Merry Christmas 2016

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2016

A2 kpcnews.com • busconews.com

Christmas Wishes • December 21, 2016

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Bridgett Baldwin Bob Allman Mark Davis Christmas Wishes is a special supplement to the The Albion New Era, Northwest News and Churubusco News which are publications of KPC Media Group Inc. ©2016 All rights reserved

PHOTO CONTRIBUTED

Before taking his Norway spruce tree into his home to act as his Christmas tree, Carroll High School math teacher Kyle Stoffel made sure to remove the dead pine needles.

Home grown Christmas

By Ryan Schwab

rschwab@kpcmedia.com

FORT WAYNE — The original thought when Kyle Stoffel planted 100 pine trees on his O’Day Road property didn’t involve Christmas.

He’s changed his thinking.

Stoffel, who teaches

math and coaches tennis at Carroll High School, is transforming some of those pine trees into Christmas trees. He has his own 10-feet tall Norway spruce tree, grown outside on his property, currently located inside his home as his family’s Christmas tree.

“I’ve got between 300 and 500 pine trees planted on our property.

The original 100, which is where this tree came from, was never with the intent to harvest it for a Christmas tree,” Stoffel said. “When we moved onto the property, there was a spot down by U.S.

30 that wasn’t blocked out by anything. I planted 100 pine trees there to block us off from U.S. 30. I just don’t want to hear every single semi as if it were in my living room.”

Stoffel and his wife, Michelle, have lived on an 13-acre plot at the corner

SEE HOME GROWN, PAGE A4

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Christmas Wishes • December 21, 2016

29,000 lights a shining

A3

Krider provides lights, song show in ’Busco

By Nicole Minier

nminier@kpcmedia.com

CHURUBUSCO — Drive through Churubusco on U.S. 33 after dark between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and you can’t help but get excited for Christmas.

With more than 29,000 decorative lights on his home and lawn, Wayne Krider’s house in the 500 block of South Main Street can’t be missed.

Krider, the head of maintenance at Churubusco High School, takes a two-week vacation before Thanksgiving to set up his complicated, 270-switch synchronized light system.

Krider’s lights are set to music, which is piped through speakers outside his home and also broadcasted over the radio on FM 96.7.

Synchronizing 29,000 lightbulbs to the tune of

11 different songs is no easy task, but Krider’s background in electrical work is a big help.

“It takes about 20 hours to program one three-minute song with the lights,” Krider said.

“I try to add a couple more songs every year, and there’s some songs that I’ve fazed out.”

He started his Christmas lights display in 2008 after seeing an online video of a home with Christmas lights set to song.

“I went out and started buying the controllers and software so I could make my own,” Krider said.

The software looks similar to an Excel spreadsheet, and Krider sets different sets of lights to go on and off to the beat of the music.

The result? A beautiful display that the town loves.

“I get a lot of compliments from people in the community,” Krider said. “Some people park in our driveway to watch the lights, some park across the street or in McDonald’s parking lot, and some stop on the sidewalk to listen to the music while they’re out for a walk.”

Krider even had a special song made for the show. A customized remake of “The House on Christmas Street” by Judy Pancost, talks about the town of Churubusco and the Krider family.

The song can be heard on Krider’s website, buscochristmas.com.

About 99 percent of the lights in the display are LED, and all 29,000 lights come down after Christmas, and they’re all set up again in November, beginning the season on Thanksgiving night.

NICOLE MINIER

Wayne Krider spends two weeks before Thanksgiving preparing for his annual Christmas lights show, which is set to music. Krider resides in the 500 block of South Main Street (U.S. 33).

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HOME GROWN: Planning to grow 300 new trees FROM PAGE A2

of O’Day Road and U.S. 30 for 16 years. He said he’s planted 500-600 trees on his property in that time. He also built a pond on the property and uses the dirt as a berm, buffering the noice of the busy highway from his home.

