major tributary of the Guyan-

dotte River, meandering for some 20 miles starting
in Boone County and emptying into the Guyandotte
after much of its run through Lincoln County. A mod-
est town took hold there. Its name? Big Ugly.

The town was never incorporated, but it did play

an important role in West Virginia's burgeoning coal
industry through the 19th and 20th centuries. The
Big Ugly Coal Mining Camp was the first of its kind
in the Guyandotte River Valley. Big Ugly is also at
the southern end of the state's largest mountaintop
removal mine, Arch Coal's "Hobet 21."

Today, Lincoln County residents still embrace

their Big Ugly heritage. There's a Big Ugly Commu-
nity Center, a Big Ugly Road and nearby is the Big
Ugly State Park.

A Big Ugly
Christmas

Coming Home

......H......

MAJOR FRANK DURACHER

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