Karla's Kolumn: The Christmas spirit

I believe Worland has found the Christmas spirit and in abundance this year.

It started on Nov. 24 with the RT Communications Trim-A-Tree Lighting Ceremony. It was the first year and having been in attendance I felt it was a spectacular success. There were a couple hundred people in attendance including the families of those who trimmed the trees.

People arrived early and stayed late. The music by the Sugar Beats was wonderful.

It was a nice, hometown Christmas event where people could gather and visit and just enjoy life in a small town.

Pioneer Square all lit up, along with the decorations on Big Horn and the lights on Tenth make Worland one of the more festive cities in the Big Horn Basin when it comes to Christmas.

The Christmas fun continued on the following Saturday, Dec. 1 with a full day of Christmas events including Kiwanis' Breakfast with Santa, Santa in Pioneer Square, free chili and hot chocolate, open houses and shopping downtown and then the largest and best Christmas Parade of Lights since I've been here. There were some spectacular floats this year and the people mingling around the city seemed to be having a grand time.

Mother Nature was even in the Christmas spirit providing decent weather (for December) for all the events.

Then last weekend came the Festival of Trees with the auction Friday night to raise funds for a variety of non-profit organizations in the area and plenty of entertainment on Saturday.

The Christmas spirit continues to flow this weekend, flowing over to Ten Sleep for their annual parade of lights.

The Christmas spirit abounds through the generosity of the community as well.

We sponsored the Silver Tree for the first time to make some seniors in the Worland area have a merry Christmas. The project started after our ad manager Amanda Owens wanted the Daily News to get involved with the community in some way this holiday.

We figured we'd start small this year not knowing the response and the response was overwhelming with the tags disappearing quickly.

The angel trees to help children in the area also are emptying fast with their tags being filled by generous residents and the Toys For Tots baskets in stores are filling up. There are still a few tags available at the Big Horn Federal angel tree.

And, let's not forget law enforcement getting into the spirit with their annual Shop With A Cop program.

If you're looking for a place for your generosity to spill over there are many wonderful local charities to donate to - Worland Food Pantry, Big Horn Basin Chapter of Sleep in Heavenly Peace providing beds for children around the Big Horn Basin; Washakie Hospital Foundation and Playing for Hope helping local cancer patients and many others.

I always encourage people to give locally first before donation to national charities because the majority of the local charities do not spend money on salaries, the money actually goes to help those in need.

You can also lend a helping hand to a neighbor you might know.

Recently, the Red Cross of Wyoming had to help Worland resident Robyn Hance and her son. They are hoping to be moving into a new home next week but will need kitchen and furniture supplies. Monetary donations can be made to Big Horn Federal. Contact the Red Cross of Wyoming for more information on ways to help.

Small items can be dropped off at Hance's mother's home at 825 South 14th or donations of material items can be facilitated through the Red Cross of Wyoming by calling Gehrig Haberstock at 307-251-2231.