The Press-Dispatch
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C-4 Wednesday, December 25, 2019 The Press-Dispatch HOME LIFE TO ADVERTISE: Call: 812-354-8500 Email: ads@pressdispatch.net Visit: 820 E. Poplar Street, Petersburg Deadline: 5 p.m. on Monday Youth First Today by Katherine Baker, Youth First, Inc. Sweet's Column by Barbara Sweet To enter the Birthday Club, email your name, ad- dress, phone number and birthdate to birthdayclub@ pressdispatch.net. Only the person's name, town and birthday will appear in the paper. As an added bonus, one lucky person each month will receive a free three month Press-Dispatch subscrip- tion. This month's birthdays have a chance to win a free $25 gift certificate from Rhodes' Tax Service, in Petersburg. THIS WEEK'S BIRTHDAYS Martha Risley ............................... Velpen ........12/25 Lora E. Carlisle ......................... Petersburg .....12/27 Christina Scalf-Below .................. Winslow ...... 12/30 Kate (Arnold) Hoskins ............. Oakland City .. 12/30 Gracie Wright ............................ Petersburg .....12/31 Jim Willis .................................. North Port .....12/31 Patty Gwaltney .......................... Petersburg .........1/1 THIS MONTH'S SPONSOR 1360 N. Crestview Rd., Petersburg 812-354-8123 or 812-354-4255 As the year closes and a new one be- gins, many people focus on improving their health and well-being. Being hu- man in a world filled with drama and losses can be exhausting. All too often human sleep patterns are out of sync, causing many of us to be exhausted, grumpy, and on edge. Not only are children and teenagers affected by the lack of sleep; it has become a human condition affecting everyone. Most people can thrive, however, by following these basic tips to help in their day-to-day functioning: 1. Remember to focus on a sleep routine. Have a set bedtime for your- self and try to stick with it as much as possible. Your brain and body will thank you. 2. Remember to set limits on so- cial media. Take a social media break from all of your devices one or two times a month. Try it for two hours and work your way up to longer periods of time. Again, your brain and body will thank you. Besides lack of sleep, the use of social media and the stress and anxiety it is causing impacts our soci- ety in numerous negative ways. Think about how your life is affected by your use of social media. 3. Remember, you are responsi- ble for your day. You are responsi- ble for how you feel and what you do; nobody else is. You are in charge of your life! 4. Remember, everybody doesn't have to love you or even like you. If someone does not approve of you, it will still be okay. 5. Remember, it is important to try. Even when faced with diffi- cult tasks, it is better to try than to avoid them. You may not be able to do everything, but you can do something. Find your talents. 6. Remember that you can be flexible. There is more than one way to do something. Everybody has ideas that are worthwhile. Some may make more sense to you than others, but everyone's ideas are important. Lis- ten and consider the options. 7. Remember, other people are capable. You can't solve other peo- ple's problems as if they were your own. They are capable and can solve their own problems. You can show care and concern and be of some help, but you can't–and shouldn't–do everything for them. Start the new year by getting enough sleep, taking charge of your day, demonstrating flexibility and giv- ing your best. Only take on what you are capable of handling. You will soon see a difference in your outlook and stress levels! This column is written by Kather- ine Baker, LCSW, school social work- er for Youth First, Inc., a local non- profit dedicated to strengthening youth and families. Youth First provides 59 Master's level social workers to 80 schools in 10 Indiana counties. Over 39,000 youth and families per year have access to Youth First's school so- cial work and after-school programs that prevent substance abuse, promote healthy behaviors, and maximize stu- dent success. HOT CHOCOLATE COOKIES MEALS IN Monica's MINUTES Share your favorite recipe! www.facebook.com/mealsinminutes Monica's Meals in Minutes PO Box 68, Petersburg, IN 47567 mealsinminutes@pressdispatch.net FACEBOOK MAIL EMAIL By Monica Sinclair Since most of you will be re- ceiving your paper on Christ- mas Eve, I decided to go ahead and put in one last Christmas cookie recipe. That way if you haven't made cookies for San- ta yet, you can make ones that will definitely put you on the nice list for next year. Santa will love munching on these de- licious cookies after delivering all of your presents. Merry Christmas and Enjoy! INGREDIENTS • 3/4 cup butter, softened • 3/4 cup sugar • 3/4 cup packed brown sugar • 2 large eggs, room temperature • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract • 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour • 1/2 cup instant hot cocoa mix (about 3 packets) • 3 tablespoons baking cocoa • 1 teaspoon salt • 1 teaspoon baking soda • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder • 1 cup vanilla marshmallow bits (not miniature marshmallows) • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips DIRECTIONS 1. Preheat oven to 375°. In a large bowl, cream but- ter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. 