Thursday, December 15, 2011

2011 Christmas in Monroe, Monroe County Beacon, Woodsfield, Ohio Page 5

Submitted by Sandra Berger by Chelsey Smith 1-14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk Cream 1/2 c. shortening 1-21 oz. can cherry pie filling 12 T cocoa 1-15 oz. can mandarin oranges, drained 4 T butter 1-20 oz. can crushed pineapple, drained 4 eggs 2/3 c. chopped walnuts 2 t. vanilla 1-8 oz. tub whipped topping, thawed Add 2 c. flour In a large bowl, mix milk and pie filling. 2 t. baking powder Add oranges, pineapple and nuts. 1/2 t. salt Gently fold in whipped topping. Chill for 2 hours Spread in a 13x9x2 pan or large casseDrop by teaspoonful into powdered sugar Bake on greased cookie sheet at 350 for role dish. Cover and freeze. Remove 15 mins. before serving. 10-12 minutes Can refreeze if needed

Date Pinwheel Cookies

Chocolate Krinkles

Pink Fruit Salad

Snicker Doodles

Submitted by Sandra Berger 1 1/2 c. shortening 2 c. brown sugar, 2 eggs 5 cups flour (more if needed) 1 t. soda, 1 t. cream of tartar 1/2 t. salt Filling: 1 box dates, 1/4 c. sugar 1/2 c. water Cook until fine; mix nuts in after cool. Use 1/2 c. chopped nuts. Bake 375 10-15 min. Roll out dough and add filling. Roll into log. Refrigerate before baking. Slice.

by Jessica Wilson Mix 1 1/2 c. sugar 1/2 c. butter, 1/2 c. shortening 2 eggs Stir in 2 3/4 c. flour, 1 t. baking soda 2 t. cream of tartar 1/4 t. salt Shape into balls and roll in 1/2 c. sugar w/1 t. cinnamon Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.

~ A Country Christmas ~
In the center of the window stood a doll who was not for sale. She was as big as a toddler, and had an exquisite porcelain head, and a wig of real human hair. Her hair was not blond nor brown, but gray. I was told that Mr. Bell had displayed her in his Christmas window for 25 years, and that her hair had originally been blond, but had faded in the sunshine. I wanted a doll for Christmas every year. It was not that I didnt like wagons and trucks and blocks. I had an older brother, and I was allowed to play with his toys. I was a pretty destructive kid, but brothers trucks were made of cast iron. In school, we began practicing for the program. Up on the housetop, click, click, click, Jingle Bells, Joy To The World. We borrowed costumes from the church, and a sheet strung on a wire was our curtain. Since the school had no electricity, a gasoline lamp was hung from a hook in the center of the room on program night. Because I was a quick study, I usually had long recitations to say at both school and church programs. Very early on, I decided that the most important parts were Santa, the angel, and the teacher. Santa was sometime a girl, but she had to be chubby, and I was shaped like a broom straw. But I am happy to say that I made both of the other roles in due course of time, and they were as satisfying as I had dreamed. Our school Christmas tree was a beauty. One of our teacher's neighbors had a grove of hemlocks on his farm, and a bushy eight footer filled the front of the classroom and scented the air. The school did not own many ornaments, so we made them ourselves in recess time. Nothing is prettier than paper chains and strings of popcorn and construction paper angels made with love. When school let out for vacation, the excitement was even more intense. We had to do our shopping or make gifts for our family. We had to help with chores and Christmas baking. Cutting out cookies was fun, but cracking hickory nuts and picking out their meat was not fun. Then there were kindling and pails of water to bring in, all without grumbling, because we had to be good, for goodness sakes. The church program was always on Christmas Eve. It was only a half-mile, so my family walked. I know we did not always have a white Christmas, but in the magic picture book of memory, we walked through snow. I was warm in my long johns and long black stockings and wool serge dress. My winter coat was cut down

by Marjorie Meilander Once upon a time when the grownups were very, very tall; when the snow was very deep; when nights were dark and quiet; when teams of huge Belgian horses pulled bobsleds past our house, and the car had isinglass side curtains and tire chains that went, Slap, clank, clank: way back in the 20s and 30s, Christmas was NEVER thought of until after Thanksgiving. The Wish Book may have started us thinking of it. That was Sears Christmas sale book; the one with the dolls and the trains and the perfume and the pipes and neckties and negligees. We looked at it over and over and marked the things we wanted. I dont know how those old cedar penny pencils wrote so well through drool. About that time the store windows in town blossomed with their own Christmas merchandise. The hardware had shiny new pans and tools and B.B. guns. The grocery store had exotic once-a-year things like tangerines and walnuts. My favorite store was Bells Dry Goods; there were scarves and boots and boxed handkerchiefs --but best of all were the dolls. None of them wet their pants or discussed their homework, or had a house trailer. Some of the more talented ones said MAMA when you tipped them over, and closed their eyes when laid down.