He no longer needed the row of trees.

Up until 2014, they never had a real Christmas tree in their home. Usually, they spent Christmas time on a family vacation in a more sunny destination.

Now, with their daughters, Michaela, in college, Stoffel said their family Christmas’s will more likely be spent at home.

That year was the first he used a home-grown tree.

“It wasn’t even possible until a few years ago, because they weren’t even big enough,” Stoffel said.

“I said to my wife, ‘we have them, let’s try it.’ It’s worked out pretty well.”

Except for the pine needles.

“The first one, I cut it down, took it into the house and put it up. We instantly had 10,000 pine needles everywhere,” Stoffel said. “This year, I stomped it up and down on our sidewalk about 50 times before I took it in the house to get the dead needles out.”

Stoffel said he plans to plant and grow 300 more trees — Douglas fir, Fraser fir and Scottish Pine — for friends and

PHOTO CONTRIBUTED

The after view of Kyle Stoffel’s Norway spruce tree, which was taken from his O’Day Road property and into his home to be used as a his family’s Christmas tree.

family to use in the future.

He has a 3-acre section where he currently alternates growing corn and beans that he is considering turning into a tree farm. He also grows a variety of vegetables and operates a self-serve stand in the summer.

“I’ve always had the thought in the back of my mind that it would be cool if that were all Christmas

trees. I am not there yet.

I am still experimenting,” he said. “I don’t know that I will have the little business on the corner of O’Day and 30 and do the honor system Christmas Tree like I do with vegetables, but it’s a thought.”

For now, as long as his family is home for the holidays, his living room will be adorned with a piece of his own yard.

Christmas Wishes • December 21, 2016

Simple ways to dress up your home for the holidays Metro Creative Connection The holiday season is rife with traditions that focus on fun and family.

One such testament to the festive spirit of the holiday season is the many homes and businesses decorated with the lights and colors that have become synonymous with the season.

Decorating for the holiday season can be time-consuming. While decking the halls may not consume as much time as holiday shopping and wrapping presents, according to data from a 2013 American Time Use Survey, interior and exterior decorating for the holidays may consume anywhere from 2.5 to 3 hours per session.

Holiday decorating includes things as simple as setting up a menorah or as complex as stringing lights on the exterior of a home. Though elaborate displays can take hours to erect, time-crunched holiday celebrants can still create festive, welcoming displays.

• Hang holiday wreaths.

Holiday enthusiasts without much time to decorate can invest in a couple of holiday wreaths, which can be dressed up as much or as little as celebrants prefer. If you do not have the time to string lights on the house, wrap them around wreaths hung in windows or hang the wreaths on a home’s main entrance. Celebrants who want to go a less traditional route can hang wreaths made of holly, citrus fruits, ribbons, or any other greenery instead of the more customary evergreen wreaths.

• Decorate with ornaments. Ornaments are not exclusive to Christmas

METRO CREATIVE CONNECTION

Simplify holiday decorating with some easy tips to make houses cozy and festive.

trees. Fill a vase or bowl with metallic ornaments and place it in a prominent location, such as a busy hallway or the foyer of your home. Hang ornaments on clear filament from the mantle or within the main window of the house, where they can reflect tree lights and add sparkle.

• Bring in more greenery. Drape evergreen boughs on staircase handrailings or on the mantle, or use greenery to frame doorways. The scent will be inviting and things instantly will look more festive.

• Use throws and decorative pillows. Change the look of a room with holiday-colored decor if you do not want to clutter the space with knickknacks.

A red and green blanket draped over the sofa can

give off a comforting holiday vibe.

• Focus on the front door and entryway.

Celebrants who do not have the time to decorate their entire homes can create a warm, inviting space by decorating their front doors and entryways. Place greenery, bows, tinsel, lights, and winter-inspired accessories by the front door so friends and family visiting for the season catch the holiday spirit the moment they walk through the door.

