KILGOROUND

WHILE WE'RE patting ourselves on the back over how wonderful our downtown is during the Christmas season, let's be sure and pat Charles Miller on the back, too.

CHARLES, from Gladewater, has erected every KHPF derrick since the restoration project began in 1987.

WHEN the hailstorm last spring wiped out the lights on the derricks, we all knew someone had a big job ahead of them.

CHARLES, often with one helper, put a lamp on his hat and, in the coolness of the pre-dawn, scurried up the derricks day after day after day, replacing bulbs and repairing electrical connections.

AND the derricks, thanks to Charles, look better this season than they have in years.

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TELL THE TRUTH. Don't you abhor glitter?

THE envelope you've re-

ceived obviously contains a greeting card and, even though you know better, you fail to hold it over the kitchen sink while you open it. Glitter cascades silently across the floor, slips into the cracks and sifts into the rug.

ALAS, such is the price of good cheer.

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YOUR Kilgore Chamber of Commerce reported this week that the Mt. Kilgore Snow Hill drew people from three states - Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma - to downtown last Friday and Saturday.

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AN email received here this week offers advice on how to make sure you avoid a trip to the emergency room this holiday season.

IT includes things like be cautious when you use sharp objects to open packages, wear a helmet when sledding, avoid overloading electrical outlets, and such.

NO mention of staying off the grandson's pogo stick; that deserves a spot on the list.

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THE RUSSIAN government has passed a law allowing critics of government to be charged with treason.

WAS there ever a people with such an overpowering inferiority complex? And was there ever a nation that so completely deserved its inferiority complex?

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EATING Well magazine, one of our favorite publications, recommends putting peanut butter on your morning toast and lists all kinds of health reasons for that recommendation.

IS it any wonder we read that monthly from cover to cover?

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HAPPY birthday today (Sunday) to Harold Payne, Jackie Gillespie, Mrs. Claude Hall, Dennie Beard, Neil Comer, Mika Conner, Patricia Sprayberry, Matthew Porter, Lillie B. Smith, Emma Bell, Janelle Tidmore, Jo Ann Beall, Dony Franklin, Vernon Alexander, Donna Hale, Justin Daily, Andy Szekely.

HAPPY birthday Monday to Lindsey Sachse, Stanley Ater, Donna Smith, Laura Murphy, Steve Mobley, Windy McMillan, Loretta Ross, Leigh Andrea Hamilton, Ebony Thompson, Cathrina Swaim, Herbert Poulter, Wade Miller, Al Grush III, Lydia Wheat, Frieda Kulak, Kami Campbell, Glenn Baron, Justin Cabbiness, Jami Sullivan, Alicia Lyle, Billy Jack Vaughan, Joshua Paul Johnson, Ricky Glenn Joyner.

HAPPY anniversary Monday Riley and Serena Jones, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Knight, Mr. and Mrs. Harry Morrison, Mr. and Mrs. Tully Borders.