Manilla, Iowa Times Thursday, December 20, 2018 Page 2

-- OPINION -- OPINION -- OPINION -- OPINION -- OPINION -- OPINION -- OPINION -- OPINION --

Manilla Congregate

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Going on Vacation??? Bring your

Manilla Times with you and send a picture to be put in the

paper.

This and ThatBy Janine L. Kock, Times Editor and Publisher

The Manilla Times, LLCOfficial Newspaper of

Crawford County, City of ManillaIKM-Manning Community Schools

Janine L. Kock, Editor and PublisherJoleen Sievertsen, Office Manager

manillatimes@fmctc.comVicky Cadwell, Advertising Sales

kayrmanillatimes@fmctc.comAllaetra Stoeckel, Graphic Design

manillatimesads@fmctc.comTiffany Johnson, Reporter

tlo7227@gmail.comPhone ~ 712-654-2911 Fax ~ 712-654-2910

Published weekly by The Manilla Times, LLC, 448 Main St., Manilla, Iowa, and entered as periodicals postage paid at Manilla, IA 51454. USPS #327-860.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Manilla Times, P.O. Box 365, Manilla, IA 51454.

Terms of subscriptions: $35 in Crawford, Carroll, Audubon, and Shelby Counties. Within Iowa, outside the four-county area - $40 per year; Out of state - $45 per year.

Deadlines for legal notices and ads are noon Monday. The Rocket deadline is noon on Friday.

New address for Sandy Hanson

Heritage HouseMemory Care Unit Room #2101200 Brookridge CircleAtlantic, IA 50022

Monday, Dec. 24 – Closed Tuesday – Closed Wednesday – Lasagna, Mixed Green Salad, Garlic Bread, Ba-nanas & Oranges, Grape Juice Thursday – Ham & Bean Soup, Corn Bread, Strawberries & Ba-nanas, OJ Friday – Autumn Chicken, Creamed Asparagus, Brown Rice, Plums, Chocolate Pudding

Phone 655-3417. Eligible persons (diners age 60 & over and their spouses) may contribute whatever they wish to the Senior Nutrition Program for the meal. Persons under age 60 must pay the To-tal Cost to the Site Manager. Must certify that you are 60 years of age or older, yearly income is less than $15,892 (if single), yearly income is less than $21,497 (for married couple).

Menus subject to change due to the rising cost of food.

Still Aiming for Peace on Earth(Based on an Observer editorial from December, 2015)

The holiday season is supposed to bring to mind Christmas card-like scenes of a baby resting in a manger, surrounded by his parents and a variety of barnyard animals standing quietly nearby. Or, how about a se-rene snow falling to the already white ground, illuminated by the moon and stars and beautifully covering the nearby evergreens? Or, feelings of tranquility and contentment, good will toward others and the knowledge that Jesus is, indeed, the reason for every season.

With those visions in our heads, we hum a Christmas carol or a clas-sic song like “Peace on Earth.” The commercialization of the holidays and the stress it brings to many is put to rest as the true enjoyment of spending time with friends and family dominates our thoughts.

Instead, this December, many people’s minds are filled with uneasi-ness and even fear. We live in a society where virtually each week’s news is highlighted by another mass shooting somewhere in our country. Political views deeply divide not only our representatives in Washington but our neighborhoods and even families. Instead of working side-by-side for the betterment of our country, political rhetoric fuels feelings bordering on hatred. War is still common around the world; refugees leave their homes as they search for safety and a better life, willing to walk thousands of miles as they dream of opportunities not available in the land from which they have come. The opportunity they seek stands on the other side of a border over which crossing seems impossible.

While it seems as if acts like these are out of our control and there is no hope of restoring peace to our world, the lyrics to the song “Peace on Earth” are ones which truly would make a difference if they were taken to heart. Yes, peace on Earth was meant to be, and each one of us should do what we can to have peace begin with us.

