Wednesday, December 21, 2016

December 19, 2016
Ridge Spring News
Harriet Householder
Merry Christmas to all.  May the  spirit of Christmas continue throughout the year for there is kindness, forgiveness, and charity in the air during this season. 
Leonard Bell: I gave his wrong phone number last week so here is the correct one and he can be reached if you want to order collards or other winter greens for New Year's Eve. That number is 803.646.2169. 
The Artist Guild of Ridge Spring meets the first Thursday of the month at 6:30.  All are welcome to come. The Art Center is having a before Christmas sale with many artist reducing their prices before closing after Christmas.  The Art Center will reopen in March. We will continue to have classes throughout the year. Thank you for your support.
American Legion Post 133 and the Ladies’ Auxiliary held its annual Christmas dinner on December 6th. Recently re-elected Sheriff John Perry spoke to the group about law enforcement in the County and the Sheriff Department’s efforts to provide safety and security to and for the citizens.
Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church will have its’ annual Christmas Eve Candlelight Service, with Holy Communion on December 24 at 7:00 pm.. We will also have our regular Sunday morning service at 11:00 am December 25.
Off the Beaten Path can help you with your last minute shopping needs. Let us help you with a present for that hard to buy person. We will be open Monday and Tuesday 11-3, Closed Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 10-5. Saturday, Christmas Eve, we will be closing at 2PM.
The Gables Inn & Gardens had a great time celebrating Santa pictures and our Dickens Christmas this past week. Huge thanks to our Mayor Larry Lang for bringing his lamb, baby goats, and miniature donkey for us to enjoy. You really need to check out his honey, sausage and eggs!! Brittany Anna Photography created an amazing Santa workshop for our Santa pictures. We had the most adorable children come to visit Santa and get their pictures taken. Check out the sneak preview on our facebook page.
From the Mayor's Desk: Town Hall will be opened Monday at 906 West Main Street. Thank you for your patience as we found our new home.
RIDGE SPRING UNITED METHODIST CHURCH: This Christmas Ridge Spring United Methodist Church, RSUMC, once again participated in the Palmetto Project’s Families Helping Families program. We asked for and received a family from our zip code as well as another family in need. This is the only assistance for Christmas these families receive. We purchased gifts for two single parents and 3 children. AND had much fun and joy doing so! The gifts were delivered on Friday December 9th by two RSUMC elves. If you would like more information about this program visit the Palmetto Project web site of contact a church member.
RSUMC will not have Church Service on December 25, 2016. RSUMC wants to thank the Community for all its support of the Church outreach projects and wishes everyone a Merry Christmas and a safe and blessed New Year!
The US Post Office has the new hours of Monday through Friday 7:30 AM until 11:30 AM and Saturday from 9:00 AM until 10:00 AM.
Juniper Restaurant said that Santa was good to them and they will be closed from December 21 through December 28.  Happy Holidays to all.
The new electronic sign for the Town or Ridge Spring will post any event including Church and Christmas programs and Cantatas.  You can also advertise your business for a small fee
The RSM Young Famers have the Ridge Community Calendars in and they available for purchase.  These calendars are $5.00 each.  Please contact the following if you are interested Mary McKay at 803.627.6289 or Heike Scott at 803.646.3193.  This is a fund raiser for the RSM Young Farmers.
The Christmas Eve service at Spann United Methodist Church in Ward will be held at 6:00 with songs of the season and a Christmas meditation by Rev. Miriam Hadden.  Children who arrive prior to 6:00 will be able to help decorate a Christmas tree. Christmas Day worship service will be held at 9:45.  All are welcome.
Shelby Yonce: Another wonderful Tour of Homes event occurred and it was a success. A big thank you goes to the homeowners for showing their 100 plus year old homes. Reviews have been "these homes were so warm and inviting, I didn't want to leave".
Harriet’s Garden will be taking the winter off and reopen in March.  The shop still has a phone and thanks to Comporium the shop has call forwarding to my cell phone. Stop by if you see the car.
Rene Miller, RSM Elementary School
Holiday Wishes: On behalf of our entire staff, we want to wish you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  We hope that you will enjoy this time to spend together with family and friends.  We are grateful for all of our students and families here at RSM Elementary School .  Each student is a gift to us!  Thank you for sharing your child with us as it is an honor to be able to serve him/her.  May you all be blessed with love, peace, and joy during this holiday season.  We look forward to seeing you students back on January 3, 2017.
