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Holiday WellnessGet Up & MovingWinter brings fewer hours of sunlight during the day, and per the National Sleep Foundation, darkness naturallycauses the brain to release melatonin, a hormone that triggers sleepiness. Exercise can counteract this drowsiness.Add Herbal SupplementsHerbal supplements can help support overall health. For example, the supplement turmeric, derived from rootextracts of the Curcuma longa plant, is widely regarded to have numerous positive healthimplications.Get Ample RestThe National Sleep Foundation recommends older adults get at least 7-8 hours of sleepeach night for optimal health.Boost ImmunityDuring the winter months, when fresh fruit can be harder to find, supplements like Echinacea & Vitamin C from Nature’s Way can be another source of vitamin C.Maintain Skin HealthYou can take steps to minimize painful redness and flakiness or cracking by regularly moisturizing your skin with fragrance-free lotions and herbal oils.Note: Always consult your healthcare provider when contemplating new ideas to promote betterhealth.(Courtesy of Family Features) LPiSTRONG BODIES!WEIGHT TRAINING & HEALTHY EATING CLASSCost: FREEMondays and Wednesdays10:00 a.m. - 11:15 a.m.Online via ZoomRegister at: https://bit.ly/pocostrongCall: 715-343-6254Email: Penny.Schmitt@wisc.eduThis is an awesome free opportunity from the UW-Wood County Extension Office. For those of you whowant to stay moving through the holiday and cold weather, this class will definitely keep you strong and providesome great information on healthy eating. Zoom is a very easy on-line program that can be accessed throughyour computer or your smart phone. Give Penny a call with any questions or if you need assistance with usingZoom.MERRY8CHRISTMASA Good Life December 2020

Fun n GamesEdgewater HavenHamburgers1330 W. Grand AveWis. Rapids, WI 544951409 S. Central, Marshfield, WI 54449 Skilled Nursing& Rehabilitation Outpatient Therapy Long Term Care 5 Star Rated by CMS715-885-83001351 Wisconsin River DrivePort Edwards WI 54469Rapid Rehab, llcHome Healthcare EquipmentStair Lifts Vehicle LiftsPhone: 715-423-2084 www.rapidrehabllc.com2660 8th Street South Wisconsin Rapids, WI 54494COMFORTING CAREIS OUR TOP PRIORITYHeartland Hospice or ad info. call 1-800-950-9952 www.lpiseniors.comLowel Senior Center, Wisconsin Rapids, WIC 4C 01-1395

Happy December Birthdays!Jim Reel. 1Carol Voigt . 1Mary Panzer. 1Carol Brey . 2Maynard Paterick. 2Samuel Braaksma. 3Marcia Pavloski . 3Tim Taylor . 5Marilyn Dakins . 5Robert Zoltowski. 6David Kleiber . 7Kathy Strope . 7Cathy Timm. 8Diane Reitz . 8Cindy Kester . 9Susan Swidryk . 9Sally Baldwin . 9Sally Schroeder . 11Merle McAuley. 11Jean Cook. 11Margaret Kopelke . 12Jean Strand . 14Joy Rogoski . 15Sue Brzezinski . 15Marilyn Bailey . 15Hermine Thauer . 16Sallee Wirtz . 16Gerri Groskopf . 18Barbara Smitherman . 19John Clark . 19Roger Kester . 20Denis Kester . 20Audrey Bonney . 21Aggie Van Asten . 22Sharon Nalbach. 22Irma Semrow . 22Joyce Klonowski . 23Keith Kegler. 23Jane Schill . 24Arne Nystrom. 24Cindy Mahoney . 24Emma Beppler . 25Audrey Floryance . 25Mike Kautzer . 25Kay O’Shasky . 25Karen Schiferl . 26Flora Bottensek. 26Lorraine Tesch . 26Marilyn Walsh . 26Eunice Meyer . 27Carol Newsom . 27Don Falkosky . 28Kathleen Tauschek . 29Jane Schermitzler . 31Kathy Cochran . 31Brenda Croissant . 31Candy Cane Cookies1/2 cup shortening1 cup confectioners' sugar1-1/2 teaspoons almond extract2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour1/2 teaspoon red food coloring1/2 cup sugar1/2 cup butter, softened1 large egg, room temperature1 teaspoon vanilla extract1/2 teaspoon salt1/2 cup peppermint candy, crushedIn a large bowl, cream the shortening, butter and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Beat inegg and extracts. Combine flour and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture. Divide dough in half; mix thefood coloring into 1 portion. Cover and refrigerate both doughs for 2 hours or until easy to handle.Shape 1 teaspoon plain dough into a 4-in. rope. Shape 1 teaspoon red dough into a 4-in. rope. Place ropes sideby side; press together lightly and twist. Place on an ungreased baking sheet; curve top of cookie down to formhandle of cane. Repeat with remaining plain and red dough, placing cookies 2 in. apart on baking sheets.Bake at 375 for 8-9 minutes or until set. Combine the crushed candy and sugar; sprinkle warm cookies withcandy mixture. Remove to wire racks to cool.10A Good Life December 2020

