Wednesday's Internet Edition, September 08, 2010.
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| The Community Christmas Tree lighting ceremony will take place at the Okey Lucas Park this Saturday at 6 p.m. Pctured above are some of the other decorations which will be lighted for the holidays at the park. Tuesday morning's snowfall helped to get us in the Christmas Spirit! |
- What does a Christmas tree mean?
The triangular shape points upward towards Heaven
Evergreen for forever eternal. Green means life
The needles grow upward like hands praising God
The lights on the tree represent Heaven
The gifts under a tree represent charity and love
Van Horn now has a special tree that will grow and thrive year round.
We need to use this tree as a reminder of what Christmas really means.
What does Christmas mean?
Claudia Miclaus in 2007 published her idea of what Christmas means:
a)”How to forgive without hard feelings”
b) “How to unconditionally love…even your enemies”, “How to enjoy your marriage life” -
c) “How to have joy when all friends have forsaken you”
Christmas is celebrating the birth of Christ. His birth and life are the highest examples of Ms Miclaus’ Christmas meaning.
Let us use our Christmas Tree as a reminder of forgiveness, love and joy throughout the year.
Come join us for the Christmas Tree Lighting Service this Saturday from 5 PM to 8 PM. Santa will be there for pictures in the Convention Center from 5 PM to 6 PM. The lighting will take place at 6 PM. Enjoy good fellowship, enjoy caroling by the Familia Christiana Church, enjoy food and drink, provided by the Christian Shelter, but, above all, enjoy each and everyone’s company. This event sponsored by the Rotary Club of Van Horn.
This tree is for Van Horn; this tree is to remind us of the real meaning of Christmas and to keep that meaning and spirit alive year round.
Come out and join us, Saturday, December 5th from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m
Column One
By Dawn Simpson
The Child Protective Services board has been busy getting ready for their annual ‘Giving Tree’, which will kick off this Friday evening at 6:30 PM at Welsh’s Pueblo Market. Santa will make his arrival and that’s always exciting for the kids. But the important thing about this event is the ‘ornaments’ hanging on the tree which bears the age of a certain child and their gift ‘wish’. As you go to do your grocery shopping in the next few weeks, pick an ‘ornament’ and make a little needy child happy on Christmas.
Thanks to those who volunteer on this board, for such a worthy cause. They are Linda Rodriguez, Oscar and Maggie Espinoza, Angie Gonzales, Martha Corrales, Rosie Humphries, Yolanda Ortega, and Cornelio and Carmen Garibay. So many times these ‘behind the scenes’ volunteers are never even known, and that’s the way most of them would have it. But this is a good time to say THANKS to these.
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Don’t forget that this is a busy time at the Shelter and their funds are always limited, especially during a time like the past few days when weather is bad. Donations are always more than welcome, rather it be money or donations of warm clothing that they can pass along to those needing such, or donations of food items. Some may not realize that a very easy way to help the Shelter out is to have the City of Van Horn add a designated amount to your utility bill each month. That amount can be anything you want and all you have to do is stop by City Hall and fill out a simple form. Then each month it will be added to your water bill. You would never even miss the money but think what it would mean to the Shelter if quite a few did that. It’s on my list of things to do this week!
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The Junior High One Act Play cast, which competed recently at district with their play “The Steadfast Tin Soldier” will be performing it for the public here on Tuesday, Dec. 15th. It will be a Dessert Theater to help raise funds for future productions. They will begin serving dessert at 5:30, with the performance at 6:00 pm. Mark your calendars.
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Van Horn’s El Capitan Hotel is getting some recognition in the El Paso Times in the Sunday, Dec. 6th issue. Ramon Renteria, a columnist for the Times, was in town last week with a photographer and will be featuring the hotel Sunday. I always enjoy reading Mr. Renteria’s column. He is originally from Valentine and has an appreciation for rural West Texas, unlike some big city reporters that shed a negative light on our small town when there is a story here to cover. The last time Mr. Renteria did a feature from Van Horn was when Chuy Uranga passed away. Thanks, Ramon, for giving us some positive recognition.
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Congratulations to Gracie Fuentes and Gabriela Walden (twin sisters) for reaching yet another professional goal in their careers in education. They both will be receiving their Masters degrees next week, Gracie from Sul Ross with a Master of Education in School Administration, and Gabe with a Master of Arts in Educational Leadership and Reading from Western New Mexico University. I’ve admired these two ladies for quite some time for their achievements and wish them the best as they continue on in the vital role of educating our children.
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– What exactly does that mean? It always sounds like something nice but being Baptist instead of Catholic I have never fully understood the meaning. And after googling the word ‘advent’ and reading about it on several websites, I wish we Protestants celebrated it a little more. Here is just a little of what I found and I think for sure will help me get in the mood of the season – at least in the spiritual mood.
The word Advent derives from the Latin word meaning coming. The Lord is coming. We may reflect that every year at this time when we celebrate His coming, so that in a sense we can lose the feeling of expectancy and joyful anticipation, because at the end of the season, everything seems to return to pretty much the same routine. If that is the case, then our preparation may have been lacking and we have therefore been robbed of much of the true meaning of this season.
During Advent we recall the history of God’s people and reflect on how the prophecies and promises of the Old Testament were fulfilled. This gives us a background for the present. Today we can reflect on the past track record of God and so begin to understand what it means to us now for the sake of what is to come, in our own future and that of our world.
Advent is the 4-week period before Christmas when the church celebrates the 1st coming of Christ, and anticipates His 2nd Coming. It brings us the magnificent vision of life and hope for the future given to us by Christ.
And you know what? That sounds like something we can all celebrate!
COMMUNITY CALENDAR
December 3rd - The Board of Directors of the Van Horn Community Christian Shelter will meet tonight at 6:30 p.m. at the Shelter. The Van Horn City Council is scheduled to meet this evening at 7 p.m. at City Hall. Members of the Van Horn Volunteer Fire Department are slated to meet tonight at 7 p.m. at the Firehouse.
December 4th - Van Horn Eagle JV boys continue play in the Ft. Stockton Tournament. Van Horn Eagle boys varsity continues play in the Alpine Tournament. Van Horn Eagle girls varsity continues play in the Marfa Tournament.
December 5th - Same as for December 4th for JV and varsity basketball teams. Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony at Okey Lucas Park this evening at 7 p.m.
December 6th - Attend the church of your choice today.
December 7th - Nothing scheduled at press time.
December 8th - The Van Horn Rotary Club will meet today at noon at Chuy’s Restaurant. The Van Horn Eagle basketball teams (boys & girls, varsity & JV) are scheduled to play the Presidio Blue Devils here today beginning at 5 p.m.
December 9th - Nothing scheduled at press time.