It will be next year before you know it! We have stories, and the faces that go with them, just waiting for 2022 and our Jan. 7 edition of the Empire-Advance. So, if you expected to see something this week but it’s not included in the Dec. 24 paper, it’s probably in the queue for January.
But let’s not look too far ahead just yet. It’s important that We Wish You a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Will it be happy? There’s some wisdom shared at the bottom of this column that can help with that.
We enjoy our partnership with you our readers, contributors and advertisers to create the Empire-Advance each week.
More than ever, the Empire-Advance takes in a wide swath of community interests surrounding the Virden area.
We thank our freelance reporter, Lindsay White, for keeping us centered as he provides Virden council reports and the highlights of town news. Ed James, a self-described story teller, continues to keep an eye on Elkhorn. Diane Winters from Melita has taken on the southern route, capturing photos and stories of the Reston area.
Sports writer Robin Wark, weathering weird wet weather from his island location in Sooke, B.C. as he continues to track our athletes.
Your Community columnists – thank you for your work. We’ve enjoyed a reports and photos from Virden Collegiate student, Hope Mathison-Lindsey. We expect to carry more student news in 2022.
We appreciate the news tips and the submissions sent to us. Some do not get to print, but we try.
Now, however, it’s time for a Holiday break - a week off. Your next paper comes out on Jan. 7.
My personal Christmas plans include most of the things on our recent poll. Additionally, travel. Yes, to Scotland. Does it matter that it will be a virtual tour in keeping with events like the CP Holiday Train that virtually ran through Virden on Dec. 18, and the Western Manitoba Youth Choir that entertained on Rosser Avenue, on the back streets of Brandon, the north hills and in Virden as well?
So, I won’t be taking plane, train or automobile but, like many of you, I will tune in to a Netflix production or two.
A Castle for Christmas beckons me abroad. Why that one? Well, for a dose of fear, anguish and horror, there’s the news. But A Castle for Christmas, has plaid, horses and mysterious large ancient buildings. The romance and heartbreak are the flour in the recipe – necessary glue.
I rarely take time to watch movies, but Christmas is different.
This week, it’s off to Cape Cod where Noëlle (2007 drama directed and starring David Wall) is our night’s entertainment. This movie was a rather odd find because it seems underproduced – stark – but quirky as can be. And oddly, Noelle holds a parallel for the readers’ theatre mini pageant that I intend to direct and star in tonight, Christmas eve.
Merry Christmas to all. We three mainstays, Candice McLauchlan (sales and design), Marian Braybrook (administrative assistant) and myself, Anne Davison (editor) thank you for sticking with us. We wish you all Happy Holidays and strength for the journey in 2022 as we bravely forge ahead. As one of the members of Westman Youth Choir so wisely put it, we may be in different boats, but “we’re all in the same storm. Be kind.”
