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December Birthdays Merry Christmas from Belgrade Senior Center. Christmas is coming and that brings decorations, delicious food, parties with family and friends, Christmas cards with news from people we love, presents, traditions and way too many goodies! But….can you really have too many Christmas goodies? We think not! So with that in mind, on December 16th, we are going to have a Christmas Market, Cookie Decorating & Cookie/Candy Exchange More information inside! There are many special activities this month so make sure to read this carefully! We don’t want you to miss a thing! Ernie Coulston 12/1 Kevin Heaney 12/2 Mary Collins 12/2 Dwayne Fowler 12/3 Diane Riedl 12/3 Tom Border 12/3 Sheri Schloss 12/5 Susan Schwab 12/5 Phil Van Gorden 12/7 Susie Handl 12/8 Linda Peterson 12/8 Lorraine Decker 12/9 Lori Baca 12/10 Mary Sue Fulbright 12/12 Phil Young 12/12 Sue Bac 12/13 Judy Templeton 12/16 Bill Louis 12/17 Judy Wass 12/20 Carol Frank 12/20 Louis DeMaio 12/20 Jeanne Evans 12/21 Sherry Entwistle 12/21 Betty Adams 12/24 Jerry 12/26 Julie Hanson 12/26 Kristy Rieger 12/26 Karen Rogers 12/27 Scott Benedict 12/28 Kurt Jensen 12/28 Joyce Phipps 12/29 ---PAGE BREAK--- Festival of Lights Park If you haven’t driven past the Center in the last week after dark, you don’t know what you’re missing! Put on your snow boots, a nice warm coat, fuzzy mittens and your favorite winter hat and take a stroll through the Belgrade Community Coalition Light Park right in our very own back yard. I guarantee it will fill you right up with Christmas spirit! 4 Stages of Life 1. You believe in Santa Clause 2. You don’t believe in Santa Clause 3. You are Santa Claus 4. You look like Santa Clause Deck the Halls Thursday, December 1, 2022 @ 12:45 Let’s decorate this place! Joe Sutton will be here playing Christmas songs that we can sing along with while we are hanging the garland and trimming the tree! Many hands make light work so plan on joining us! Christmas Convoy Saturday, December 10, 2022 The Christmas Convoy goes right passed the Center so that makes it the perfect place to watch this magnificent Christmas tradition. We will open the Center at 5:45 PM and serve hot beverages and goodies. We can also play board games, cards or work on puzzles if you like! The convoy should arrive around 7:00 but parking could be an issue so come early! ---PAGE BREAK--- Christmas Market, Cookie Decorating & Cookie/Candy Exchange December 16, 2022 Christmas Market: Set up @10:15 Christmas Market Open from 10:30 - 2:00 Tomato Soup & Cheesy Bread Lunch: 12:00 Cookie/Candy Exchange & Cookie Decorating starts at 12:45 Christmas Market: Call and reserve a table for your hand crafted items! (1 table per person) You will be responsible to run your own table, take money and provide your own change. There is no charge to be part of the Christmas Market. Lunch: Dave is going to serve Tomato Soup and Cheesy Bread. Call to sign up for lunch. [PHONE REDACTED]. Cookie Decorating: The Center will provide sugar cookies, frosting & decorating supplies. You are welcome to bring decorating tools if you like. Cookie/Candy Exchange: Bring as many different kinds of goodies as you like to trade with others. Bring your own container to fill. Christmas Dinner December 19, 2022 at 12:00 Please call to sign up by December 16, 2022 [PHONE REDACTED] Menu Salad / Cranberry Glazed Ham / Baked Potato Casserole Maple Ginger Carrots / Dinner Rolls Pecan Pie Secret Santa Gift Exchange If you would like to be part of a Secret Santa Gift Exchange, stop by the Center for more information and to sign up. Secret Santa Assignments will be passed out December 12, 2022. You can present your gifts at your convenience. ---PAGE BREAK--- Do you enjoy Come equipped with 1-3 book choices including a brief synopsis of each so we can pick selections for the year. Also bring sug- gestions for our club name. We will meet the first Fri- day of each month at 1:00 there after. When I think of all the books still left to read, I am certain of future happiness. Jules Renard Computer Class 2nd Friday of the month starting January 13, 2023 Starting on January 13th, the Belgrade Library is partnering with the Senior Center to provide technology classes every month. Unless otherwise communicated, the classes will happen on the 2nd Friday each month and will include topics such as smart phones, Microsoft Excel, and internet privacy and security along with suggested topics from those attending the class. The class will take place after lunch at 12:45PM at the Center. Coming in January reading? Then let’s start a Book Club! Join us January 6, 2023 at 1:00 for the first meeting of the Belgrade Senior Center Book Club! ---PAGE BREAK--- On Christmas Eve 1914, in the dank, muddy trenches on the Western Front of the first world war, a remarkable thing happened. It came to be called the Christmas Truce and it remains one of the most storied and strangest