Christmas movies: “Christmas Comes to Willow Creek”

John Schneider and Tom Wopat starred in "Christmas Comes to Willow Creek" in 1987.

Source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092756/

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It was a Christmas TV movie that would fit in nicely nowadays with the dozens that air every day.

Back in 1987, there was no Hallmark Channel, Netflix, or other streaming services to provide an endless array of Christmas movies.

Instead, we had three channels that recycled a lot of content from year to year, so I saw several Christmas movies several times.

New movies did appear, and there was none that I remember more fondly than “Christmas Comes to Willow Creek.”

It had a great message, brought a tear to my eye, and now has an interesting connection to where I live.

Sibling rivalry
“Christmas Comes to Willow Creek” focuses on two brothers who fall in love with the same woman. Pete is a quieter person, played by Tom Wopat, who has to deal with a son angry his dad is on the road trucking all the time. Ray, played by John Schneider, is also a truck driver but a bit more outgoing. Jessie, played by Kim Delaney, falls for Pete first, but ultimately leaves him for Ray. Much of this back story is told through flashbacks.

Ultimately, the brothers are hired by an old friend, played by Hoyt Axton, to drive a truckload of Christmas supplies up to Willow Creek, Alaska. It is a town hit hard by the closure of its cannery, the main and pretty much only industry in town

It could really use some Christmas cheer.

So, Pete, Ray, Jessie who, incidentally is pregnant, and Ray’s son set out to get this truck to Willow Creek for Christmas. Along the way, they all learn to work together, heal some old wounds, and bring a new life into the world.

It is one of my all-time favourite Christmas movies.

Reunion
It was really cool, because “Christmas Comes to Willow Creek” was a reunion of sorts, an obvious one for people watching TV in the 1980s.

For seven seasons, John Schneider and Tom Wopat had played cousins Bo and Luke Duke on “The Dukes of Hazzard”. They had great on-screen chemistry, and it showed again in “Christmas Comes to Willow Creek”.

Hometown connection
When I saw “Christmas Comes to Willow Creek” for the first time on Channel 7 on the peasant vision dial, I was living on a farm north of Coaldale just west of the highway to Picture Butte.

Willow Creek meant nothing to me, other than it was a cool name for a town in Alaska.

I moved to Claresholm, an hour and a half north and west of Coaldale in 2001. The town was built east of the actual Willow Creek, and the name has left its mark all over this community. The high school is named Willow Creek Composite High School and the rural municipality covering this area is called the Municipal District of Willow Creek.

I thought that was pretty cool when I was re-acquainted with the movie.

Parting thoughts
“Christmas Comes to Willow Creek” is one of those great feel good movies that are all over the airwaves at Christmas time. However, back in 1987, there weren’t as many of them as proliferate now. Maybe that accounts for the quality of the movie.

It has such a great message, not only of hope and goodwill, but reconciliation and love. Seeing a father and son sort out their differences, watching two estranged brothers reconcile, and all three of them work to bring a baby into this world is heart warming.

And, the casting of John Schneider, Tom Wopat and Kim Delaney as three points of this love triangle is perfect. The on-screen chemistry of all three of them is a big part of what makes the movie work.

That’s why it remains one of my all-time favourite Christmas movies.