This week, millions of Americans shop in a mad dash to beat the holiday finish line. The seasonal chaos will ring up billions on credit cards, as our stockings are once more stuffed to bursting. It's the most wonderful time of the year, to be sure. ...more

December 23, 2009

I am writing to voice my disgust about the cover of an advertising supplement included with the Nov.10 edition of Highlands Today. The cover shows a beautiful, joyous, young lady frolicking with the American flag announcing this retailer's Veterans Day sale. The message being: celebrate yet another holiday by gleefully shopping. The advertising copy also goes on to say that this is all part of "the magic of..." this company. They can keep their magic in as much as I plan to never set foot in one of their stores. To use Veterans Day to promote a wonderful time to have a sale is tasteless and disrespectful. Of course, I am absolutely certain that no one from that retailer, the ad agency, the media that distributes the circular will step up to the plate and admit to it being in bad taste. I could suggest that every veteran and their families boycott companies that have a flagrant disregard for the meaning of Veterans Day by using it for commercial self-promotion, but, those companies could care less unless it hurts their public image on a national scale. ...more

November 16, 2009

The experience of the Highlands County Concert Band joins forces with the enthusiasm of Sebring High School's top band students for a musical wonderland of holiday sounds at 7:30 p.m., Friday at the South Florida Community College Auditorium. ...more

December 11, 2008

Here's a way to get into the Halloween spirit (err, spirits) in a ghoulish way. ...more

October 26, 2008

You can see it on the faces of people you pass on the street. Something's different. Maybe it's the glow of cheeks flushed a bit less red by approaching heat exhaustion. Maybe it's the extra bounce that comes with a 2 percent drop in afternoon humidity. Maybe it's the excited grin as Floridians across the state anticipate the most wonderful time of the year: the end of the hurricane season. ...more

October 5, 2008

My all-time favorite commercial is the one from a few years back where a father with an ear-to-ear grin is pushing a shopping cart through a Staples store, gleefully tossing in school supplies as his dejected children follow glumly behind and "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" plays in the background. ...more

August 18, 2008

Valuable Christmas Lessons Learned The day after Christmas, my girls and I decided to take their grandmother to the beautiful area of Tampa for a warm weather retreat. We enjoyed 80-degree weather and came back to a light dusting of snow in Chattanooga, Tenn., on our return Tuesday. The shock of the cold weather has kept me in my pajamas! Our time there was glorious except for one little mishap that taught me several invaluable lessons. ...more

January 3, 2008

LAKELAND - The holiday season is far from the most wonderful time of the year for those mourning the loss of loved ones. To soothe their grief, some churches now offer more somber "Blue Christmas" services. ...more

December 26, 2007

A cheeky hairdresser who is trying to get into heaven by saving Christmas for a family in need is bringing the holiday spirit to West Pasco. In "A Show Palace Christmas," now playing at the Show Palace Dinner Theatre, in Hudson, audiences can enjoy traditional holiday music, high-energy dances and a family-oriented story. ...more

November 28, 2007

It's called the Most Wonderful Time of the Year. It's the crazed five weeks beginning the day after Thanksgiving and ending on New Year's Day. ...more

November 21, 2007