2. In another bowl, whisk flour, cocoa mix, baking cocoa, salt, baking soda and baking powder; grad- ually beat into creamed mixture. 3. Gently stir in marshmallow bits and choco- late chips. 4. Drop dough by tablespoonfuls 2 in. apart onto greased baking sheets. Bake until set, 10 -12 min- utes. Remove to wire racks to cool completely. Source: tasteof home.com Hi stars and welcome to this big stage all lit up in colorful Christmas season lights and decorat- ed to help celebrate with all our stars who will have a birthday or anniversary in the week of December 26 -January 1. Don't be shy. Come up onto this stage and take a bow. December 26 - Cynthia Raney turns 51; LeAnn Stephens turns 50 ; Sier- ra Simmons. December 27 - Ed Gerber turns 54; Kenny Stuppy turns 72; Jeffery and Debbie Meyer will celebrate 44 years. December 28 - Dot Burton Ware turns 64; Louis and Glenna Russo cel- ebrate 15 years. December 29 - Misty Jones; Kelly Ingle turns 29; Chuck and Stacy Mc- Candless celebrate 1 year. December 30 - Christopher Meyer turns 45; John Alan Bellamy turns 59; Lorin Hummer turns 15; Jayden Allen Branden Dunn turns 2. December 31 - Donya Fox turns 50 ; Braizon James Head turns 8; Wen- dell and Carolyn McGehee celebrate 42 years; Bruce and Portia Martinson celebrate another year. January 1 - Susan Atslinger; Tony Downey turns 25; Andrew Hall turns 36. May all our stars have a really great day and may all your wishes come true. Keep in your heart and in your prayers all our stars who need that card, visit, phone call and that dai- ly thought of them to have a bright and glorious week ahead. We all have someone who is our neighbor and is thought of every day; we also have ma- ny we know who have a cold, flu or the aches and pains of everyday life. The Pike County area has lost some stars we know like Dorothy Newton, Lennis Russell and Michael Cham- ness. To all the families and friends, re- member all the great times and share with others, and more memories will be added to yours. Pike County is sad- dened by the loss of these stars in our lives. EVENTS December 25 - Christmas Day - fam- ilies get together, opening gifts, seeing the smiles on children's faces to see what Santa has brought to them. Most important is the spiritual experience to know that Jesus was born on this day. Enjoy the whole day with family and be thankful for them and this day. December 31 - New Year's Eve - par- ties and services to attend to ring in the new year. Be responsible and use a designated driver. January 1 - New Year's Day. January 5 - Spurgeon-Monroe Fire Dept. meeting and training at the sta- tion house at 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. January 6 - Winslow Fire Dept. meet- ing at 6:30 p.m. at the station house. January 7 - Winslow Zoning Appeals Board meets at 6 p.m. at the Commu- nity Center. All are welcome to attend. Winslow seniors meet on Monday and Tuesday at the Community Center. Petersburg seniors meet on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday in the courthouse basement. We received one postcard this week at Sweets Column, Winslow, IN 47598. Postcard # 666 is a setup of a whole town with a baseball field, fountains, parks and memorials, homes, schools, gas station, businesses, cars, vans, trucks, buses, trees, roads and train tracks that travel through the entire town. All of this is setup in a large building and it also has Choo Choo Barn with a red, black and yellow engine. This is a 1,700 sq. ft. model train lay- out, handcrafted by one fam- ily since 1945, with 150 plus miniature animations. It's much more than just trains. It reads, "Hi, Sweets, we are in Pennsylvania at the National Farm Convention, seeing many neat things. This model train village is a work of art. Max and Cheryl Carlisle, Stendal, Ind." Thank you, Max and Cheryl for post- card # 666 of Choo Choo Barn. That train town must have been amazing to see as you enjoyed your time at the Farm Convention in Pennsylvania. Winslow Patoka River hasn't gone down that much even though we have had some rain, sleet and snow over the weekend of the 13th through the 17th, with heavy fog early on Saturday the 14th. Snow cover wasn't much, but it did cover the area in less than a half- inch, but by the afternoon, the sun melted some of it, not the shady spots. The temps started out in the high 40s, but with a north wind, the temps dropped into the low 30s. The night- time temps fell into the 20s, but with the wind chills, it felt like the teens. Then, like the weather has been do- ing, the temps began to rise again in- to those fall-like temps of high 40s to low 50s by the weekend, when winter really