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Houston Batly 3Jouruai SATURDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2006 A Christmas Carol opens Dicken’s “A Christmas Carol” opened last night to a full house at the Perry Players Theatre on Main Street in Perry. There are many reasons you should go to this play. Among them are the obvious: sup port your community; treat the family to a night out (the cost of which will not cause you to seek a second job); help get in the Christmas spirit. But I have other Jane Winston The Left Rail less obvious reasons why I want you to go to the play. They are Linda and Gary Deibert (the director and co producer of the play) who give and give and give to the Perry theatre community and who want you to come see their latest effort. Lois Wills who is relatively new to the community but is a talented seamstress; you aren’t gonna’ believe the costumes she has “whipped up” for this performance. Todd Wilson who also gives and gives to community the atre, and in this play brings to life the nastiest (in the beginning) old Scrooge and the nicest (in the ending) old Scrooge imaginable! I won’t single out anyone else - other than me - Jane Winston - who will wow you as the nasty but charming Charwoman. To close, let me caution you that you will most likely recognize someone on the stage seeing as how there are elementary and middle school kids, one Warmer Robins High School track/ soccer dude, two Macon State College students, three retirees, a full-time mom, a realtor mom, a dentist dad, a phlebotomy student and a partridge in a pear tree. There are matinees and evening performances through Dec. 18. Call the theatre at 987-5354 for times and ticket information. See you there. A good read For many, Christmas is not the time to sit down and read, but seeing as how I am on Christmas break, I enjoy turning off the TV and opening books. Additionally, books make great Christmas gifts. My Second-Tuesday-of the-month book club met today, and we discussed our latest read Eden Close which is Anita Shreve’s first novel of many novels. Talk about a page-turner! She got a hold of me from the first page and made me stay up all night one evening after play practice to finish the novel. Eden Close is a young lady who lives a tragic life - secret to the neighbors and community. The surprise ending makes this well-written, well-thought out novel even more gripping. We, collectively, in my book club have decided we prefer reading novels because they allow us to get inside the minds and bodies of people we would never interface with in our real lives. Also, they allow us to escape, for a few hours, the real world while underscor ing, for us, what really great lives we have! Until next week “I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.” -Charles Dickens r *■ ' w 1 / £.. I" / x jfl* 40*| '|| v ■ t 11 v #!§■§ mm & m , -if’ mßHiftLfrjk ilVv, BHHHB WMmm 1. - Journal/Nancy Hawk Perry Players have put together a classic. One of the all time Christmas favorites, “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens, is directed by Linda Deibert and produced by Christian Poss and Gary Deibert. The play will make a wonderful family Christmas memory. Show dates and times are Dec. 13-16 at 8 p.m. ABOVE: In the dressing room last minute preparation, coming together. RIGHT:Linda Diebert delivers final minutes of encouragements. Everyone made Christmas parade a big hit Thank all of you so much for support ing Christmas at the. Crossroads 2006. There was so much going on last Saturday in downtown Perry that it really made you feel like the holiday season was here. In anticipation for the parade, there were activi ties and scheduled events for the kids and downtown shopping for the adults. The crowd was the largest by far. There were people all up and down Washington Street, Carroll Street and on Main Street and every one seemed to be having a good time. After the parade, the fire truck brought Santa Claus and his elves to Carroll Street to visit with the chil dren walking around down town. Santa sat down on Lifestyle Christmas performance one of the benches and it wasn’t long before a line formed and children were sitting on his lap reciting their Christmas list to him. This was a won der f u 1 sight. T o keep our tradition going, we gave out trophies to the top three float Melanie Lewis Columnist BwsteiSprigJ entries. They were judged based on: overall appear ance; keeping with the theme; originality and cre ativity; and if they incorpo rated music. The first place winner was Crossroads Civitan Club; the second place winner was Christ Lutheran Church; and the third place winner was The Perry Players. We also gave out trophies to the resi dents in Houston Springs who decorated their golf carts and drove in the parade. They were judged on overall appearance and creativity. The first place winners were Sharon and Sandy Geddes; the second place winners were Marion and Don Brubaker; and the third place winners were Carolyn and Pete Long. Congratulations! We start months in advance planning and pre paring for the parade, and each year we critique our selves to see what we can do to improve next year’s parade, including ways to attract more participants and volunteers. Remember, this is your parade. Please aS fIK fijt J|M|HnHHK fjß&g6g , ■ * ill -^J yllffe, contact me if you feel there is any way in which you can contribute to the next years’ parade. Believe me; I could never have too many volunteers. The parade had a few less entries than the last two years but it was still a big hit. I don’t believe it is the number of entries we have in a parade that make a parade a success, but more so it is the people: the parade participants, the people who attend, and the behind-the-scenes people making sure all goes as planned. We have a great community and overwhelm ing support. I would like to extend special thanks and recogni tion to-Pat and Larry Fales, Wanda and Jon Smith, Amy and Jamey Harrelson, Gary Crawford, and Rebbecca SECTION c Choral Celebration The Adult Choir of Perry Presbyterian Church will present a Choral Celebration of Christmas today at 7 p.m. The pro gram includes both tradi tional and contemporary music and the congrega tion will join in singing car ols. The choir, directed by Joanne Solomon, will be accompanied by a string quartet and pianist. TOP LEFT: The Perry Presbyterian Choir with String Quartet will pres ent both traditional and contemporary anthems. Joanne Solomon gives some directions at the rehearsal for the choral celebration. LEFT: Perry Presbyterian celebrates season with music. Journal/Charlotte Perkins Neidhardt for their extra efforts in helping me with the parade. The Perry Fire Department and the Perry Police Department have always gone out of their way to help with the event and I greatly appreciate their cooperation and their dedication to help make the parade possible. When you see any of them on the street, please let them know you appreciate them. They all deserve a great big round of applause! I would also like to thank all of the Houston Springs employees and residents who helped make this year’s parade such a success! Thanks to the Houston Daily Journal for their extensive coverage prior to and after the parade, and to Kroger for donating the candy for the elves to throw.