from an old one of my grandmas, but it was new to me, and I was very proud of it. The church had electricity, and its colored windows glowed with a promise of warmth and fellowship. Though most of us were far from rich, we were wealthy with friendship. After the program, we got our treat -- a pretty box filled with nuts and hard candy. We did not get candy very often, and this was special. There was ribbon candy, and fat striped pillows, and candies that by some magic had a flower or a flag in the middle. We also got a big orange. Big deal? You bet! We seldom got oranges, and for some kids this was the orange of the year. Then home to bed, with a flatiron in a flannel bag tucked between the icy sheets. Looking out the window, I could see the stars through the bare branches of the big maple tree. And yes, indeed, I listened to hear sleigh bells in the snow -- and sometimes I heard them, too! I couldnt get up until Dad had the fire poked up and the kitchen warm. And I couldnt look at my gifts until I ate my oatmeal. Did I get my doll? Sometimes I did, and sometimes not -- but I always got something wonderful; and I always had Mama and Daddy and brother, and a home that was warm with love.

Happy Holidays
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We Wish You a Merry Christmas! We Wish You a Merry Christmas! We Wish You a Merry Christmas!

Page 6 2011 Christmas in Monroe, Monroe County Beacon, Woodsfield, Ohio

Thursday, December 15, 2011

by Merry E. Vargo Merry Christmas! Froehliche Weinachten! Jouyeux Noel! Feliz Navidad! Here it is, the beginning of the Christmas season. This makes most people happy, but there are people who simply dont want to participate. If asked why, these modern day Scrooges will say Its too commercial or because things arent the way they used to be. Over the course of my life I have watched the season change. When I was a child back in the 1950s, Dec. 1 marked the beginning of the Christmas season. The colored pictures of pilgrims and the construction paper turkeys were taken down at school and we began to decorate the classroom for Christmas. Pure joy! The best day of the year was just around the corner! We practiced for the Christmas pageant and made gifts for our parents in time created by being good and getting our lessons done quickly. The Christmas catalogs arrived in the mail and lights and decorations began to appear in commercial areas. Few people did much decorating before Dec. 10. My family were traditionalists and usually waited until Dec. 15. Anyone who put up their Christmas tree before then was rushing the season. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were the end of the season. Both were days set aside primarily for religious services and family gatherings. Children got gifts, but fewer each year as they got older. After all, Christmas is for kids was one of the slogans back then. On Dec. 26 most people took down their decorations. The world became the dreary reality of winter, but it had been fun while it lasted. Thanksgiving is now the first official day of the season. A day to overeat before hitting the mall early the next morning to begin Christmas shopping. Dont worry whether youll be in the mood or not because the Christmas decorations have been up for a week at the very least, and often since Nov. 1. Some people even begin to decorate their houses in midNovember, but the people who never took down last years decorations already have them beat. Nope, decorating your house

~ AnotherisSeason ~ before Thanksgiving still seen as rushing the season a bit. Of course, that only applies to the inside of the house as outdoor lights must be hung in good weather, so any time after Halloween is okay. Most people wait until the day after Thanksgiving when the season officially starts to turn them on. And what a season it is! Everything is for sale and on sale. Credit cards exist so you can buy people things they never even dreamed of asking for, not to mention needing, wanting, or ever using. The latter brings up the issue of re-gifting, but I wont venture into that here. Besides frenzied buying, there are the never-ending Christmas parties. Gifts are as much a requirement as overeating and perhaps drinking one too many, but they are exchanged by the secret Santa method so you cant really get mad at the person who knew you so little that they got you a Chia pet. But at least they had it wrapped professionally so your face didnt fall until you got off the wrappings. that makes a great candid picture to hang on the bulletin board and at least that way everybody knows why Evelyn in Accounting isnt speaking to you. Eventually the big day rolls around and you rip open your presents, hide your disappointment, drink too much and overeat some more. Christmas is more or less over at that point except for the leftovers. Starting Dec. 26, you stand in a special line to get cash back for your awful gifts while nursing a hangover with a screaming kid behind you. Some folks are just so saturated with Christmas that all the decorations come down Dec. 26. Others dont want it to end and keep up the tinsel until midJanuary, which is easier now than in my childhood as everything is artificial and made in China, where they have no idea of what Christmas is all about... All of this bothers some people, and, I, truth be told, used to be one of them. However, I have seen the light! Perhaps its due to passing my 60th birthday or something I ate, but I now have a new outlook. Season is always capitalized for