• Place LED candles in windows. Rather than contending with twinkle lights and electric cords, homeowners can employ battery-operated faux candles to create a homey appeal in windows and hallways throughout their homes.

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Christmas Wishes • December 21, 2016

A5

Filling Christmas stockings this holiday season

By Matt Getts

mgetts@kpcmedia.com

ALBION — The tradition of putting some presents in stockings is nearly as hold as the Christmas holiday itself.

For many people, stocking stuffers are lastminute gift items that need to be purchased, putting even more pressure on what is — at least for some — a stressful time of year.

It doesn’t have to be that way.

Nancy Taylor, manager of the Albion Dollar General, said putting items in stockings had been a tradition in her family for years.

“I still do,” Taylor said. “That was always the last (thing to buy) because you wanted the candy to be fresh,” she said.

Candies of all kinds, from candy canes to chocolate, have long been a staple of many people’s holiday stocking treasures, but times are changing for stocking

stuffer shoppers, according to Taylor.

“They’re getting back to the Christmas spirit — giving what you need instead of what you want,” Taylor said.

Popular items moving through her Dollar General include toothbrushes, toothpaste and perfumes, she said.

Christmas is a great time to refresh personal hygiene stores for children and adults alike.

What better way to make these normally mundane items special than by including them as part of the joy of Christmas morning?

The size limitations of Christmas stockings make them suitable for such items, but many other things also fit inside of the average stocking.

Many stores, including Dollar General, stock gift cards, which easily can be slipped into a stocking. Taylor said the most popular gift cards she has seen are for

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Christmas Wishes • December 21, 2016

Tips to save money, time while shopping

By StatePoint Media The holiday season is hectic. Between shopping for gifts, preparing for guests and decorating the home, it can sometimes feel as if there aren’t enough hours in the day or money in the bank to get it all done.

Here are some great ways to stress less and save more time and money during the most wonderful — but busiest — time of year: • Rethink Décor: Swap more costly flowers and wreaths for fresh fruit to create a festive feel without breaking the bank.

Place lemons and limes in a clear bowl for a colorful centerpiece. Add cheer to doors by hanging a pomegranate from a ribbon.

Use any of the extra citrus to garnish drinks. Add warmth to table settings by surrounding candles with pears and cranberries.

• Skip the Checkout Line: Technology is

making shopping for gifts and entertaining essentials faster and more convenient. For example, the new Sam’s Club Scan & Go app lets you bypass the traditional checkout lane. Simply scan UPC codes on items in your cart and pay for them directly from your smartphone anywhere in the club. Once done shopping, all you have to do is show a digital receipt to an associate on the way out.

At a time of year when it’s easy to over-spend, the app is also a useful holiday budgeting tool, keeping track of what you are spending while you shop. To download the app or learn more, visit SamsClub.com.

• Pick a Gift Theme: When possible, personalize presents for close family and friends, but pick a theme for the rest of your gift list. Scour sites, circulars and shelves for the best deal and then buy in bulk. Whether you

STATEPOINT MEDIA PHOTO

New mobile technology is making shopping faster and easier.

choose pajamas, chocolate gift sets or hats and mittens, this tactic will also help cut down on

multiple shopping trips and maximize your gift giving budget.

The tasks and expenses

that pile up during the holiday season can feel endless; but there are some simple strategies

you can employ to make your year-end festivities less stressful and perhaps even more meaningful.

Season’s Best

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Christmas Wishes • December 21, 2016

A9

Tips to avoid holiday meal weight gain

By StatePoint Media Lights decorate streets across the country. The holiday season is officially upon us. However, with the joy of the season comes the tendency to over-indulge.

On average, Americans gain approximately one to two pounds during the holiday season. With just a few strategies from nutrition experts, you can avoid weight gain while still enjoying friends, family and holiday feasts.