begins. The weathermen have said our tri-state will have 55 -58 de- gree temps on Christmas day and we will not see a white, snowy Christmas, so no snowmen sitting in the yard. It's not too late to enjoy all the dec- orations that your neighbors have set out in their yards. Winslow has quite a few in the Brownstown, East end and Main St., and a few on Goosehill. When we were out and about the other day, we saw in Francisco and Princeton lots of houses to view, but you would have to get off the Main St. to see them all. Saturday, December 14 in Winslow was the Winter Wonderland, where Santa had several children tell him what they wanted under the Christ- mas tree. All of us Lions got to sit on Santa's lap and get their picture taken, there were other stars also like Ralph, Greg and Lisa. Hot chocolate was a big hit and it was homemade, not the hot water type. Pat makes hers with cocoa, sugar, milk and with love. Also on Saturday, Norm and I drove to the Princeton Theater, where we had dinner of ham, corn, potatoes with gravy, salad and dessert of blackberry cobbler before we enjoyed a play called "A Christmas Carol" by the Broadway Players. Vernon was the ticket tak- er and one of the players was Dixie, who played Mrs. Fezziwig and one of the Bog Ladies. All the cast and the set crew did a fabulous job, as we all sat in this small theater to see one of the famous works of Charles Dickens. Even if you have seen this story over and over on the T V, it's great to enjoy the story lines acted by the stars who do these plays and the accents that said to make you think you are real- ly in that era of the 1840s. There were several players we have seen in other plays, but you also see the new ones who make this play their first play with the Broadway Players. I'm not saying that the other players aren't celebrities because they are all really great stars in our eyes, but on the T V channel 7 Gretchen Ross, a news person, played Mrs. Cratchit, girl, mother. Several children were also great and you may see them again in one of these plays. It is always a pleasure to see a play no matter what the play is and we always have a great time with all the players. On Sunday, as I was watching Sun- day morning, they had a segment on Christmas cards painted by the mouth and the Christmas cards that I wrote about sent in by Janie Tormohlen was painted by Brom Wikstrom, who I got to see who he was and the card was seen as one coming off the presses. Brom Wikstrom is from Missouri and he got injured when he hit his head jumping into the Mississippi River in his teens. It was annoying to see them in action as they mouth paint cards and the other paintings. Mom has a Christ- mas cactus that is now in my care and after Mom had gone back to Illinois, the next week I saw that it had sev- eral buds on it. Then after one more week, it now has six white and pink blooms and yes, Mom, I took pictures. I will show you them when I see you at Christmas. Sunday the 15th was the Spur- geon-Monroe Fire Dept. Christmas party and we couldn't make it, but we hope all the members had a great and enjoyable time with the greatest group of this firefighting family. This just came in the old mailbox addressed to sweets Column. This Christmas card has a picture of a small town with carolers, a snowman, Christmas trees being carried by kids and in the bed of a Model A truck, a Model T car sitting on snow-covered streets. Sleighs being pulled with pres- ents, lights on in windows of the red, brick general store and next to that is the U.S. Post Office, then the gray, brick building of Olsoms Hardware. A two-story church with a large steeple and hills of many houses surrounded by cedar and fir trees. Inside this card reads, "Wishing you joy in your home and peace in your world at Christmas time and always. I enjoy your column. Keep up the good work. Merry Christ- mas." This Christmas card goes out to ev- eryone and than you for your kind- ness. Merry Christmas to you all ev- erywhere. The house where Jr. and Irene Mc- Donald lived in Brownstown has new owners as of December 13, when they began moving in. I haven't got out to know who our new stars of Winslow are, but they have children and a dog. Welcome to our small and friendly town. We have gotten more wood from our wood guy and about to go get more soon. He showed us a picture of the deer that come into his yard and we talked about the many other animals that used to come around. Homemade candy from an old fam- ily recipe is really nice to receive and from really great friends. It was tasty. Never had a tasty treat like that kind before. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. As the lights begin to dim on this week, I hope you all keep an eye on family and friends, especially during this Christmas season. Slow down and see all the wonders your areas has for your eyes. Have a very Merry Christ- mas wherever you may go and have fun. Then as always, smile, wave and say hi to everyone you see this week. Healthy and human