This winter season evokes many stories of farm families, bundled against the cold, tending to the animals as they rustle in the hay in the cold stalls of the barn. Home to many oral traditions of the mountains, Madison County is fortunate to be the birthplace of a premier Appalachian performer, now known internationally, Sheila Kay Adams. A storyteller, keeper of mountain ballads, writer and musician, Sheila Kay has many stories from her own life experiences growing up in a remote rural community in the heart of Madison County. One of those stories, “The Christmas Miracle”, had its premiere on Sheila Kay’s radio program, “Over Home”, on public radio station WNCW in 1989, and was later published in her book, “Come Go Home with Me.”
 This oral tradition was shared by the elders of Sheila Kay’s family, folks born at the end of the 1800’s, with whom she was blessed to spend time as a child. One of the stories from her grandfather, known to the grandkids as Breaddaddy, came from a long heritage of Bible stories that had been crafted to reflect the mountain families’ simple yet rich farm life, and the importance of the barn and its animals.
You can join Sheila Kay in this story of Old Christmas, as she returns to her Breaddaddy’s old barn and shares with you “The Christmas Miracle”. To listen to the story, click on the link here.
May this holiday season bring memories of the richness of this heritage, and the importance of carrying it forward to the New Year.
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4th grade students to the Smith Farm to bring alive a section of the state history curriculum. 
