No one should be alone during the holidays

A few random thoughts:
• I hope no one spent Thanksgiving Day alone. First Baptist Church served more than 320 meals, many of those were delivered to people’s homes.
• This year’s Christmas in the Park Lighted Parade was well-received by nearly everyone.
There were people in Los Angeles, Indianapolis, Montgomery County and Orlando watching the parade live on our Facebook network who checked in with us during the broadcast.
During the parade some 800 people tuned in. The last time I looked, the count for the combined audience for the live and recorded video audience was more than 1,200.
That was probably a larger audience than stood in the rain in downtown Brazil to see the parade that lasted more than an hour. It had to be one of the biggest parades in Brazil’s history with 99 units signed up.
Some local folks expressed concern that children were running out into the street to pick up candy.
I don’t think we will ever ban candy being thrown from the parade units but the parades are a great teaching opportunity about safety when crossing the street.
It helps when adults pick up the candy that doesn’t make it to the curb and give it to the children.
It is also a great thing when those parade units have people walking along both side of the street handing out candy so kids don’t have to go into the street to get their treats.
• Remember Santa will be at his house in Forest Park on weekends between now and Christmas. The full schedule of all the Christmas in the Park events is in the special section that was printed in The Brazil Times on Black Friday. More copies are available at our office if you missed yours.
• A hearty thank you to the downtown businesses that didn’t let a little thing like no electrical receptacles on INDOT’s utility poles stop them. They strung extension cords from their buildings and put lighted decorations out to beautify downtown Brazil! Great idea, guys!
• The Community Crossroads big check has arrived. The nearly $750,000 will be matched locally and amount to a million dollars for local streets, Mayor Brian Wyndham tells me.
• Thank you, Kim Emmert O’Dell and Ryan Keller for taking time to walk with me during part of the YMCA Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning.
They might have thought this guy was going to collapse but with the exception of a huge blister and getting lost in the wilds of Edgewood, it was a great experience.
I would like to do the Firecracker 5K in July but YMCA CEO Ryan Penrod might not want to wait on me to finish that run/walk. The YMCA folks kept the inflated finish line up until I got there about 15 minutes after the last person before me crossed the line. A few friends and my wife were there to cheer me on. Thanks guys!.
Hey, I completed the race! I think there is something Biblical about that concept.
Take pride in Brazil, everybody.
I wish I could remember exactly how Ryan put it but while walking, we talked about what a great place is Brazil, Indiana.
He said something like, “Brazil, Indiana, is a place you want to call home.”
Exactly!