December2025
Happy Holidays to you all. We are so blessed to live in a community of great neighbors and fun things to do! Thanks to all who showed up for the Deck The Halls days to decorate the Clubhouse for the holidays and the Crafts Fair! Have you signed up to donate baked goods yet?
THINGS TO COME:
• The Crafts Fair is on Dec 6th in our Clubhouse and on Dec 7th at Sequoia Gardens. 10 am to 4 pm.
• The December Brunch is on December 7th at 11:30 a.m. Hosted by Peggy Amos.
• The annual Holiday Lights contest—judging takes place the evening of December 19th
• Our traditional (FREE to all residents) Christmas ham dinner is December 20th – mark your calendar!
• New Year’s Eve Social Club Happy Hour with a live swing band will be held on Dec 31st! Bring a dish to share and consider dressing up! Why not?
Thank you to management!
I’d like to take a moment to say Thank You to our Property Manager Trey Pinner of Santa Barbara Property Management and Park Owner Don Jurow for their generous donation this year which allowed us to provide the Thanksgiving dinner FREE to all The Country residents as well as the yearly Christmas Ham Dinner. We are grateful!
Email list:
If you haven’t given us your email address, please consider doing so. We’ll use it for reminders when something special is happening at the Social Club and/or remind you of upcoming events.
Recycle volunteers:
The recycle crew needs help! Lately it has been only John Larsen out there sorting recyclable items and crushing cans after Steve and Becky pick them up around neighborhood. It’s only for a few hours on the first Wednesday of each month. Can YOU help?
Respectful Reminder:
Please respect the cutoff date for brunches and dinners. The cooks shop for and prepare meals for the numbers of individuals who have signed up. We set up tables and chairs based on those numbers as well. Lately we’ve had a few people who fill out an envelope and pay for their meal in the kitchen door slot AFTER the cutoff day. This has caused us to be short on food and we’re scrambling at the last minute to set up additional place settings. PLEASE respect the cutoff date.
Do you have a suggestion for the Board? A change you would like to see? A compliment? A complaint? We appreciate your feedback. Place them (signed) in the Social Club comment box in the Clubhouse.
Board Meetings: All are welcome to attend our board meetings held on the first Monday of each month. Join us on Dec 1st at 6:00 pm in the clubhouse.
Sincerely,
Linda Bello-Ruiz Social Club Board President
TheCountryHOAPresident’sMessage
Hello All!
Just wanted to introduce myself for those of you who haven’t met me yet. My name is Kurt Webb. My wife, Mary, and I moved to The Country last November from the Dallas, Texas area to be closer to family. It has taken us a while to get over the ordeal of selling our old house, packing everything up and moving halfway across the country but we’ve finally settled in and are now eager to assume our roles as President and Vice-President of the HOA.
This is our first time tackling something like this so there will be a learning curve. Mary has extensive experience dealing with the public in her role as an HR Specialist for various school districts, particularly in conducting orientation for groups of new substitute teachers. My career has been land surveying, starting in the late 60’s at the City of Dallas. I’m a registered land surveyor, licensed in Texas, had my own business for over 20 years prior to merging with another firm about three years ago and still work remotely from our home. I’ve served as an expert witness in several court cases as well as appearing before various planning commissions and city councils. We’re still learning our way around the various statutes and ordinances concerning mobile home parks but plan to work with the Santa Rosa Mobilehome Owner Association and the Golden State Manufactured Home Owners League in representing the interests of our community in The Country.
At our last meeting, Jo Ann Jones updated us on the current laws being considered by the state legislature. I also provided an update on the proposed revisions to the FEMA mapping in Sonoma County. For those who haven’t heard, The Country will now be classified as lying almost entirely in the 100 year flood plain. We can discuss this further at our next HOA meeting on January 10, 2025. I’d also like to ask if there are any other topics that you feel are important to let me know so we can add those to the agenda, if possible. The best way to reach me is by text at 214-926-6102 or email: krwebb01@gmail.com.
I look forward to meeting all of you and hope to see you at our next meeting!
Kurt Webb Country HOA President
RECYCLE PICKUP DATE: Tuesday, December 2nd
The recycle crew will be collecting the recyclable bottles and cans. Please place your bagged cans, bottles and wine boxes with bladders by the mailboxes on the morning of the first Tuesday of the month.
Please make sure there is a CA-CRV on the item. Thank you!
