I always enjoy watching Christmas movies during the holidays.
I usually catch a few Hallmark Christmas movies, but this year I haven’t watched many. However, I did watch “Christmas Vacation” a half-dozen times and “Elf” a couple times. One of my favorites is “It’s a Wonderful Life” staring James Stewart. I watched a portion of the movie on Christmas Day. What a classic with a powerful message. Another of my Christmas favorites is the “The Muppets Christmas Carol,” starring Michael Caine as Ebenezer Scrooge, Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Gonzo, Fozzie Bear, Tiny Tim, Rizzo the Rat and a host of Muppets. The movie has such a powerful message of love and seeing the best in others and in life. That reminds me as we all head into the new year of 2024, that the positives in life far outweigh the negatives. There is a lot of crazy stuff going on in our world these days from high gas and food prices, wars around the globe, political debates that seem to never end, families all across this country struggling to make ends meet and division, so much division, over a myriad of issues. There’s also lots of opinions and untruths floating across the airways that are not truthful. I encourage you to take what your see and hear with a grain of salt. Don’t let someone’s opinion cause you to waiver in the future. At the close of the movie when Ebenezer Scrooge has a change of heart after being visited by the spirts of Christmas past, Christmas present and the Christmas future, he sings, “Thankful Heart” “Life is like a journey Who knows when it ends? Yes, and if you need to know The measure of man You simply count his friends Stop and look around you The glory that you see Is born again each day Don’t let it slip away How precious life can be With a thankful heart that is wide awake I do make this promise Every breath I take Will be used now to sing your praise…” And I add this, to do good things onto others. I don’t know what the future has in store, but I know what I have in store for the future…a grateful and thankful heart to see the best in others and to be a difference maker in this world. I hope you will join me on this journey. It’s the best diet for a better new year. Sometimes in this world, especially on Facebook and social media, people often focus on the negative or look for the negative in others. I challenge you in the new year to find the positives each day in your life and in others. Don’t worry about what you can’t do or didn’t get done, instead, focus on what you did do or can do and do that. It might be something small that seems insignificant, but it’s not. Write down in a journal each day one good thing you did and each month or every two or three months, read what you wrote and think about all the ways you’ve made this world a better place for others. One good thing leads to another. It might be something as simple as letting someone go ahead of you in line at the grocery store, donating to a worthy cause that helps others, helping a neighbor with a chore or task, volunteering your time or sending a letter to a member of the military or someone who needs to hear an uplifting word. I leave you with this. Blessings in the New Year to you and your family. Your dreams are possible in the new year! Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day. Editor’s note: Portions of the words from the song “Thankful Heart” was used from “The Muppet Christmas Carol” soundtrack.
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Debbie and I, along with three other family members, made a trip to Ankeny on Sunday for some last minute Christmas shopping.
Our first stop was Sam’s Club for supplies, pet food and some holiday treats. As Debbie and I arrived at the back of the store, a large robotic floor cleaning machine made its way past us into the toilet paper section. We watched as several times the large floor machine would stop to re-adjust, blocking customers in the process, and then would keep on going. We said hello to one family and chuckled as they were briefly stuck between the paper towel section and the robotic cleaning machine, which had stopped again to re-adjust. “That machine has been chasing us around all day,” the fellow said with a chuckle. Keeping the store clean is a good idea, but using a robot so close to Christmas during a busy shopping day was probably not in the best interest of the all the customers. Sam’s Club is always busy, and Sunday was no exception. Anyway, it reminded me of a time in my days of youth when I decided to cut down my own Christmas tree. My Aunt Alice and now late Uncle Ronnie raised fryer chickens in two large chicken houses for Tysons on a spot of land near Fayetteville, Ark. They raised 32,000 chickens (16,000 in each house) at a time. The chicken houses were more than a football field long and included automatic waterers and feeders. It was a hilly area in northwest Arkansas and their farm included a ridge or plateau that was easily accessible by foot. I would sometime take my 22 rifle and shoot at critters on their farm. I took my hand saw and climbed up to the ridge and spotted a nice five-foot or so pine tree. I cut it down and dragged it off the ridge and the half-mile or so to my aunt and uncle’s home where I loaded it in the trunk of my old 1959 Chevrolet Impala. It was my dad’s old work car that I inherited while in high school. I drove it for several years. I loved that old car. I loaded the tree in the trunk and tied down the trunk lid as it would not shut completely for the trip back to Tulsa. That old tree was full of sap and not ideal for use as a Christmas tree. And the needles, my goodness, about half of them fell to the floor during the two weeks the tree was set up in the living room. I was living in my boyhood home at the time as my folks had moved to their farm south of Tulsa. Some years earlier, they had installed a light shag carpet that was on its last leg. There wasn’t a vacuum powerful enough to clean the needles up, so I had to get on my hands and knees and handpick them out of the carpet. It took me a couple hours to complete the task. “Never again,” I said to myself, knowing that the next Christmas tree I got was going to be coming from a local tree lot and not my uncle and