Vignettes

What I Want For Christmas

Sometimes not getting what you ask for is just what you need.

No matter where I go this week, I couldn't seem to avoid that inevitable question.  “What do you want for Christmas?” I guess that's one of those things—those many, many things—that has become more difficult as I got older. After all, back when I was little, we’d start writing our Christmas lists sometime around September. Seriously. That was when the Sears and Roebuck catalog appeared in our mailbox. It was the late '60s, early '70s version of today’s Disney Channel commercials—hour after hour (or, in our case, page after page) of the newest gadgets, the neatest gizmos, and, of course, the most wonderful toys any child dared to hope for. We never really had a lot, but we hoped anyway, and we fervently copied the full proper name of our …

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Churches Set Christmas Services

Find out where you can attend services Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Faith Bible Church, at the corner of Mantua Grove and Grove roads, will hold a candlelight service Christmas Eve at 7 p.m. and a special candle lighting ceremony 11 a.m. Christmas day. Colonial Manor United Methodist Church, 56 Elberne Ave., will hold a Christmas Eve service at 7 p.m. and a Christmas service at 10 a.m. Gateway Christian Church, 751 Delaware Street, will hold a Christmas Eve service at 6 p.m. and a Christmas Day service at 11 a.m. St. Paul's United Methodist Church, 74 Church St., will hold two Christmas Eve services of candlelight and carols at 5 and 7 p.m., and a Christmas morning service at 11. Southwood Baptist Church, 11 Griscom Ln., will hold a Christmas Eve service at 6 p.m. and a Christmas morning service at 10:30. …

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Christmas Shipping Deadlines Begin Today

The last day to send First Class through USPS is today.

Want to mail something out from West Deptford in time for Christmas? The time to hit the post office is now! FedEx is offering a variety of shipping options throughout the week, and on Sunday, Dec. 25, is offering FedEx Same Day shipping. USPS also recommends using its website to print shipping labels and pay for postage or using one of their Automated Postal Centers, which, like ATMs, perform many of the same functions of a trip to the post office. And if you want to overnight something by Thursday, USPS Express Mail may cost a little more, but it may also get your gift to the right door at the right time.

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Docimo Rides As Santa One Last Time

The newly-retired mayor spent her day Thursday distributing toys, food and gifts to families and seniors as part of the annual holiday drive.

Anna Docimo may have given up the gavel and center seat on the dais at the West Deptford municipal building when she retired a mayor just over a week ago, but there was one thing she was hanging on to at least a little bit longer. Her Santa suit. Docimo made one last ride in her sleigh–an SUV packed to the roof with turkeys and hams–Thursday morning to distribute food and gifts, more than $16,000 worth, all donated by residents and local companies, from the ninth annual Mayor's Holiday Toy and Food Drive. For Docimo, it was another chance to reach out and touch the lives of locals–46 families and 21 senior citizens this year–and hopefully bring a few smiles ahead of Christmas. “It feels good every year, it never changes,” she said. “It's …

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Vignettes

The Holiday Hits the Stage

The play's the thing...to put you in the holiday spirit. Check out these area offerings, featuring West Deptford residents.

At Saint Patrick’s School—back when I was little and it was open—our music classes from the first day of school until December were all about one thing: getting ready for the Christmas Show. St. Pat’s was a first- through eighth-grade elementary school at the time, and each grade presented a two- or three-song presentation at the annual event. First we’d practice in our classrooms, learning the words and even attempting harmonies as a nun with a portable plug-in organ would pound out holiday songs both secular and spiritual. Once the musical part was mastered (as well as it can be by 50 little kids in uniform), we’d practice our entrances, standing single file shortest to tallest and lining up on risers in the cafeteria, where the smell of…

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Deck Your House and Win $100,000 for West Deptford Public Schools

Get out the lights and holly–your decorating could net $100,000 to our schools. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to win a big gift to West Deptford Public Schools.

Patch.com is launching a nationwide contest to find the best dressed home in its Patch communities, and the winner’s school district will receive $100,000–no strings attached. Here’s how the contest works. Beginning on Dec. 8 and continuing through Dec. 26, you can nominate your home by uploading a photo to the contest entry form on the site. During that same time period you and your neighbors will also be able to vote for your favorite festive home. The winning entry will be forwarded to a national Patch judge that will select 24 finalists. Each finalist will receive $500 that they can apply to their December electric bill. From Dec. 30 through Jan. 8 you will be able to vote for the Best Decked House in all of Patch. The grand prize …

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'Deck the House' in Patch's $100,000 School Donation Contest

Our big holiday decoration contest will also enable 24 finalists to win $500 each toward their electric bills.

‘Tis the season to Deck the House—and Patch wants to reward those with the best decorated houses in Patchland. Between Dec. 8 and Dec. 26, residents of Patch towns around the country–this means you, West Deptford–are encouraged to post photos and videos of their “decked out” houses to our site as part of a national contest that could net the West Deptford school district $100,000. There will be more than 800 local winners, who will represent their Patch communities in the national contest. Judges will then choose 24 finalists who will get up to $500 toward their December electric bills. A grand-prize winner will be selected from the finalists and a $100,000 contribution will be made to the local public school district in which the winner …

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Vignettes

Good Night, John Boy

The 40th anniversary of "The Homecoming" reunites the Waltons—and reignites the meaning of Christmas.

A few years ago, a friend of one of my children hurled an unusual insult at me. We arguing about my being over-protective, and he chose these words to  attack my attempts at setting a curfew: “You’re such a Walton!” Of course, being in argument mode, I matched his slur with a pop-culture putdown of my own. “Well, it’s better than being a Soprano.” (This had nothing to do with his ethnic background and everything to do with criminal activity. Just sayin’.) But despite my well-chosen retort, I was secretly pleased at his accusation. Sure, I know it meant that he (and perhaps the rest of the world) thought I was hopelessly behind the times, holding onto old-fashioned values and ideas, and maybe even that I didn’t dress well. So be it. I have …

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Community Groups Team Up for Holidays

A number of organizations in and around West Deptford are working together during the Thanksgiving and Christmas season.

Schools, businesses, churches and political parties broke out the turkeys and stuffing again this year, with the hope, as always, of brightening families’ holiday. And this Thanksgiving, it was all about partnership. At Green-Fields Elementary, students, teachers and parents joined together to put together their annual food drive, but the teamwork didn’t end there–guidance counselor Kelly Hansbury worked with Theresa Bond and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul at Infant Jesus Parish, just over Mantua Pike at St. Margaret Church in Deptford, to make those donations go even further. “It's just worked out tremendously,” Hansbury said. “It's the whole community helping each other out.” Between the school and the church, they were able to help …

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