I鈥檒l start my viewpoint with the words of an very popular Christmas song 鈥淚t鈥檚 beginning to look at lot like Christmas.鈥� And it sure is and what a wonderful feeling it gives us. A time of loving and sharing and forgiving and the close feelings of our families. All this is so precious as we get older. This will be my last until after Christmas.

Senior鈥檚 dinner

Last week there was a senior鈥檚 Christmas dinner held in the Island Gospel Church. What a dinner it was too, everything went over so perfect. The tables were decorated and set up so well. The gym was full of folks enjoying it all. To make it all so special the Grassy Plains church choir sang carols and Pastor Peters read the Christmas story which is ever so loved by young and not so young. This brought back memories of my father who always would read our family the Christmas message and we would look forward to this family time. The Grassy Plains church are always so generous with their singing. We thank you all.

Happy Birthday Agnes

Last week the Hiebert family celebrated their mother, grandmother, and great grandmother鈥檚 95 birthday at the Tweedsmuir House on Sunday. Agnes was 95 years old and what a life this wonderful lady has had.

The dining room and the sitting room were all filled with her family. You could tell there was so much love for this wonderful lady and so much respect. It was interesting to me as our family and the Hiebert and Knelsen families all three came into the Lakes District in 1941 so we have all know each other for over 70 years, almost a record. We have been good friends and good neighbours for almost a lifetime. The younger generation have now taken over where we have left off. I am very proud to be a good friend of Agnes Hiebert and the rest of this well known and respected family.

Party time

On Monday afternoon last there was a Christmas party for the residents of the Tweedsmuir House. It was very nice with decorations and such a pretty tree. There was what is called a Mexican exchange of gifts.

The way it works is you pick a give from under the tree, you open it and if it is not what you want you can exchange with another person and they can take a gift from the tree or else exchange with another person who may have a gift you would like. A nice lunch was served to close off a very pleasant afternoon. We were treated to a lovely group of young ladies who gave us Scottish highland dancing. The girls just looked beautiful in their special dress for the part.

One very pretty young lady did an Irish dance, this was very lovely too. This ended a very pleasant afternoon. One thing that came to my mind was how perfect the dancers preformed as some of the dances looked very difficult and no doubt they were and they danced so well. Hats off to the dancers and the very able teachers.

Then we had the fiddlers and talk about music. If you like fiddle music this was it, what music just makes your feet itch to get up there and dance.

I just loved their music, brings back those growing up years. Fiddle music was always liked and looked forward too. I took up the fiddle and played for dances but I didn鈥檛 like taking my dad鈥檚 valuable violin around so I took up the guitar. You fiddlers are great so keep it up, we love you.

Then last night we had the Decker Lake Mennonite church choir entertain us with a wonderful carol singing. All those old Christmas carols bring back such wonderful memories. Every one takes part in the singing from the oldest to the youngest and their harmony is out of this world. The Christmas story was read and it is always so special and we never get tired of it.

Christmas during the depression

When the great depression and the big dry as well, there just was no money so the biggest thing to get hit was Christmas and it really hurt. The bottom out of the economy so there was nothing to sell.

No water as we had no rain so no gardens, could not even grow potatoes. Of course this was in Saskatchewan, as B.C. was able to manage because they had rain. Of course money was tight in B.C. too but they were able to grow feed for their stock and our stock was starving with just enough to live and that was all. Lots of our friends rode the freights to go to B.C. to work in the woods.

They would send money home for the families. A very good friend of ours called Fin Autosen left his washburn guitar with mother and told her if he didn鈥檛 come home it was hers. He was catching a freight that night. He had worked in B.C. the winter before.

Mother gave him her name and address and within the week the RCMP contacted mother to say Fin had got thrown off a box car in Jasper and killed. We have tried to located his grave there but no luck. I still have his guitar and treasure it. It was made in 1930 so it鈥檚 about 80 years old now. Fin came from Denmark and had family there. He made his home with us and we sure missed him, he was a great guy. No matter how slim the picking got we always had a nice Christmas, not much in the gift line but enough to eat and on Christmas Day Mother would have some single men having Christmas dinner with us. Nobody went hungry when Mother was around and how she did it was a mystery.

There seems to be lots of heavy traffic so slow down and enjoy your holidays and always remember God loves you and so do I.

P.S. There is an old Christmas poem called the night before Christmas. It starts out and I quote 鈥淚t was the night before Christmas and all through the house not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care in hopes St. Nicklas soon would be there.鈥� So far this year I have not heard it could be me. A wonderful and happy Christmas to all my wonderful friends.