aunt’s farm. Back to shopping, we found the day to be enjoyable and met some of the nicest people at the various stops along the way. Even the cashier at Wal-Mart was kind, talkative and did a great job. From all the pins on her hat and vest, I think she’d been working at Wal-Mart for a long time. In the electronic section, I asked a young lady who I thought was a Wal-Mart employee to help me with a price check. She didn’t work at the store, but did the check anyway. I took time to visit with her and a co-worker about cell phones and computers, which is what they were selling. And down the aisle, I greeted a couple stock boys and wished them a Merry Christmas. I even enjoyed a nice chat with a young lady in the Kohl’s checkout line. On the way home, we stopped at Culver’s in Newton. There was a family of four sitting at a booth waiting for their food. As we got ready to leave, I stopped briefly to say Merry Christmas. I think it was a surprise to them that someone would take time to greet them. I even sent well wishes and Merry Christmas to the good folks working behind the counter. Life is too precious not to take time to greet others, send them well wishes, hold the door open for someone or wait a second to let someone go ahead of you in the line. Enjoy the holidays and be sure and take time to do good unto others. Merry Christmas! Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day. I don’t know about you, but to me it feels like Christmas is still months away.
It seems to be dragging its feet getting here. Maybe it has something to do with an earlier than usual Thanksgiving or the warmer weather of late. By the time you read this column, there will be 10 days left until Christmas. That’s forever to me. Tick, tock! Tick, tock – forever and ever and ever! Ten days is still plenty of time to get that last minute gift. I buy some gifts on-line, but this year, I’m going with some local made gifts. It’s nice to be able to support local. Anyway, I feel like a kid again this year. I can’t wait for Santa’s arrival. I have many wonderful Christmas memories. I’ve never gone without receiving Christmas gifts or gone hungry. Debbie and family makes sure Christmas is a special day for me and everyone. I remember as a kid getting up on Christmas morning and waking up the family. We had some of the most magical Christmases. I always enjoyed helping Dad get the decorations out of the garage attic, decorating the Christmas tree, stringing the lights and setting up the manger scene. At the request of my mom, Santa always placed an orange and apple in our stockings. We always had our photo taken holding them each year. Some years ago, I asked my mom about the reason for the orange and apple. She reminded me that her family was so poor, that some years the only Christmas gifts she and her siblings got was an orange and apple. Santa was happy to oblige her request as a reminder of her tough upbringing. One year, I was so excited about Christmas that I went to bed at 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve so it would get here sooner. As I wrestled for sleep, someone knocked on my bedroom window. I peeled back the blind to discover Santa in our driveway giving me a cheery ho, ho, ho. I later learned that it was my dad. We had a gas lamp near the front porch of our Tulsa home and at Christmas, we placed an extra-large plastic Santa face decoration on it. The light from the lamp illuminated Santa. My dad had taken the plastic Santa face off one side of the gas lamp and held it in front of his face that night, teasing me. I’m sure he had enjoyed every minute of it. By 2 a.m., I’d had enough sleep, so I got everyone up and we opened gifts in the middle of night and then went back to bed. I always set out a cookie and glass of milk for Santa on Christmas Eve and it was always gone on Christmas morning. When I was 7, I got an Allstate train set from Sears and Roebuck. Santa brought it to me. And I received a Creepy Crawler set, too. For those who don’t remember or know, the Creepy Crawler set was a toy made by Mattel starting in 1964 that consisted of a series of die-case metal molds resembling various bug-like creatures. I’d pour a liquid chemical substance called “Plastic-Goop,” which came in assorted colors, to make the creatures in a heated burner. I tried fishing with them one year, but I had no luck. I sold the Creepy Crawler set at my parent’s estate auction, but I still have the train set complete in the box. It doesn’t work anymore. A few years ago, I was a hobby shop in Des Moines. I was talking to the fellow at the counter and he said to bring it in and he’d take a look at it. I think it needs a new transformer. Maybe this year I will dig it out and have it checked out. Most years, after we opened Christmas gifts at the Parker house, it was off to spend the day with my grandparents on my mom’s side. My grandma could put together a holiday feast for 20 or more in half the time most could cook a microwave meal. There was always enough food for an army. She had plenty of practice from cooking in schools and care centers in Missouri and Oklahoma for years. She and my grandpa also worked on the riverboats in the late 1960s and early 1970s on the Mississippi, Tennessee and Ohio rivers. She cooked the crew’s meals and grandpa did laundry, helped in the kitchen and kept the ship in tip top shape. On occasion, we visited my great-grandma on my dad’s side at Christmastime. His mother and father were both passed before I was born, so his grandmother was the family connection. Great-grandmother Minnie didn’t care too much for a tree. One year, we arrived at her house in Bartlesville, Okla. on Christmas Eve. Mom and I took her to a tree lot and bought a tree for $5. She put it up in the living room and decorated it that evening. The next morning, we got up, opened the gifts and my great-grandmother properly took the tree down and tossed it into the backyard for the birds to land on. We then ate breakfast. I hope you have a blessed Christmas and I encourage you to keep those memories alive. You might even try writing them down for future generations. Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day. I was running late and almost decided not to stop, but I’m glad I did.
