“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth goodwill to men.” Luke 2: 14

Even though it was cold and snowy out on Christmas Eve, the Eads and Haswell Community Churches had their traditional Christmas Eve services with the lighting of the candles on the Advent Wreath and singing of carols, and scriptures shared. Lay Leader Pam Lessenden at Haswell posted a photo of 19 happy children after the service. Lay Leader Gail Voss told me about the music selections by Colin Nelson, Charlie Prince, Alicia James, and others. These good memories are so important to youth and adults as they grow older. This is the first time I have ever missed a Christmas Eve service - except for 1949 when I was in St. Mary’s Hospital in Pueblo. However, a lasting memory from that Christmastime was the sound of a large choir singing to us from the hallway. It was such a heavenly sound. Kay Uhland and I were the same ward at that time. Her sister, Judy, had been able to return to their county home west of Eads. Their brother, Jerry Uhland, was still in Corwin Hospital in an iron lung.

Since I was snow bound this year, I was glad that Shannon Dixon brought her adult children, Marisa and Grady Brunk from Kearney, Nebraska, and Dylan Dixon from St. Charles, Missouri, to visit me. About an hour later, Bryan and Rachel (Buck) Mattuski came to visit, bringing their little twins, Willa and Wyatt. Christmas day Dwight, Tearle, Celena, and Eli came with their daughters, Eve and Elkle, to visit me. Celena showed me a video of Tearle giving his nieces sleigh rides. Wow, what memories!

The siblings of the Spady family had a reunion and meal in the Haswell Community Center. Rick and Carole Spady provided the turkey and ham, while the other families brought side dishes and desserts.

Milt and Dawn Rae Watts had such a good time with their sons and wives and other extended relatives for evening meal and the next day.

Pastor Mark Imel spent an hour sharing his sermon and engaging residents at Weisbrod Hospital and Prairie Pines Assisted Living Community in discussion on Christmas Eve. He is a good man who visits, not just on Sundays, but other times. He is greatly appreciated. Recently, I was in the dining room when I heard the distinctly Irish accent of Ian Blacker, the highly respected minister of the Lamar Christian Church. Through the years, he has taken time to visit folks and patients in the Eads hospital also.

On a night drive around Eads and Lamar and other towns, it is such a pleasure to see the electric light decorations on homes and places of businesses. Let us be grateful to those people care enough to have increased electricity bills. Thank you! One of my favorites is Tim Hier’s home and picket fences on Maine Street. Tim and his grandson have hundreds of red, white, and blue blinking lights all around his home. My favorite fourth grade teacher, Lois Sibcy, lived there. She was Terry Laird’s grandmother.

The Hospital Auxiliary paid Eads Bucks to the winners of the winning creative designing on the resident’s doors. The winners were Amy Barton, Kimmi Younger, and Alyssa Eder.

Eads senior citizens can look forward to attending the brunch January 4^th at 10:00 a.m. at the Eads Senior Citizen Center on Maine Street.

It was great to see Rob Miller back in Eads from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After he graduated from college, he took a teacher Peace Corp assignment in that city. He is still in there, but now is a school principal. Rob was here to visit his parents, Frank and Marcy, his grandfathers, Bob Miller and Bob Woods, and other family members.

We extend our sympathy to the relatives and friends of Wanda (Mays) Russell. After Wanda graduated from Eads High School, she married Rocky Russell and lived and worked most of her life in Oklahoma, where she worked in the insurance business.

Congratulations to Audrey Johnson, who has lived in Haswell for several years, and works at the Social Services office. Audrey has an award from the Colorado Department of Human Services for her work in child welfare.

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The two pages of color photos and column by Ruth Fees about how the Plainview school staff is giving the students field trips and actual experiences with different cuisines and cultures in different settings are marvelous!

I wish everyone a very Happy New Year!