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Christmas is upon us.  I hope you have made all of the necessary purchases to brighten everyone’s faces on Sunday.  
Christmas is a time for presents, family and fun.  Christmas is also and should be first and foremost about the birth of Jesus.  If it weren’t for the birth of Jesus, this holiday wouldn’t exist. For believers, it may be the single most important day to celebrate (with Easter being 1A).  Jesus is so important to so many, including myself.  If you are a non-believer you are probably a little put-off by Christmas.  But for the rest of us, it is one of the most wonderful times of the year!

If you have thought about advertising with the County Press and thought to yourself that we are a one dimensional print only company, let me dispel that. We offer a website that is quickly approaching 1.8 million pageviews for the year and a Facebook page that is very popular.  How popular? We had a reader and a friend of the Press call us Tuesday afternoon. He told us that he had lost his dog Monday morning and was inquiring about a “Lost Dog” ad. We decided that we would run the ad and also post on our Facebook.  The Facebook post wasn’t up for more than six minutes before we got a call and the dog was located.  How is that for reaching the public?

If you are like us and have a fridge/freezer in your garage, I feel your pain.  When we built our house we had to have one of those fancy side by side refrigerators.  I think we were in the house for two weeks before we realized how the freezer in a side by side is terribly shaped.  Soon, we were asking friends if they had a spare fridge.  It works great for holding milk, leftovers and an occasional beer (or two).  The freezer is square so it can actually hold a pizza or two.  Then came our first winter.  The pizzas were doughy, the ice wasn't frozen and everything was ruined.  After five years of no garage freezer during the winter months, I have finally figured it out.  I put a desk lamp (small) with a 15 watt bulb inside the fridge and keep it on.  The light tells the thermostat it needs to cool the appliance and thus the freezer and the fridge work great.  I calculated the cost of a 15 watt bulb and it is nominal.  So there is my DIY tip to you.

Speaking of Christmas, this is the last call for the annual Christmas Meal held at United Methodist Church, Lindstrom.  The meal is FREE and you are invited to come enjoy some good food with some absolutely wonderful people.  They do ask that you please call 651-257-4306 to reserve a space. But if it just so happens that you end up alone on Christmas Day unexpectedly, they encourage you to stop by, you will not be turned away.  The meal runs from noon until 1:15 p.m.  The church is located on 30828 Irene Avenue. just past the middle school football field/tennis court.

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