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If your child has not claimed their prize for our coloring contest, here they are again. The winners are: Cianna Selbitschka in the 3-5 age group, Lewis Palmquist in the 6-8 age group, and Lindsey Olson in the 9-11 age group. Congratulations to these children and thanks to the many that entered their pictures. Please come to the Press to claim your prize, we would love to get a picture of you.

It used to be that if you wanted to take your special someone out for a nice meal, that your choices were very limited. We have seen that change over the past several years. Our area is quickly becoming a hot spot for dinning out. You and yours can enjoy everything from a good quick meal to a home-style cooked meal to an extravagant meal with all the bells and whistles. In this edition of the Press, you will find advertisements for these restaurants. Each one is offering you something special whether it is a two-for-one special or a terrific New Year's night out. I hope you think of one of these establishments when you are planning your New Year's celebration this year. Plus, these businesses are close to home so you will not have to worry about other drivers on busy roads.

I would like to take this time to personally thank all the people that pour their hearts and souls into making this newspaper. We have an incredible staff that truly cares about the area and I feel that it reflects in the paper each and every week. I would like to also thank those who assist from afar by writing columns and reporting on meetings -- Bob, Colleen, Nancy, Alice and Dan, thank you for your dedicated work. It's all of your hard work that adds up to our paper being such a great paper. You are the best.

Now that Christmas has passed and people settle in for a long work filled winter, we tend to forget about those among us who are less fortunate than us. Please help out by supporting our local food shelves. Now that the holidays are over the need is even greater. There is a misconception about the type of person that uses the food shelves. Some people think that the only people who use the food shelves are lazy unemployed people who prefer to be out of work. I am here to tell you that couldn't be any further from the truth. The food shelf is mostly used by people like you and me who for some reason or another have fallen on hard times. The food shelf is a way to help them through a tough stretch and they truly do appreciate it. And do you know that a lot of the food shelf donors now are those same people who had used the food shelf and made it through tough times.

Next week is one of the biggest drinking weeks all year. There is absolutely nothing wrong with enjoying yourself with friends on New Year's Eve, but please be responsible. Please do not drink and drive. Do all that is humanly possible to insure that you do not get behind the wheel intoxicated. Too many people lose too many loved ones because of drunken driving. So please enjoy yourself and have a plan.

If there is anything better than watching your young children Christmas morning, I have yet to find it. It seems no matter what they get (unless it is clothes), they are completely happy. Their excitement is contagious and they bring an overall sense of happiness. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and more importantly, you got to spend it with your loved ones.

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