Barbara Hand

The new year has brought us rain, thank goodness.
Our average rainfall pr year is about 32 inches, but at my house in 2011 we only had 13.72 inches. I had no rain at all in April, July and August; 1.44 inches in November and 2.80 in December. That left us in a terrible drought with a loss of 18.28 inches, so we hope the rains will continue to fall in good amounts.
All the pastures are looking pretty and green, so hopefully the bluebonnets drank in all the rain they like in December and will put on a show in March and April.

Ellen Kennard received a card from someone who had attended the Winterfest Tour of Homes in December and sent it on to Vicki and Paul Frenzel, who shared it with us.

We visited Main Drug Store & Gifts last week, doing some of our annual Christmas shopping in Nixon and found lots of goodies, even Christmas sales, which is a good thing too.
After our shopping trip, we asked about a place to eat and found The Tea Cup at 219 North Nixon Avenue, just up the street from Main Drug. It was a real jewel.

Don’t forget to register to win one of $1,000 prizes in the Spend Bucks program that will run through Christmas Eve. Gonzales Chiropractic Center, located at 1304 N. Sarah DeWitt Drive, owned by Dr. Gary Heximer, is a family-oriented practice, offering both relief and wellness care. Gift certificates are available that would make a great Christmas gift.

Here are three more Spend Bucks to Win Bucks participants for you to shop with during the holidays and sign up to win certificates that can be used at the shops.
The first is Frames and Things, at 1308 St. Louis Street, where you can have pictures framed, buy artwork, cards and original works by Elgin Heinemeyer and Terry Towns, who own the business. They always have special displays and clever gift items.

When you’re shopping locally, think of several businesses that have new lines. The China Basket is carrying Mud Pie in infant and toddler sizes through 2-3. She has added some new fragrances in her candle line and is carrying Tervis Tumblers.
Person’s Flower Shop has some new ideas for decorating, including a deco-mesh that can be used for Christmas wreaths. Of course she also has all her seasonal decorations and flowers.

It’s Thanksgiving, time for us to recall all the reasons that we celebrate and give thanks this time of year.

The Veterans Day Celebration held on Thursday at Apache Field was just great. Thanks to the Gonzales ISD for setting up this program to honor and thank our veterans. The stage was well set with the Apache Helicopter perched on the 50-yard line.
School children gathered to enjoy the event and there was a good crowd of townspeople. We hope this will be continued.

It’s time to think about nominating someone in the community for the David B. Walshak Award and the Community Service Award. The deadline for these is Dec. 29 at 4 p.m. in the chamber office. It takes some time to get all the information together for these, so start thinking who you’d like to see honored this year.
Last week, I attended the Lackland AFB Travel Show and made over 300 contacts.

The First Friday Coffee will take place on Nov. 4 at 8:30 a.m. at Country Collectables. Owner Vivian Wallace is celebrating six years in business at that location and invites everyone to come by, have a cup of coffee with her and discuss Gonzales happenings.
The Crystal Theatre will have two more weekends, including one Sunday matinee, for “Nunsense,” a musical comedy that is getting great reviews. Call the chamber office for tickets.