By Annabeth Miller, SMT Editor
A community Christmas tradition will continue this Saturday evening as Greg and Lisa Mathis again host the Dexter Christmas Reading.
The event is simple – yet poignant. With folks gathered together in Downtown Dexter, the Christmas Story is read from the Bible. There are carols, a prayer, and fellowship.
The Christmas Reading will be held at 6 p.m. this Saturday, Dec. 3 across from Rainey-Mathis Funeral Home on Stoddard Street.
The Mathis family began what has quickly become a community holiday tradition in 2009. It is a time to remember what the season is all about, a time for community fellowship, a time to pause from the hustle and bustle to remember and celebrate and share. It’s a short event, outside with folks bundled up and huddled around fire pits, and enjoying a few moments of simple Christmas fellowship.
Greg Mathis keeps some information on a “need to know” basis – like who will read the Nativity Story and who will lead the group in prayer.
“Lisa doesn’t even know,” he said. The reader the first year was Jim Hall, whose family home once stood on the Stoddard Street location where the holiday event is held. Lynda Lovins read the Christmas Story in 2010.
Dexter choir students under the direction of Jamie Sepulvado will sing Christmas carols. Following the reading, cider, hot chocolate and another Dexter tradition – Mrs. Menley’s Cookies – will be shared.
Photo Above: Greg Mathis, and participants Lynda Lovins and Cory Mouser, at the 2010 Dexter Christmas Reading. (SMT File Photo)
What's Happening
- WHAT: Dexter Christmas Reading
- WHEN: 6 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 3
- WHERE: 130 West Stoddard Street, across from Rainey-Mathis Funeral Hoe
- WEBSITE: The Christmas Reading
COLUMBIA – The holiday season is supposed to be merry and bright, but for many people, the seemingly endless to-do lists of decorating, shopping, gift-wrapping and parties can be exhausting. University of Missouri researchers say a few simple steps can help families reduce stress and stay healthy during the busy holiday season.
Beth Richards, director of the Missouri Arthritis and Osteoporosis Program (MAOP) based at the MU School of Health Professions, recommends slowing down to enjoy family time rather than worrying about preparing perfect holiday meals and wrapping flawless gifts.
“Rather than having one person prepare an entire holiday meal, ask family members and guests to bring side dishes, appetizers or drinks,” Richards said. “Instead of stressing about decorating the tree or making desserts from scratch, invite family and friends to help and enjoy time spent together.”
According to Richards, reducing stress also can reduce the effects of heart disease, digestive problems, immune disorders, mental health disorders and chronic pain. She advises simply taking time to slow down, relax and enjoy the holidays.
Tasty treats and family feasts are plentiful during the holidays and avoiding the urge to overindulge can be difficult. Richards says maintaining an exercise routine is the key to staying healthy and avoiding unwanted weight gain during the winter months. Keeping a routine schedule for exercise and bedtime also will ease the transition into the New Year.
“Plan ahead for indulgences like desserts or high-calorie drinks, and mix nutritious items with small portions of the not-so-healthy traditional holiday foods,” Richards said. “Making time for exercise, even in cold weather, is important for maintaining a healthy weight and managing symptoms of arthritis and chronic pain.”
Holidays can be challenging for people who have respiratory illness or chronic lung disease if family members or friends smoke at gatherings. Shawna Strickland, director for the Respiratory Therapy Program in the MU School of Health Professions, says exposure to cigarette smoke is dangerous for children who have asthma or adults who suffer from chronic bronchitis or emphysema.
“One way to minimize the impact on the person with respiratory illness is to ask the smoker to go outside while smoking a cigarette,” Strickland said. “Keeping the house smoke-free can lessen the chance of an asthma episode or worsening of lung disease.”
Imagine it. Just imagine! A large room filled with cookies. Table after table of homemade cookies!
They say the wonderful aroma hits you as soon as you walk in the front door. Cinnamon, chocolate, peppermint, spices. Cookies!
The 7th Annual Cookie Walk will be held this Saturday, Dec. 3, sponsored by the ladies of the First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
Cookies will be arranged from one end of the church’s Disciple Center to the other. There will be almost every kind imaginable – from snickerdoodles to chocolate chip and everything in between. And to prepare for the big day, the ladies have been busy working – mixing dough, forming cookie balls, cookie bars and cookie logs that will be baked and readied for the Cookie Walk.
The day of the event, guests will arrive at the Disciple Center and given a cookie box and then proceed into the table after table of cookies. Selections will be made, placed into the box, and then weighed. All proceeds from the annual holiday event will go to support the work of the Christian Women’s Fellowship.
The doors will open this Saturday at 10 a.m. for the cookie lover’ paradise … the 7th Annual Cookie Walk!
What's Happening
- WHAT: Annual Cookie Walk
- WHEN: 10 – 11:30 a.m., Saturday, Dec. 3
- WHERE: First Christian Church Disciple Center, 224 East Stoddard Street, Dexter
