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A special Thank You to all the donors for your generosity. It is very gratifying that you were so generous under difficult times. We delivered toys and gift cards to 85 families this year. A special thank you goes to The Bargain Shop for sponsoring the toy drive and the schools, drug stores and MainStreet Hardware for collecting toys. Thanks also to The Ag Society for the tables; ATCO for the use of their building for the toy sorting; and the car dealers for the delivery vans. And a big thank you to all the volunteers and to the businesses that accepted the White Collection Boxes. On behalf of all the families that received support this year, a great big

Breathlessly I turned to tell little brother Bill. He was not impressed.

“That’s no tree,” he said dryly, clambering onto a chair to look. “It’s a fat branch.”

And so it was. Proudly Dad dragged it into the house and, with no small effort, strapped it to the living room wall using several yards of binder twine and a box of nails.

How—festive.

Later that evening, feeling pleased with himself, Dad proposed a toast.

“Let’s celebrate with eggnog,” he said, rubbing his hands together with invisible soap.

No doubt about it, the man was on a roll. Earlier that day, he’d happily presented Mom with a blender, a pre-Christmas gift.

She’d been absolutely thrilled! What woman wouldn’t? (Our family may be cheap, but sarcasm’s free).

Dad tugged the shiny new appliance from its box, fitted the glass container into

Building permits were also up with $35,000 worth of buildings erected over the course of the previous year. Today, that would amount to $882,000.

With money coming in from the CNR, amounting to $600, the town was going to make a park next to the train depot, lay cement sidewalks in the business section and put down boardwalks on the other streets.

Contact Craig at craig@canadaehx. com

Support Craig by donating at https:// www.buymeacoffee.com/craigU position, and began adding the ingredients he’d found listed in an included recipe. With a flourish, he pressed the ON button, the machine sprang to life, and the assembled family broke into spontaneous applause. (We were simple folk and easily amused).

Listen to his podcasts Canadian History Ehx, Canada’s Great War, From John to Justin, Pucks and Cups and Canada: A Yearly Journey on all podcast platforms.

As our eagerly anticipated beverage spun to a halt, Dad handed out glasses, grasped the handle, and hoisted it on high.

KERSPLASH!

The bottom portion of the jug and its contents gushed forth, spraying the floor, the dog, and our feet with ice-cold eggnog. Unfortunately, Dad hadn’t tightened the bottom.

And so, as we gathered around our scrawny Christmas branch that evening and gazed at the brightly wrapped gifts shoved against the wall, we raised celebratory glasses of water to clink together with joy.

After all, it’s not about the tree, the gifts, or the food—it’s about love.

COUNTY OF MINBURN NO. 27 Oil/Calcium