SOCIAL CLUB BOARD MEETING
DECEMBER 1ST @ 6PM
The Country Social Club Profit and Loss Report: October 2025 Beginning Balance $6096.96 Income* $1027.06 Expenses ($719.50) New Balance $6404.52 * $343.06 Recycling
Christmas trees will be picked up with the regular recycling on Mondays. The Park office will be closed December 25th & 26th and January 1st & 2nd
December 2025
YEAR ’ S EVE PARTY 79
Social Club Board Meeting 6PM BUNCO @ 1PM Recycling PickUp BINGO @ 1PM BINGO @ 1PM Chair Aerobics 10AM Chair Aerobics 10AM Chair Aerobics 10AM Chair Aerobics 10AM Chair Aerobics 10AM Chair Aerobics 10AM Chair Aerobics 10AM
Aerobics 10AM Chair Aerobics 10AM Chair Aerobics 10AM HOLIDAY LIGHTS CONTEST Chair Aerobics 10AM Chair Aerobics 10AM Chair Aerobics 10AM HANDMADE MARKET CRAFT FAIR 104 BRUNCH 11:30 AM Hosted By Peggy Amos CHRISTMAS DINNER Drinks @ 5 Dinner @ 6 Hosted by Rich and Karen
DecemberBirthdays...
10AM — 4 PM both days Saturday, Dec. 6th
LIGHT UP THE NEIGHBORHOOD WITH CHEER!
JUDGING TAKES PLACE FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19TH AFTER DARK
ACountryChristmasInvitation
Come one, come all, both far and near, To share in warmth and festive cheer.
The ham is glazed, the table’s set, A night of joy you won’t forget!
With laughter, lights, and songs so sweet, Let’s gather where good neighbors meet.
Bring your hearts and appetites too—
The Country’s Christmas waits for you!
Saturday, December 20th
Hosted by Rich & Karen
Drinks and appetizers @ 5
Dinner served @ 6
Free for all Country residents!
$10.00 each for out of the park guests
Drink tickets: $1.00 each
Mixed drinks and large wines: 2 tickets
Beer, small wine and soft drinks: 1 ticket
Raffle tickets: 4 for $1.00
Swing into the New Year!
Wednesday, December 31st , 7–9 PM
The Country’s Classiest Countdown!
Put on your pearls, your pinstripes, your sass—
We’re ringing in ’26 with style and brass!
A live band’s playing, the punch bowl’s full, And the vibe? Think jazz club meets casserole.
Bring a dish to dazzle, a smile to shine, And dress to the nines—make that ten if you’re feelin’ fine!
We’ll toast, we’ll twirl, we’ll laugh and sway,
As The Country swings the old year away!
Free for all residents and their guests!
No sign-up necessary.
History of Christmas
Christmas is celebrated on December 25 and is both a sacred religious holiday and a worldwide cultural and commercial phenomenon. For two millennia, people around the world have been observing it with traditions and practices that are both religious and secular in nature. Christians celebrate Christmas Day as the anniversary of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, a spiritual leader whose teachings form the basis of their religion. Popular customs include exchanging gifts, decorating Christmas trees, attending church, sharing meals with family and friends and, of course, waiting for Santa Claus to arrive. December 25 Christmas Day—has been a federal holiday in the United States since 1870.
How Did Christmas Start?
The middle of winter has long been a time of celebration around the world. Centuries before the arrival of the man called Jesus, early Europeans celebrated light and birth in the darkest days of winter. Many peoples rejoiced during the winter solstice, when the worst of the winter was behind them and they could look forward to longer days and extended hours of sunlight.
In Scandinavia, the Norse celebrated Yule from December 21, the winter solstice, through January. In recognition of the return of the sun, fathers and sons would bring home large logs, which they would set on fire. The people would feast until the log burned out, which could take as many as 12 days. The Norse believed that each spark from the fire represented a new pig or calf that would be born during the coming year.
The end of December was a perfect time for celebration in most areas of Europe. At that time of year, most cattle were slaughtered so they would not have to be fed during the winter. For many, it was the only time of year when they had a supply of fresh meat. In addition, most wine and beer made during the year was finally fermented and
ready for drinking.
In Germany, people honored the pagan god Oden during the mid-winter holiday. Germans were terrified of Oden, as they believed he made nocturnal flights through the sky to observe his people, and then decide who would prosper or perish. Because of his presence, many people chose to stay inside.
Saturnalia and Christmas
In Rome, where winters were not as harsh as those in the far north, Saturnalia a holiday in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture was celebrated. Beginning in the week leading up to the winter solstice and continuing for a full month, Saturnalia was a hedonistic time, when food and drink were plentiful and the normal Roman social order was turned upside down. For a month, enslaved people were given temporary freedom and treated as equals. Business and schools were closed so that everyone could participate in the holiday's festivities.
