The wrong gift tag? up on the stairs leading from the second Àoor to the parlor, one behind the other by age, with the youngest leading the parade. As in million of homes, the tree was the focal point, and resting at its bottom were the presents. It was known by all of us that Bob always managed to come up with great and thoughtful gifts. On Christmas Eve we were permitted to place our gifts under the tree and carefully view others that had already been placed. On the Christmas I am recounting, my viewing on Christmas Eve showed a gift from Bob to me, and to my disappointment it appeared to be a tie or hanky box, a fairly standard gift in those days. So on Christmas morning, when it was my turn to open a gift, I zeroed in on Bob’s offering. As I was about to rip off the wrapping, Bob asked me if I had read the to/from tag. Of course I hadn’t because I had viewed
the gifts the night before and I had the one I had identi¿ed from Bob. However, upon closer inspection of the tag the gift I had in hand was not addressed to me but rather to my sister. I then swallowed my disappointment, returned it to the tree base and with Bob’s urging found his gift to me. What was the gift? Something that I wanted badly of course, and Bob had come through once again. It was a Red Ryder BB gun that I enjoyed safely for many years to come. The wrong tag? Bob had switched the tags that morning as a ploy to mislead me. Now, some 75 years later, that fond memory comes alive for me on each and every Christmas morning. A very Merry Christmas to all, and may you all also be permitted to retain a fond memory or two of your Christmases. Frank A. Walker Carleton Place
Photo by TIFFANY LEPACK
EMC News – The Salvation Army donated $600 to the Almonte Lions Club to help with its Christmas Basket program on Saturday, Dec. 15, pictured at the cheque presentation at Patrice’s Your Independent Grocer were: Lions’ Marjorie Gaw, Donna Nield-Kerry, Adrian Ayotte, Richard Evans and Anne Bird and from the Salvation Army were Major Faith Cameron, Melba Jarvis and Sheila Risatti.
BLUE BOX RECYCLING
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EMC Lifestyle – My Christmas story takes one back to the mid 30s in Ottawa, in the Glebe, speci¿cally Third Avenue. I lived there in a modest house with my mom and dad and one sister and three brothers. Dad was the chief machinist with the Ottawa Citizen and worked the day shift, and my older brother (Bob), also a machinist, worked the newspaper’s night shift. Christmas was always big at our house, which we decorated as best we could, including a tree in the parlor corner obtained from a local farmer who brought them into the city to sell. Dad would take one of us each year to walk to the tree lot, only a block or two from us on Bank Street. The tree was carefully selected, purchased and hand dragged back to our house. All preparations pointed towards Christmas morning, when all seven of us lined
Come for a day of Bingo Free bingo dabber per patron
Do you turn the lights on in your garage or basement to do your recycling? Recycle when the sun is up where possible, to save electricity.
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In order to reduce contamination in the diversion stream please rinse all cans and bottles thoroughly and remove all caps and lids. Make it the last thing you do in your dish water - wash and let dry - You do not have to use fresh hot or cold water. We realize that paying to heat and pump water or paying for water, defeats the purpose of the recycling. These small tips go along way in helping our recycling initiatives and diversion rates.
Starting Saturday, January 5th, 2012 RUNNING EVERY SATURDAY IN JANUARY FREE TRANSPORTATION from Carleton Place WalMart to Bingoland South, Slack Road, Nepean Pick up at 11:00am WalMart, Carleton Place Returning 7:00 pm RSVP 613 226-1741 Game 613-226-7150
Working Together Today to Save our Environment for the Future
s and Pr iz on the es Bus
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BINGOLAND
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Space provided through a partnership between industry and Ontario municipalities to support waste diversion programs
THE EMC - A/CP9 - Thursday, December 20, 2012