A New Year Ahead

How about this! A whole brand new year ahead of us. It is ours to do with as we wish, to make it what we want. It is going to be full of ups and downs so we need to be prepared for the ride. We are going to see a lot of changes and I think that is exciting! I want to be part of that change and I hope you will be too.

I look forward seeing the changes in the works for our town. We have some marvelous plans to which we can look forward. The training center down town will bring lots of new faces into town, opportunities to show off our assets, and our willingness to help others and mold the future.

Our Viet Nam Memorial will keep ups grounded in the past that is a part of who we are. The other planned community development projects will keep us busy for sure.

How did you spend New Year's Eve? I spent it with a few good friends. I don't like to venture far on that particular night. Paula Benton, Jessie Malin and I went across the street to Lane Wozniak's for snacks and beverages. Cathy Louder and David Cohn joined us for a while. As we watched the ball drop in Times Square, we said good-by to a year of turbulence and uncertainty, and looked forward to a year of renewed strength and grand possibilities.

Demetra and Terry Shultz had some company over the holiday. Douglas and Marilyn Shultz visited from Springdale and Jeff and Brenda Shultz came all the way from Calhoun, GA to help celebrate. What a great family reunion. It is so good to gather all the family around.

Ms. Cleta Simmons has some good news! A new great grandson was born in December. Mason Bradley Hayes was born December 10 in Baton Rouge, LA to Sara and Bradley Hayes of Natchez, MS. Tom and Rosie Hayes of Paragould, are the proud grandparents. Ms. Cleta now has nine grandchildren and ten great grandchildren. What a legacy. I know she is looking forward to seeing this new little blessing. Congratulations to all of you.

Another long time resident passed this week. Farewell to Ailene McCord. She was a treasure on earth and will be a treasure on the other side as well.

Rev. Velda Bell and her daughter Susie spent the holidays with family in North Carolina. They visited with Velda's sister and her husband in Midland, near Charlotte and with her brother and his family. The weather was beautiful on the drive out to North Carolina. On the way they stopped in McAdenville, NC (unofficially known as "Christmas Town") to marvel at all the Christmas lights. "It was absolutely beautiful," said Rev. Bell.

Susie, who, in addition to her other many talents, is an excellent roller skater. She took her skates along with her and spent some time brushing up on those skills. Shuffle skating, I hear. For those of you (like me) who don't know what that is, it has a lot of fancy moves like crossing over your skates and, and stuff. For me, not falling down is pretty fancy.

Anyway they had a great time and are glad to be home in Rector. Pastor Bell wanted to say thank you to Danny Ford and his crew for finding her a perfect vehicle when hers was damaged. Her wonderful Christmas trip would not have been possible without their help.

She also asked me to say that the First Methodist Church has a wonderful Sunday evening worship in addition to the Sunday morning service and everyone is welcome.

Well, I guess I had better wrap this up. Let me hear from you. What has been going on over your holiday? Give me a call or send me an email to let me know what is going on. My phone number is 595-3173 or you can drop me a note at 514 West 3rd St. My email address is: porchswing@newwavecomm.net.