Contests, Christmas lights and class of 2005 years ago
I must tell you that the "Unidentified Shopper" contest is going great guns. I may have a hard time finding some objective old guys to be the judges because the four or five I originally thought of asking have all offered their vote for a nominee. This whole thing has generated so much interest I may have to root around and find some more old pictures and do it again!
There is still enough interest to keep it going for another week so if you haven't voted yet, be sure and give me a call at the office or at home (or e-mail me, write, leave a note at the Korner Kitchen, whatever). I will announce the winner in next week's Gazette-Bulletin.
Members of the class of 2005 will be doing some good things downtown Saturday and a whole bunch of you should join them. In the interest of sprucing things up for the coming class reunions and Memorial Day celebration they have rallied to the cause. They have teamed up with Main Street to pull weeds, sweep the gutters and sidewalks, pick up trash, and plant some flowers. I bet if someone out there volunteered to buy a couple of gallons of paint, some of them might even be willing to paint the downtown benches, which are badly in need of a touch-up.
If you have a pickup truck, a broom, a shovel, a garden spade, or some paint brushes, you might consider joining them. It would give you a chance to meet some great youngsters and put in a few volunteer hours getting the downtown ready for company. This would also be a terrific parent-child activity. There is nothing like picking up litter to teach your son or daughter not to heave that pop can out the car window for someone else to retrieve.
Our thanks to the Peabody-Burns junior class for getting this project started.
We kind of took a pounding last week in that hailstorm, didn't we? The Mister and I put the two best vehicles into the garage and left the Big Buick Boat in the drive. She survived with nary a scratch. The trees and flowers, on the other hand, are looking pretty pathetic. Our downtown Christmas lights took a huge hit. Hundreds are gone and it will be costly to replace them. This is the third year that we have had to do that. The past two summers they were destroyed by kids who found great sport in unscrewing them from their sockets and throwing them to the sidewalk. (So, Mom and Dad, how do you feel about "young precious" messing around on the top of a two-story building where one false move could mean a fall to concrete below? Oh, that's right, it wasn't YOUR kid, it was someone else's kid.)
At any rate, Wednesday night Mother Nature's wrath destroyed the bulbs we've replaced twice. Two months ago our meager funds finally amounted to enough to add some ground pieces to the display and we made the purchase. Needless to say, there is little left to replace the broken bulbs. If you enjoy the lights and would like to keep them burning during the coming Christmas season, you can have a dollar or two added to your city utility bill to help fund the project. (Whenever you feel you have contributed enough, just ask to have the amount deleted.) Or you can make a direct donation to the Christmas Light Fund at the city building. Or call me, I will come by and pick up your check.
I will remind you of this Christmas light situation from time to time. Ross Mathias and that unidentified shopper would want me to do that. They knew the value of good things happening downtown. And I hope to see YOU downtown Saturday helping the juniors with their cleanup activity.
— SUSAN MARSHALL