It was Saturday morning, Dec. 2, and there were town Christmas celebrations going on in Montezuma and Brooklyn – at the same time. I’m good at being a community journalist, but I have yet figured out how to be in two places at once. Thankfully, Santa arrived in Montezuma at 8 a.m. and in Brooklyn at 11 a.m. That gave me time to cover Christmas Santa events in both towns. My first stop was the Montezuma Memorial Hall shortly after 8 a.m., where I captured a number of young people meeting Santa and sharing their Christmas gift list. There was also a Christmas breakfast and cookie decorating for kids and adults alike. After one hour, I headed to the Montezuma Methodist Church for photos of the Cookie Walk, before heading to Brooklyn. Kids Storytime and fun activities were planned at the Brooklyn Library from 9 – 10:30 a.m. I looked at my cell phone as I rolled into Brooklyn. It was edging toward 10:30 a.m. and I almost skipped it to wait for Santa’s arrival. I decided to stop at the library anyway and I’m glad I did. Kids where still there finishing up homemade Christmas ornaments as I worked my way around the library taking photos. About that time, Gracie Gerard, the third child of librarian Josh Gerard (see my story on Josh in this week’s issue) and his wife, Tracey, asked me if I wanted to make an ornament. I asked Gracie if she’d help me and she said, “yes.” I couldn’t pass that opportunity up. It brought back many of my own childhood memories. The first order of business was having my photo taken in the library community room. I hadn’t shaved in more than a week and was a bit gruffy looking. The older I have gotten, the less I like shaving, so I’ve been letting my beard grow for a week or so. I’ve had a beard a couple times in past years, but I’m not real interested in growing another one, at least not now. Anyway, while Gracie and I waited for the photo to print on a fancy cell phone printer, she helped me decorate my ornament with reindeer antlers. On the back, we put a big heart with green construction paper and red construction paper behind it. I wrote “Merry Christmas 2023” and “Jesus Loves You.” On the other side was my photo with trim on the edges. And Josh, the librarian, added a big red nose. J.O., the Red Nose Reindeer. I had my photo taken with Gracie as we held our ornaments that I posted on my Facebook page. I also thanked her for asking me to make an ornament and she said, “No problem.” I’m sure she had other things to do. Plus, she was acting in the production of “It’s A Wonderful Christmas Story,” a play her dad wrote and was directing. After a short nap at home Saturday afternoon, I returned to Montezuma and took a handful of photos at the soup supper held at the First Presbyterian Church. I also enjoyed a bowl of chili and conversation and good laugh with my friend, Boyd Sparks. And on Sunday, I returned to Brooklyn to attend the third and final production of “It’s A Wonderful Christmas Story,” which featured Gracie and cast of Brooklyn area residents. I was touched. Sometimes life can seem overwhelming during the holidays trying to figure out budgets, buying gifts for two dozen people, planning this and planning that, all while life and work rolls along. I’m thankful for my wife, Debbie, who handles most of the family Christmas buying while I take a nap. Anyway, as I have mentioned in the past, the Christmas season is a great time to give to others, volunteer to ring the Salvation Army bell, make a donation to a worthy cause, buy a neighbor a sack of groceries or fill their vehicle gas tank or give someone a gift card. You can’t go wrong doing something special to make the holidays better for others. What a wonderful time of the year to do good for all. I better get busy, I need to buy Debbie a Christmas gift or two. Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day. Back in the day at the Parker house, we never set up or decorated the Christmas tree or hung a stocking until Dec. 15.
