Thank you to Parks Bros. Funeral Home and Erin Bradley for the precious Candlelight Memorial Service they hosted for those who have lost loved ones in 2022.
Stroud Assembly of God Pastor Jeromye Jackson spoke and offered comfort to those attending. A solo was performed by Ambar Cross-Marrero. Luke Smart, Ambar Cross-Marrero, and Emily Jackson led the audience in singing Silent Night after the lighting of the candles.
Family members were presented a Christmas angel ornament. Additional ones could be purchased at the office. A video was shown of those who had passed away in 2021-2022.
A reception was held afterwards which was catered by Kyle Anderson and Brady Nichols. This is the 2nd year Parks Bros. has hosted this event. Holidays are a joyous occasion for many but they also bring bittersweet memories of those loved ones who have passed.
It’s great to live in a caring community and it’s comforting to know loved ones are not forgotten. First Assembly of God also has a memory tree in their church foyer where angel ornaments are placed in remembrance of loved ones of their church members.
On behalf of Town Talk Volunteers, I attended the City Council meeting this past Thursday. We asked for funds to help pay for our Bugle Boy statue. This request was for monies from Stroud’s tourism budget, not from the general fund.
Needless to say, I was disappointed when the council voted no on our request. Only three council members were in attendance to vote.
They asked us to try to raise the funds. They did say they would address it again at a later date if we wanted to re-present it. Final payment will be due when the statue is delivered and I’m anticipating it will be delivered in March.
It is finished and in the process of being shipped. A group of us are also trying to meet a December 31st deadline to raise $25,000 in order to receive a $100,000 gift from our AVEM Health Partners to start a community foundation.
Our resource pool is small so we reach out to all funding avenues available as not to drain the general public. We are not a wealthy community nor do we have large businesses from which to seek funding. We are a generous community though.
Town Talk, along with the Stroud community, local businesses, our hospital’s management company and alumni both near and far, has raised over $150,000 the last several years for community projects.
After Town Talk finishes paying for the Bugle Boy and pays off our Stroud Industrial Authority community loan, which we used to finish the miniature golf course, we are taking a break from fundraising and giving you a break, too.
Our focus, beginning this spring, will shift to neighborhood clean-up. Our balance on the Bugle Boy is around $8,000 plus the cost of a sound system. If you would like to donate to this project, you may make your check out to the City of Stroud and mail to me at 301 West 6th Street in Stroud.
By making it out to the City, you may apply it to your end-of-year donations for tax purposes. No donation is too small so we encourage everyone to consider making a contribution.
Sundays in Stroud are a little quiet with several of our restaurants being closed. Because of this, Town Talk is going to begin hosting lunch on one Sunday each month.
We will use it as a fundraiser to complete the two projects mentioned earlier. Time, place and cost will be announced at a later time, but our first dinner will be January 8th and will be a dinner from Olive Garden. Mark your calendars now to join us for our first lunch at Town Talk Table.
Activities for the coming week are Route 66 Metal Detecting Club at City Hall at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 15th. Also, on the 15th the 6th, 7th and 8th grade girls will travel to Meeker with games beginning at 4:30 p.m. The 6th, 7th and 8th grade boys will also play Meeker Thursday in Stroud with games also beginning at 4:30 p.m. The High School Tigers Junior Varsity and Varsity boys and girls will take on McLoud this Friday night at home with games beginning at 4:00 p.m. The Tigers first grade team will play Saturday, November 17th at 9:00 a.m. in Wellston. No sleeping in on Saturday for these kiddos.
I’ve been in Arkansas this week and forgot my computer so had to type my column this week at the Garland County Library. Found some neat things they are doing in their library that I’m going to bring home and share with Lisa and Marsha. I’ll give you a hint of one of their cool ideas – a rack of fishing poles. Stay tuned - I’ll fill you in later.
Can you believe it’s only ten more sleeps until Christmas morning? This means only nine more shopping days.
You’re running out of time so better start running to our local merchants to see if they can help you out with those last-minute Christmas list wishes.
Have a great week and thank you for shopping and dining local……………… first.