Don’t Skip Meals “In preparation for a holiday feast, do not skip meals throughout the day,” says Heather Mangieri, registered dietitian nutritionist and Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics spokesperson. “Skipping meals can result in overeating later on.”

Instead, Mangieri recommends eating foods full of protein and high in fiber before the feast because these foods will fill you up and satisfy hunger.

Don’t Forget to Exercise The holidays are a busy time full of cooking, decorating, shopping and catching up with loved ones, but remember,

it is still important to make time for physical activity.

“We have set a tradition to include a family walk over the holidays,” says registered dietitian nutritionist and Academy spokesperson Toby Smithson. “It’s a great time to create memories, share in conversation and sneak in exercise.”

Don’t Overdo the Buffet Holiday meals tend to be large, buffet-style gatherings where it is easy to overeat and fill up on unhealthy options.

To avoid overeating, Mangieri recommends loading the party plate with lean protein and veggies. “But that poses a problem at many holiday parties because treats and snacks are often all that fill the countertops.

Stay in control by taking your own healthy protein options with you such as turkey meatballs, chicken skewers or a shrimp cocktail platter,” says Mangieri.

Also note that it takes about 20 minutes for your stomach to tell your brain you are full. “Before going back for seconds, take time to savor each bite and enjoy conversation with friends and

Merry Christmas to all!

From

STATEPOINT MEDIA

The holidays are a wonderful time of the year, and it is possible to enjoy this special time without weight gain.

family,” says Mangieri.

Don’t Splurge on Sweets “It is okay to save room for dessert, but try to choose only one splurge item,” recommends Smithson.

“These sweet treats can

stick to your waistline and the added sugar may make you crash later.” Avoid overdoing it on dessert and limit sugary beverages.

Use these expert tips at the holiday dinner table to maintain a healthful eating plan throughout the entire season.

Happy Holidays!

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Christmas Wishes • December 21, 2016

Holiday cooking and gifts for food lovers

By StatePoint Media Whether one aspires to culinary greatness or prefers whipping up cozy family meals, all cooks appreciate quality kitchen equipment. Here are some ways you can beef up your kitchen in time to prepare large holiday feasts, and some ideas to help you shop for the chefs and foodies in your life.

Cutting Boards The right cutting board should last for decades, neither warping nor splitting. It should also not dull one’s knives. Seek out a cutting board that is stable on your countertop and will respond well to your particular set of knives. Maintain wooden cutting boards by regularly oiling them in order to reduce their porousness.

For meats, look for high-quality plastic cutting boards, which are easy to sanitize. Just be sure to toss these cutting boards after they are worn out,

as they are more prone to harbor bacteria after wear and tear.

High-Quality Cookware Go-to staples need to be high-quality and highly-functional. A fry pan, for instance, should heat evenly, be very responsive to temperature, and ideally be ergonomic.

While great cookware such as this usually comes with a premium price tag, you can usually capitalize on good deals at this time of year. For example, Hammer Stahl, an American-made kitchenware brand known for quality and performance, is currently offering a two-piece set of stainless steel multi-clad fry pans (8.5-inch and 10.5-inch) with a lifetime warranty at half the regular price, giving holiday shoppers an opportunity to affordably stock up kitchens with premier go-to pans.

Great for frying, sautéing, searing and browning,

STATEPOINT MEDIA

This holiday season, treat yourself and loved ones to top-quality kitchen gear that can pave the way to better cooking.

their flat bottoms and curved sides make tossing and flipping food easy.

Immersion Blender

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Space-saving, versatile and affordable, an immersion blender is perfect for any cook. However, many people find their kitchens without one. Perfect for creating smooth purees, soups, and pesto, they also require less clean-up than full-size blenders or food processors, something

to keep in mind when prepping a complicated holiday feast, or looking to simplify weeknight dinners.

