Christmas Day

I have written about Christmas Eve when I grew up, and now I would like to share with you about Christmas Day. I never realized it back then, or really never understood, that what most families observed on Christmas Day was so different from how my family observed Christmas Day. You see, we didn’t wake up anticipating toys under the tree or anything else other than the fact that we would be going to my paternal grandmother’s apartment...

As is our custom, The Advocate-Messenger will not publish on Christmas Day so that our staff members can spend the holiday with their families. Thank you in advance for your understanding, and we wish a happy holiday season to all of our readers.

The Advocate-Messenger will close at 3:30 p.m. Thursday and be closed all Christmas day.

Ice from last week’s ice storm glistened on tree limbs on Hedges Station Road Monday morning. Despite an overnight snowfall, much of the ice and snow should melt today with forecast highs around 36 degrees. More winter weather is expected to give us a good chance of a white Christmas this weekend. Snow is forecast to begin falling late in the afternoon Christmas Eve and continue on Christmas Day.

Grace Baptist hosts Christmas events Grace Baptist Church, 5990 Lexington Road, is hosting Christmas Eve and Christmas day worship services. The Christmas Eve service will be at 5 p.m. Saturday and the Christmas day service will be at 10:45 a.m. Sunday. Ark of Mercy Christmas dinner Ark of Mercy Church of God will host its community-wide Christmas dinner at 12:30 p.m. Christmas Day at the church located at 240 Winn Ave. Christmas Eve service at Central Baptist There will be a Christmas Eve candlelight and Communion service Dec. 24 at 5 p.m. at Central Baptist Church.

MONDAY, DEC. 24 - Christmas Eve. - Emmanuel Episcopal Church, West Lexington Avenue, 5 p.m, Holy Eucharist; 10:30 p.m., special music; 11 p.m., Holy Eucharist. Open to the public. TUESDAY, DEC. 25 - Christmas Day! - Emmanuel Episcopal Church, West Lexington Avenue, 10 a.m., Holy Eucharist. Open to the public. MONDAY, JAN. 7 - The national commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, George J. Lisicki, will visit local VFW Post No. 2728, 116 Sterling St., at 1 p.m., Monday, Jan. 7. Clark County Judge-Executive Henry Branham and Winchester Mayor Ed Burtner are among the local dignitaries expected to attend.

Dec. 15, 1983 Joanna Atkinson of Winchester is among the Georgetown College students who will perform in Christmas at Georgetown College, a half-hour television special to run on Channel 27 at 4:30 p.m. Christmas Day. The George Rogers Clark High School Lady Cardinals are scheduled to play Bath County today at 6:30 p.m. at Letcher Norton Gym. The Lady Cards are looking for their first win of the seaon, a season that was disrupted when...

Lighthouse Baptist to host Christmas service On Sunday, Dec. 25, at 10 a.m., Lighthouse Baptist Church will celebrate the true meaning of Christmas. The church is located at 105 Shun Pike. St. Athanasius offers bread ministry St. Athanasius Orthodox Church at 926 S. Main St. in Nicholasville offers a bread ministry. The church distributes this bread, which has been donated by Panera Bread, every Sunday from 1-2 p.m. at the church's location. NUMC offers Manna Ministries A free meal is provided by Manna Ministries each Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The meal is a restaurant-quality meal served at 303 W. Maple St. in the community center of Nicholasville United Methodist Church.

'Tis the season after the season at many churches. In other words, Christmas Day has passed. Christmas carols have been sung. The nativity scene has been boxed up for next year. The Christmas pageant is on film or digital camera cards. The life of the church has gone back to "normal. " But the church calendars for more than a few denominations, including the Catholic and Episcopal churches, say that, even though Christmas Day has been celebrated, the Christmas season has just begun.

Everywhere we look we see the familiar Christmas catch phrases. "Peace on Earth," "Goodwill to Men," "Joy to the World. " What high hopes people have for celebrating a season filled with happiness and a sense of well being. Most families have plans to gather together for food, fellowship, and gift-giving. A few will tolerate the antics of the relative everyone hoped to avoid while others will look around the table and count the blessings of warm relationships. Yet for many people this will not be the case.

Well the last gift has been opened and the last hugs, goodbyes and thank yous have been given at our house and another Christmas has come to an end. It was a wonderful Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with family that we will always remember. We had no sooner finished opening the last gift than my grandson announced to his cousin, “It will be 365 days” until Christmas comes again. The child that announced this bit of information seemed to be upset by this news. The rest of us looked a little tired.

