The Adventures Of Sparkel & Glissen in the Christmas City 

 Once upon a time, a group of fairies and elves lived in a secret palace deep in the heart of the Apparition Mountains on a wooded hill they called South Mountain. At the bottom of the South Mountain was a beautiful river valley they called the Christmas Valley. On the other side of the valley was Poltergeist Mountain. This was the home of Noggin and Dundar who were the leaders of the imps and trolls. They lived in dark caves on Poltergeist Mountain.

     One snowy Christmas Eve, two elves named Sparkel and Glissen led a group of other fairies and elves out of their secret palace to the top of their enchanted mountain to gather pine cones for their Christmas festival. They heard a commotion in the valley below. Sparkel and Glissen crept down the mountain to get a peek at what was going on. 

    Strangers were gathered around a special manger depicting the birth of "the Holy child". They were led by a man named Count Von Zinzendorf as they knelt and sang songs. The elves knew the songs were hymns of adoration, praise and thanks to God. The elves were not seen by the Count or his followers as they watched the modest celebration from the safety of the bushes. They heard the Count proclaim the new settlement as "The Christmas City"! It was the Christmas in the year 1741. 

    At that wonderful moment angels came down from the heavens carrying a huge bright shining star. The angels placed the star on the top of South Mountain to serve as a beacon and a guide for all to follow. This is where the first adoration of "The Holy Child" in the settlement in the new land happened. The Count and his followers watched in amazement as the star shined brightly and they all gave praise to God. 

    The elves and the fairies quickly scampered up the side of the mountain to greet the beautiful angels. Suddenly, as if by magic, an angel produced a chest of radiant gold, sparkling beads of all the colors of the rainbow, and the finest fabrics of silk, satin and felt. The angels gave this chest to Noel, the leader of the elves and fairies. The angel then blessed the chest. The angel told the fairies to protect the glistening treasure and to use it to pay tribute to the "Child" at the center of the devotion below.     

    The elves and fairies wanted to make sure that Noggin and Dundar and their imps and trolls from Poltergeist Mountain could never find the treasure. So, Noel led his band of elves and fairies to the Christmas Rock, the entrance to their enchanted mountain and their palace. This was their very special hiding place. The Christmas Rock was the only way into the enchanted mountain. The secret invisible door could only be opened by a special piece of the rock. Sparkel and Glissen and the other elves and fairies always carried their special piece of the rock. 

    Noel ordered all the fairies and elves to design a decoration using the "treasure" as a special decoration for "the Child" and for all the children in the new town in the valley below. Noel appointed two fairies named Rainbow and Tinsel to lead them. 

    They used some of the gold from the "treasure" blessed by the angel to create a special ribbon material of gold as a symbol of faith. They used green felt for the symbol of hope and they used red felt as the symbol of love. They folded, twisted and stretched the colorful ribbons into a spectacular giant bow, to be used placed on the highest point on the Christmas tree. This bow was to be a symbol of faith, hope and love for all children. They called this "The Christmas Bow".

     Sparkel and Glissen made delicious, chocolate heart shaped candy with their very special chocolate mix, which they knew all children loved to eat. Noggin and his band of imps and trolls were always trying to steal the fairies special chocolate mix. Sparkel and Glissen dipped their fingers into the "treasure chest" and touched each candy with rainbow sprinkles.

     When the candy dried, Sparkel, Glissen and all the fairies and elves wrapped each heart in a golden paper then attached each piece to the bow as a special treat for all the children in the new town. Eating the "Hearts of Gold" would protect the children from doing bad things for a whole year. These "Hearts of Gold" became the treasure of the Christmas City.

     Noggin and Dundar and the imps and trolls, who lived on Poltergeist Mountain, were always trying to get a piece of the rock so they could take the special secret chocolate mix away from the elves and fairies. Noggin and Dundar and the imps and trolls rode on beasts called Growlers. They were called Growlers because they ran as fast as the wind and the noise from the wind through their teeth and whiskers made a sound like "Grrrrowllll!" Noggin rode the fastest Growler. His name was Bogey. When Noggin saw the star appear at the top of the mountain he knew the elves and fairies had received another special gift. 

    He called Dundar and the other imps and trolls together to plan how they could sneak over to the enchanted mountain and spy on the elves and fairies. Dundar warned Noggin they would have to sneak around the strangers in the valley.

     The fairies waited until all the people and children had fallen to sleep. Then they secretly flew the beautiful bow with the special "Hearts of Gold" chocolate candy and placed it on top of the Christmas tree in the middle of the sleeping people. When the people awoke in the morning they saw the big beautiful bow on the Christmas tree that was covered with little golden heart shaped candies. And sure enough there was a piece of candy for every member in the village. No one could explain how the bow and candy got there, but the children knew. Fairies had come in the night and showed the good people that they were not alone in the new land. 

    Noggin and Dundar and some imps and trolls were on their way to the enchanted mountain when they saw the children eating the special "Hearts of Gold". They knew that the hearts of the strangers were turned to love and would be protected from the bad spells of Noggin and Dundar. They returned to Poltergeist Mountain to plan for another day.

     The legend continues to this day. Every Christmas Eve, Sparkel and Glissen fly behind Santa’s sleigh, wherever they see a "Christmas Bow" they put their "Golden Hearts" on the bow as a special treat for the boys and girls and as a special tribute to that "special Child" born long ago. These "Hearts of Gold" also prevented boys and girls from the bad spells of Noggin and Dundar. And every day all year long, the bright shining star of the angels lights the way for all boys and girls to find their way to the home of Sparkel and Glissen. A town called Bethlehem of Pennsylvania, the Christmas City of the United States.