9 famous Canadians share their holiday memories

Nelly Furtado, Michael Bublé, Debbie Travis, Robert Munsch and others share their favourite Christmastime memories with CanadianLiving.com.

By Julie Hunter

"Last year, a few days before Christmas, everyone gathered together at my brother-in-law's place in Lakefield, Ont. The night was spectacular -- it was one of those beautiful, clear nights, where the light of the full moon reflects off the snow and everything looks bright. My brother-in-law hitched up his team of horses with a large sleigh and took the whole party down into the woods where a large campfire was waiting for us. I had never been on a sleigh ride before, and it was awesome! With the fire, the moon and the night, Christmas was in the air for sure."
-- Natalie MacMaster, Juno Award-winning fiddler

"On New Year's Eve in the winter of 1999, we were in Nova Scotia with my friends and family to ring in the New Year. Midnight was approaching, so we put on our skates and headed out to Dad's perfect, hockey-sized pond. The night was spectacular. The stars were out and there was no sound but our skates, the champagne popping, tons of laughs and our rendition of Auld Lang Syne, which, if I may say, was a FINE rendition. We sang a few extras just because!"
-- Melanie Doane, Juno Award-winning recording artist

"Every Christmas my father would sit down all of his nine children around the Christmas tree and read us the Christmas story from the Bible. As we got older we continued to come for that reading and my father continued the tradition until he was 90 and could no longer do it."
-- Robert Munsch, renowned children's author





"Growing up in Ottawa, my family spent the holiday season across the river in Quebec at the Prime Minister's residence at Harrington Lake. It was nothing short of a winter wonderland, a gorgeous frozen lake (great for hockey and skating) as well as groomed hiking trails, cross-country skiing and snowmobiling.

"In the days leading up to Christmas, the extended family would descend on the house and we would share a traditional Canadian Christmas together; from tree-trimming to turkey, you name it, we did it."
-- Ben Mulroney, host of Canadian Idol and Etalk Daily
 

"Every year, for nearly the past 40 years, we throw what I call a 'Dickens party,' where we invite a group of people to come over to my house and read through Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol from cover to cover. Everyone has to read, and every year the guest list changes. It's so much fun to watch the expressions on the faces of the first-timers. It's the thing I look forward to most at Christmas time and all my favourite holiday moments come from every year of this party."
-- Jean Little, renowned children's author


Page 2 of 2 -- Why does a stuffy, cold attic top Michael Bublé's holiday memories? Find out on page 1.

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