The Chatter Box
By Deborah Bennett

As the holiday season gets underway, I sometimes find myself running around in circles trying to get things done. All of this “fuss” tends to make what should be a very special holiday stressful. Amid all the activity it is very easy to lose sight of the reason we celebrate Christmas and become caught up in the commercialization of the holiday.

I think it is about time we said, “Enough!” and got back to the basics.

This year I am going to spend more time celebrating the real meaning of Christmas and less time on shopping, cooking and running around in circles. While I enjoy shopping, cooking and giving gifts, I am going to put the focus of the holiday where it should be, on the birth of the Savior in a manger, and not on a gift in a box.

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Happy birthday this week to: Ashton Sherrod, Jean Skinner, Aralyn Coker, Dallas Suggs, Dean Bassett, Lourenden Baldwin, Tabitha Baldwin, Willie Baldwin Sr., Wesley Baldwin, Keyiyah Ricketts, Segena Mackeroy, Dodi Young, Race Weathersby, Dana Edenfield, Janie Pennington, Ed Davis and Richard McNeely.

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Celebrating wedding anniversaries this week are: Mr. and Mrs. F.A. Black, and Mr. and Mrs. Ed Davis.

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Military Active Duty List: Capt. Donald Slade Burke, Travis Air Force Base, Fairfield, Calif.; SPC Grade E4 Arthur Lamont Milton Jr., HHC 1-36 Infantry Support, Friedberg, Germany; Staff Sgt. Gilbert C. Sheppard III, 48th Brigade, 118th Field Artillery, Ft. Stewart; Petty Officer 2nd Class Jamie A. Yager, U.S. Navy, Maryland; Petty Chief Officer Andy D. Crosby, U.S. Navy, Elroy Destroyer, Norfolk, Va.; Stephanie Crosby, R.N., U.S. Navy, Lafayette Destroyer; LCPL Dwain “Cade” Lee, 1st Marine Division Combat Service Support Group II Security Element, ArRamadi, Iraq; Jimmy Cooper, U.S. Army National Guard, 878th Engineering Battalion-Augusta, Persian Gulf ; 1st Lt. J.R. Taylor, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Iraq; SPC. Daniel Stuart, 18th MEDCOM, 121 General Hospital, Seoul, Korea; SFC Floyd Bolton Jr., 7th Battalion, 159th Aviation Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, Ft. Campbell, Kentucky; SFC Maria Bolton, 61st Medical Detachment, 21st Combat Support Hospital, 4th Medical Brigade, Ft. Campbell, Kentucky; Capt. Andrew P. Thomas, U.S. Marines, 2nd Marine Division, F.A.S.T. Company, Yorktown, VA; Sgt. 1st Class Steven Yager, 362nd Sig. Company, Korea; MM3 Jeffrey Sweat, U.S. Navy, USS Kauffman, MM3 59/E-Division, A-Gang, Norfolk, Va.;

Cpl. Larry Lamont Clark, U.S. Marine Corp, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C. Bagdad, Iraq; Khan Young, U.S. Navy, U.S.S. Kitty Hawk, Persian Gulf; Robert Milton Jr., E-3, U.S. Army, Ft. Stewart, Hinesville, Ga., Mission Kuwait; SFC Ronnie Perryman, E-7, Georgia Army National Guard, Battery A, 118th Field Artillery Regiment, 48th Brigade Combat Team; Arnold R. Mosley, 2nd Lt., U.S. Air Force, Randolph AFB, Texas; and Debra A. Mosley, Tech. Sgt., U.S. Air Force, Randolph AFB, Texas.