“Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee.”

Saturday morning, I was happy to see that it was warmer, and the streets looked melted, so I rolled to town and learned that I could rolled on snow, too. I was delighted to see local artist Shelly Meyers had painted wonderful Christmas designs on many store front windows. She is so talented! Then the music outside of Kiowa Pharmacy began to float down Maine! It was a little like one of those “Hallmark Holiday Movies” that my lady friends like so much.

In Kiowa Pharmacy, there are new displays of dishware, glasses, small appliances, and cookware along with toys, dolls, and great items for the farms and ranches around here. Next door, in the new office and salon business that Nathan and Holly Mitchek built, the window was beautifully decorated with one of my favorite words “JOY,” representing Jesus, Others, and You). People tell me that Holly has decorated the rooms beautifully like a professional decorator.

Many of us spent hours transfixed at the holiday basketball tournament in Lamar, or in front of a television watching the new CAF Media broadcasts of three days and nights of games. Thank you to Cory Allen Forgue for organizing this marvelous service for fans who cannot go to games. The commercials are great, and have such fine photography. The interviews of coaches, players, and people related to the game were outstanding. When I was telling Jason Randel at church how much I enjoyed former Kit Carson Coach Jim Trahern’s interview so much, he mentioned the names of former Kit Carson players and what they are doing in their lives. Jason said that people can go back to listen to it or games. What a great new technology. Another nice feature was the selection of the Player of the Game and their interview. There is an app one needs to use on a smartphone to watch this new way of viewing ball games.

Bryan Eno told me that his wife, Serena (Barnes), is home in Eads after a long siege in a city hospital.

Our friend, Shirley (Weisdofer) Nelson, who lived in the Extended Care Unit for many years, died in a city hospital after a flight for life earlier in the week. Her sons, Mark and Sam Nelson, are not sure when they will have her memorial service. Shirley suffered many years after having polio as a child in the early 1950s, then arthritis, and blindness. Shirley liked to listen to music, sermons, books, and anything about her seven grandchildren. We extend our sincere sympathy to the Nelson family.

The lights are so beautiful about town. The decorations and door decorations at Weisbrod and Prairie Pines are extraordinary. That is so special, and so needed.

We appreciated having teenager Asher Wallace helping his mother, Jaton, set up the Christmas tree in the patio. One evening each month, Jaton and her sons, Tucker and Asher, treat us to a dinner theatre story. Jaton has been putting up many more wreaths and decorations that people haven’t seen for years because she and the head housekeeper, Barbie Stavley, have been unpacking lots of “stuff” in the Baxter house.

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Carl Blodgett of Chivington came back to work at Weisbrod this year, and the nurses and residents are so thrilled that he did. He remembered where the nativity statues were, so he and Brian Ervingham set them up in the front yard.

It is fun to live here at the Extended Care Unit of Weisbrod Hospital because of the activities and people. We have two new night caretakers, Kiki from Florida, and Mya from Texas. These traveling nurses and medical staff bring such interesting stories into our lives.

Congratulations to the newly-elected local Farm Services Administration committee - Duff (Liebl) Haase, Sean Harkness, and Michael Zimmerman.

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My mother would write a “tip of the hat” to Ruth Fees for the outstanding feature articles lately in the Kiowa County Press on happenings at Plainview School and in the community. The photos are so outstanding in the Press! Ruth Fees has been a peppy, loyal, firm leader and educator at Plainview, between Towner and Sheridan Lake, for forty or more years I do think. We were pleased to recognize some older citizens who were honored at a recent dinner. Some of the diners were Jerry Weber, his sister, Connie, Mike and Debbie Lening, Cheri Hopkins, Butch Roberson, Carole Shallberg, Cheri Hopkins, Pinky and Mary Lou Williams, Leo and Kathy Specht, Debbie Cornelius, and many other folks that we don’t recognize. The stellar Ms. Fees tells about Knowledge Bowls, sports, the school carnival, and outstanding field trips for cultural experiences. Thank you to the Plainview staff and their Superintendent, Jess Buller.

The Eads wrestlers on the County Line Rivals team are doing well. This team also has three Cheyenne Wells wrestlers, and Bart Michael is the coach of lady wrestlers. One of those girls is Giana Gibbs from Eads High School. The names of the other Eads team members are Shaine Winder, Gabe Hadley, Aaron Musgrave, Alyxx Egley, Keenan Smith, and Spencer Uhland.

Thank you to Jeanne Richards Sorensen, Kiowa County Press Editor, who gifted Weisbrod and Prairie Pines residents with boxes of colored pencils and coloring books designed by Chris Sorensen. What a wonderful gift!

I read an interesting article about artificial intelligence showing how false and alarming artificial intelligence can be in a story written about Arlington, Colorado.

Shalom.