Winter, the holiday season, and family go hand in hand this time of year.
As we age, it seems that time passes more quickly and the holiday season arrives sooner than the previous year.
Childhood memories of Christmas are ones that remain for a lifetime. My family was up late every Christmas Eve and, rain or shine, took the four-mile drive to Niles for Midnight Mass at the tiny Sacred Heart Church. Our post-midnight singing seemed powerful enough to rattle the stain glassed windows and raise the roof off the old church, which welcomed its first worshipers in 1900. Perhaps, Niles’ population, which was hardly 100 at most, counting family pets and wild animals, must have felt they were being serenaded by a group of wild and crazy Catholics on the east edge of town.
Yes, those were the good old days and life was simple too.
This year soon to pass, created new memories including the opening of the 1861 Club that went hand in hand with a successful Kansas State Fair. Nearly one third of a million people attended the fair, which is eight times greater than Hutchinson’s population.
On November 7, I had occasion to attend the Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber of Commerce annual Farmer Appreciation Breakfast held at the 1861 Club. Farmers from throughout Reno County with their families packed the venue to be honored and thanked for putting food on our tables. One farmer commented to me that it is rare when farmers and ranchers are thanked, but in Reno County it is an annual event. I assured this farmer that appreciation for what farmers do is a part of our mission at the Kansas State Fair and has been for more than a century. The Chamber of Commerce breakfast is like the kickoff to the holiday season.
It comes as no surprise that there is a long list of quotations online for the true meaning of Christmas, left behind by those who preceded us.
Perhaps, commentator Eric Sevareid said it best.
“Christmas is a necessity, there has to be at least one day of the year to remind us that we’re here for something else besides ourselves.”
Eric Sevareid
Comedian Bob Hope, who entertained fairgoers at several Kansas State Fairs, said:
“When we recall Christmas past, we usually find that the simplest things, not the great occasion gives off the greatest glow of happiness.”
Bob Hope
St. Francis of Assisi expressed his take on the subject in a few words: “It is in giving that we receive.”
“It is in giving that we receive.”
St. Francis of Assisi
This holiday season provides many opportunities for those of us who are blessed to share our bounty with those who are less fortunate and to spend precious time with friends and family.
And, as we awake on January 1, we know another year has arrived, and it is up to us to determine if we wish to strive for the status quo or decide to make 2025 better than the year passed. Knowing this group of hard-charging leaders and visionaries, I have no doubt we will choose the latter option.
Happy Holidays.
– Richard Shank