Church hosts 5K training course Lancaster Baptist will be hosting a “Run for God” course beginning on 9 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 5. The course will include a running plan that will help participants walk/run a 5K in 12 weeks and a weekly Bible study.  All are invited to participate.  Please call (859) 792-2781 with questions.     Holiday services and events scheduled Trinity Episcopal Church Christmas services -   5:30 p.m. Christmas Eve, Children's Pick-up Pageant and Holy Eucharist Rite II; 11 a.m. Christmas Eve, Holy Eucharist Rite II with special music.

A Christmas wish Dear Editor, If I¿could have any Christmas wish, it would be to celebrate without Santa Claus and the tree. I¿think we have idolized him too long. It raises the question, are we celebrating Christmas Day or Santa Claus Day? No doubt, leaving him out would cause an emotional meltdown among us, but I was taught that Christmas Day was for honoring the birth of Jesus. I wonder how many of us would like to share our birthday with someone in a red outfit called Santa.

I am actually looking forward to a new year and the wonderment of it all. I am glad I didn't know what last year held in store for me because I would have been wanting to hold on a little longer to the year. Six of my relatives passed away last year. That can reduce a family quickly.   For now, Christmas is over and the tree is taken down and every ornament tucked away, and so are the special memories for another year. It was a good one. Christmas Eve was a special brunch with Keith and Julie as our hosts.

What a difference a year makes.   This time last year, Clark County had already received multiple snowstorms that covered city and county roadways and caused Clark County Public Schools to cancel classes several times. While this has been the wettest year on record in central Kentucky, so far this winter temperatures have been much milder than last year and only a few snow flurries have been seen. That's a far cry from last year when the first snow storm hit Dec. 4, and by Christmas Day, five more measurable snowfalls had blanketed the county.

Grace Baptist hosts Christmas events Grace Baptist Church, 5990 Lexington Road, is hosting Christmas Eve and Christmas day worship services. The Christmas Eve service will be at 5 p.m. Saturday and the Christmas day service will be at 10:45 a.m. Sunday. Ark of Mercy Christmas dinner Ark of Mercy Church of God will host its community-wide Christmas dinner at 12:30 p.m. Christmas Day at the church located at 240 Winn Ave. Christmas Eve service at Central Baptist There will be a Christmas Eve candlelight and Communion service Dec. 24 at 5 p.m. at Central Baptist Church.

LEXINGTON - With all the hoopla that surrounds the Kentucky basketball program and the big future expectations many of the current Wildcats have, there's still no place quite like home for the players at Christmas. “I can't wait just to go home (to Indianapolis) and spent time with my family that I have not seen in a while, so that should be fun,” Kentucky guard Marquis Teague said before UK's Christmas break started after the Wildcats' win Thursday over Loyola (Md.). “I miss my family a lot.” Teague isn't the only one. “We all talk about going home and seeing our families a lot. We don't get to see them much, so the time we do get to spend with them we are going to enjoy it. At the end of the day, we are kids that want to see our mothers and fathers on Christmas just like everybody else does.” Guard Jarrod Polson had a short commute home to Wilmore in Jessamine County for the holidays.

The Boyle County Farmers' Market Vendors wish everyone a wonderful Christmas holiday. If you are interested in becoming a member of our market for 2012, contact Gary Taylor at (859) 332-2539. The Boyle County Farmers Market is located at Boyle County Fairgrounds. The market manager is Gary Taylor of Knobview Farms. FROM THE FARM: We have been preparing the farm for the winter months. The gardens are cleared and ready for a well-deserved rest. General clean-up and reorganizing is underway.

Lighthouse Baptist to host Christmas service On Sunday, Dec. 25, at 10 a.m., Lighthouse Baptist Church will celebrate the true meaning of Christmas. The church is located at 105 Shun Pike. St. Athanasius offers bread ministry St. Athanasius Orthodox Church at 926 S. Main St. in Nicholasville offers a bread ministry. The church distributes this bread, which has been donated by Panera Bread, every Sunday from 1-2 p.m. at the church's location. NUMC offers Manna Ministries A free meal is provided by Manna Ministries each Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The meal is a restaurant-quality meal served at 303 W. Maple St. in the community center of Nicholasville United Methodist Church.