Sugar Grove
By Paula Mitchell
December is a delightful month filled with holiday excitement, baked goodies, cards and Christmas. The crisp cold air, the piney scent of evergreens, warm candle wax, and the cinnamon smell of fresh-baked cookies is definitely worn this month.
The trees stand stark and bare, their feet covered with fallen leaves of every color. The land is being lulled to sleep, covered with the blanket of leaves. Snow is being wished for Christmas. There have been lots of times when snow didn’t appear and the weather was mild. It is the snowy ones that linger in the mind, and bring back that special feeling of Christmas. Of all the special days, Christmas evokes the most memories.
Unquestionably, one of the chief joys of Christmas is the sense of continuity, of being a part of a long and great human chain that stretches through centuries, sharing thoughts, experiences, desires, and turning the most beloved of these into cherished memories, which in a sense are ornaments on the tree of time.
People from all over the globe come together at this magical time of the year to rejoice and celebrate the recollection of memories. This occasion celebrated in common has the power to overcome differences. That is the true wonder of Christmas. It is the stuff from which dreams and memories are made, and all the more precious for that.
So, every time a hand reaches out to help another…that’s Christmas.
Every time someone puts anger aside and strives for understanding…that’s Christmas.
Every time people forget their differences and realize their love for each other…that’s Christmas!
To all my faithful readers and the wonderful people who have come to be in my life, “I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a holiday season that lasts through the New Year, and on through 2024.”
Christmas instructions to make life better include the following:
- Watch a Christmas movie.
- Fill one’s home with the scents of Christmas.
- Listen to Christmas music.
- Bake something to take to neighbors and shut ins.
- Grab the crew to go look at Christmas lights.
The weather has had its “ups and downs” when discussing temperatures. Sunday morning was 54 degrees with rain in the forecast. Who knows what the temperature will be in the next coming days! Sunday rain “spritz” amounted to about one-half inch. This community will take all the moisture that comes this way. Monday morning found a landscape of snow serenity with closed schools. What a beautiful sight it was!
The Parade of Lights judging will take place the week of Dec. 21 in the Sugar Grove community.
This week’s quotes are as follows:
“Families are like fudge — mostly sweet, with a few nuts.” — Les Dawson
“Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” — Melody Beattie
“Read the books they don’t want you to. That’s where the good stuff is.” — Levar Burton
“I wish we could put up some of the Christmas spirit in jars and open a jar of it every month.” — Harlan Miller
“Christmas works like glue, it keeps us all sticking together.” — Rosie Thomas
Sitting around the fireplace is the best place to hear the “Talk of The Grove.”
“Pidge” Anderson had a complete reversed shoulder replacement Monday. She is doing well, now that she is home.
Phil Downs visited with K.D. Puffenbarger this week. He has completed his Christmas shopping and has all the presents wrapped up. Now, he can sit and wait for Santa to arrive!
On Saturday, Marty Smith brought his father, Donnie Smith, over from Bridgewater, Virginia, to visit Evelyn Varner.
Bob and Judy Grimm enjoyed an early Christmas with Chris and P.J. Grimm and their respective families in Uniontown, Ohio. Everyone enjoyed the Christmas lights and displays at the Akron Zoo. The couple enjoyed their weekend.
Clickety-clacks for the chin waggers are as follows:
- It takes about 15 years to grow the average Christmas tree.
- Christmas trees have been sold in the United States since 1850.
- Each year in the United States, 3 billion Christmas cards are sent.
- Holiday purchases account for one sixth of all yearly retail sales in the United States.
- “White Christmas” by Irving Berlin is the best-selling single record of all time, with more than 100 million sales, worldwide.
December birthdays include Debbie Horst, 18th; Katelyn Frank, 20th; Roger Kiser and Genna Koontz, 21st; Sharon Gillispie, Tasha Bowers and Terri Grogg, 22nd; Carly Mitchell and Sara Harper, 22nd; Betty Lam and Suzanne Brubeck, 23rd; Brenda Allen, 24th; Dottie Lambert and Jesus, 25th; Macie Mitchell and Melissa Dahmer, 29th; Maria Miller and Doug Pitsenbarger, 30th; and Bobbie Puffenbarger and Clinton Bowers, 31st.
Concerns for this week are many. They are as follows: Bob Adamson, Rick Adkins, Charles and “Pidge” Anderson, Roger and Joan Ashley, Mercedes Aumann, Judy Austin, Lynn Beatty, Jimmie Bennett, “Bo” Boggs, Jane Conrad, Marie Cole, Norma Propst Cunningham, Christian Dasher, Bethany Eye, Isaac Eye, Marie Eye, Mary Eye, Neal Eye, the Donna Fleisher family, Loralee Gordon, Lola Graham, Jordan Greathouse, Patsy Green, Rosalee Grogg, Marlene Harman, Marvin Hartman, Steve and Armanda Heavner, Grace Hedrick, George Hevener, Jackie Hill, Edsel and Mary Ann Hogan, Virgil Homan, Jr., Adelbert Hoover, Myrtle Hoover, Tim Hoover, Debbie and Enos Horst, Mike Jamison, Jessica Janney, Alice Johnson, Richard Judy, Marsha Keller, Boyd Kimble, Danny Kimble, Dennis Kincaid, Kim Kline, Tracie Knight, Melissa Lambert, Robert Lambert, Rex Landis, Linda Malcolm, Betty Mallow, Roger and Skip Mallow, Yvonne Marsh, Anna Mauzy, Neil McLaughlin, Rose Miller, Bruce Minor, Barbara Moats, Melvin Moats, Aaron Nelson, Ruth Nelson, Don Nilsen, Cheryl Paine, Barbara Parker, Shirley Pratt, Alda Propst, John O. Propst, Kathy Propst, Harley Propst, Sheldon Propst, Mary Puffenbarger, Nicole Reel, Charles Rexrode, Jason Rexrode, Pam Rexrode, Donna Ruddle, Annie Simmons, Phyllis Simmons, Erin Simmons, Eva Simmons, Kent Simmons, Robbie Sites, Donnie Smith, Connie Sulser, Rosa Tichenor, Sandra Vandevander, Wayne Vandevander, Raymond Varner, Amy Vaus, Sheldon Waggy, Judy Williams, Ann Wimer, Junior Wimer and Margaret Wimer.
