Lifestyle

As the annual hustle and bustle of the upcoming holidays continues to inch ever closer, the Wills Point Chamber of Commerce is issuing a reminder about upcoming events sure to delight locals and visitors alike.

Small Business Saturday

Small Business Saturday, a shopping holiday conceived and launched by American Express to promote local small businesses, will celebrate its fifth anniversary Nov. 28. The event stresses the ideas of promoting local small businesses.

Law enforcement officials with ties to the Wills Point community will once again be joining forces this holiday season, hosting their annual Holiday Open House event from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Dec. 11 at the community center.

This year’s event will be hosted by law enforcement representatives including Precinct 3 Justice of the Peace Herbert Dunn, WP Municipal Court Judge Rachel Ramsey, Precinct 3 Constable Robert Tisdale as well as interim chief John Turner and Sergeant Rob Powell, both of the WPPD.

We are blessed to be able to celebrate Veteran’s Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, but it does confuse us because many public services run on a different schedule during November and December.  The Van Zandt County Library schedule changes somewhat during this time.

Veteran’s day will be observed Nov. 11.  The county Holidays for Thanksgiving begin at noon Wednesday, Nov. 25 and are closed Thursday and Friday.  

Note that Wednesday the Library will open at 9 a.m. for this special holiday schedule.   Christmas closing will be different also, so watch the website, vanzandtlibrary.org, for those times.

Schedules are available in the Library.  There will be no Storytime on Friday, Nov. 27.

The Christmas Bow Project will be getting underway soon.  The first Christmas after the library moved to the present building, Mrs. Pat Hackney initiated a program which has become a staple at the library.  

Thursday, Oct. 22 is the big day to find out who are the lucky people that  will take home the American Girl Doll, and the Chrome Notebook offered by the Friends of the Van Zandt County Library.  

New Advisory Board members will begin their terms at the regular meeting Oct. 22.  Their job is to keep policies up to date and to advise the commissioners court of needs and any problems with the library. 

Preschoolers Storytime continues to be well attended.  The Oct. 23 theme is “llama, llama.”  It is a great way to encourage love of books.  Studies show that children who are introduced to reading early are  more successful in the classroom.

At 2 p.m. Saturday Oct. 24, the Genealogy Society will be back in the Buchanan Room for their regular meeting.  Visitors and new members are always welcome.

Medicare, Medicaid, Obamacare, Retirement---these words are prominent in the news right now.  

The Friends of the Van Zandt County Library will offer an informational program that will help decision making on these subjects at the Oct. 12 regular meeting.  

The enrollment period—another popular phrase—is coming up so this is a very timely subject.   The meeting is at 10 a.m. in the Buchanan Room of the Van Zandt County Library.

After the meeting, anyone interested in organizing historical papers is asked to stay and work with old newspapers, bags of notes, just “stuff” that has accumulated over the years, and may or may not be of any value.  Help!!

 RAWR means “Let’s go read” in dinosaur talk.  The Van Zandt County Library has an extensive collection of children’s books.  

Children that are too young for school need to be exposed to books and reading from infancy.  Not only is it fun, it has been established that early reading is a positive influence on school performance.  Storytime continues at 10 a.m. every Friday for preschoolers.

Support the Friends of the Library. 

At 10 a.m. Oct. 12 there will be an opportunity to hear about changes in health and retirement plans that may affect you in the coming year.  It is an information only program.  There is nothing to buy.  It is also an opportunity to become more involved in the daily operation of the Library, and to contribute (money, of course) your time and effort to continue library excellence in Van Zandt County.

The Van Zandt County Library will be represented at the third annual Health and Safety Expo/Back to School Bash from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Sept. 1, at Canton First United Methodist Church. 

The event is free, and includes bounce house, games, and information about services and programs offered within the community. 

Help the library and maybe help your Christmas list.  An American Girl Doll and an Acer Chrome book are the raffle items offered by the Friends of the Library this fall.  Tickets are available at the library.   Only 152 tickets are available for each item.

“Poorer Richard’s Almanac,” written by the late Benjamin Franklin-also known as Tom Blair—is a commentary on contemporary America.  It is written in Franklin’s style, and is sprinkled with quotes from the original “Poor Richard’s Almanac.”   It’s a good read, check it out.

Texas Star Quilters Guild of Canton has been well represented at the 2015 State Fair of Texas which runs Sept. 25 to Oct. 18. 

Several members of the TSQG entered quilts and quilted items into the Fair and one has received three ribbons, guild officials said.

Of only 40 prize-winning quilts from all over Texas on display at the Fair, Susie Heckman from Edgewood received two third place ribbons and one honorable mention.

Heckman has been invited to enter her quilts in several quilt shows including a recent National Quilt Association show in Little Rock, Ark. In 2014, she displayed more than 30 quilted items at the annual quilt show at the Heritage Festival in Edgewood.  This year, Linda Mathis (another TSQG member) will display her quilts at this local festival.

These quilters and many others will be at the Canton Civic Center Oct. 16 and 17 for the annual quilt show. 

Friends of the Van Zandt County Library will begin the 2015-‘16 year at 10 a.m. Monday, Sept. 14 in the Buchanan Room of the Library.  Please make it a point to be on hand for a “Look Back-Look Forward.”   Annual dues are due, and life memberships are still available.

An American Girl Doll and an Acer Chrome notebook are the fall raffle items for 2015. 

Only 152 tickets will be offered on each item, and are available at the Library or from Friends.  One hundred percent of the proceeds benefit library programs.  All children’s books, newspapers, and magazines are funded through the Friends efforts.  Many other items that the annual budget does not support are provided through the generosity of the citizens in support of Friends of the Library. 

Many audio books are in Van Zandt County Library.  They are catalogued with the prefix DVD, so it is easy to look and see if your favorite is included.  Notice there are some special rules about checkout times. 

Sibyl Creasey, Friend of the Library, Genealogical Library standard bearer, member of the Van Zandt County Library Advisory Board, author of books, reporter and friend is moving away to be closer to family. 

A reception in her honor will be from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 13 at the Genealogical Library (Highway 19 at Groves Street). The public is invited to attend the reception.