Just Among Friends

The Neshoba Central School District recently announced the Teachers of the Year for the 2021-2022 school year. The Elementary School Teacher of the Year is Mary Lou Johnson, Middle School Teacher of the Year is Cassie White, and High School Teacher of the Year is Sedera Anderson. Congratulations to each one of them for this well deserved recognition.

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The Patriarch of the Prince family marked a momentous birthday on December 19.  Jimmy Prince celebrated his 91st birthday with his family. He and his wife, Phyllis, were happy to have their children help make the day special. Happy Birthday!

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Thanks to Kelly Dansby Little's efforts, every 5th grade student at Philadelphia Elementary School received a wrapped Christmas present of a board game from generous parents and members of the community.

Kelly got the idea from a post by a teacher online and thought it would be fun for her students.  The last day of school before Christmas break, each student in her classes had a gift waiting for them. They played "Dirty Santa which many had never played before and had a hilarious time trading gifts.  

The purpose of this activity was to give the students an opportunity to take a break from technology and interact with friends over the break. By spending real time with others, and playing board games, language and vocabulary skills might be enhanced. Interacting in a positive way with their peers or other children can be vital to their social development even in a short time period. Kelly worked very hard to make this happen.  She offered to pick up gifts, wrap them, and do whatever she could to complete this by the required date. It apparently was a huge success!  

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The Philadelphia Rotary Club recognized three local high school students as Students of the Month for December, 2021. This is an honor awarded to outstanding students each month who are nominated by the school guidance counselors.

This month's students were Kayla Farmer from Choctaw Central High School, T'Kenzlie Moore, Philadelphia High School, and Faith Shumaker, Neshoba Central High School.  The students were introduced by the Rotary Club President, Elizabeth Froshe. Guidance counselors from the respective schools were also guests of the club. Congratulations!

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Christmas this year was truly a joyous one for us. Candler and Bert Foster and our granddog, Abbie, arrived early on Monday morning from Dallas. My brother, Ronald Grenko, came in on Wednesday from Albuquerque, New Mexico to spend several days with us.

It had been two years since we have been together for Christmas and it was wonderful. Packages were delivered for several days before Ronald arrived filled with edible treats. One of my favorites was something I have not eaten in many, many years.  It is a European pastry called "povatica" which my mother and aunts made at Christmas for as long as I can remember. It has become a gourmet delicacy and is available from a limited number of online sources.  

It consists of a very thin buttery dough stretched out and spread with a filling of ground English walnuts eggs, butter, and cinnamon. It is then carefully rolled up and coiled into a baking pan and baked. When it is sliced, layers and layers of filling sandwiched between the thing dough are revealed. It is delicious! I felt as though I were eating memories with every bite. Of course, my mother's and aunt''s povaticas were absolutely fantastic, but the commercial one was tasty. 

My brother took us to dinner at Phillip M's where we had a marvelous time. Sunday we returned to celebrate Romily's and my 52nd Anniversary and Candler's new job. We had a fire in the fireplace each night and just relaxed. Time spent with my little family is so very precious to me. I was so very thankful to have it.