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Make sure you look at your Search Shopper this weekend. Your Search will have this year's Gift Guide. The gift guide is filled with tons of great advertisements from local businesses offering you something special this Christmas.

We have the luxury (the way I see it anyway) of not having big box stores in our area. Meaning, when you shop local (as I hope you do), you are not getting a cookie cutter present that millions of other people will get under their tree this Christmas. Rather, you will be giving a unique, individualistic gift that they will remember much longer than the latest gadget that will be outdated next week.

We have some absolutely tremendous businesses in our area. As a community, we really value our small town atmosphere. To preserve what we have, we as a community must absolutely make a concerted effort to support our local businesses. I understand that everything on your loved one's wish list can not be purchased in our area, but if we try to maximize our spending here locally and minimize our trips to the big box stores, we will have a great small town atmosphere for years to come.

Thank you to all the Veterans who spent much of last week attending Veterans Day ceremonies. Every event I attended had at least four or five local Vets on hand. On a day that is supposed to honor these men and women, they spend three days rushing from one Veterans Day ceremony to the next.

I had the pleasure of attending a luncheon held for Veterans by the Taylors Falls Fire Department. There were about 30 Veterans that attended the meal, along with some of their spouses. What an amazing group of individuals. Each one had so many stories to tell and they all were the nicest people you would ever hope to meet. Again, if you are a Veteran, please accept my deepest thank you.

I hope you have bought your tickets to "Hello Dolly" already. The show makes its debut (tonight) November 17. The show tells the story of Dolly Gallagher Levi, a matchmaker who has been hired to arrange a marriage for the widowed half-millionaire Horace Vandergelder. Dolly, however, has other plans.

I won't give the plot away, but I can tell you the show is packed with fun and great singing and acting.

Make sure to bring the family for this wonderful show. Hello Dolly! will run November 17 through November 20. You can purchase your tickets at the Performing Arts Center ticket booth located on the south entrance of the Senior High, or online at www.chisagolakes.k12.mn.us.

Can you believe how quickly the Penn State scandal escalated? The type of alleged sexual abuse is nothing short of sick and evil. Some of the details that have come out about certain people knowing these acts were happening and not going to the police are unbelieveable.

What gives a man or a woman the right to forever ruin a child's life for their own short lived pleasure. Then to walk among us like you are doing God's work, well that just throws gas on the fire. This man, this scum, has forever altered these boys, their families, and their futures. What gives a person that right? Just writing about this, I feel sick to my stomach. I know we can never figure out what drives a person to act in such a despicable manner, but is the punishment for such an act ever equal to the pain it caused?

My buddy and I were talking about the scandal the other day. We were specifically talking about the assistant coach who saw the abuse taking place. The coach told his head coach who we later find out only went to his employer. My buddy said something that until I heard it, I hadn't really thought about it. He said "If I were the assistant coach and I witnessed the abuse, I would close the door and tell the abuser "Only one of us is coming out of here alive". I couldn't have put it better myself.

If you ever (and I pray to God you don't) witness abuse of a child, please do something. Call the athorities. Just don't sit idle while a child's life is being ruined.

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