Nevada is not a very small town, but every time I hear the song about Christmas in a small town, I think of our own Nevada. Having a young teenager with us these days causes us to participate more than we might if it was just the two of us. But this year there have been so many great things to enjoy in our town; most of them entirely free or very inexpensive, that I think Nevada can compete for honors with any small town anywhere.

One of the first events we enjoyed was the postponed Christmas Parade. It was bitterly cold that night and I would have rather stayed in a warm house and watched TV. But we had picked up another great-granddaughter that afternoon so that she could see the parade, so we bundled up and went. I miraculously found a parking place right in front of the former Thornton National Bank. I thought I could sit there, keeping the heat going, and just let the girls get out when the parade actually started. But then I saw a gathering in the middle of the street on the South side of the Square. I couldn't stand to miss something that was going on. I was so glad that we braved the cold and joined the group to hear the Treble Clefs Chorus sing a nice variety of Christmas songs. I looked around and found several of our close neighbors there also. It's great to share events with friends.

The parade was much better than I thought it might be after having been postponed once and with very cold weather. The girls got their fill of goodies handed out and I even got greedy when 3M came by with different types of tapes. Of course we all had fun waving to Santa who was riding on the huge, fire engine. (How does he get that thing to fly?) We left the parade and drove past the Living Nativity Scene at the First Christian Church. That inspired us then to go drive around the lake at Radio Springs and view the lights on the hills and around the water. We all were very proud of our town's display there.

The next day we decided to try to see Santa again and went to the crossing at Hickory Street where he came in on the train. The girls enjoyed walking through the caboose to meet the important man, and again they were gifted with small toys and candies.

I didn't want to shop with two curious onlookers but we decided it would be fun to watch the WAGS group who were taking pictures with Santa and customers' pets. We had not taken any of our cats who would have not behaved in such a setting, but we wanted to watch. But the gracious Mrs. Clause loaned the girls a puppy apiece to let them be photographed with Santa. (He obviously had been moving very fast since we waved to him as he left Nevada sitting in the back of the Caboose. But here he was at Orchelin's and had even brought his wife along.) The Community Choir's program of "Christmas Joy" the next afternoon at the Fox Theater was excellent as always. It is so much fun to see our neighbors, health professionals, church members and teachers putting on a quality production.

Now as we are nearer to Christmas each individual church is having its own Cantata, singalongs, children's programs, services and special events. These emphasize the real meaning of the season beautifully.

And in most of these you can also stay in a warm room.