Also around the time of the winter solstice, Romans observed Juvenalia, a feast honoring the children of Rome. In addition, members of the upper classes often celebrated the birthday of Mithra, the god of the unconquerable sun, on December 25. It was believed that Mithra, an infant god, was born of a rock. For some Romans, Mithra’s birthday was the most sacred day of the year.
Is Christmas Really the Day Jesus Was Born?
In the early years of Christianity, Easter was the main holiday; the birth of Jesus was not celebrated. In the fourth century, church officials decided to institute the birth of Jesus as a holiday. Unfortunately, the Bible does not mention date for his birth (a fact Puritans later pointed out in order to deny the legitimacy of the celebration).
Although some evidence suggests that Jesus' birth may have occurred in the spring (why would shepherds be herding in the middle of winter?), Pope Julius I chose December 25. It is commonly believed that the church chose this date in an effort to adopt and absorb the traditions of the pagan Saturnalia festival. First called the Feast of the Nativity, the custom spread to Egypt by 432 and to England by the end of the sixth century. By holding Christmas at the same time as
traditional winter solstice festivals, church leaders increased the chances that Christmas would be popularly embraced, but gave up the ability to dictate how it was celebrated. By the Middle Ages, Christianity had, for the most part, replaced pagan religion.
On Christmas, believers attended church, then celebrated raucously in a drunken, carnival-like atmosphere similar to today’s Mardi Gras. Each year, a beggar or student would be crowned the “lord of misrule” and eager celebrants played the part of his subjects. The poor would go to the houses of the rich and demand their best food and drink. If owners failed to comply, their visitors would most likely terrorize them with mischief. Christmas became the time of year when the upper classes could repay their real or imagined “debt” to society by entertaining less fortunate citizens.
When Christmas Was Cancelled
In the early 17th century, a wave of religious reform changed the way Christmas was celebrated in Europe. When Oliver Cromwell and his Puritan forces took over England in 1645, they vowed to rid England of decadence and, as part of their effort, cancelled Christmas. By popular demand, Charles II was restored to the throne and, with him, came the return of the popular holiday.
The pilgrims, English separatists that came to America in 1620, were even more orthodox in their Puritan beliefs than Cromwell. As a result, Christmas was not a holiday in early America. From 1659 to 1681, the celebration of Christmas was actually outlawed in Boston. Anyone exhibiting the Christmas spirit was fined five shillings. By contrast, in the Jamestown settlement, Captain John Smith reported that Christmas was enjoyed by all and passed without incident.
After the American Revolution, English customs fell out of favor, including Christmas. In fact, Christmas wasn’t declared a federal holiday until June 26, 1870.
Washington Irving Reinvents Christmas in America
It wasn’t until the 19th century that Americans began to embrace Christmas. Americans reinvented Christmas, and changed it from a raucous carnival holiday into a family-centered day of peace and nostalgia. But what about the 1800s piqued American interest in the holiday?
The early 19th century was a period of class conflict
and turmoil. During this time, unemployment was high and gang rioting by the disenchanted classes often occurred during the Christmas season. In 1828, the New York city council instituted the city’s first police force in response to a Christmas riot. This catalyzed certain members of the upper classes to begin to change the way Christmas was celebrated in America.
In 1819, best-selling author Washington Irving wrote The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, gent., a series of stories about the celebration of Christmas in an English manor house. The sketches feature a squire who invited the peasants into his home for the holiday. In contrast to the problems faced in American society, the two groups mingled effortlessly. In Irving’s mind, Christmas should be a peaceful, warm-hearted holiday bringing groups together across lines of wealth or social status.
Irving’s fictitious celebrants enjoyed “ancient customs,” including the crowning of a Lord of Misrule. Irving’s book, however, was not based on any holiday celebration he had attended in fact, many historians say that Irving’s account actually “invented” tradition by implying that it described the true customs of the season.
'A Christmas Carol'
Also around this time, English author Charles Dickens created the classic holiday tale, A Christmas Carol. The story’s message-the importance of charity and good will towards all humankind-struck a powerful chord in the United States and England and showed members of Victorian society the benefits of celebrating the holiday.
The family was also becoming less disciplined and more sensitive to the emotional needs of children during the early 1800s. Christmas provided families with a day when they could lavish attention-and gifts-on their children without appearing to “spoil” them.
