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Christmas Tree By: Councilman Leroy Kingery This seems to be a good time to share some examples of community pride and good things from the Douglas citizens. Douglas has its share of problems, but we also have our share of community members who have pride in our community and do small things that make this a great place to live. I recently went out to lunch with a close friend and he shared a recent experience with me. He has been walking the bike path along the river and several days ago noticed a Cedar tree along the path fairly far south toward the I-25 bridge. As he approached, something red caught his attention up in the tree. Upon getting closer he could see that it was a red Christmas stocking apparently placed there on purpose by someone. The following day there was another Christmas ornament, and as several days have passed, more ornaments have been added. He added his Christmas ornament and Debra and I visited the area and took pictures. I may just add our ornament! I think this is a great little event and hope you will take the time to do a short walk to see the Christmas Tree! "Thank you" goes to each of you that contributed, and especially to the person who started this simple little event. I will be watching our Christmas Tree! I hope you will too! Probably about a year ago, this same friend had shared with me his concern about trash accumulating along the northern portion of the bike trail. Some of the trash seemed to be construction materials from the housing area above, but certainly not all of it. I shared this with our City Administrator and word was passed on to the contractors working in the area. The contractors and a concerned group of citizens have cleaned up the area and are now policing it more often. My friend made a point of reminding me that the area has been looking great! Thanks to all who have helped with this, including the hikers that pick up trash as they walk. A small effort by many makes a job like this quite easy. Community pride! For several years, the Esterbrook community has been providing Christmas gifts for a needy family. There are many other groups in our community that do likewise. When we take the gifts to the distribution center, it is overwhelming to see the amount of Christmas gifts that are being provided for delivery in our community. There are many caring people in our area who do wonderful things for those living near us as well as those living far away. We live in a wonderful community, and it is you people living here that make it such a great place to live. As a City Council person, I thank you from the bottom of my heart, and I know from working with them that Mayor Jones, Councilmen Tony Reynolds, Doug Olson, and John Bartling and our City Administrator, Tony Tolstedt, feel the same. Merry Christmas to all of you from the City of Douglas and all of the city employees. ---PAGE BREAK---