2 Deadline for next issue of "Mirror" - Jan. 3.1994 process, it edifies, the editor apologizes. EDITORIAL: The masthead of the next "Mirror" will read Volume Vil, Issue 1, meaning that the South Marysburgh Mirror will be going into its 7th calendar vear of publica- tion. The goal is the 10th year, but you the reader, and | the editor, may get tired of each other before then, or the postal rates may go up..... who knows what can happen in three years. Itis fun announcing your teas, bazaars, carnivals, fairs, plays, concerts, meetings and all the other events that have taken place over the years. It is fun to announce your sales and run your various ads as well. They are what keeps the "Mirror* coming out each ; month. When the "Mirror" first started to publish, it was thought that an issue every two months or so, up to eight issues a year, should be about the max- imum needed to cover the things going on in the community. The past two years there have been eleven issues a year, and could have been twelve, to cover the activities and events. Thisis a busy community. If you don't think s0, just read the coming events. And here it is Christmas time again. That time of year when we make lists of things to do; gifts we have to give, gifts we'd like to give, to receive; parties and events we must attend; food that must be made ready. Busy! Busy! Busy! The stress of just getting ready for Christmas, makes The Day an anti-climax and something of a disappointment. (Where is the new CD we said we wanted? Where is the appreciative words of our family when the Christmas Feast is set on the table? Where is the thanks for the special sweater we searched so hard to find?) And then there are the bills that will come in in January, for the gifts we didn't have the cash for... that's the month our car insurance comes due as well. Is it all worth it? Retailers will say its all worth it. The Christmas season is the time of year when retail stores hope to recoup their losses. They want to give vent to our desire to outdo each successive Christmas. They want us to spend more. And the Christmas advertising appeals to our acquisitiveness, making us want for more and more. And sure, every dollar spent boosts the economy. As the kids would say ... NOT. The South Marysburgh Mirror is published to present current, interesting, fun and frivolous information to the residents of South Marysburgh, and those who wish they were. It is intended to entertain, and if in the Editor: Bev Walker. To com plain, explain, disciaim, inform or advise; to contribute items for the paper; or for additional copies; please contact the above at tel. (613)476-6771, or write to RR # 3, Picton, Ontario, KOK 2T0.This paper is published regularly (perhaps 8 issues per year) when there is something of interest to putinto it. If nothing of interest is happening, you will know by its not being written about. Opinions expressed are those of the editor, uniess otherwise stated. it won't help the economy, if over-spending puts people into personal bankruptcy. It won't help the economy if people are still paying off Christmas giving in July, when retailers are hoping to have sold all the sum- mer things they have been hype-ing since Christrias. We have forgotten that Christmas, means "Christ Mass'. It was the special day to celebrate the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah, the son of God. A day to express our love for each other, as we have beer taught to believe that God loves us. If your roots are not in Christianity, or were, but have withered, the idea of spending great sums of money to celebrate something that has no sig- nificance in your life, makes even less sense. But its so much easier to let cost of gift outweigh the thought behind it. its = as if we believe that if we buy some- thing expensive, it will make up for our paying little real attention to the recipient of the gift and the fact that we have no idea of their interests or needs and no idea what to give them. We SN equate money with love, and assume ) y¥ that an expensive gift that panders to Yom the greed of the recipient, will express \ our love better than a gift we made or selected, that could hold real meaning for the giver as well as the recipient. We are guilty of this with our children, who have been conditioned to be disappointed if they do not receive a flood of forgettable, costly items on Christmas morning. The giving of giving of Christmas gifts should be reciprocal, not retaliatory. Do | like Christmas? Of course | do, but not the exhaustion and let-down that hits on Christmas Day, when in spite of all my best intentions, best efforts and best laid plans, the event does not live up to my expec- tations, nor, and this is worse, the expectations of my family, for whom in my pride and stupidity, | thought! was doing it all. | let the hype of the season get to me, and expect magnificent, great things from it, and am vastly disappointed when they don't materialize. Remember "keeping Christmas is good, but sharing it with others is meaningful as we make it. From all of us, Clifford, Kathleen and I, a very Merry Christmas,