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Show Wednesday, December 6, 2006 Come early, stay late Heaven Help Us Spring City Christmas party organizers give tips to throw a standing-room-only event By Corrie Lynne Player Thanks for a successful workshop By Sheila Ranger Staff writer The holidays are in full swing; kids all over Sanpete County are honing their lists for Santa, and colored lights twinkle from eaves, bushes and trees. The stores are filled with shoppers; gingerbread and peppermint scent the air. And exhausted parents wonder if they’ll make it through the next 19 days. It’s time to consider just what the Christmas season means. I’ve frequently written about teaching children to be loving and giving; I’ve stressed that it’s a parent’s job to shape independent, happy adults. And I’ve cautioned you not to overindulge your child. I’ve seen too many examples, even in my own family, of parents who grant their children’s every wish. This indulgence is most prevalent at Christmas time. Parents often max out their credit cards to provide that coveted stereo, junior computer, designer jeans, miniature motorized jeep, and so on. The constant barrage of advertisements urging us to “buy, buy, buy” doesn’t help either. Our culture tells us that we deserve a huge house, an SUV with all the accessories, every electronic gadget made, and closets full of the latest fashions. The media also tells us that we’re bad parents if our kids don’t have their own ATV, computer, car, and so on. But the media is wrong, wrong, wrong! A published study of 140 eighth graders, quoted by Ann Pleshette Murphy, “Good Morning America” parenting expert, “found that self-disciplined kids who could delay gratification consistently outperformed their more impulsive peers on everything from grades to standardized achievement test scores.” The study used the “delayed-dollar” test to assess a child’s ability to put off gratification for a larger reward. Kids were given the choice of a $1 now or $2 a week from now. Note that this is an easy test you can give your own kids. If your child would rather wait a week and get twice the money, you’ve probably done a good job of modeling fiscal responsibility and teaching the importance of waiting for better things down the road. Most child psychologists urge parents to let their kids experience frustration. You may hate to see your child weeping over not having something or being unable to accomplish a task, but frustration can teach him how to solve problems. He’ll learn that life doesn’t give instant rewards. I think it’s sad that so many kids today never know the unmitigated joy of finally receiving a coveted gift. I remember wishing for a doll that could open and close its eyes, drink a bottle, and wet its diaper. I cut out the picture of the doll from the catalog, and I gazed at the doll when I saw it on display. Then, one Christmas, that doll appeared under the tree along with brightly wrapped packages of underwear, sweaters and mittens. It was the only toy I received, and I still treasure the memory. You can help your children with their self-discipline by encouraging them to take music lessons, develop a hobby such as painting or knitting, and participate in sports. Anything that requires effort and practice will build self-esteem as well as self-discipline. Also, if your child breaks his remote control car or loses her bicycle because she forgot to put it away, don’t be quick to replace it. Give your child a way to earn the replacement. And let her character grow. This Christmas season, help your children experience the joy of giving to others, rather than focusing on the things they want. Let them stir and knead fancy breads and candies to give away to the neighbors. Take them to pick out a gift for a name from an angel tree, or help them select a family to surprise with The 12 Days of Christmas. Use your imagination to figure out a way to spread joy. The Christmas spirit will glow brighter and will warm you long after the tree is taken down and the wrapping paper put away. Casino Star Theatre Rated G Dec. 6-12 78 S. MAIN, GUNNISON 528-STAR CASINOSTARTHEATRE.ORG Prices: Adults $5 Children under 12 and Seniors $3.50 A5 Sanpete Messenger/Gunnison Valley Edition 7:00 p.m. Weekdays Two showings Friday & Saturday 7 pm and 9 pm Tuesday is Bargain Night! All Seats $3.50! 2 col. ADVERTISE HERE! STATEWIDE!!! -THROUGH YOUR LOCAL PAPER.2X2 STATEWIDE ADVERTISING NETWORK 2 in. Ask your local paper how you can reach over 250,000 households in 40 Utah newspapers in one easy step through Utah Press Association statewide 2x2 (2 col. x 2 in.) display network. (National placement also available through the Utah Press.) SPRING CITY—Quite a few small towns throw community Christmas parties, but Spring City has a reputation for throwing the best parties in the county: if you’re not early, you’ll have to stand. For the last three parties, six families joined in organizing the event. This year, they’re passing the gavel to “new blood.” But they passed on some tips that could help other communities emulate their successes. Lori Crisp, one of the key organizers of past parties, says it’s important to marshal enough volunteers to do all the arranging and get everything to the party site. Then when the party starts, everyone could just relax and have fun. “That was our intention,” she said. “We wanted the whole night to just kind of run itself.” One person was in charge of the gingerbread house contest, one got the refreshments, one canvassed the county for prizes, and so on. Then a few days be- fore