Olathe news briefs for the week of Dec. 23

City Council
The Olathe City Council will next meet Tuesday, January 7, at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chamber at City Hall for a regular session. Regular sessions are broadcast live on OGN (Comcast channel 7, AT&T channel 99 and on the City’s website). To see the complete agenda for this meeting, visit the City’s website at OlatheKS.org.  For a recap of the previous Council meeting, visit the City Clerk’s webpage.

City Holiday Schedule
City of Olathe offices will close at noon on Tuesday, December 24 and remain closed on December 25 for the Christmas holiday. Monday and Tuesday trash recycling collection will occur on schedule. City offices will also be closed on January 1 for the New Year’s holiday. Monday and Tuesday trash and recycling collection will occur on schedule.

Chartrand…

To Whom It May Concern:  Merry Christmas

David Chartrand

Every Christmas the mail brings warm holiday greetings from old friends who publish annual news updates about their families. These highly informative reports often are designed to resemble miniature newspapers, featuring many correctly spelled words and a year’s supply of exclamation marks.

I’ll bet you receive these, too.  I’ll bet yours are a lot like mine.

To All Our Dear Friends:
Hello and MERRY CHRISTMAS to all!!

Please forgive this somewhat impersonal holiday letter. We have so many friends we want to say hello to this time of year and our lives are so hectic there’s never enough time to remember everyone’s names.

2012 was a MEMORABLE year for the Richolson family!!!

No bargain is worth holiday shopping mania

Chuck Kurtz

When it comes to getting a good deal, well, I’m right there — at the head of the line if possible.

But you’ll never — NEVER — catch me pitching a tent on a concrete sidewalk next to a store front’s sliding glass doors days before the Black Friday sales begin, or in the case of this year for what now is being labeled Brown Thursday. Besides, it would be my luck I would end up not hearing the alarm clock, over-sleeping and then waking up to the sounds of people shuffling past the tent on their way into the store.

In my 63 years, I’ve taken part in two — just two — of what I have come to label as shopping hysteria calamity. The first one took place nearly 30 years ago at the Olathe Feeney’s Hallmark store. It was the big “sale” day after Christmas and wife Terri desperately wanted a Christmas tree ornament she was collecting that was to go on sale. Only she had to work.

So I “volunteered” to go buy it for her.

Enjoy the holiday seasons of the past at the Johnson County Museum

Starting this Saturday, Nov. 30, the Johnson County Museum offers two ways to step back in time and enjoy the holiday season.

A Very Fifties Christmas, hosted by The 1950s All-Electric House at the Johnson County Museum, 6305 Lackman Road, Shawnee, showcases the holiday celebrations and space age decorations of a 1950s holiday. Throughout the house there are trendy examples of homemade and commercial Christmas decorating ideas, many of which will be familiar to the babyboomer generation as they come directly from the pages of 1950s women’s magazines like Family Circle and Good Housekeeping.

Olathe news briefs for the week of Nov. 18

City Council
The Olathe City Council will next meet Tuesday, November 19, at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chamber at City Hall for a regular session. Regular sessions are broadcast live on OGN (Comcast channel 7, AT&T channel 99 and on the City’s website). To see the complete agenda for this meeting, visit the City’s website at OlatheKS.org.  For a recap of the previous Council meeting, visit the City Clerk’s webpage.

Annual WinterFest and Mayor’s Tree Lighting December 6
It’s time to kick off the holiday season at the annual Olathe WinterFest, Friday, December 6 in the R.R. Osborne Plaza at Olathe City Hall.  The event runs from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. and is highlighted by the Mayor’s Christmas Tree lighting.  The main stage will feature the arrival of Santa Claus, music groups from Olathe schools and a variety of local talent.  Food and warm beverages will be available for purchase.