Professioal-Quality Cutlery Good knives are the foundation of a wellequipped kitchen. No other tool will improve the joy of cooking quite like a good chef’s knife. A dull, awkward knife is not

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Both advanced chefs and beginner cooks will benefit from top-quality high-carbon, stainless steel knives, such as the new Hammer Stahl 6-inch chef knife and the 5.5-inch Santoku knife.

Made in the tradition of the great German knife makers, the handles are ergonomically designed with a comfortable grip to reduce fatigue. All

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Christmas Wishes • December 21, 2016

A11

Christmas cookies made simple Metro Creative Connection Baking cookies is a holiday tradition for many families. Come the holiday season, many homes are filled with the inviting scents of vanilla, cinnamon and melting chocolate.

Baking cookies can be a social occasion in which family members and friends gather to create recipes passed down through generations. Or baking can be a solitary venture in which cookies are prepared and packaged as holiday gifts. Either

way, people who bake during the holiday season understand that making Christmas cookies can be a time-consuming, yet rewarding, process.

This year, holiday bakers can embrace a number of time-saving tips and tricks to reduce the amount of time they spend in the kitchen and possibly even improve on existing recipes.

• Use a cookie mix.

Who says you have to toil and make cookies from scratch? It’s the thought

that counts, and any number of creative recipes can begin by utilizing a premade baking mix.

These mixes already have most of the dry cookie ingredients sifted together, including flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar. All you have to do is add the wet ingredients and any extra embellishments to make the mix your own. If mixes are too much work, purchase refrigerated or frozen cookie dough.

Include your own add-ins,

such as nuts, white chocolate chips, bits of dried fruit, or crumbled candy canes, to give the premade dough a unique flavor.

• Prepare ahead. Many cookie dough recipes can be made and stored for later use. In fact, refrigerating a log of cookie dough can make it easier to cut or handle later on.

Spread out the bulk of your baking over two days and you might feel less taxed.

• Try a no-bake recipe.

Creative culinary experts continually reveal their

clever tricks, and many of these include no-bake versions of favorite desserts. No bake cookies come together in a matter of minutes, but still employ a host of delicious ingredients. Recipes frequently feature similar ingredients to traditional cookies, but rely on chocolate, honey or peanut butter as the setting agent to keep them together. Bakers may also like not having to turn on their ovens.

• Recycle leftover cookies. If you have a

fair amount of cookies remaining or several that broke apart or do not look good enough to serve, never fear. Such cookies can be used as part of another delicious dessert.

Grind cookies into crumbs that can serve as a pie crust for pudding pies or no-bake cheesecakes, or mix cookie crumbs with cake frosting or a nut butter and roll into balls.

Dunk the balls into melted chocolate, add a lollipop stick and make delicious cookie pops.

Last-minute holiday shopping tips Metro Creative Connection Holiday shopping season typically begins the day after Thanksgiving and extends all the way to Christmas Eve. While that’s a considerable amount of time for shoppers to find gifts for everyone on their shopping list, many people will still find themselves putting holiday shopping off until the last minute.

In certain ways, last-minute holiday shopping is easier than ever. Thanks to online retailers who can ship products overnight, men and women who delay their holiday shopping have more options at their disposal than they did before the arrival of the Internet. And unlike the days of yore when the best deals

were largely exclusive to Black Friday, some shoppers find that competition between online retailers and traditional brick-andmortar stores is so great that deals can be found regardless of when they begin shopping. But while waiting until the last minute to begin holiday shopping may not be as risky as it used to be, shoppers may still benefit by sticking to certain strategies so they can find the perfect gifts without breaking the bank.

• Stay within your budget. Even last-minute shoppers have holiday shopping budgets. But it can be harder for lastminute shoppers to stick to their budgets because they have less time to comparison shop and

my community Submit your news & photos at

Merry Christmas

hunt for deals. As the holiday shopping season winds down, resist the temptation to go over budget. If a gift you had in mind is available but more than you can spend, look for something else. Overspending on holiday shopping in December is a recipe for debt in January, and no shopper wants to begin the new year weighed down by consumer debt.