As Americans began to embrace Christmas as a perfect family holiday, old customs were unearthed. People looked toward recent immigrants and Catholic and Episcopalian churches to see how the day should be celebrated. In the next 100 years, Americans built a Christmas tradition all their own that included pieces of many other customs, including decorating trees, sending holiday cards and gift-giving.
Although most families quickly bought into the idea that they were celebrating Christmas how it had been done for centuries, Americans had really re-
invented a holiday to fill the cultural needs of a growing nation.
Who Invented Santa Claus?
The legend of Santa Claus can be traced back to a monk named St. Nicholas who was born in Turkey around A. D. 280. St. Nicholas gave away all of his inherited wealth and traveled the countryside helping the poor and sick, becoming known as the protector of children and sailors.
St. Nicholas first entered American popular culture in the late 18th century in New York, when Dutch families gathered to honor the anniversary of the death of “Sint Nikolaas” (Dutch for Saint Nicholas), or “Sinter Klaas” for short. “Santa Claus” draws his name from this abbreviation.
In 1822, Episcopal minister Clement Clarke Moore wrote a Christmas poem called “An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas,” more popularly known today by it’s first line: “‘Twas The Night Before Christmas.” The poem depicted Santa Claus as a jolly man who flies from home to home on a sled driven by reindeer to deliver toys.
The iconic version of Santa Claus as a jolly man in red with a white beard and a sack of toys was immortalized in 1881, when political cartoonist Thomas Nast drew on Moore's poem to create the image of Old Saint Nick we know today.
Christmas Facts
• Each year, 25-30 million real Christmas trees are sold in the United States alone. There are about 16,000 Christmas tree farms in the United States, and trees usually grow for between four and 15 years before they are sold.
• In the Middle Ages, Christmas celebrations were rowdy and raucous a lot like today’s Mardi Gras parties.
• When Christmas was cancelled: From 1659 to 1681, the celebration of Christmas was outlawed in Boston, and law-breakers were fined five shillings.
• Christmas was declared a federal holiday in the United States on June 26, 1870.
• The first eggnog made in the United States was consumed in Captain John Smith’s 1607 Jamestown settlement.
• Poinsettia plants are named after Joel R. Poinsett, an American minister to Mexico, who brought the red-and-green plant from Mexico to
America in 1828.
• The Salvation Army has been sending Santa Claus-clad donation collectors into the streets since the 1890s.
• Rudolph, “the most famous reindeer of all,” was the product of Robert L. May’s imagination in 1939. The copywriter wrote a poem about the reindeer to help lure customers into the Montgomery Ward department store.
• Construction workers started the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree tradition in 1931.
• A “grog” is any drink made with rum. The egg, cream, nutmeg, and rum drink “eggnog” has early American roots, with references dating to the 1600s.
• The year 336 AD saw the first “official” Christmas, thanks to Emperor Constantine.
• The U.S. was fashionably late to the Christmas party, only making it a federal holiday in 1870.
• In 1882, Edward Johnson, a colleague of Thomas Edison, was the first to string electric lights on a Christmas tree.
• London receives a Christmas tree for Trafalgar Square from Oslo, Norway every year to thank Britain for assistance during World War II.
• In 1640 Scotland abolished the observance of Christmas. It did not become a legal holiday again until 1958.
• Franklin Pierce (1853-1857) is believed to have been the first U.S. President to put a Christmas tree in the White House.
• Animal cracker boxes first added strings around Christmas in 1902 so they could be hung on trees as ornaments.
• Leaving food for Santa has Norse roots. Children left treats for Odin’s horse Sleipnir. Today American kids often leave cookies and milk, while others leave hay, carrots, and water for the reindeer.
• “Jingle Bells,” originally “One Horse Open Sleigh,” was written by James Pierpont in Massachusetts as a Thanksgiving song. It was the first song broadcast from space on December 15, 1965.
• All of the items in “The Twelve Days of Christmas” total 364 gifts.
Puzzles and Word Games you can
Net Fraud
BLACKMAIL BOTNET CHARITY
CHECKING CRYPTOCURRENCY
DATING
EXTORTION
FBI
GOLD
IMPERSONATION
INVESTMENT
JOB OFFERS
LOTTERY MALWARE PHISHING PROPERTY REANSOMWARE SCAM
SHOPPING SPOOFING
TAX
TRAVEL VIRUS
Across 1.Similar
5.Chap
8.Celebes ox 9.Opening time, maybe
10.___ cheese
11.Cutlass, e.g.
12.From one side only
14.“C’___ la vie!”