We truly do need to live each moment in peace. “With God as our Father, Brothers all are we. Let me walk with my brother in perfect harmony.” That means no gossiping, no “cattiness” toward others, no arguing. Give the people around you the benefit of the doubt. Sometimes we simply have to “agree to disagree.” If we approach every situation with an attitude of peace and harmony, that attitude will spread to those around us as well. Instead of being the first to condemn others around us for what they are trying to accomplish, be the first to step in and ask what we can do to help.

There is no better time than the Christmas season to turn over a new leaf, and I’m a firm believer that a big part of that new attitude is wor-ship attendance. While I know the saying “Attending church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car,” it certainly doesn’t do any harm either. That one hour per week of worship, prayer and reading the Bible might just be an hour that spreads throughout the rest of the week. And, if you don’t take the step to be-come active in a church, you can still start a new regimen of reading the Bible and praying.

Bryan Golden, author of “Dare to Live Without Limits,” distributed an editorial piece entitled “True Holiday Spirit.” In it he stated, “Those who are concerned for the wellbeing of others are happier, more content, and more satisfied. By giving without expecting, they in turn receive the things they need.”

He continues, “If you don’t treat others well, buying a gift won’t compensate for your behavior. The recipient might like what you give them, but it won’t make up for your actions. You can’t bribe someone to forgive the way you treat them with a present. The best gift you can give is the joy of making someone else happy. Being unselfish is a wonderful way to live. When you give with no ulterior motives, your actions are seen as genuine.”

Despite the bad things that we see happening on the world news vir-tually every day and despite the bad things that may have happened in our own lives this year, may this Christmas season and the new year of 2019 be times of peace and may we spread that peace to those around us.

*****Each year, our contest award letter from the Iowa Newspaper Foun-dation is like an early Christmas present. It is always fun to see what the judges thought of our work from the past year, but the competition is always tough so there are no guarantees to receive a gift at all.

This year, however, we received a letter last week saying we had won an award in Class 1 Weeklies for “Best Newspaper Marketing” for our annual school subscription campaign, recognition that the judges thought the campaign was a good idea and promoted well.

That is great news, and we are glad others think the campaign is as good of an idea as we do! We enjoy making cash contributions to the school, and it’s fun to see the kids competing in the sales contest. Some of the kids and their families have done such a great job -- not hesitating to ask friends and relatives to subscribe, and we are thankful for the new subscriptions the campaign this year has brought in! Welcome!

Watch next week’s Times for photos of this year’s check presentation to the IKM-Manning Middle School Student Council and the gift certifi-cate presentation to the top three salespeople for this year.

*****“Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold,everything is softer and more beautiful.” ~ ~ Norman Vincent Peale

*****

Crawford County Farm Bureau honored for excellence

Connie Riesselman was presented Crawford’s Farm Bureau County Recognition Award at the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation (IFBF) Annual Meeting in Des Moines Dec. 3-5. IFBF President Craig Hill, right, made the presentation to Connie Riesselman, President of Crawford County Farm Bureau. Crawford County Farm Bureau received an outstanding designation for its 2018 programs which help further the story of agriculture to new audiences through many areas including policy development, policy implementation, communications, and strengthening the county Farm Bureau.

December 4, 2018

The Board of Supervisors met at 9:00 o’clock a.m. with Eric Skoog, Chairman pre-siding. All members were present.

Minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved.

No motion was made at this time on the purchase of a CAT 323 Excavator, CAT 140M3 AWD Motor Grader and Trail King Lowboy Trailer.

The Board met with Wendy Mueller, In-terim Director and Keith Bruck, Deputy Di-rector of West Central Community Action to receive their funding request of $3500 for FY 2019-20.

The Board discussed the Crawford County Communications (LMR) Bi-Laws.

On motion, duly seconded, the Board adjourned at 11:58 o’clock a.m.

Agendas for the next meeting are posted and available at the Courthouse on Friday at 4:30 o’clock p.m. preceding the next meet-ing. Published in The Manilla Times Thurs-day, December 20, 2018.

Board of Supervisors meet

December 4, 2018

Manilla Public Library Christmas Eve schedule

The Manilla Public Library will be open Monday, Dec. 24 from 9:30 – 10:30 a.m. The library will be closed the remainder of the day.

And get up to $100 in Special Extras