• Shop local. National chains and big box retailers are renowned for rolling out great deals during the holiday season, but such stores may have very limited or unimpressive inven-

tory left by the time last-minute shoppers begin shopping. Local retailers are often incapable of slashing prices as significantly as their larger competitors, and that may mean they have more extensive inventories available throughout the holiday shopping season. In addition, shoppers who stick with local retailers won’t have to pay shipping costs to ensure items arrive on time.

• Shop during off-peak hours. Shopping during off-peak hours can help last-minute shoppers make efficient use of the limited time they have

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260.636.6290

Downloading Our Best

At The Holidays

636-1212

901 N Orange St. Albion

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Holiday Spring Savings! is here!

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Here’s hoping lots of good times are on your holiday program.

Many thanks for your patronage this past year.

112 Orange Downtown Albion

for loved ones who seemingly have it all, last-minute shoppers can give the gift of a donation in their loved one’s name. Last-minute shoppers who want to give something more tangible can create a homemade gift that’s both unique and heartfelt. If your DIY skills are lacking, give a loved one the gift of a night out on the town at your expense.

Wishing Everyone A Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year

Merry Christmas from

from Melba, John, Tammy, Richard, Mary, Beth, Renee, Abbey, Ramsey, Abbi, Reggie, Ethan, Stacey, Drake, Taylor, Masyn, Holly, Kevin, Betsy and Becca

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to buy gifts for their loved ones. Visit stores early in the morning or late at night, or schedule a midweek afternoon shopping trip so you aren’t spending what little time you have left waiting on lines or hunting for parking.

• Give something less traditional. Holiday gifts need not come from stores. Rather than spending their time shopping for gifts

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Christmas Wishes • December 21, 2016

Christmas tree facts Metro Creative Connection One of the most recognizable symbols of the holiday season, Christmas trees can be seen in private homes, public spaces and many prominent locations beginning each December. Christmas trees come in all shapes and sizes, and fami-

lies may prefer certain types of trees, including aromas, needle types and fullness.

Christmas trees have a diverse history. The following are some facts about Christmas trees that holiday celebrants may or may not be familiar with.

• Many harvested Christmas trees do not

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grow in the wild, but are raised on farms.

Christmas trees are an agricultural product.

• Roughly one million acres are dedicated to tree farming.

• Approximately 25 to 30 million real Christmas trees are sold in the United States every year.

• The top Christmas

tree-producing states are Oregon, North Carolina, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Washington.

• It can take as many as 15 years for a tree to grow to the typical height required of a Christmas tree.

• Every state in the United States grows

JOY ALL AROUN D A E R D SP

Christmas trees.

• Germans are credited with bringing the first Christmas trees into the home and decorating them in the spirit of Christmas. The first recorded reference to the Christmas tree dates back to the 16th century.

• Tree farms are beneficial to the environment

because they reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the air and help counter global warming.

• The most common Christmas tree species are balsam fir, Douglas-fir, Fraser fir, noble fir, Scotch pine, Virginia pine and white pine.

• Christmas trees can be recycled into mulch.

Merry Christmas!

trimmed-with-a-wish Before we sew up another year, we’d like to wish you a holiday season that’s made to order. We couldn’t have asked for better customers than you. Thanks.

With best wishes to you and your family for a merry and bright holiday season.

From the gang at

and Sons

ABC Embroidery & Screen Print

ASPHALT MATERIALS, INC.

3008 S. 50 W., Albion IN 46701 260-636-7311

“SERVING NORTHERN INDIANA SINCE 1884” 7055 N 350 W • Columbia City, IN 46725

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We at Community State Bank would like to express our gratitude for your patronage throughout 2016. We look forward to being there for you in 2017. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Left to Right: Tara Norris, Teresa Palmer, Carla Fiandt, Pam Reynolds, Linda Price

Member FDIC