In between dashing through the mall and prancing through the holiday crush, USA WEEKEND has created a special event for our readers to celebrate the season. Join all the stars as they participate in the reading of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas.

We have wrapped a beloved Christmas classic into a one-of-a-kind 21st-century package with a celebratory -- and celebrity-filled -- cyber-twist.
First, we assembled an all-star cast of notables from movies and sports to music and media to recite a verse each of the holiday tale 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, which recounts a man's exciting encounter with old St. Nick on Christmas Eve.

Then, we updated the 1912 holiday poem by creating a cool and Christmassy animated version of our eclectic recordings.

For some, it was the spirit of holiday giving that inspired them to join in: For each participant, USA WEEKEND is donating, via the Gannett Foundation, $500 to NiteStar, a New York-based musical theater program that is designed to help children with health and social problems. If you would like to contribute, visit NiteStar.org.

For others, it was a chance to revive fond memories of their own. TV's Meredith Vieira told us that she still remembers the "magical" illustrated edition of Clement Clarke Moore's rhyme she had as a child. And every year, former race car driver Darrell Waltrip and his family recite the whole thing -- in their barn back home in Franklin, Tenn.
"We all get together in one of the stables, throw down a bale of hay and sing plenty of carols and read other stories," Waltrip tells us. "'Twas the Night Before Christmas is always part of the evening."

-- T.J. Walter

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