The "Mr. Christmas: Paul Woodland" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading story after story on a local Facebook Page about all the fun and entertainment the readers had singing Christmas Carols from the "WGAL Channel 8 Christmas Carol flyer.  The flyer was one the many items that were the brainchild of Mr. Paul Woodland who died in June of 2014 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  

Mr. Paul Woodland, composer of the
WGAL-TV song sheets and bass singer.

Paul was known for his quick wit, practical jokes, positive outlook, strong bass voice and Scrabble game skills.  He was also well known for not only his Christmas song sheets, but also ash trays, rulers, pencils, book covers, tape measures and letter openers all with the WGAL logo on them.  He had worked for KYW-AM 1060 radio in Philadelphia for many years and when radio ratings began going down, he joined the staff at Lancaster's local WGAL-TV.  He found that the promotional ideas that worked at one time in Philadelphia soon became big hits in Lancaster County.  "Of all things we handed out, I'd say the song sheets were probably the most universal," Woodland said about the idea he started her in 1955, the year after he joined the WGAL staff.  The first three pages of the sheets had religious songs while the last page had secular favorites. They were printed in red and green ink on 11"x17" paper which was folded in the center.  WGAL printed about 100,000 sheets a year for many years.  I can remember when I was in Cub Scouts we would tour the neighborhood in the city where our Den mother lived at Christmas and sing songs for the residents of the area.  

Front page of the original song sheet.

We all carried one of the WGAL song sheets.  A few years later, while in my final years at Brecht Elementary School I once again remember sharing the song sheets in a Holiday Assembly at the school.  Also used them as a choir member in the St. James Episcopal Church boy's choir when we walked the neighborhood around the church singing Carols at Christmas.  Many organizations asked for the free sheets that had WGAL-TV Channel 8's logo in the upper left corner of the front page of the song sheets.  Then one day Mr. Clair R. McCollough, manager of the Steinman family radio and TV stations, including WGAL, thought his favorite song, "Joy to the World" should be put on the front of the song sheet.  Mr. Woodland tried to explain to him that the sheets were reused over and over again and this could cause confusion if organizations got new sheets that were different than the old ones.  But, Mr. McCollough insisted on the switch.  Well, wasn't long before Mr. Harold E. Miller Sr., manager of WGAL was singing songs from the song sheet with his friends at the Kiwanis Club and found the new sheets didn't match the old ones they had been used for years at the Club.  Mr. Miller was the pianist for the Club and when he announced No. 10 would be sung, some began singing one song while others began singing another song.  Not sure if it was ever changed back, but made for a funny story at the time.  The sheets were free for many years if you wanted to stop at the WGAL studio in Lancaster or perhaps stop at a participating grocery store.  I'm not sure if they are still available or have been discontinued.  A few Lancaster Facebook pages have members who post from time to time about the old song sheets.  Many comments always follow when someone begins a thread on the song sheets.  If only Mr. Woodland knew now popular his song sheets still are after all those years, I'm sure he would be singing along in Heaven!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.