Barb Budine, coordinator of the Salvation Army red kettle volunteers would like to thank the many volunteers who gave their time to ring the bell at the Big M to help a most worthy cause. She also wants to thank the many generous people of the town for their continued support and donations. The change, bills, and checks gathered a significant amount of money to help the many in need in and around Walton. If any of you are in need, or know someone who is, in need of help with medical bills, utility bills, food or shelter, please contact Delaware Opportunities. That is the purpose of the Red Kettle Campaign and more than 90% of the money donated is returned to our area. Thank you for your generous support.
The William B. Ogden Library will be hosting their third annual Tiny Art Show to brighten the winter months. Starting the first week of January, take home kits will be available for anyone, ages 15 to adult. The kits will contain acrylic paint, a brush and a tiny canvas. Pick one up, and paint whatever moves you, and return it to the library by Jan 31. Works will be displayed all through February in the library.
Juniors and seniors, along with their parents, are invited to the library on Saturday, Jan. 6 at 11 a.m. to learn about college scholarships. Melissa Angevine from the Sidney Federal Credit Union will discuss what a scholarship is and its importance to college bound students. Melissa will share about scholarship opportunities currently open to students and answer questions.
On Wednesday, Jan. 10 at 6:30-7:30 p.m. there will be a presentation to help you recognize if someone is overdosing on opioids. Overdose Prevention and Naloxone (NARCAN) training will teach you how to recognize the signs of an opioid overdose and administer the opioid overdose reversal drug Naloxone. The presenter will also talk about the physiology of an overdose, risk factors that contribute to an overdose, and review the Good Samaritan Law. By the end of this training, attendees will: know the necessary steps when encountering and responding to an overdose, be comfortable administering NARCAN, and some of the aftercare required to save a life.
The Ogden Library will host its Third Annual Jigsaw Puzzle Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 20. This year, to accommodate more teams, morning and afternoon competition times will be offered. Each session will be limited to eight teams of four members. Ages 12 and up are welcome to compete, but each team must have at least one adult member. Teams will have two-hours to complete their puzzle. The team with the best time between the morning and afternoon players will be the winner. Each team must register for the event (please have a team name ready when you call.) Don’t have a full team? They will create one for you. Chose morning competition (10 a.m. - 12 p.m.) or afternoon competition (1 - 3 p.m.)
And finally, the William B. Ogden Free Library is celebrating 125 years of serving the Walton community. We hope that you will celebrate with us. Join them as they remember our past and look with great excitement toward the next 125 years. Patrons, community members, and library lovers are invited to stop by the library during regular hours, the week of Jan. 23-27, 2024, to share a memory, look through our history display, make a commemorative bookmark, and have your picture taken for our scrapbook. Tours of all three floors of the library will be available on Saturday from 10 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. A wonderful library and a valuable resource. Let’s celebrate how lucky we are to have them here for 125 years!
Chair Yoga for seniors will begin again on Tuesday, Jan. 9 at 11 a.m. at the First Congregational Church, UCC. It will run for another six weeks - every Tuesday and Thursday, until mid-February.
The first day, please come 20-30 minutes early to complete any paperwork - and please bring a pen. If there is bad weather and school is canceled - chair yoga will also be canceled.
Also, we are fortunate to have UHS/DVH providing funding this year for this program and the church is looking into some more health/wellness programs in the future.
Second grade students at Townsend School made Christmas cards for all the departments at the hospital, with special notice being given to those who have to work the holiday. The cards were well received by staff and they were going to share them with patients if any were still there on Christmas Day. Usually, if at all possible, patients are sent home to be with their families.
The Community Dinner committee pulled off another great event on Christmas Day with Debbie Ackerly leading the volunteers in the kitchen to prepare and serve a baked ham dinner, complete with mashed potatoes, green beans, coleslaw and homemade desserts. There were two pages of deliveries for those who were home bound, and another page of takeouts, as well as the meals that were served right at the New Hope Church and sharing in the fellowship of the season. Ellie Truman coordinated the rest of the volunteers and decorated the Harby Center with beautiful poinsettias, lanterns, angels, red trucks, trees and other symbols of the season. All in all, 378 meals were served, and another memorable day for those who came to eat, and the group of volunteers who showed up to help serve. Thank you all for your generous contributions to the event.
Bob and Maxine Locherer have been placing luminaries along Howell Street on Christmas Eve for many years now, and just in the last couple, they expanded their project to include Townsend Street. Bob works all year round, melting wax to form candles for the milk jugs luminaries that line the two streets.
They started it after Delaware Street was lined for several years with a mix of families and volunteers to mark the evening as families celebrated and went to church. However, the jugs along Delaware Street don’t have the same impact, as there is too much light and often real candles were not used. That project fizzled out over the years, but the Locherers did not.
For years, they did this project alone, but it has expanded so much they really needed help. And boy, did they get it this year. They were overwhelmed with gratitude for the people who showed up to prep the jugs, place them on the streets, light them at dark, and the go back and help retrieve them Christmas morning. Many thanks to Deb Underwood, Doug and Joanne Furman, Ellie Truman, Glenn and Ann LePinnet and their daughter Chrissy Evans and her husband Mark and their three children Mayla, Nolan and Cooper Evans, Ray Haywood, Joe Bownkowski, Mary Godel, David VanLoan, Joe Augustine, the Wildeys, Matt and Jessica White and their children Avelyn, Eleanor, Henry, James and Peter, John Peaster and Cheryl DiBenedetti and her husband. Our apologies to anyone she may have missed telling me, but Bob and Max are so grateful and overwhelmed with the support. And the streets looked awesome.
We rode over to Kelly Bartosch and Elizabeth Matterazzo’s home on East River Road to finish our Christmas Eve celebration. It is so beautifully decorated and my granddaughter was so excited as we took pictures with their photo props, cool blowups and a dazzling display of lights all around. Every year Kelly switches it up so that it is always a thrill and different set up. Thanks for all your hard work in putting it together every year. Kelly also generously donated the big Santa and Christmas arch that are new this year at Vet’s Plaza.
The Southern Tier Chapter of the Nam Knights will be holding a Breakfast Buffet at the Walton Vet’s Club, 10 Park Street, once a month for the next four months to help fund their charities and causes that they champion and donate to locally. Breakfasts will be on Jan. 14, Feb. 11, March 10, and April 14 and include scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, hash browns, coffee, tea, orange and apple juice. Breakfast will be served from 8 - 11:30 a.m. Cost is $12.
The First Friday dinner at the Walton Vet’s Club will be on Jan. 5 and will be baked ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, veggies, coleslaw, bread and desserts for $12. Serving from 5 p.m. until sold out. Please call ahead for takeouts 607-865-8094.
The WCS Drama Club will be presenting their winter production on Friday, Jan. 5 and Saturday, Jan. 6 at 7 p.m. at the high school auditorium. Tickets are $5 and available at the door. This year’s production is “Alibis”. This murder mystery comedy is fast paced and funny and will leave you laughing until the last line. Please come support the kids in their performance.
Happy and safe New Year to all and I hope the year ahead is healthy, happy and blessed for all of us.
