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While national political leaders are ready to redefine gun control laws in response to the Dec. 14 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., the head of Winlock’s schools said local officials are taking the opportunity to emphasize and redefine the way teachers and students train to stay safe during an attack.

Superintendent Shannon Criss said Winlock’s schools already practice lockdown and evacuation drills and administrators are now reevaluating how effective these drills have been and what threats should be incorporated into them.

Since the middle of September, a local lady has been busy starting up and teaching a beginner’s quilting class near Winlock.

Ruth Gillaspie and her pupils have been meeting every Tuesday from 10 a.m. to noon at the Seventh Day Adventist Church’s Fellowship Hall. That might not seem like a lot of time, but just take a gander at how much they’ve done.

Toys from a host of generous donors were given to area children from the Toledo Food Bank Friday in addition to regular giveaways.

Multiple local businesses and community organizations were involved with donations, including Toledo Middle School’s Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD), who featured a fundraiser and shopping trip. The Elementary School also held a Toy Drive contest to help contribute to the giveaways.

Happy Boxing Day! Boxing Day in Canada and the UK is the day after Christmas Day. Traditionally, it was a day when employers distributed money, food, cloth (material) or other valuable goods to their employees. In modern times, it is an important day for sporting events and the start of the post-Christmas sales.

Most of the permanent winter quarters were constructed with red cedar planking. The sleeping areas were down the two sides of the longhouse, and the cooking fires were down the center. Each cooking fire would accommodate two families, one family on each side of the longhouse; hence, a five fire longhouse could accommodate ten families, and a nine fire longhouse could accommodate eighteen families. The size of a longhouse was known by its number of fires. Each longhouse may accommodate 80-100 people. It was not uncommon for these longhouses to be 100 feet long. One on the northwest coast was known to be 900 feet in length and nearly 100 feet wide. Each longhouse sheltered all of the living members of an extended family of several generations.

CHRISTMAS is officially over with the first abandoned tree on the freeway.

7TH ANNUAL Alumni vs Alumni Basketball Game Dec. 22 at THS. Women’s game starts 2PM, followed by over-35 men’s competition, then under-35 men. $20 donation benefits THS Basketball program, and participants score a T-shirt. Contact Scott Merzoian at smerzoian@toledo.k12.wa.us to sign up.

Vader, along with other communities with small and large streams are feeling the effects of a presumably wet & windy Christmas season.

Contractors are nearing completion of the $1.3 million construction project for the Vader water system. Vader will soon have hydrants that meet code, and hopefully eliminate future breaks due to very outdated lines.

Well, can you believe Christmas is actually over? I can hardly get over it. There’s such a large build-up all through November and December that I never know what to do with myself come Dec. 26. Luckily, there’s New Year’s to console me.

The Olequa Senior Center will be offering a low-impact Aerobics class starting Jan. 14.The class is all set to last for 10 weeks, taking place every Monday and Wednesday from 9 to 10 a.m. All those sessions only cost $30 altogether, so be sure to register as soon as possible!

I recently found it necessary to ask for help in caring for my mother. I was referred to Grace Harbor Adult Family Home in Winlock.

It’s not easy giving the care of someone you love over to somebody else, but I could not have asked for better care than mom received from Marjie Carr and her very caring staff.

I just can’t thank them enough and would highly recommend Grace Harbor to anyone with that need.

The Vader City Council unanimously approved a 2013 budget with funding for a reformed Vader Police Department and without pay rate and hour increases for city employees during their Thursday meeting.

However, multiple conditions have been attached to Police Department and budget approval, all of which are expected to be addressed in the next two months.

Toledo only scored 58 points against Ilwaco in 1A Trico League play, but the Fishermen only managed 29 points in 32 minutes of basketball thanks to the Indians pressure defense. Blake Wood led Toledo scorers with 15 points while younger brother Brent contributed 15 more.

Wrestlers from Toledo, Winlock and Onalaska dominated a meet hosted by Napavine that included athletes from Adna, Napavine, Centralia and WF West.

"TWO" Winners included Rachel Archer, Marco Bautista, Logan Holbrook, Tony Raupp, Wyatt Moran, Derrek Fruin, Jerome Fehres, Case Willcut, Zack Caldwell, Thomas Quilett, Sam Holbrook, Kyle Brown, Gage McMahon, Coty Jasper and Hunter Wilcutt.

Driver airlifted after Toledo collision
A Toledo woman was airlifted to Seattle after striking a utility pole during a collision near Toledo Dec. 19, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

Danial D. Duffin, 36, of Vader, is being sought by law enforcement on $10,100 in warrants.

Note: The Sheriff’s Office has since reported this warrant is no longer active.