This week has been a busy week for our 4-H'ers and we are told that next week promises to be even busier! The members will be working on their Christmas float entry this Friday night at the Barretto family ranch. The group will be putting the finishing touches on their delightful Candy House entry for the Lighted Escalon Christmas Parade in which they will ride and wave at viewers on Saturday, December 1st during the evening on Main Street in Escalon. Be sure to watch for starting time.
Also on Saturday the Valley Home 4-H'ers will be found in the morning assisting the Oakdale Garden Club in setting up for the "Festival of Christmas Trees" being held in Wood Park located at Yosemite and F Street in Oakdale. This event will be held from 4:30 - 9:30 p.m. and will include a walkway of lighted Christmas trees, booths of goodies and other Christmas related events. One of the special items will be the Oakdale Historical Society’s historic 1951 Van Pelt Fire Engine all decorated in the Christmas spirit.
Immediately following Valley Home 4-H assistance at the Oakdale event, the group will be off on their way to watch our Oakdale Mustang Football Team in action. It is so exciting to see our Mustangs keep winning! Valley Home is very well represented on the football team. Three of the powerful Mustangs graduated from Valley Home Elementary before moving on to Oakdale High School. Austin Jones, Jordan McCain and Nik Garza are all Valley Home alumni. Our community is very proud of each one of you!
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Please remember to keep Saturday, December 8th open on your calendars. This is a very special day when friends, families and neighbors come together to enjoy our small community. Our beautiful Annual Christmas Parade will begin at 5:30 p.m. Everyone is invited to participate or just come and enjoy being a spectator. The parade is wonderful old fashioned fun in which the spirit of our Valley Home/Thalheim founders would be proud. Best viewing of the parade will be at the old school on Texas Avenue. Immediately after the parade, we will gather at the Valley Home Community Park where we will watch our beautiful Colorado Spruce Christmas Tree come to life! After the lighting we will then make our way across the street to the school multi-purpose room where we will again share a wonderful community potluck dinner. Everyone is encouraged to bring your favorite dish to share! The Valley Home 4-H will provide turkey, ham, place settings, coffee, hot chocolate, Christmas punch and spiced hot cider! During the evening Santa and Mrs. Claus will welcome everyone to Santa's Toyland.
We hope that everyone will come out and enjoy this very special evening! In next week's column we will introduce our 2012 Grand Marshal. If you have any questions about the parade or any of the festivities, please call Jenna at 605-4843.
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The Valley Home PTC sponsored Holiday/Christmas Store will be open for student shoppers December 12 through December 18th. The event is always an exciting and much anticipated event at which our students are given an opportunity to purchase a surprise gift for their families. Gifts will be wrapped and returned to students. Donations of new small gift items to be sold for $5 or less are being accepted.
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Be sure to remember that on December 1st at 10:30 a.m., the Christmas Bell Ringers free concert will be held at the Escalon Library and the ongoing used book sale will have some specially selected items and books for sale. Also on that day, at 1 p.m. the Oak Valley Art Society (OVAS) art class taught by Escalon's award winning artist Dorothy Girling for children and adults is held at the Escalon Library.
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The Valley Home students are currently selling Sees Candy which is the winter fundraiser for field trips. November 30th is the deadline for all Sees Candy sales to be turned in to the PTC. Orders will be distributed to students by Christmas break on December 21.
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Just received word that Michelle McKenzie has launched a website for kids with coloring pages, puzzles, and a reading comprehension test centered around her books. The site is www.sillycritterstories.com. Please contact the author for The Beavers' Big Problem and Beavers' Big Discovery local Holiday Book signing schedule.
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Loads of Happy Birthday wishes are being sent to Brenda Peterson from all her friends.