That was my mom’s rule for the Christmas holiday. Sounds kind of silly these days with folks setting up their family Christmas tree before Halloween. When Dec. 15 rolled around, Dad would climb into the garage attic and hand down the boxes of decorations before spending the afternoon stringing the lights around the front of our home. We always had a fresh cut tree in our home and most years, we purchased it at a tree lot at 41st and Harvard in Tulsa. I looked forward to helping my family find a Christmas tree each year. Back in the day, we could get a nice 5 – 6 foot Douglass Fir tree for $20 or less. I remember one year, we bought a tree in early December. I don’t know the reason, but my dad tied it to the clothesline pole so it would be standing up straight. It remained in the backyard until Dec. 15. Another year, we bought some Christmas presents early around Thanksgiving. I was so excited as I got my mom an electric bacon cooker with my own money. I took it home, wrapped it and stored it under my bed until Dec. 15, then placed it under the tree. I was usually the one in charge of decorating the Christmas tree each year. Our family decorations included a manger with Joseph, Mary, Baby Jesus, the three Wisemen, animals, the Shepard boy and an angel. I still have the manger, which is in rough shape, and the figurines, which show lots of wear as well. My mom bought them all at TG&Y Five and Dime store in Tulsa. I think she gave a $1 for the manger and not much more for the each of the figurines. My hope is to find someone who can make me a new manger using the old one as a pattern. At the writing of this column, Debbie and I have yet to set up our tree. We usually have it set up by Thanksgiving, but it’s been busier than usual of late. Plus, our nephew always helps and he’s been quite busy with college and other duties. However, we have already started buying Christmas presents and made lists that have been passed around to other family members. We also drew names at Thanksgiving and will get one person in the family an additional gift or two with a value of around $25. When I was growing up, there were catalog sales at Sears and JC Penneys and lay-away, but no Internet or buying on-line. Our family always went shopping at the mall or a discount store and that was always fun. I try to purchase some gifts locally, but most years, I buy a handful of gifts on-line. Debbie buys my gifts and then helps her mother and family buy gifts. We do like to visit the Brass Armadillo before Christmas to buy each other an antique gift or two. There’s a nice antique store in Story City called Antiques Iowa that we have visited three times. Each time we brought home some goodies. Antiques are unique gifts and in my mind, much more personal than a toaster or jumper cables. We sometimes buy gifts on eBay at Christmas and throughout the year. As with any on-line retailer, it’s good to check out the seller, look at the reviews and make sure they are legit. Debbie stays away from sellers with a rating less than 98 percent positive. That usually indicates issues in the past. If they’ve sold 100, 300 or even 500 items and have a lower than 98 percent rating, that’s not good. I’d suggest you look elsewhere for that item. A few years back, I was watching an episode of American Pickers. The boys were in Arkansas and bought a Will Rogers Clock made in the 1940s by the United Clock Company in Chicago. I went to Tulsa Will Rogers High School, so I wanted a clock like that. I called the American Pickers Nashville store and they quoted me a price of $300, which was a little out of my budget. Debbie looked on eBay and found the clock from a seller in New York. Unfortunately, the seller didn’t do a good job packaging the clock and it arrived at our house broken. We ended up losing money on it as we had to pay $30 shipping to return it, even though it was broken. I reported the seller to eBay, but still had to pay. We later found the same clock from a seller in Ohio and it came well wrapped and in fine shape. It’s a benefit to find sellers who offer return shipping and also get additional insurance, when possible. If you have questions about shipping costs or about a product you are interested in, send the seller a question. Most sellers have a place you can write them. And if they are legit, they will respond quickly and professionally. If you’ve had a good experience, give the seller a good review. It’s helps others buying from them down the road. The same goes for buying from independent dealers on Wal-Mart, Target or Esty. Make sure what they have is legit and that they have positive feedback. It will save you a lot of headache down the road. And keep an eye on your credit card for fraudulent charges. It would be nice to go back to the days of buying at stores and malls, but that is probably a few years away from happening. Vinyl records are making a comeback, so one never knows. If you have a chance this year, try to get at least one gift from a local retailer, even if you buy it on-line, and show your support for small-town communities and mom and pop businesses. And handmade items such as a quilt or sweater always make great gifts. Check out the local quilt or gift store for unique one-of-a-kind gifts. Always remember that the best Christmas gift is doing good for others, giving more than you receive and spending time with family and friends. And if you get a chance, buy a sack of groceries and some gifts for a family in need. It’s a gift that will keep on giving. Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day. |
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