HERE IS THE Bacon Bowl Maker that Ken was able to wrestle away from Kelly during our Reflector white elephant gift exchange on our staff Christmas party!
What Joanna’s working on ...
Celebration Jewelers is offering holiday giveaway
In order to help out community members in the Battle Ground area this Christmas season, Craig and Lisa Brown, owners of Celebration Jewelers in Battle Ground, are giving away some jewelry items to those who may want to give them as gifts, but might be a little tight on money.
Craig said they have a box set up at the store, located at 2210 W. Main St., Suite 111 in the Albertsons complex, and some entry slips. Visitors to the store who need a Christmas gift for someone special, but are maybe unable to afford it can put down their name and phone number and put it into the entry box. On Christmas Eve, Tue., Dec. 24, sometime in the morning, Craig said they will draw names from the box, and they have 35 sterling heart pendants to give away.
“If someone comes in later on the 24th, I’ll hold some back,” Craig said. “The ones we give away, we’ll box them up and send them home with people.”
In February, Celebration Jewelers moved from their previous location in Old Town Battle Ground to their current location in the in the Albertsons shopping complex. The Browns offer a wide variety of jewelry items, including bridal jewelry, vintage-style sterling silver jewelry, watches, diamonds and more. Craig said they also have a new mens' section with several desirable items like handmade pens.
Celebration Jewelers also carries several unique collections, including Sarah’s Hope, founded by a female minister who graduated from Princeton University. Founder Sarah Smith finances micro-loans for impoverished people all over the world. Each piece of jewelry is designed and named after a woman who has received a microloan. Celebration Jewelers donates 20 percent of the proceeds of their sales to Unite for Life, the local support group for teen suicide prevention.
Craig and Lisa can be reached at Celebration Jewelers at (360) 723-0867.
What Kelly’s working on ...
It’s never too early for New Year’s resolutions
Sometimes, Facebook makes us more accountable. Take this post from my 2012 New Year’s Eve:
‘“I do hereby resolve to do more of this — traveling, laughing, loving, kissing, writing, reading, dancing, sloughing, moisturizing, listening, caring, enjoying, thanking — and less of this — rushing, avoiding, pretending, building walls, sitting, watching, waiting — in the new year. Happy 2013, kids. Wish I could give each and every one of you a big hug and kiss tonight. Be safe and see you on FB next year.”
Looking back, I realize that I’ve done way too much sitting, watching and waiting over the past two years. But all hope is not lost! The new year is fast approaching and it’s time to make a few resolutions.
This week, I wrote about a new naturopathic physician who just moved into Battle Ground’s Old Town. Dr. Rachel Stricker loves the new year and the sense of renewal that it brings. To celebrate it, and to “Jump Start” January in the most holistic, healthiest way possible, Stricker is offering a variety of community education classes, including yoga for teens, yoga for first responders and veterans, and a few one-day seminars on topics like anti-aging, making your own cleaning products, and practicing mindfulness.
Read all about it in next week’s issue — that’s the Christmas Eve issue, in case you’re wondering. Just in time to set a few resolutions of your own and set your eyes on a new year filled with more good, less bad and a whole lot of those normal, everyday moments that make life worth living.
What Ken’s working on …
Theft alert in La Center
Members of the La Center Police Department posted this alert on their Facebook page today. I thought it might be a good thing to share during the holiday season.
The holiday season is the busiest time of year for the U.S. Postal Service, and UPS’s brown trucks are making their rounds around La Center’s neighborhoods. If you’re someone who prefers to do your shopping online, you’re probably worried about those packages arriving safely and on time, but sometimes they don’t seem to arrive at all.
There have been 2 reported cases of packages being stolen from front porches in La Center in the last two weeks and nationwide reports of thieves following the UPS truck door-to-door and snatching those boxes right off the stoop.
Here are a few tips to ensure the person ripping open those boxes is you, and not someone who helped themselves to your purchases:
1. Have a shipment sent to where you are, not where you aren’t.
Representatives at both the U.S. Post Office and UPS encourage online shoppers to try arranging deliveries to somewhere you can be to get them.
2. Don’t let mail sit on your porch for long periods of time.
“Pick up your mail promptly after delivery,” the USPS website urges its customers.
3. Know your neighbors and enlist them in helping to protect the whole neighborhood from mail theft.
We suggest letting a neighbor know if you’re expecting packages, so they can keep an eye out, as well as looking out for suspicious activity on the street.
4. Personalize your delivery. Both UPS and the USPS allow customers to specialize delivery instructions. Through their respective websites, you can ask delivery personnel to leave packages between your screen and main door, or to leave it on your back porch instead out front.
5. Track your packages, or request signature confirmation if possible.
Most delivery services now provide a way to track your purchases through the Internet or you can request that a signature is required for delivery. In addition, the U.S. Postal Service has a new service that will send you a text message or an email when a package is headed your way.
6. Report any suspected theft immediately.
A lot of people don’t realize a theft has occurred until it’s too late to do much. But if residents keep an eye on delivery dates and suspicious activity, it will be easier to realize when your package hasn’t made it to your hands.
Reporting any theft as soon as possible helps police and postal inspectors do their jobs.
What Steve’s working on …
Taking time to celebrate
The entire Reflector staff took two hours off today to have a Christmas celebration at a Battle Ground restaurant. It was nice to spend time together away from the office, and some of the most fun came when we opened gifts.
Some were useful, some were funny and some just made you scratch your head. The package Ken Vance ended up with got the most laughs and comments. It’s a little device that makes bacon bowls to put your favorite food in. We all had to take a look at it and decide what we’d put in the meaty bowl if it were ours. I think my husky would appreciate his Christmas kibble in a bacon bowl … maybe I can trade Ken my decorative Pixie Circle of Light for his gift.
Here’s wishing all of our readers and advertisers a very happy holiday season. Even if you don’t get a meat-bowl-maker under the tree.
