Zac Taylor

This is the final paper before the Christmas holiday, so naturally this is the one to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! 

This year we are skipping what would be a Christmas Day edition and a New Year's Day edition as a way to give our staff more time with their families for the holidays. 

Hopefully everyone is having a great Christmas season as we transition from the general community events, such as the Lighted Parade and Christmas concerts, to the more personal and religious observances of the holiday. 

I know I’ve personally enjoyed being at a number of events, from the Lighted Parade to the lighting of the Northwest College tree, as well as some of the school Christmas concerts. Some are bittersweet — we watched our younger son's last Parkside Elementary School Christmas concert — but all have helped to grow the spirit of the season within. 

Even just walking through downtown right now can’t help but bring a smile to your face. All of the twinkling lights on the lampposts, the decorated shops — shoutout to the Suite Life’s wonderful window art — and Christmas music coming from a speaker near the post office. 

It’s nice to live in a place where these are some of the most prominent displays of Christmas around, much more local and community oriented, as opposed to big and commercial. 

I’m always amazed at how well the Parkside Elementary School choir can absolutely pack the high school auditorium, even though the school has only around 200 students — it’s not just parents attending, but extended families and more. 

At all of these events you can feel the Christmas spirit. 

As the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Third Ward Bishop Waleryan Wisnewski said in our Perspectives column for last week, it seems people are more likely to lend a helping hand this time of the year, and that again I have seen. I know all three elementary schools have had events to help others. Southside and Westside participated in a food drive for Loaves and Fishes food pantry, and Parkside participated in a program to provide Christmas gifts to families. 

I know the high school wrestling team continued once again its Wrestler’s Christmas event to shop for families in need, and Shop with a Cop last week paired area law enforcement with kids for a fun shopping excursion for Christmas. 

And few experiences are more moving than seeing people take time out of their Saturday to lay wreaths on the graves of veterans at Crown Hill Cemetery. 

Hopefully you have experienced at least some of the joy this season, and, again, have a Merry Christmas.