the big event all of the organizers gathered at city hall and decorated. “Every year we tried to make it a little different: different entertainment, different refreshments, different themes. We asked people from both sides of town to entertain, so we would draw people from all over. We have so many talented people here,” Crisp said. One of the most popular parts of the party is the gift giving. As people come in the door, they are given tickets on which to write their names and place in a box. At the end of the night, after all the entertainment, names are drawn and prizes awarded. Many of the prizes were donated by businesses, but some were purchased. “We would buy small prizes from Oriental Trading to put in a ‘Santa Sock,’ and after the big prizes were handed out, we would have the smaller children come up to the sock and get another prize. Just something small, but the kids loved it,” Crisp says. While children dipped into the Santa Sock, From Dec. 12, 2002 issue of the Messenger: Del Rowe, band leader from Bountiful, dances with Katie Tervort at the Spring City Christmas party in 2002. Spring City’s community Christmas party is nearly legendary. adults mingled and munched on cookies they washed down with apple cider. Spring City’s parties are leg- endary because they provide a time for neighbors to come together, forget differences, renew friendships and just have fun. Program to feature elementary band, Santa SPRING CITY—This year, Spring City Councilman Gary Parnell is heading up the town’s Christmas party, which will be Thursday, Dec. 14 at 7 p.m. at the city building. The program will feature the Spring City Elementary School band, followed by Christmas caroling and refreshments. Besides door prizes for adults, Santa has promised to attend with surprises for the little ones. “The Messiah” will sound a little different this year EPHRAIM—Performances of this year’s “The Messiah” on Dec. 9-10 at Snow College might sound a little different to long-time attendees. The changes are due to a new conductor, Dr. Steve Meredith, taking the reins of the performance after Judy Morgan retired last year. Meredith is the new director of choral studies at Snow College, a position he started fall semester. He has sung professionally all over the world, including “dozens of dozens” of performances of “The Messiah.” “We’ve had to do a lot of changes this year,” said Eccles Center Director Kathleen Hansen. She said the performance will have a new tempo and that some pieces have been removed from the performance, while others were added. “If you are a participant,” she said, “the changes have been fairly significant.” But, she said, change is good, and this year’s performance “will have a freshness.” “’The Messiah’ is performed so many different ways. From community to community it is different,” she said. Meredith said the most noticeable change would be the difference in length. He said oftentimes “The Messiah” can be overwhelming, both in terms of time and content, which might interfere with audience members appreciating the performance. “Right around two hours is people’s breaking point,” he said. To that end, he removed a couple of solos and added a couple chorus pieces about the passion of Christ to bring the performance to about 1 hour and 45 minutes. He said none of “the hits” of the performance, such as the “Hallelujah Chorus,” have been removed. The annual performance will host a large choir of around 130, one of the largest in recent years. “I feel quite honored to have been asked to conduct,” Meredith said. Meredith is also introducing the idea of a second performance of the community choir, probably around Easter, which he hopes will become as big of a Sanpete tradition as “The Messiah.” Both performances on Saturday and Sunday at the Eccles Center for the Performing Arts will begin at 7:30 p.m. and admission is free. BEN FOX / MESSENGER PHOTO First-year conductor, Dr. Steve Meredith (right), prepares the large choir of nearly 130 people for Sanpete’s 73rd preformance of “The Messiah.” Gunnison Hop & Shop Holiday Hop and Shop Coupons are printed in the Sanpete Messenger/Gunnison Edition. Clip them out and shop at each of the participating businesses. When you’ve made a purchase, have them initial your coupon, then when its full, take it to Quail Hollow or Subway to enter the drawing. There is a new coupon each week, and every square on the coupon must be initialed in order to enter the contest. Watch future articles in the newspaper for your weekly Bonus coupons, and the prizes that will be awarded. Participating businesses include: Subway, Shelle’s Drive-Inn, Rasmussens’ Ace Hardware, Care-A-Lot Day Care, Jensen’s Drug & Floral, Sanpete Messenger/ Gunnison Valley Edition, Reid’s Diesel & Auto Repair & Fast Lube, White Hills Trading Co., Gunnison Valley Bank, Ranae’s Five Star, China Gate Café, GIC Silver Eagle, Gunnison Implement Company, Gunnison Market, Quail Hollow, Gunnison Valley Gazette, Lotsa Motsa Pizza, Freedom Ford Mercury, Applied Composite Technology, Peterson Refrigeration & Mechanical, Casio Star Theatre, Valley Builders, Gunnison Valley Animal Clinic, Super Drug & Herbal Store, New Beginnings Family Counseling, hermansen Roller Mills, Valley Dry Cleaners, Hermansen Roller Mills, Gunnison Valley Hospital, Valley Furniture, His N’ Hers Inc./Mt. West Diving & Extreme Sport, & Quilts S’more. Nail & Hair Company & Tanning Salon, and Therapy West, PC. Gunnison Hop & Shop December 6 -13 Name ____________________________________________ Address __________________________________________ |