I had planned to go over my 2023 prediction and see what I got correct … which I think was nothing and then do my 2024 predictions in this edition, but an internet crisis, the loss thereof, sent me home …and this is also Friday that I am writing this which today is my second newspaper deadline this week because Monday is Christmas. So then back to the office and on the phone with a tech person or two … and now I have a headache …So I will do that next week when I am in a better mood.

On Monday I got a call from a concerned citizen (will call her …Jamie’s Mom) that the custom-made Santa hat for the carved Beaver in Beaver had been taken. I went to social media to shame the thief and not sure if that is what remedied the return but …I got a message the next day from Jamie Lousin, the person who had made the custom-made hat, and she shared that on Tuesday evening when she went to the Beaver firehall for training the hat was back! So, that was a good thing.

We had a good first planning meeting at Chamber this week to bring back Hickory Shirt-Heritage Days bigger and better. There will also be an evening meeting for those who could not make Chamber. Next week I hope to go over some of the events and ideas that were discussed. In researching the roots of the event initially called Hickory Shirt Days I found that Andy Cross was the first Little Logger contest winner. He was just 4 months old at the time. Maybe we can get Andy back in the fall to honor him in some way? Maybe a re-creation of the photo of him in the Forks Forum?

It has been a busy December and I am looking forward to some not-so-busy days for a while. Right ….

Thanks to all who enjoyed The Night Before Christmas -First Responder version. They are always fun to write and over the years I have done them about Twilight, Sasquatch and one version about 49er loving and Seahawk hating Ruth Kettel.

I will have to start thinking about what to do next year …

I am looking forward to seeing who won the Guess the Rainfall contest. It was a dryish year but we might hit 100 inches by Dec. 31. The winner will be announced once Jerry King provides the year end total.

So that is all for 2023 …

See you in 2024.

Christi Baron Editor