“And they lived happily ever after.” That’s the way most fairy tales end, but we found from our NHCHF January program “Once Upon A Time” that this wasn’t always true. Many of the fairy tales contained cruelty and violence and unhappy endings.

Because of this, they were originally intended for adults. Over the years, these fairy tales were “sanitized” for a younger audience, especially the ones that were made into movies.

Fairy tales have been around for thousands of years. Since oral storytelling came long before the written word, it is difficult to trace the origin. Many evolved from centuries-old tales that changed with the telling and retelling.

The theme of a lot of fairy tales is good versus evil. As oral stories began to be written down, authors further changed them to enhance the story line. Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Hans Christian Anderson, and Lewis Carroll are some of the more famous and prolific authors. Adults and children still enjoy theses fantasy stories that happened in “Once Upon A Time.”

In December, the Halcyon Seekers chapter of NHCHF once again provided decorated bags for the AE/MS Christmas Shoppe. Members were on hand to help the children with bagging their purchases.

We were assisted this year by some students from the upper grades. It was a very busy day and we appreciated their help. The children put a lot of thought into the gifts they purchased for their families.

Thanks to the AE/MS staff for providing this opportunity for students to do some Christmas shopping.

We ended our year of NHCHF activities with a Christmas party where we enjoyed good food, fun, and fellowship.

We meet the third Monday of the month for lunch and a program. In February, it will be about lighthouses. For more information, call 735-5493.