Alhambra, Grantfork & New Douglas news for the week of Dec. 14

Grantfork Elementary

Christmas parties

Classroom Christmas parties will be held on Wednesday, Dec. 21.

School will be dismissed at 2:40 p.m. to start the Christmas break and resume on Jan. 4, 2017.

After break

The Annual Spelling Bee will be held on Jan. 6 for those wishing to participate. Parents are welcome to come watch, but are asked not to bring smaller children as it distracts the students participating.

When school is called off due to inclement weather, parents will be notified by phone or e-mail. It is VERY important that the school have updated phone numbers.

Students will be skating during P.E. classes from Jan. 23 -Feb.3.

Grantfork UCC

Holiday Schedule

Grantfork United Church of Christ, 206 S. Locust St., has the following holiday schedule:

Christmas Eve communion/candlelight service, Saturday, Dec. 24 at 5:30 p.m.

Christmas service of lessons and carols, Sunday, Dec. 25 at 9 a.m.

New Year’s morning communion service, Sunday, Jan. 1 at 10:15 a.m.

St. Gertrude Catholic Church

Christmas Mass schedule for St. Gertrude will be at 7 p.m. on Dec. 24 and at 8 a.m. on Dec. 25.

St. Gertrudes welcomes newest member by Rite of Baptism, Leann Rae Skogley. She is the daughter of Kurtis and Lindsey (Leitschuh) Skogley. Leann was baptized on Sunday, Dec. 18. Her God-parents are Kara Schulte and Tim Poletti.

On days when school is called off due to bad weather, there will be no 8 a.m. Mass that morning. Mass will be held at noon on these days.

Alhambra Primary

School will be dismissed at 2:40 on Wednesday, Dec. 21. School will resume on Wednesday, Jan. 4.

The next PTO meeting will be held at Alhambra Primary at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 12.

Children are encouraged to write a story for the Young Authors Program during the Christmas break. Stories need to be turned in by Jan. 6, 2017.

Alhambra Care Center

Elvis was in the building last week singing and shaking everyone into the holiday spirit. A special performance in memory of Bob Frey, who passed away recently and was a huge Elvis fan. Bob’s mother, Jessie Frey, is a resident at Alhambra Care, and she and her daughter, Gloria, made this special performance possible as a gift for everyone.

This week was the family Christmas dinner and the visit with Santa as he handed out gifts to all the residents.

Christmas Trees

Alhambra residents may take their Christmas trees to the village shed at 421 Elm St. for disposal by the village.

Residents’ Phone Numbers

The Alhambra village clerk is asking all residents to see that the village office has a current phone number for each household. In the event of a water or gas leak, it may be necessary to contact someone immediately. Phone numbers will not be shared with anyone and will be used only to contact you if necessary.

Special Occasions

Anniversaries

Happy anniversary on Dec. 22, Kendal and Kathy Brink and on Dec. 23, Kimery and Dawn Vories

Birthdays

Happy birthday everyone! Dec. 21, Keith Mullen, Linda Sidwell, Carol Lacey; Dec.

22, Kaleb Brink; Dec. 23,Joan Henschen, Bud Payne, Destiny Adolph and Bruce Henschen; Dec. 24, Melissa Snider and Talia Rex; Dec. 25, Ron Hunsche, Tim Gehrig, Sandy Eaves and Cassidy Eyman; Dec. 26, Cindy Henschen and Jack Landolt; Dec. 27, Mackenzie Landmann, Marilyn Korsemeyer, Paige Basler and James Sumner; Dec. 28, Lorie Kaufman-Maguire and Nick Landolt.

House Numbers

Since the ladder is out and the lights are being put up, check on your house numbers. Are they visible from the street? Do they need to be replaced? Emergency vehicle need to be able to see the numbers from the street at night, when snowing or raining. Make sure they are not too small or faded.

Salem United Church of Christ Has LiveStream

Services at Salem United Church of Christ in Alhambra may be watched live or watch a taped segment from a computer.In order to take advantage of this service follow the directions:

Go to Livestream.com (it’s free)

Click on “Watch”

In the search box (top left), type “Salem UCC”.

Click on the black-and-white picture of the church, and you will either see the live broadcast of the worship service or you can look for past services.

Salem UCC

Salem United Church of Christ, 1117 W. North St. in Alhambra, has the following holiday schedule:

On Christmas Eve, Saturday, Dec. 24, 7 the Salem Children’s Christmas Program will be at 7 p.m., followed by worship with communion at 9 p.m., and a candlelight service with communion at 11 p.m.

On Christmas Day, Sunday, Dec. 25, there will be worship with communion at 9 a.m.

Rec Plex seeks piano teacher

A piano teacher is being sought by the New Douglas Township Rec Plex. The facility now has a piano and is looking for someone to teach piano lessons. If you are interested in teaching, or know someone who would be interested in coming to New Douglas regularly to teach piano, call Peggy at (217) 456-6132 or send a message to the Rec Plex Facebook page.

Family movie night planned

Bernie, the St. Bernard, is sponsoring the next Family Movie Night in the gymnasium at the Rec Plex, 310 Main St. in New Douglas, starting at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 29. The movie “Beethoven” will be shown, and Bernie will be in attendance for petting.

New speakers have been donated by a local family, so the movie will be well heard. Children 12 and under must be accompanied by an adult (at least 18 years of age), who will be responsible for the participant children and stay for the entire movie performance.

Popcorn will be available for a small donation.

This story was originally published December 22, 2016 at 12:16 PM with the headline "Alhambra, Grantfork & New Douglas news for the week of Dec. 14."