Santa Claus dropped in at the Borden Co-op hardware after lunch Dec. 15 to talk to the children and have photos taken, while the staff served hot chocolate and Christmas baking. Winning door prizes were: kids' basket of goodies, Liam Walker; guess the candies in the jar, Casey Wensley; and name the moose, Zoe Walker, who named it Zoe. A six-foot spruce Christmas tree went to Jim Olinyk and a bird house and other goodies went to Wendy Gough.
At the Borden seniors' Kaiser tournament Dec. 11, winning the high hands were Art and Doreen Flath. Low hand went to Eileen Petrun.
The club held its last business meeting for 2012 Dec. 12. The club is purchasing 80 new stacking chairs with padded seats, with a big thanks to Delbert Enns who has graciously donated the cost of 60 of the chairs. The plastic chairs will be donated to the hall to be used downstairs or in the hall and most of the orange padded chairs will go to the Redberry Bible camp, with a few kept for the library.
The decorating committee of Rita and Elizabeth, with the help of Audrey, were complimented on the Christmas decorating of the Seniors' Room.
The club will be serving coffee from 8 - 10 a.m. starting Dec. 27 until Jan. 13, with the exception of Sundays and Jan. 1, while the Art and Eatery are on holidays.
A Kaiser tournament will be held Jan. 8 and there will be musical entertainment at the Jan. 30 potluck supper with the Petriews' and Summers' group from Radisson providing the music.
The Riverbend Fellowship and United Church members and guests gathered together Dec. 16 at the Borden Community Centre for a potluck supper and program. Peter Thiessen opened the program with a prayer and a reminder to think of all those who are having a hard time this Christmas.
Darrel Wiebe wandered in, wanting to hear the story of why we are gathered here tonight and what is coming up in the next week or so. To tell the story, the young people from the Adventure Club put on a skit and, while studying some great masterpiece paintings of long ago, four groups told the story of Mary and Joseph and the birth of baby Jesus. The youth group put on a puppet show with the sheep telling the story of the shepherds and angels and the wondrous thing that had happened in Bethlehem, ending by asking everyone to go out and tell all the world about it.
Gayle Wensley and Pam Pidwerbesky led in community carol singing. Then Peter Thiessen was Joseph. Tony Martens as Lyndon, a reporter, interviewed Joseph on his work as a carpenter, meeting Mary and of the miracle of having a baby from the Holy Spirit, to not be afraid, travelling to Bethlehem and of the great birth of Jesus that happened there.
Pam and Gayle sang two duets together - Me and My Drum and Bless us All, then led in some carol singing.
The older students closed the program with a more modern day version of the nativity scene, starting with the innkeeper, shepherds, wise men and Mary and Joseph with the baby Jesus. Darrel came back on saying that the story hasn't really ended, we should keep Christmas in our hearts all year long. Then he donned his coat and left the building.
The children and teens all received candy bags and everyone enjoyed Christmas oranges.
The churches in Borden will all hold services at their regular times Dec. 23 - Anglican and United at 11:30 a.m., Riverbend Fellowship at 10 a.m. for Sunday School and 10:50 for the service in the Seniors' Room. There is a Christmas Eve service at the United Church Dec. 24 at 7:30 p.m. The Borden Care Home service with the Baptist church will be Dec. 24 at 3 p.m., instead of Dec. 25, but the next week the care home service will still be at 3 p.m. Jan. 1 with Riverbend Fellowship Church.
The health centre and all businesses in Borden will be closed Dec. 25 and 26 and Jan. 1. The health centre will close Dec. 24 and 31 at 2 p.m., and there will be no doctors or pharmacy available Dec. 24 - 26, Dec. 31 and Jan. 1. The pharmacy at the health centre will be open Dec. 27, 9 - 11:30 a.m. and Jan. 2 from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The doctors are back the morning of Jan. 2. Call 997-2110 for appointments.
