It’s been a semi-productive day but one mostly taking it easy and pacing my strength.

I did rake/blow the leaves in the front yard as the day was gorgeous with the mild weather and sunshine.

54 years ago, tonight, RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER premiered on television.

I watched RUDOLPH as a child, clear up through my senior year of high school.  I loved it.  I had the RUDOLPH music books for piano and alto saxophone.

My first December at Ball State University I was a bit bummed as I was too old to watch RUDOLPH.

The night it was to reappear on television, I grabbed some study items and headed down to the huge double lounge of Swinford/Botsford Halls, two of the anchor residence halls of The Honors College. I hoped someone would have the television set to RUDOLPH so I could at least watch some of it from a distance.

When I turned the corner leading to the lounge I could have cried.  Both television sets, on opposite ends of the double lounge, were set to RUDOPLH’s channel and there wasn’t a seat to be found.  Fortunately, several friends sitting close to the television motioned for me to join them and they made room on the much-crowded metal and vinal sofa.

People were quoting dialogue and created a massive chorus, joining in on each song.

Heaven, as I knew it on RUDOLPH night, was restored.

The story of this Christmas special is quite interesting and can be followed on this Wikipedia post: Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer (TV Special).

Two of the original figurines survive and were restored.  This is an interesting look at the restoration project: Rankin-Bass Puppet Restoration.