Christmas Comes to Willow Creek

Plot

Willow Creek, Alaska is going through problems because the town's main business, a cannery, has closed and many residents no longer have jobs. Ray and Pete are brothers; although they share the same profession (truck drivers), they are different as day and night.

Pete (played by Tom Wopat) is trying to figure out what to do with his rebellious son Michael (played by Zachary Ansley), who is angry that his father is always on the road trucking; meantime, he also has to deal with Ray (played by John Schneider), a troublesome recluse who has problems of his own, including a pregnant spouse, who had left Pete for Ray in the first place.

Ray and Pete are hired by an old friend, Al Bensinger (played by Hoyt Axton), to bring Christmas presents and a very big surprise from California all the way up to his home town of Willow Creek, Alaska. The brothers do not realize that they will have to rely on one another and along the way, the brothers and Pete's son argue and get stuck in a blizzard; meanwhile Ray's wife goes into labor. As she gives birth, they finally reconcile with each other, and arrive at their destination greeted by a crowd of happy townspeople. Earlier in the movie, it is discovered that Ray was a champion chili cooker, and the surprise is that Al has loaded the truck with enough supplies to reopen the cannery and manufacture chili. Ray and his spouse like the small town and decide to stay and help the cannery get working again. Pete informs his son that Al has made him a partner in their company, so he won't have to drive a truck anymore and they can be closer together from here on out.

Cast