Toys

Shannon Morton was happy from the moment she got out of the car. The van door slid open and the 3-year-old was waving at people she didn't know as she walked into Kmart early Sunday morning. She knew Christmas was inside. Among the toy shelves, she found her favorite present: a doll half her size whose arms moved. "It works!" she exclaimed, before picking it up and proudly carrying it through the store. Her helpers followed behind with the buggy full of clothes and the rest of her presents from Shop with a Cop. For the 16th year, members of Winchester-Clark County Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 34 and other community volunteers closed their year with an early morning shopping trip to help children have a better Christmas.

Like many kinds of businesses, a veterinary clinic has slow times and busy times. The old saying is that everything comes in threes. We will go for weeks or months without seeing certain problems or illnesses and then all of a sudden three cases will show up in one week. This past week was one of those times when gastrointestinal foreign bodies came in three. The statistics about pets swallowing foreign objects may shock you. Approximately 95 percent of all foreign objects swallowed by pets will pass without causing any problems.

Local people in and around Boyle County are helping a Livingston family after its home caught fire Christmas Eve.  About 9 a.m. Tuesday, Neal James of Stanford, Turtleman's sidekick on the “Call of the Wildman” show on the Animal Planet channel, sent out a request on Twitter and Facebook for ideas on where to get toys on Christmas day.  Amy Cromer and her three children lost everything in the fire at their house, including their Christmas...

In September 1987, Ronald Reagan was president of the United States and the No. 1 pop song was the late Whitney Houston's “Didn't We Almost Have It All.” Also in September 1987, Jessamine County's Clay Miller answered a newspaper ad to purchase a crab-eating macaque - Gizmo - for his future wife, April Truitt. That purchase and the subsequent research that followed gave birth to the Jessamine County-based Primate Rescue Center. PRC sits on 35 acres of land near Wilmore.

Toys for Tots poker run set PERRYVILLE - American Legion Post 301 will sponsor a Toys for Tots poker run Saturday. Anyone who wants to make a tax-deductible donation should make the check payable to the American Legion. People will be at the Legion Hall on West Second Street (U.S. 150) from 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. to accept donations. At 5 p.m., a meal consisting of hamburger, cole slaw, potato salad and drink will be served. The cost is $5 per person, and the event is open to the public.

Toys needed for Christmas CRAB ORCHARD - The City of Crab Orchard is seeking donations of new or like-new toys to fill Santa's sack for Christmas at City Hall. Donations may be dropped off at City Hall 9 a.m.-3 p.m. weekdays. CitiFinancial is accepting new, unwrapped toys during its Customer Appreciation Days, Thursday through Nov. 30 for donation to the Boyle County Fire Department for Toys for Tots. Refreshments will be served and prizes given away. Dollar General Store on Perryville Road will have a Family and Friend Night 8-11 p.m. Friday.

Members of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Winchester are spreading joy for patients at the University of Kentucky Children's Hospital. The church is collecting toys, books and other gifts for the hospital's Jarrett's Joy Cart program, which distributes the donated gifts to young patients. "We chose Jarrett's Joy Cart as our mission project for VBS because of Holden Bishop and Laura Griffith, who have both spent time in UK Children's Hospital and received toys from the Joy Cart," Lora Birkes, a church member, explained.

Perryville Church of God - Beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday, the church will give away clothing, toys, household and miscellaneous items as part of the church's Community Outreach Project. The church is at 207 Lyons Avenue, Perryville.

Steve Amsler may be a grownup, but he never stopped loving toys. Most of the toys that decorate the living room of his Garrard County home probably would have appeared in Santa's pack more than 40 years ago. Board games, such as carrom from the late 1930s, Hopalong Cassidy from the 1950s, a golf game from the 1940s and Lost in Space from the 1960s, are displayed above the mantel reaching to the vaulted ceiling of the living room. Two ladder firetrucks sit end to end on the mantel.

Some people think the best way to save money is to use a coupon and buy something at a discount. But sometimes the most frugal option is to not spend money at all and just repurpose something you already have. The second of the three R's (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) is one of my favorites! What's your favorite way to reuse common household items?  Common items repurposed for a new use: Dental floss: I was reminded last week that dental floss is a great help when cutting cake.