Jade Heasley

Happy December, readers! This month brings Christmas and all of the wonderful traditions that come with it.

As we begin celebrating the season, I encourage all of you to make as many good memories as you can with your loved ones.

While a lot of time and effort may go into buying gifts that will be unwrapped on Christmas morning, there is almost a month beforehand to make beautiful memories that don’t cost a thing. Looking at Christmas lights, spending an evening drinking cocoa and playing board games, and watching favorite Christmas movies are fun activities that anyone can enjoy. If you have children in your family, don’t underestimate the amount of fun they can have if you teach them how to make paper snowflakes, or perhaps baking cookies or seasonal treats. If you’re up for an outdoor adventure with kids, things like making snowmen and sled riding can be fun on a snowy day.

While I do have terrific childhood memories of gleefully unwrapping wonderful toys on Christmas morning, the memories that I really cherish are doing fun things with my big extended family. What I wouldn’t give to go back and relive some of those times with my late grandmother . . .

However you decide to spend this Christmas season, I hope it’s a joyous one where you can make some lifelong memories.

Announcements and Events

Happy birthday to Cynthia Bryan, who marks her special day on Dec. 4.

As winter weather approaches, please be mindful that the Footprints of Montgomery Food Pantry generally follows the same inclement weather closing schedule as the Montgomery Area School District. If the school building is closed, Footprints will be closed. The pantry will reopen the same day that the school building reopens.

The Montgomery Christmas Committee is accepting names for their list of households in the Montgomery Area School District in need of a little extra help this holiday season. To receive a Christmas Dinner Box and/or toys for children or gifts for teens up to age 16, please call 570-854-4807, send a private

Facebook message to the Montgomery Christmas Committee Facebook page, or email montgomerychristmasbox@gmail.com. The committee needs the following information: name of the adult or caregiver, address, phone number, the number of people that live there and whether they are adults or children, as well as the age and gender of each child and/or teen in need of gifts. The committee is unable to provide gifts for grandchildren, nieces, or nephews, unless the adult is the child’s legal guardian.

The Montgomery Christmas Committee is requesting donations. They are in need of toys for children and teen gifts, and are especially in need of gifts for ages 12 through 16. They are also requesting donations of batteries, wrapping paper, and tape. Items must be received by December 12 to give the committee time to sort, wrap, and label the gifts. Items can be donated in any Toys for Tots box in the following locations: Construction Specialties, Kopper’s, Amazon, Springs Window Fashions, VT Hackney, Jersey Shore State Bank, American Legion Post #251, Station House, Montgomery Post Office, Valley Rehabilitation, Montgomery Borough Office, Milly’s, The Montgomery Area Historical Society, Thad’s Place, Hulsizer Chevrolet, Journey Bank, Dollar General, Clinton Township Office, and Surplus Outlet. The Christmas Committee is also requesting monetary donations to pay for groceries that go into the Christmas Dinner boxes. If you would like to make a monetary contribution, please make checks payable to the Montgomery Christmas Committee and mail to one of the following: Virginia Hill, Attn: Montgomery Christmas Committee, 133 Hills Lane, Montgomery, PA 17752, or Jennifer Oiler Gruver, Attn: Montgomery Christmas Committee, 531 Cemetery Hill Road, Montgomery, PA, 17752. The committee will publicly thank people on their Facebook page who mail checks unless they request to remain anonymous by emailing at montgomerychristmasbox@gmail.com or by calling 570-854-4807, or 570-547-1254. The committee doesn’t have any administrative costs because it is run by volunteers.

• Saturday, Dec. 7 — The Montgomery Area Historical Society will open the Adam Room Museum from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Everyone is welcome to enjoy this free admission museum located at 3 W. Houston Ave. in the former Adam Print Shop. • The Christmas Parade will start at 1 pm at Weis Market and travel in a straight line to South Main Street ending at the park. Walkers, cars, and floats are invited to take part and may register by calling Margie Mathis at 570-435-9407. After the parade, Santa Claus will be available for photos in the park.

• Monday, Dec. 9 — The Footprints of Montgomery Food Pantry will be open to receive donations from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Any and all food donations are welcome, but they currently are in need of donations of hearty soups, peanut butter, and jelly. The pantry is located at 71 Bower Street Ext.

• Thursday, Dec. 12 — The Footprints of Montgomery Food Pantry will have two distributions, one from 10 am to 2 p.m., and the second from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. New clients may join by bringing proof of residency within the Montgomery Area School District.

• Friday, Dec. 13 — The James V. Brown Library’s Storymobile will visit the Oak Grove Community Center from 12 – 1 pm. The Storymobile is a bookmobile that is stocked with books for ages birth through age 6.

• Saturday, Dec. 14 — The Adam Room Museum will be open to the public from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. • Wreaths Across America will lay wreaths at three Montgomery area cemeteries beginning at 10 a.m. with a special ceremony at Fairview Cemetery on Cemetery Hill Road, at 11:30 a.m. at the Clinton Baptist Cemetery on Seager Station Road, and at 1 p.m. at the Mt. Zion Cemetery at Maple Hill on Turnback Road. Please consider volunteering to lay wreaths if you are able. • The Montgomery Area Public Library’s Adult Book Club will meet at 3 p.m. The theme is “Library,” so participants are asked to read a book that uses the word library, libarian, or a similar term. A list of suggestions may be picked up at the circulation desk. New members are welcome to join and need not have completed a reading of the theme book to participate.

After the meeting the club will have an Icelandic Book Flood Exchange. Participants are asked to bring one or more books (used books are encouraged, and may also be a new journal or puzzle book) that are gift wrapped to give away in an exchange. Please write a short plot summary on a label and attach it to the wrapping paper. New members are welcome to participate, and some spare books will be available for new members who may not have the opportunity to get a book to exchange.

THOT — “There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor.” -from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens