Ralphy is a 5-year-old male potbellied pig! He’s a very large dude, weighing in at 113 lbs. But he walks well on a leash and will follow you everywhere if you leave a trail of Honey Nut Cheerios! He has also done a little bit of work learning to walk up & down a ramp into a vehicle for easy travel. Ralphy is neutered & has already had his piggie vaccines. Neutered potbellied pigs will do just fine as indoor pets, but he’s so large he would do fine with some outside time mixed in too in nice weather. His adoption fee is only $100 and he can now be adopted in or out of Evansville city limits. Contact Vanderburgh Humane at (812) 426-2563 for adoption details!
MEDICARE SEMINAR SET FOR TUESDAY, JANUARY 9TH
Senior Connection will hold a Welcome to Medicare seminar Tuesday, January 9th, at 4:00 p.m. at 951 S. Hebron Ave., Suite C (between Bellemeade and Washington Ave.) adjacent to the Senior Connection Office.
When individuals and their families are new to the Federal Medicare program, it can be confusing and frustrating at first glance. This program will help you better understand the many different parts of Medicare and what your options are when you enroll.
This is an informational program only. No specific plans or companies will be discussed. The seminar will be presented by Gina Downs, Vice President of Senior Connection. It is free but registration is required. Call Senior Connection at 812-473-7271 or toll free at 800-258-7610 for reservations and directions.
HOT JOBS IN EVASNSVILLE
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Tax Cuts or Schumer? Donnelly Picked Schumer
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WISHING EVERYONE A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS
| We send out Christmas greetings to friends and family near and far, we put up the tree in hopes Santa will arrive, but most of all we take the time to thank God for His Son. Kate Summers  |   Christmas GreetingsÂ
And so, seven hundred years before the Wise Men gave, before the angels sang, and before the shepherds arrived, Isaiah explains for us in wonderful detail what Christmas is all about. Daniel Akin  |   Christmas Messages Christmas is for everyone, adults and children alike. Allow this season fill your heart, and let go of the things you dislike. Julie Hebert  |  Christmas Poems When we remember a special Christmas, it is not the presents that made it special, but the laughter, the feeling of love, and the togetherness of friends and family that made that Christmas special. Catherine Pulsifer  |  Family Some countries don’t celebrate Christmas, but everyone welcomes in the New Year, even if it’s on different dates. Paul K Stevens, Vintage New Year: Cards, Customs, Quotes, Poems, Myths and Legends  |   New Year Quotes I have come to discover material gifts aren’t the important things of Christmas. I learned this through an experience even as a young child. I now know relationships, traditions, and the greatest gift of all – Jesus, are the important gifts to treasure. Charlotte Holt, Christmas Traditions and Memories  |   Memory God’s love is a gift beyond measure that surrounds us and covers us when the fire of life rains down. It is God’s love and the very reason for the season we call Christmas – or it should be. Mary Southerland  |   Let God Guide You With the passage of time and increased maturity, our excitement regarding Christmas may change. But our reason for celebrating grows deeper and more meaningful as our focus shifts from gifts to Christ. Now the tree reminds us of the tree Jesus died on to pay for our sins. The lights testify that He is the Light of the World, and the gifts are a mere shadow of the greatest gift ever given – Jesus Christ. Charles Stanley |   Quotes about Change I will live this day as if it were Christmas. I will be a giver of gifts and deliver to my enemies the gift of forgiveness; my opponents, tolerance; my friends, a smile; my children, a good example, and every gift will be wrapped with unconditional love. Og Mandino, Mission: Success: A Breathtaking Personal Message of Hope and Happiness for a Successful Life  |   Love December days . . . as Christmas time draws near; brings family warmth, and friendship’s joyful cheer, from memory’s store so many days to bless and cherish so in quiet thankfulness. Johm McLeod  |  Inspirational Poems I bring you the most joyful news ever announced, and it is for everyone! The Savior – yes the Messiah, the Lord – has been born tonight in Bethlehem! Luke 2:10 -11  |   Joy Advent is a season of wise women and men following the example of Jesus and thereby constructing a spiritual life on solid principles. Robert F. Morneau, Fathoming Bethlehem  |   Wise It amazes me that something that happened over 2000 years ago is still recognized today. The birth of Jesus Christ – the reason for Christmas. May we always be inspired and may we always recognize that this miracle is the reason for our celebrations. Catherine Pulsifer  |   Inspirational Quotes Peace on earth will come to stay, when we live Christmas every day. Helen Steiner Rice |   Peace I don’t want a Christmas you can buy. I don’t want a Christmas you can make. What I want is a Christmas you can hold. A Christmas that holds me, remakes me, revives me. I want a Christmas that whispers, Jesus. Ann Voskamp, The Greatest Gift  |   Wish And at this Christmas season, when we pause to reflect on the Incarnation of Christ – that is, of God becoming human in Jesus – we reemphasize that Jesus Christ should remain central to the celebration. Melvin Banks Sr. |   Focus We don’t need more parties, or decorations, or gifts, or worries, or expectations to be added to Christmas. What we really need is some grace. For ourselves and others. And we need to love people. Susanna Foth Aughtmon, Mornings with Jesus  |  Worry Don’t be like the religious leaders who were more concerned with tradition. Follow the example of the wise men, and seek God this Christmas. It’s the reason we celebrate Christmas – God wants to connect with you! Rick Warren  |  Example Christmas is the season for kindling the fire of hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the heart. Washington Irving  |   Christmas Brings Memories Flooding Back What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace. Agnes M. Pharo  |   Future Anyone familiar with the Christmas Story itself will also understand that Mary was happily married to Joseph and that the willing took on the role of caregiver for Jesus. Sarah Lawrence, Mary Mother Of Jesus: Understanding Mary a Bit Closer  |   Happy After all, isn’t Christmas the beginning of our hope? It is the celebration of God becoming man and taking on the ‘form of a servant’ so that he could ultimately give His life for us. Dr. David Jeremiah  |   Believe The angels’ visit to the shepherds became the first Christmas celebration. It’s as though heaven and earth were celebrating it together, as though a portal to glory had been opened up. Greg Laurie  |   Angel Smiling On You Christmas can’t be bought from a store . . . Maybe Christmas means a little bit more. Dr.Seuss  |   Appreciation Who can add to Christmas? The perfect motive is that God so loved the world. The perfect gift is that He gave His only Son. The only requirement is to believe in Him. The reward of faith is that you shall have everlasting life. Corrie Ten Boom  |   Faith The love we feel, that sense of joy for the Christmas Miracle, the Baby Boy will not wither, break or fade for it’s a promise that God has made. Susan J. Ellis, Christmas Reflections Thru the Years: My Christmas Greetings  |   Trust As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:20-21 (NLT)  |   Angel There is a new spiritual energy to the beginning of Advent. It has little to do with the countdown of shopping days to Christmas. It has to do with Advent’s intrinsic, embedded hope of a new life, a changed life, in Christ. S. Joseph Krempa, Captured Fire: Seasonal and Sanctoral Cycle, Year Two  |   Enthusiasm All around us at Christmas this year there will be those less fortunate than we are. But don’t pass up the opportunities God gives you this Christmas to personally “be charitable” to others. Dr. David Jeremiah  |   Giving Is Fun God’s Message is very personal, and it is life changing. Open yourself to receive God’’s Message this Advent. David Mead, Message In The Manger  |   Inspirational Messages You see, the Christmas most people celebrate is not the way God intended it to be celebrated. We have commercialized it, super-sized it, downgraded it, and for most people, ignored the real meaning of Christmas. C. P. Lewis, Humpty Dumpty Is Damaged Goods: A Christmas Message in 9 Lessons and Carols The only blind person at Christmas time is he who has not Christmas in his heart. Hellen Keller  |   Famous Quotes We can participate in every festivity of the Christmas season, but until we receive the gift of Jesus Christ, we will never truly experience Christmas. Mary Southerland  |   Experience Christmas celebrates a similar moment for us – God breaking through to our world. In a feeding stall of all places. He will not leave us in the dark. He is the pursuer, the teacher. He won’t sit back while we miss out. So He entered our world. He sends signals and messages: H-o-p-e. L-i-f-e. Max Lucado, Because of Bethlehem This season, keep your eyes and heart open for unexpected ways that God will reveal to you the hope of Christmas. Jack Countryman  |   Hope Wonderful counselor and heaven father, guide us to see the true meaning of the gifts we have and that we share this Christmas. D. Duane Engler, 40 Prayers for Christmas  |   Sharing The holy magic that filled that lonely stable so long ago still fills the air of Christmas today. Mary Hollingsworth  |   Miracles Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childish days; that can recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth; that can transport the sailor and the traveller, thousands of miles away, back to his own fire-side and his quiet home! Charles Dickens |   Charles Dickens Quotes Christmas has been, as for many, something of a challenge to find the best way of being together across distance and differences. The biggest difference and perhaps distance has been between the family and the rituals of Christmas at home and then Christmas and its message in church – which speaks of poverty as well as generosity. Robin Morrison, Christmas Poems  |   Generosity At Christmas we decorate our trees with festive lights and ornaments. But the real “tree” in the Christmas story wasn’t beautiful at all; it was a cruel instrument of execution, used to bring about the death of God’s Son. Greg Laurie, Red The Color of Christmas: 15 Favorite Christmas Messages  |   Beauty Thanksgiving, at least in the U.S., leads directly to the Christmas holiday where gifts are given to friends and family as an expression of heartfelt love and appreciation. Devin D. Thorpe, 925 Ideas to Help You Save Money, Get Out of Debt and Retire A Millionaire So You Can Leave Your Mark on the World  |   Thanksgiving Every Christmas a thousand, thousand preachers ask if we will make more room for Jesus than the Bethlehem innkeeper of long ago ever did. Les Norman; Pilar Norman, Never Have A Minute To Call Your Own: Well, Now You Do  |  Words of Faith But everywhere throughout the world – throughout this war that covers the world–there is a special spirit that has warmed our hearts since our earliest childhood – a spirit that brings us close to our homes, our families, our friends and neighbors – the Christmas spirit of “peace on earth, good will toward men.” It is an unquenchable spirit. Franklin Roosevelt  |  Franklin Roosevelt Quotes Now, granted, the Christmas tree doesn’t have “everlasting life” just because it is evergreen, but it does represent that to us. It is a symbol of life. Patricia Meyers, 70 Extraordinary Object Lessons for Home School and Sunday School  |  Life  |   One of my favorite Christmas traditions is attending the Candlelight Christmas Eve service . . . Shari Howerton, Breaking the Chains  |  Impact Of Christmas Shoes Song During the legendary Christmas truce of 1914, English and German soldiers stopped fighting one another, met in the “no man’s land” between their armies, traded goods, sang Christmas carols, and even played soccer. Joshua Nickel, The Reign of Grace and the End of Sin in Your Life  |  Music So during this Christmas season, let us take comfort in Him–and always. Julia Audrina Carrington, Comfort for Today–A Book in Honor of Christmas  |  Expressions of God Is it an acceptable boundary to simply send a Christmas card and ignore a friend for the rest of the year? Jeffrey Dawson, Boundaries: Line Between Right And Wrong  |  Friend Christmas – that magic carpet that wraps itself about us, that something so intangible that it is like a fragrance. It may weave a spell of nostalgia. Christmas may be a day of feasting, or of prayer, but always it will be a day of remembrance – a day in which we think of everything we have ever loved. Arnold Westcott  |  Prayer Once you put your Christmas tree up, wrap any presents you have and put them under the tree; this will take some of the stress out of last minute wrapping and also looks nice under the tree. Catherine Pulsifer  |  Stress Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas without mince pies. Rosanne Hewitt-Cromwell, Like Mam Used to Bake  |  Funny As this is one of the most anticipated meals of the year, a little bit of planning will help to relieve the stress that surrounds producing a Christmas turkey dinner. Sheila Kiely, Gimme The Recipe  |  Words of Encouragement Christmas can become overly expensive if you let it. Remember a homemade gift is not only nice, but also says, “I love You” more than anything else. Catherine Pulsifer  |  Love You can paint cookies to make wonderful decorations for Christmas or other holidays. Whether you are looking for a fun project with the kids or just want to impress the neighbors, try painting cookies. Dennis Weaver, Dennis. Mrs. Claus’ Christmas Cookies  |  Children Christmas brings many pleasures; from tree trimming, to special music, exhanging gifts, good food to name only a few. Take time in this busy season to remember the reason for the season – the birth of Jesus Catherine Pulsifer  |  Birthday Quotes To be a parent who is unable to provide a Christmas is heartbreaking. We all need to share in making a Christmas for everyone. Rather than that one extra gift, give the money to your church, to an organization that provides for those less fortunate. By helping someone else you will realize the true meaning of Christmas. Catherine Pulsifer  |   Helping Others Christmas can be a maze of commercialism if we let it. Instead, let’s make it a moment of clarity in which we view our sometimes confusing and threatening world against the back drop of God’s gift to us: the Prince of Peace who was announced by angels on that original ‘midnight clear’. David Jeremiah  |  Time Christmas is a charming and memorable season for children, and it is perfectly reasonable for well-informed adults to enjoy cribs, candles, and carols, decorated trees, presents, and family feasts. It is not possible, however, to be a well-informed adult believer without adding to the value of the Christmas celebration by searching for the deeper meaning of the gospels, a meaning that is beyond the comprehension of young children. Noel Cooper, Gospel Overtures: The Message of the Christmas Stories in Matthew and Luke  |   We can be an influence for what is good and right and wonderful about Christmas! We can focus on the fact that a special holiday is set apart and that time gives us the opportunity to proclaim the Christ that came and died for us!J S Brandon, Get rid of the ‘Bah! Humbug!’ Attitude This Christmas: A Message for Christians  |  Opportunity But I became convinced that if you drill down to its core, Christmas is based on a historical reality – the incarnation: God becoming man, spirit taking on flesh, the infinite entering the finite, the eternal becoming time-bound. Lee Strobel, The Case for Christmas  |  Encouraging For it is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a child Himself. Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol If I could wish a wish for you, it would be for peace and happiness not only now, but for the whole year through! Catherine Pulsifer, My Christmas Wish To YOU  |  Happiness Christmas was all about God’s gift to man, and His peace, as well as ours.Carolyn Molica, WINGS: A Journey in Faith from the Earthly to the Heavenly  |   Positive As you open your Christmas presents, open your heart to Christ’s presence.Miriam Kinai, Boxed Set 1 Quotations  |   Inspirational Sayings Christmas is more than just presents, it’s love and harmony. Julie Hebert  |   All That is a Christmas From home to home, and heart to heart, from one place to another. The warmth and joy of Christmas, brings us closer to each other. Emily Matthews  |  Home At Christmas play and make good cheer, For Christmas comes but once a year.Thomas Tusser  |   Good Christmas will always be as long as we stand heart to heart and hand in hand.Dr. Seuss  |   What Is The Christmas Spirit Christmas is a season not only of rejoicing but of reflection. Winston Churchill  |   Top Ten |
A CHRISTMAS DREAM INSPIRED BY IRVING & BING
By Tom Purcell
I dream of “White Christmas†this year.
I speak of the Irving Berlin classic made famous by Bing Crosby – a sweet, wistful song that holds more power over me with each passing year.
According to CBS News, many speculate that Berlin was inspired to write the song in the late 1930s, while working on a movie in Beverly Hills and feeling homesick for his family in New York.
The holiday season was especially challenging for him. His three-week-old son had died on Christmas 1928. Berlin visited his grave every Christmas, and the sadness of his son’s death also influenced the song.
Berlin had set the half-finished song aside for a few years before finishing it during the Christmas season of 1940 or 1941.
Only 54 words, it would become a quintessentially American song – one that, to me, celebrates the American civility, prosperity and opportunity that Berlin was blessed to experience.
According to PBS.org , Berlin’s family fled to America from Russia when he was 5 to escape persecution of Jews.
His family “arrived in New York in 1893, settling in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Compelled by poverty to work rather than attending school, Berlin made money by singing on streetcorners and later secured a job as a singing waiter at the Pelham Cafe. During this time, he also began writing songs of his own … .â€
Berlin would go on to produce “an outpouring of ballads, dance numbers, novelty tunes and love songs that defined American popular song for much of the (20th) century,†says the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
“Irving Berlin has no place in American music – he is American music,†said composer Jerome Kern.
In any event, “White Christmas†offers a blend of melancholy and hopefulness, expressing a longing for snow-blanketed Christmases when “treetops glisten and children listen to hear sleigh bells in the snow†and hope that our days will be “merry and bright.â€
The song premiered on Crosby’s radio show in December 1941, just 18 days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, a highly emotional time for America. Eight months later, Crosby was featured singing the song in the movie “Holiday Inn.â€
However, critics “didn’t take much notice†of the song at first, according to Jody Rosen, author of “White Christmas: the Story of an American Song.â€
She told CBS News that it wasn’t until Armed Forces Radio began to play the song that it struck a chord.
“It was 1942, the first winter that American troops had spent overseas,†she said. “So, these images of … snowy American, New Englandy Christmas really spoke to the longing, nostalgia and homesickness of the troops for their homeland and for the sweethearts and wives and mothers and fathers they’d left behind.â€
And it spoke to a common longing for the civility, unity, sacrifice and hopefulness that all Americans were experiencing at that time.
Well, “White Christmas†is just as relevant now as it ever was – maybe more so.
Its sweet, wistful melody and lyrics make me long for renewed civility, unity, sacrifice and hopefulness – the same things, I believe, all Americans are longing for.
“We are not enemies, but friends,†said President Abraham Lincoln in his first inaugural address, whose message still resonates in 2017.
“We must not be enemies,†Lincoln said. “Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.â€
Civility, unity, sacrifice and hopefulness – a great coming together.
That’s what I dream of for Christmas this year.
Local Man Shares His Experiences After Visiting All 193 Countries
JEFF GOLDBERGÂ EVANSVILLE, INDIANA
 Sal Lavallo started his international travel at a young age. The McCutchanville native wanted to go as far as possible, so he chose China and Japan. Little did Sal know, he would then visit the rest of the 190 countries on Earth.
A love for travel started when Sal started at the United World College boarding school in New Mexico. There, Sal says he was apart of a class of 200 students that represented 90 different countries. Sal says that this made the world feel small and more intimate.
It wasn’t until he started up NYU that his traveling started in kind. Studying comparative economics and comparative identity, his studies took him across the globe. Sal says he would go to see things like how different pacific islands differ from each other.
After graduating with a burgeoning passport, Sal took his talents to a global management consulting firm. Of course, the company Sal chose to work for aided him in his travels. This is where Sal says he really started to visit many different countries on business – and then even more on the weekends.
Now, many folks may think that this extreme amount of travel may be about checking off items on a bucket list, but for Sal, it goes way beyond that. He has tried to create positive change in all the places he has worked. Sal says that he worked with a handful of countries to create education reform that has helped the lives of 10 million children.
It was two years ago when the 27 year old started to really look at his passports. He decided to take six months off of work, but as it often happens, the six months turned into a year which ballooned into years.
During this time off, Sal decided to create a list of countries he hadn’t visited. He was able to visit them all, even the ones that many people may think as hard to access. He says he had no problem with countries like North Korea. He has called the United Arab Emirates his home for the past 6 years. He says that UAE has been the perfect launch pad to get anywhere and everywhere.
His journey ended recently as he made it to Malta, country 193 of 193. He had a tearful reunion with his parents before they headed back to the US. Sal is spending the holidays back home in McCutchanville before heading off again.
As for what’s next?
Sal says he isn’t sure but he knows it’ll be spectacular.
HOT JOBS IN EVANSVILLE
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