Our December issue focuses on holiday fun, food and articles. We feature different parts of our region to let you know about the interesting holiday traditions and where festivities are taking place. I know I was surprised by how long some of these holiday events have been in existence. For example, Oakton Church in Lamar, Missouri, has been putting on a living nativity scene for 68 years! That is amazing. If you’re in a Hallmark Christmas Movie mood, be sure to head to Fort Scott, Kansas, the first weekend in December and check out Christmas on the Bricks. And it seems like good, old-fashioned Christmas tree farms are a thing of the past, but you can read about one in Southwest Missouri that is going strong and continuing to provide memories for local families.

We also focus on holiday food, such as holiday snacks, “shopping” for your holiday meal in nature rather than in the grocery store and making festive charcuterie boards.

New in 2026 will be an etiquette Q&A each month. I know, etiquette? Snooze, right? Wrong. Etiquette isn’t about being stuffy, hoity-toity or better than someone. It isn’t just about knowing which fork to use. It’s an easy way to be aware of the way your actions impact the people around you. Think of it as another form of non-verbal communication. I don’t know about you, but I think getting back to being polite and thinking of others certainly can’t be a bad thing. So if you have an etiquette question, let me know. We’ll find the answer for you.  

I hope you all have blessed and happy holidays!

Sincerely,

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