WELCOME TO CHRISTMASTOWN

The great thing about arriving in the new world was you could create whatever version of Paradise you saw fit.

For Kris Kringle, newly arrived from Germany, he only wanted to preserve one small part of the world for himself and call it Christmas.

Christmastown to be precise.

He would need a sheriff and like minded men, women and children to inhabit the place with him. People who loved Christmas as much as he did and luckily for him, there were many.

He started with his own home, calling it The Workshop and built everything else in the town around that. There was a church, a school, a post office and naturally a saloon which he named 'The Grotto'. The Christmas community took time to build but over the course of ten years, 1700 to 1710, it became a notable place of refuge and happiness for its small population.

Surrounded by the Snowy Mountains of Montana, Christmastown could just have easily been in the North Pole every December when Kris and the townsfolk of the town were busy making and delivering presents as far and wide as they could manage.

Christmas for the residents of Christmastown was an ethos, an extension of a deep faith born out of religion and it required a certain type to belong there - someone who was humble before God, recognised the achievements of Christ and believed in the deep magic of compassion shared amongst men and women in the dark nights of winter.

But even Christmastown had to defend its values from time to time and that day came for Kris Kringle and his community when the Godless town of Christless staged a raid to steal all the presents and send a warning to all the townsfolk that no-one was safe from not just losing everything they owned but also everything they believed in.

The first raid came on a Christmas Eve as the entire town was ransacked of all its home crafted gifts and presents and robbed every believer of Christmas that year from enjoying their yearly festive ritual.

The second raid was less successful the following year as Christmastown prepared to defend itself a little better against its heathen adversaries.

For Kris Kringle had made sure to arm each family with their own firearm in a bid to save as many presents from the Christless planned heist.

"We'll make sure these Godless peasants don't ever attempt to ruin another Christmas Eve in our town ever again."

It wasn't quite enough to stave off the third attempt the year after that but when they came the following year, they were met with a full Christmastown militia that called themselves The Red Robbins and they made sure the Christless gang got no further than the two giant, well decorated Christmas trees planted either side of the high gated wooden entrance to the town.

"Hold it right there!"

And the Christless gang did as they were told by the booming voice that filled the night sky as the Red Robins gestured to blow their heads clean off if they even dared to step one inch closer to the town.

Kris Kringle stepped forward, secure in the knowledge that he was protected by his expertly trained Christmas posse.

"Tell the people of Christless, there's a light that shines beyond the darkness they currently inhabit. If they want to be redeemed, we'll keep an open mind on accepting them into our town. But if anyone threatens what I've built for my people here then they'll meet with a rain of bullets and will be sent quicker to hell than they'd ever imagined was possible."

The horseman turned back and over the next twelve months it appeared word did indeed get back as many from Christless sought refuge in Christmastown where the warmth, kindess and generosity of the town offered far greater long term prospects for living than the dour, faithless town of which they had had the misfortune to belong to up until now.

And as the legend grew of Kris Kingle and Christmastown, including its resilience against its enemies that threatened their way of life, the larger the appeal of what he'd built out there in the mountains spread far and wide.

One thing was for damn sure.

Christmas was here to stay.