Seek Him (The Lord)

Christmas. Its never capitalized for hunting, Halloween, Eater, or anything else. I believe that goes back to the time when Christmas was celebrated as a religious holiday. Yes, it still is. You can buy Christmas cards with a nativity scene on them or a snow-covered church with fake snow on it. One of the Christmas stamps you can buy to send them even has a religious tone if you dont want Santa or Kwanza. But, actually, Christmas is a season like spring or fall or winter. True, we have official dates when those begin, but when youre shoveling six inches of wet snow in November, you call it winter, no matter what some meteorologist tells you. If its 90 degrees and the AC is cranked on high, you call it summer whether its May 19 or Oct. 14. Such, as I see it, is the way to experience the Christmas season. If the streetlights are sporting lighted stars and holly wreaths, lighted trees are sprouting everywhere, your ears are hearing Christmas songs (carols are religious, Jingle Bell Rock is a Christmas song), and every other ad tells us to buy a gift, its Christmas season. Participate or not as you please, after all, its a free country. Ignore it as you would a display of snow blowers if you lived in Florida or surfboards if you lived in Alaska. Just because its the season for some folks, it doesnt have to be the season for you. Just dont carp about how its too early, too commercial (the Chinese do understand that!), or overdone. Dont complain its lost its meaning because we are the ones who give meaning to the events in our life. Participate or not as much as you please. If you dont want to put up a tree until the 24th and take it down the 26th go for it. If you dont want to put up any decorations at all, dont. You dont have to take them down that way. But, if you do want to participate, throw yourself in as deeply as you wish. Decorate the cat, shop till you drop, pig out on Christmas cookies, toast the season in eggnog or do it up right and throw a party. Enjoy! Its another season! by Suzanne Scott Weber Seek Him in the morning, At noon and in the night. Seek Him in your joy, In your peace and in your plight.

Seek Him when youre worried, When youre wrong and when youre right. Seek Him in the darkness; Seek Him in the light. Seek Him when youre hungry; Seek Him when youre filled. Seek Him when youre homeless; Seek Him when youre healed. Seek Him in His glory; Seek Him in His might. Seek Him in His power, For He is the light. For we who seek will find Him. We will ask and we will know That the Lord our God is with us Wherever we may go.

What Can I Do?

by Suzanne Scott Weber In the (news) papers, on T-V I learn of desperation. I say too bad. Oh, thats so sad That theres a starving nation. What can I do? Me, myself... So guilt steps in to taunt me. I cant help all - thats for sure but I can give undauntedly.

Whether theyre near, whether theyre far What really makes the difference? Just do it now, start today. And do it with persistence. Jesus calls us to provide For the orphan and the widows. When done with love, we will find... ...It opens many windows! See the 12 Days of Christmas, Beacon, Page 9

