Once again, The Shopper has arrived and it is full of local news. Somehow it makes it seem as if there is more going on here than we realize!
There are two big stories: the school and the hospital.
The front page has colored photos and a congratulatory ad for the completion of the new emergency room and hospital addition. Next Saturday is the Grand Opening and we are all invited to check out the new rooms and to enjoy refreshments (and, don't forget, the chocolate fountain!).
The school referendum is quite controversial because of the increase in taxes. Of course, if the school closes and we have to consolidate with another district, that district will also have to build a new school, so our taxes will go up anyway. Of course, if there is not a school here in town, our taxes will go down a little because the values of our houses will decrease. After all, who will want to move into a town without a school! (Oops! Your intrepid reporter shouldn't show bias!) There is an informational forum on March 15 to deal with questions and concerns.
The local Lion's Club sells "Community Spirit" tickets. There is a big $250 winner this week. We're sure that everyone will try to get the winner to buy a free cup of coffee. Whenever a Walkie Talkie wins something, we share it with the group--first Social Security check means that you buy coffee for everyone, if you win a cash drawing you buy coffee for the group. Sometimes coffee costs more than the winning cash!
There is a "Pasty Sale"--not the kind that strippers might wear, but the kind that the Cornish lumberjacks developed. It's a meat pie and very tasty. The local Catholic women's group will be selling them with the proceeds to go to the Scholarship fund. This is always a great fundraiser. The Youth Basketball group is also selling pasties as a fundraiser! There will be plenty to go around.
There is also a Charity Basketball game between the faculty/students and the local fire department on March 23. The proceeds will go to the Fourth of July kids' races. After the kids' parade on the Fourth, the guys from the volunteer fire department sponsor the races. There are people that come back to town for these celebrations--many of them remember running in these races themselves and make sure that their own kids participate! The school's pep band will provide the music--should be a fun evening as they do a lot of kidding around and goofing off.
The Interchurch Minitries is sponsoring a Benefit Concert on March 19th at 4:00 p.m. This will benefit the local Food Shelf. One of the members of the entertaining group used to teach music here in town. This concert will be at the local Baptist church and it is always very well-attended.
There will be a potluck lunch on March 18th for the summer dart league players. Might be fun to watch!
The local American Cancer Society Relay For Lifewill be on June 23-24 this year. Folks interested in forming a team are encouraged to sign up now. There will also be a Rally on April 25. The WT's have walked in several Relays--not last year, however. We raised the most money for several years--pretty good for a bunch of "experienced" women (not "old"). Last year the Relay raised over $66,000 from our little towns!
Another American Cancer Society event just ended--the annual Daffodil Days. We do like to volunteer and raise money for worthy causes!
A local author will be speaking at the Catholic Women's group on March 14th and we are all invited to attend.
Prom is April 8 and the attendees are encouraged to order flowers and tuxedos soon!
There's a cute ad for the A&W of the Root Bear with a shovel full of snow. That is a sure sign of spring and we can all barely wait. They also have a note on the signboard that they are taking applications.
That's all for this week--see you again next weekend!