Congratulations! Congratulations to our 5th grade Spelling Bee winner.  Our first and second place winners will be participating in the Group Spelling Bee at Aiken Middle School on January 11.  First place was Zacharea Cannon, second place was Cody Davenport and third place was Johnathan Storey.
Josie Rodgers
Leagrace’s 7thbirthday was Dec. 16, and we all reminisced about our wonderful memories and all that the Princess taught us.  This was her 2nd birthday in Heaven and her first with her Papa celebrating with her!  I can only imagine what a merry party they had, complete with my sister, my own Papa, Dani Yonce, and other very special people who have gone home before us.  Though our hearts still ache every single day without them, we know that they are having the most wonderful time, just waiting for us all to join them in Heavenly splendor!  What a day that will be!  For we are people of hope.  We are people of faith.  We are people of love.  We are the children of the one true King!
Merry Christmas to you all!  Thank you for being a part of my connections with our local communities!  Without your help and encouragement, my column would be a bore.  I am so grateful to have the opportunity to share our communities’ events and successes, especially those of our children.  Keep that information coming and we’ll be able to let everyone know what is so special about our little corner of the world!
RSM High:  The Beta Club collected toys for the Shriners Hospital and will have them delivered before Christmas!  How wonderful that our kids share with those in need!
There are some exciting things happening on the Ridge in Monetta!  The new high school will be built and in operation in the next two years!  All high schools in Aiken county will have a designated theme related to the programs and certifications they offer.  Ours will be a Farm to Table theme as we promote agriculture, business and entrepreneurship, and health occupations, as well as a military aspect with JROTC.  More surprises to come that will make our community proud!
Review from David Marshall James:  “Christmas Mourning” by Margaret Maron
   From first chapter to last, Margaret Maron's sixteenth Judge Deborah Knott novel exhibits a masterful integration of her large cast of characters with a mystery grounded in the past of many residents of not-so-rural-anymore (and fictitious) Colleton County, North Carolina, about twenty-five miles southeast of Raleigh.
   Moreover, the story opens one week before Christmas, with festivities woven merrily into the plot, marred by the death of a popular high-school senior, who flips her car on a straight road en route home from a party.
   Then, another high-school student-- not as popular, with a far-from-sterling reputation-- is discovered shot dead alongside his older, also ne'er-do-well, brother.
   Because both students were classmates of a myriad of Deborah's nieces and nephews (after all, she has eleven older brothers), and because Deborah and husband Dwight well recall the deceased girl's parents from their own high-school days, personal histories crisscross with the recent tragedies in both fresh and memory-fraught fashions.
   While Deborah contends with her usually overloaded (now that there's a not-so-efficient district attorney) docket of district-court cases, Chief Deputy Dwight and other officers at the sheriff's department investigate the untimely deaths.
   Regular readers of this series will recall that Deborah's and Dwight's first wedding anniversary falls right in the middle of everything. Now, it’s bad enough to have an "anywhere near Christmas" birthday, but a wedding? June is admittedly too hot, but there are other months.
   Maron's mystery storyline remains deceptively simple, with artfully placed clues and a somewhat surprising (although completely logical) solution.
   The seasonal rituals for the Knott (and Dwight's) family color the characters' relationships more deeply while gently prodding the action.
   Mr. Kezzie's (Deborah's father's) story about the mule and the tangerines stops the show. He swears up and down that he has foregone moonshining, but there always seems to be yet another quart of peach brandy to season Aunt Zell's fruitcakes (heavy on the nuts, light on the candied fruit). Call him "Kezzie-wig."
   Maron's thoroughly entrenched Southern settings further enhance one of the best Deborah Knott novels in recent years-- a praiseworthy mystery in every department.

REMINDERS
Ridge Spring Library hours: Mon/Tues 8:30 am - 12 pm; Wed., 8:30 – 4:30; Thurs 8:30 am - 12:30 pm; Fri 8:30 pm -4:30 pm
Ridge Spring Post Office hours:  Mon-Fri. 7:30 am – 11:30 am; Sat 9 – 10 am
Saluda County Library Hours:  Mon/Wed 8:30 am-5 pm; Tues/Thurs 8:30 am – 6 pm; Fri 8:30 am – 5 pm; Sat closed
Recycling Center Hours: Mon/Wed/Fri 1-7; Sat 7-7; Sun 3-7; Tues/Thurs closed
Every Friday & Saturday:  AARS hours 10 – 4 or by appt, free admission

Every first Tuesday of the Month:  AARS meets at 6:30, 685-5783

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