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Thursday, December 15, 2011

2011 Christmas in Monroe, Monroe County Beacon, Woodsfield, Ohio Page 7

~ A Merry Christmas Eve ~

My daughter presented this to me last year also a copy to her siblings. She has many hobbies and is getting to enjoy them now. Linda was a native of Woodsfield until she married State Patrolman Benny Mikes. They reside in Carlisle, Ohio in a beautiful country home. I thought your Beacon readers would enjoy the poem. A Merry Christmas Eve Twas the night before Christmas and all thru the town. The snow was piled knee-deep and still coming down. The massive pine tree on the courthouse square danced to the rhythm of bells on the air. Its branches were laden with hundreds of lights, They glistened and twinkled on this snowy night. The stores were all closed, not a person about, All had sought shelter to wait the storm out. But wait! Out on Oaklawn, there was a bright glow, Shining down on a quaint little cottage buried deep in the snow. The home was all lit up with decorations of cheer, The music rang loud for for all neighbors to hear. The front lawn was parked full of used cars and trucks, It looked like a car dealership down on his luck. Betty peeked out her window and covered her ears, Millies children were home another party she feared. What should she do call out an alarm, Or, join the festivities and party til morn. She grabbed here red coat, out the front door she flew. Tis Christmas she sang out Ill just party too. Halfway across the snow-laden road she met Ruthie splayed out like an angel, in great piles of snow. Grabbing Ruths collar she pulled her upright, Come On Theres a Party at Millies Tonight! Mother stood over the stove, wooden spoon in her hand, stirring more nutties and candies to fill the big pan. Janice was mixing the holiday punch, stir in the kool aid, a little sugar too, still needed something, Ah! Some Spirit Will Do! She popped open a bottle of bubbly brew, When the cork hit the ceiling, bounced off the wall, came down in Moms candy. Janice shaking with laughter dashed down the hall. Michael was telling a story of a Christmas past. Oh, what a party all night it would last! Gail was fussing with baubles on Moms Christmas tree. While Johnny and Gary were watching TV. Bart had gone to shovel the walk free of snow While Becky took pictures for a later show. When out on the drive there arose such a clatter. Michael jumped from his chair to see what was the matter. Lorah ran to the front door, tripped over the cat, knocked over the Christmas tree, that took care of that. Johnny jumped up and rushed to her aid, slipped on a throw rug, Put a right nasty bump on his head. Meanwhile the cat climbed the curtains, bringing them down, Emitting a Blood Caroling Meow What an unearthly sound. Becky continued snapping pictures. What a wonderful show. She giggled in spite of herself, Oh What They dont Know! Meanwhile Betty and Ruthie continued to smile, clapping their hands....once in a while. Poor Mother was peeking from the kitchen door, What wonderful children, I should have had more. Michael rushed to the window, threw curtains wide, Wiped the frost with a dishtowel, took a sneak peak outside. Moms drive was all lit up with bright Christmas lights, Beckoning a welcome on this Christmas nite. The noise grew louder down Guilford it came, Slipping and sliding on the snow covered lane. A little old driver was sitting behind the wheel, A smile on his face he couldn't conceal. His wife was all nestled beside him, trying to keep herself warm. It had been a long ride all the way from the farm. Its Benny, Its Linda Michael cried out. Let the party begin, he declared with a shout. The bed of the truck was crammed full of so much cheer, Enough to last everyone until the next year. Birdhouses and rabbits just to mention a few

Candies and cookies and a surprise or two. Still Betty and Ruthie continued to smile, clapping their hands...once in a while. They ate til their buttons popped, they laughed til they cried. They opened the presents, looking for goodies inside. Oh wait! Mother cried out, Ive got something for you! She brought out an old box, shed kept all these years, trimmed in blue ribbons, maybe some tears. Inside were paper doll babies, a Roy Rogers gun, bringing back memories of times that were fun. Part of an old choo choo, a key for some skates, a miniature doll house, building blocks too. Games and puzzle books for everyone to do. Still Betty and Ruthie continued to smile clapping their hands..once in a while. The party was over they said their goodbyes, See you tomorrow at early light. Mother lay in her bed totally spent, My how the years had came and went. She tugged at the blankets tucked them in tight Twas going to be a cold Christmas night. She dreamed of years past so long ago Her children were dressed in their PJs and tucked into bed. Now Linda, Now Janice, Now Michael Eugene, Now Gail, Now Lorah, you listen to me. Say your prayers, count your blessings and drift off to sleep. Tomorrow there will be plenty of presents under the tree. Love you, Linda

Merry Christmas from the Staff of the Monroe County Beacon

Page 8 2011 Christmas in Monroe, Monroe County Beacon, Woodsfield, Ohio

Thursday, December 15, 2011

~ Woodsfield Christmas Festival Gingerbread House Winner ~

The People's Choice winner of the gingerbread contest, held during the Woodsfield Christmas Festival Dec. 3 and sponsored by the Monroe Writer's Group, was Sarah Hochstetler, also the winner of the adult division. Winner of the children's division was Ashtin Austen. Alexandria Austen was the winner of the youth division. Photo submitted by Merry Vargo

Wishing You and Yours Happy Holidays

Painting by Yvonne Reusser

by Yvonne Reusser, Woodsfield The story behind this has several facets. Monroe Artists, under the direction of our local professional oil painter Georgia Dangel, decided to do Old Master style of paintings on our Tuesday morning workshop. Getting close to Christmas I decided to compose a small painting of items that have meaning and memories of Christmases past for a greeting card. The candle holder was crafted by my Grandpa Sol Weber in the 60s; each of his grandchildren have one along with many other handmade items that show his and Grandmas love for their seven kids and 19 grandkids. The iron horse toy was a Christmas gift to my dad Edsel Weber and his brothers in the Depression years-they sure dont make

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toys as sturdy as that one anymore! The shiny ornament, while not an antique, is a replica of those mother decorated our tree with. These four people I named blessed my life in so many ways, including making Christmas a special time in our familys Christian lifestyle. that brings us to Teddyalthough falling apart at the seams, a gentle reminder of my second Christmas, another testimony to the loving, caring family God put me in. Completing the painting is a small ceramic box with the simple word memories in front, brought to our workshop by fellow painter Marlene Moose. She handed it to me and it finished off the composition. So, this is my Merry Christmas wish to all of you and especially to my Dad in Florida with many thanks for the many ways you bless my life!