I received a Press Release from Maglight, the company is known for its flashlights. It was a press release that touched my heart, I hope it does for you.

From Maglight, written by Lou Desmond.

It was a snowy evening during Christmas week in Winlock, Washington and Haylee Laur was babysitting two of her youngest siblings while her parents were out picking up a new washer and dryer. Haylee, 15, was in the living room while her sisters played in other rooms when she smelled smoke. Turning to the source down the hallway she saw flames leaping from the closet that held the home heating system. Haylee had to run past the flames to get to the youngest, her sister, three-year-old Elijah (Ellie). With Ellie in her arms she made sure the other child at home, four-year-old Madison also got out. Once outside with the others they realized their beloved Pug Buddy, (who has a bad leg and trouble walking) was still inside. Crawling to avoid the smoke she went back into the house and rescued Buddy.

Addison Hall is a force to be reckoned with as well as admired both on and off the court. She was celebrated on Tuesday night, January 11, for earning over 1,000 points in her basketball career. Addison started playing basketball in 3rd grade. If you asked Addison why she decided to play basketball, she would tell you that it was "kind of" an expectation in her family that she play sports as her two brothers, Dawson and Logan did.

To Addison, the most exciting part about playing basketball is being part of a team and of course, "WINNING!"

Olequa Senior Center has made several changes and Nicole Barr was happy to give us the information about the changes she has in store for our community. Talking with Nicole, she has such enthusiasm for her new role and she is looking forward to meeting the community.

In May of 1973, Winlock welcomed a hometown hero with Christmas in May. Major Edward (Ed) Leonard was in the Vietnam war and was also a Prisoner of War (POW) for 4 years and 8 months. Now, the Winlock Historical Museum has been fortunate to receive and display many of the articles, pictures and other memorabilia of that day.

Monday, December 27 at 6:09 p.m. a fire broke out in a home off of Florence Place in Winlock. Many fire departments arrived on the scene during this snowy day. The home is a total loss and the residents in the home lost everything. The daughter of the occupant saved her other family members from being caught in the fire, definitely doing a heroic deed. This is a tough time of year to have a house fire as they had just received gifts for Christmas from the community and those too were lost. The family needs household items and monetary donations as they rebuild their home.

Trying to recap 2021 is a task like none other. We are in the middle of the worst pandemic, we have a huge surge in inflation, a huge increase in the crime rate and people are still financially struggling. Many have lost loved ones. There are still mandates which people argue about today. We were able to finally leave the stages that were enforced and affected small businesses terribly. New businesses opened and the festivals went on. This was a year like none other.

We had planned on doing an update on Nancy Sobolesky's journey, but unfortunately, she passed away on Christmas day. So instead, we are paying tribute to a lady who fought a hard battle for many months. She was loved by her family and friends. She received so many cards from the community, she was part of Winlock just as her husband Marv has been.

Marv was open about discussing her journey with us, it is the hope that the journey she had will help at least one person if they see these types of health issues.

The Centralia Washington Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which serves Lewis County and a portion of southern Thurston County, held a special Stake Conference on Sunday, December 12, 2021, at their Stake Center on Jackson Highway in Chehalis. Over 1,000 members were in attendance.

Ever spend too much time contemplating truly menial issues? Like, why does the fridge have a "d" in it while the refrigerator doesn't, or how we went from throwing tea overboard to allowing massive taxation?

Well, here is one to add to this list; why do adults always doubt the existence of Santa in Christmas movies yet are not shocked by their children's gifts that no one bought them?

It's great. The entire movie they doubt Santa's existence, yet they don't even question the brand-new bicycle parked next to the tree Christmas morning; though it's a hilarious oversight, it does make one wonder what we are overlooking as a society today. For instance, the parent that is so busy working to provide for them that they have missed their children growing up, or the individual pushing so hard to make it to the top that they've forgotten why.

The Toledo New Life Assembly church has a new pastor starting in January. Frank Corbin has been selected to lead the church in the new year. He has been a pastor for many years and he is bringing his years of experience to Toledo. You will find that Frank is a very kind man, which is needed in these times.

Pastor Corbin was raised in Cathlamet, Washington and that is where he decided to be a pastor, he stated, "I was raised in Cathlamet Assembly under the ministries of Pastor Gene Ross and Pastor Larry Bentz. I received my calling as a teenager while attending youth camp at Mayfield Lake Youth Camp. I determined at 18 years of age that while in Navy boot camp that I would begin my adult life journey serving the Lord and I have; in ministry and in secular work."