NEWS
A2 • BOONE COMMUNITY RECORDER • DECEMBER 19, 2013
Christmas Continued from Page A1
night, cars line the street, “watching, all waiting their turn to get the center spot right in front of the house so they can watch everything blink.” The Christmas decorations also evoke positive memories despite a family tragedy. Kramer said their daughter Katie, who died in a car accident five years ago, was at the house the Sunday before the accident helping with the lights. It’s a “great memory for me because I can still see her walking around and I got tangled up in some lights and said ‘I can’t get loose’ ... She
came and untangled me from the lights and that’s a very pleasant memory to reflect on every Christmas,” Kramer said. “It kind of gives you a positive in the negative.” According to Kramer, the family tries to make the main focus of the display the nativity “because that is the reason for the season.” “We’re Catholic and we believe everything comes from God, good, bad or indifferent, and that’s how you live your life,” she said. “Sometimes you get a little shock in your life like we did and it really makes you realize even more so what’s important in life and that’s people.” Being kind, Kramer said, is the thing to do and was one of the things she most admired about Ka-
tie. “My big thing about Christmas is trying to be kind to other people ... it’s going out of your way. And you don’t have to spend money on people. Sometimes it’s a kind word or an extra 10 minutes.” No matter who you are, Kramer said “you’ve always got time” and it never hurts to be kind. “And I think if we can all do our little part, maybe it’ll pass on,” she said. “Maybe it won’t but it sure makes you feel better when you know you made somebody’s day by doing something that maybe didn’t mean a whole lot to you, but it meant the world to them. That’s what we hope to provide with the light show.” The family begins dec-
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orating early in October, and turns the lights on after Thanksgiving. The display will be up through the first Sunday in January. Eric Downing, who lives in Union off Wetherington Boulevard, said he always tries to do “something creative.” His inspiration came from the fictional Griswold family in the Christmas comedy “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.” “I said this year (I’m) doing the Griswold thing,” Downing laughed. His set-up features two 20-foot trees made from pipes and a river down the backyard. Lights in both the front and the back of the house are synced to music. While his parents had a “typical” five or six strands of lights, Downing says, “I’m an extreme kind of guy.” He first began hanging decorations 10 years ago. The decorations started with 5,000 lights and are up to more than 30,000 lights this year, with about 15,000 on the house.
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Robby Armstrong, 19, of Hebron works at Kona Ice in Florence. STEPHANIE SALMONS/THE COMMUNITY RECORDER
Job Continued from Page A1
tions manager Becca Haggard said. Armstrong’s co-workers never ask whether he can do something, said Henery. Rather, they just say he needs to do a task, “then he’s pushed into doing it and finding a way to do it.” He wouldn’t be nearly as successful if it weren’t for Haggard and fellow operations manager Ralph McWhorter, “because they see no limitations,” said Henery. “It’s not like we’re not aware, but I’ve challenged him to do things several times where I wasn’t sure he could actually do it,” McWhorter said. “And you know what? He’s over there huffing and puffing and he usually gets it done.” Armstrong said he likes most working hard and getting out of the house – especially away from his brothers. “It’s just an encouragement for me to be able to know that regardless of the situation that Robby had as a child, that he can still fully,100 percent participate with the compa-
ny,” Haggard said. “It’s just encouraging for me to be able to see him participate at that level where he’s not being just forgotten or people tell him he’s limited, that he can’t do the things he can do.” McWhorter also said Armstrong’s attitude is encouraging to others. He never comes in with a bad attitude and he always tries. Before getting the job at Kona Ice, Armstrong says his future was working at a grocery store, pushing carts or bagging groceries. His favorite part about Kona Ice? “Everything,” he said. “Pretty much everything. “We challenge him to do things so it’ll help him grow,” said McWhorter. “I would say, whether he knows it or not, he’s become more independent.”
Index Calendar .................B2 Classifieds ................C Deaths ...................B9 Food ......................B3 Police .................... B9 Schools ..................A7 Sports ....................A8 Viewpoints ............A10