15.Narcotic
18.Kind of store
19.Enormous birds of myth
21.“Idylls of the King” character
22.“Beetle Bailey” dog
23.“Wanna ___?”
24.Hail Mary, e.g.
Down
1.Ed.’s request 2.Sabotage
3.Cajole
4.Impeded
5.Gold-plated
Quick Pic
6.Restrained stage performances
7.“Absolutely!”
9.A chemistry
Nobelist: 1946
13.Death on the Nile cause, perhaps
16.Leave out
17.Bit
18.Center of a ball?
20.“Help!”
The headline is a clue to the answer in the diagonal.
December Sudoku
How to solve sudoku puzzles
No math is required to solve a sudoku. You only need logic and patience.
Simply make sure that each 3x3 square region has only one instance of the numbers 1-9. Similarly, each number can only
appear once in a column or row in the larger grid. The difficulty on this puzzle is easy.
Teach teens how to save with these banking apps
Financial literacy is an essential life skill, one that teens should start learning well before they leave the nest. These tools offer the benefits and convenience of conventional checking accounts and payment apps, but with extra features that teach young people how to handle money with parental supervision.
*Greenlight. This highly rated educational banking app gives parents full transparency into how their kids spend their money, plus capabilities to restrict certain spending categories and turn cards on and off. Greenlight also features chore and allowance tools, savings goals, and other educational activities. Teens can also use the app for direct payroll deposit.
*Acorns Early. Previously known as GoHenry, Acorns Early is designed for kids aged six to 18 and includes allowance and chore tools, a debit card with parental controls, and educational games to teach kids financial literacy. Acorns Early also lets kids accept cash gifts from family members.
*Step. This free app offers a secured credit card to help teens build credit, in addition to savings goals and rewards that accrue. While parents can use Step to monitor spending or block specific merchants, the app doesn't include chore or allowance tools.
* Current. Current's free teen account includes allowance and chore tools and parental controls with spending limits, along with a network of free ATMs. But there are no in-app educational tools and savings tools are limited compared to other personal finance apps for teens.
Christmas is ground zero for young picky eaters
The struggle is real with kids and food, but especially at holidays when most of the food may well be different than what they are used to seeing.
You don't want tears at grandma's house. You don't want children announcing that they hate what is being served. To save the day, teach kids to compliment and thank the cook: Thank you Grandma, it looks good. Amazing how that one statement makes the picky eater look like a super star gourmet. Even if they don't eat much, they already said it was good. Everyone is happy. The child looks like a genius.
Teach them never to criticize the food. If they hate it, they need to keep that thought to themselves.
How you cope with the picky eater depends mainly on what works for you, but here are some ideas.
Consider presenting children with a challenge food. That's one bite of something they hate or never tasted before.
Just one small bite, like three peas. If they eat the challenge food and they are finished with dinner. It is especially helpful if kids are competitive with each other. Then the challenge food is a contest. You can increase the amount of the challenge food once they have tried it 10 times or so. Don't make a separate dinner for picky eaters. Put the family dinner on their plate, with small servings. Experts advise not forcing a child to eat everything on the plate, but you can enforce some level of cooperation. They must eat a few bites of what you put on their plate, even if it means you sit with them and coach them through the bites. Mouth, chew, swallow, take a drink.
If your picky eater won't eat enough to fill them up, then you might make their favorite (microwaved chicken nuggets!) after dinner. But the key is they have to eat some of the family dinner.
Countdown to Christmas dinner at your house
*Five days before: Plan the menu and the place settings, table decorations and center pieces.
Plan the system and decide whether guests will fill their dishes before going to the tables or whether you will have serving bowls on the tables, which is more work.
Ask someone to say the meal prayer.
*Three days before: Check your ingredients against the menu to make sure you have everything.
*One day before: Make some foods in advance so you can just heat them. Peel potatoes and put them in cold water in the fridge. They will stay fresh if you want to make mashed potatoes. Make your pies and desserts.
If you don't have a portable oven, bor-
row one for the day so you can bake or heat different foods at the same time.
*The night before: Set the table. Have salt and pepper shakers in place and fill the butter dishes.
Get someone to help with setting up another table if you need one, and bringing in the chairs.
*Christmas day: Be ready to serve guests a beverage when they arrive. When someone asks how they can help, have them cut cakes and pies into servings. People won't cut an uncut pie to serve themselves.
* At dinner: Ask guests to hold hands for the prayer, if it is your tradition.
*After dinner: If the women have cooked, the men can clear the table after dinner.
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