moments of the Great War—or of any war in history. The Germans began singing carols, and in the darkness, some of the British soldiers began to sing back. Then the voice of an enemy soldier, speaking in English with a strong German accent said, “Come over here.” One of the British sergeants answered, “You come half-way. I come half-way.” What happened next would, in the years to come, stun the world and make history. Enemy sol- diers began to climb nervously out of their trenches, and to meet in the barbed-wire-filled “No Man’s Land” that separated the armies. Normally, the British and Germans communicated across No Man’s Land with streaking bullets, but now there were handshakes and words of kindness. The soldiers traded songs, tobacco and wine, joining in a spontaneous holiday party in the cold night. One British fighter named Ernie Williams described his recollection of some makeshift soccer play. "The ball appeared from somewhere, I don't know where... They made up some goals and one fellow went in goal and then it was just a general kick-about. I should think there were about a couple of hundred taking part.” Today, a memorial stands in England’s National Memorial Arboretum commemorating the Christmas Truce, dedicated by Prince William of England. On the 100th anniversary in 2014, the English and German national soccer teams staged a friendly match in England in remem- brance of the soldiers’ impromptu soccer games in 1914. (England won 1-0.) . You can read the complete story at www.history.com/news/christmas-truce-1914-world-war-i-soldier-accounts. A Christmas Truce Information taken from History.com Christmas Word Scramble 1.Scrooge 2.Caroling 3.Stars 4.Chestnuts 5.Uphold 6.Santa 7.packages 8.Shepherds 9.Manger 10.Angel 11.Mistletoe 12.Nativity 13.Stocking 14.Saviour 15.Wreath 16.Sleigh 17.Snowman 18.Jesus 19.Ornaments 20.Christmas ---PAGE BREAK--- Recipes from our Members Thank you Kath Simonson and Tim Linn for sharing some of your favorite recipes with us! Tim’s Corn Chowder Tim Linn 2 - 14.75 oz cans cream style corn 1 bag frozen stew vegetables 2 cups half & half 1 tbsp sugar (optional) Mix all ingredients except Half & Half and simmer on hour on stove top or until vegetables are cooked through. Bring Half & Half to same temperature as corn & vegetable mixture by warming in microwave so it will not curdle. Add together and stir thor- oughly. Keep warm until serving below a simmer. Optional Cooking: Microwave covered for 25 minutes (1200 watt unit) in appropriate microwave/ convection oven cookware. Cream of Tomato Soup Tim Linn 32 oz (2 quart) canned tomatoes 1 oz butter 1 onion 2 tbsp sugar 1 celery stalk chopped 2 cups half & half Pinch of baking soda Mix all ingredients except half & half and simmer for 1 hour. Bring half & half to same temperature as tomato mixture or it will curdle. Add together and serve. Sugared Nuts Kath Simonson 1 egg white 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1 - 22 oz can salted nuts Beat egg white until foamy. Stir in sugar, cinnamon and nuts. Spread on greased cookie sheet for one hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Double the recipe for 1 - 40 oz Costco mixed nuts. Coconut Macaroons Kath Simonson 1 - 14oz bag sweetened flaked coconut 3/4 cup plus 2 sweetened condensed milk 1 tsp vanilla extract 2 large egg whites 1/4 tsp salt 4 oz semi-sweet chocolate • Preheat the oven to 325°F. Set two oven racks near the center of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Do not use wax paper. The macaroons will stick. • In a medium bowl, mix together the coconut, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla extract. Set aside. • In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the egg whites and salt until stiff peaks form. Use a large rubber spat- ula to fold the egg whites into the coconut mixture. • Using a mini ice cream scoop or two spoons, form heaping tablespoons of the mixture into mounds on the pre- pared baking sheets, spacing about 1 inch apart. Bake for 23 to 25 minutes, rotating the pans from top to bot- tom and front to back, until the tops and edges are golden. Let cool on the pans for a few minutes, then trans- fer to a wire rack to cool completely. • If dipping the macaroons in chocolate, melt the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl at medium power, stopping and stirring at 30 second intervals, until just smooth and creamy. Dip the bottoms of the macaroons in the chocolate, letting any excess drip back into the bowl, and return to the lined baking sheets. Place the maca- roons in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes to allow the chocolate to set. The cookies keep well in an air- tight container at room temperature for about a week. ---PAGE BREAK--- ---PAGE BREAK--- The Center will be closed December 23 & 26, 2022 and January 2, 2023 Happy New Year’s on December 30, 2022 Finger Food Buffet at 12:00 noon Please call to sign up by December 27, 2022 [PHONE REDACTED]