For ad info. call 1-800-950-9952 www.4lpi.comLowell Senior Center, Wisconsin Rapids, WID 4C 01-1395

COLOR THIS WINTER WONDERLAND!12A Good Life December 2020

Mayor’s MessageHello and happy holidays! It has been a whirlwind year, so I’m especially thankful for how theworld grows peaceful as the snow falls, with families tucked warm inside and the wind carryingaway the whir of snow blowers. And there is so much joy to be had this winter, from sledding tosnowball fights, big family meals to holiday lights. Be sure to visit the new Wisconsin Rapids Recreation Complex for outdoor ice skating. Building a snowman is an adventure at any one of ourbeautiful parks, where you can unearth a variety of materials, like twigs, pinecones and feathers.But even if you hibernate in front of the fireplace this winter, I wish you a happy, healthy monthfilled with family fun.Mayor’s Youth Council is hard at work planning projects and I encourage you to learn more about their workonline at wirapids.org/mayors-youth-council and by following their new Facebook page facebook.com/WRMayorsYouthCouncil.In an effort to further prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus, all City Hall departments, except two servicewindows - Municipal Court Clerk and Police Department - are closed to the public. Additionally, City Fire Stations, the City Garage and Wastewater Treatment Plant, Centralia Center, Lowell Center and Wisconsin Rapids Community Media will be closed to the public. City staff continues to conduct City business and are accessible by phone, email and mail. For more information, please visit our COVID-19 page at wirapids.org/coronavirus.Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me to discuss opportunities for us towork collaboratively to make Wisconsin Rapids the very best that it can be. Iencourage you to call me at 715-421-8202, email me at mayor@wirapids.orgor connect with me on Facebook at facebook.com/MayorShaneBlaser.Large3 toppingonly 7.99Pick up onlyAdjustable Lifestyle Power BedsUltra Comfort, Med-Lift and La-Z-Boy Lift Assist ChairsCall Today! 715.869.6100When homeis where youwant to beKeeping you at home withcompassionate home healthand hospice care.WI Rapids 423-4460 Plover 345-1992LA-Z-BOY GALLERY ARBORVIEWCOURT MEMORY CARE ASSISTED CARE3750 Blue Violet Lane, Wisconsin Rapids, WI 54494715-424-3758Karla Krasny-Blenker - Administrator ARBORWOODLODGE Home me.com2880 8th St. S., Wisconsin Rapids, WI715-423-5555 dominos.comASSISTED LIVING COMMUNITY1175 Blue Iris Court, Wisconsin Rapids, WI 54494715-712-1299Laura Hanneman - Directorwww.lifeatthelodge.comFor ad info. call 1-800-950-9952 www.lpiseniors.comLowell Senior Center, Wisconsin Rapids, WIE 4C 01-1395

Home For ChristmasThe snow was scudding low over the drifts of the white world outside the little claim shanty. It was blowingthrough the cracks in its walls and forming little piles and miniature drifts on the floor and even on the desksbefore which several children sat, trying to study; for the abandoned claim shanty that had served as the summer home of a homesteader on the Dakota prairies was being used as a schoolhouse during the winter.The walls were made of one thickness of wide boards with cracks between, and the enormous stove that stoodnearly in the center of the one room could scarcely keep out the frost though its sides were a glowing red. Thechildren were dressed warmly and had been allowed to gather closely around the stove, following the advice ofthe county superintendent of schools, who on a recent visit had said that the only thing he had to say to themwas to keep their feet warm.This was my first school, I’ll not say how many years ago, but I was only sixteen years old and twelve miles fromhome during a frontier winter. I walked a mile over the unbroken snow from my boarding place to school every morning and back again at night. There were only a few pupils and on this particular snowy afternoon theywere restless, for it was nearing four o’clock and tomorrow was Christmas. “Teacher” was restless, too,though she tried not to show it, for she was wondering if she could get home for Christmas Day. It was almosttoo cold to hope for Father to come, and a storm was hanging in the northwest which might mean a blizzard atany minute. Still, tomorrow was Christmas - and then there was a jingle of sleigh bells outside. A man in a hugefur coat in a sleigh full of robes passed the window. I was going home after all!When one thinks of twelve miles now, it is in terms of motor cars and means only a few minutes. It was different then, and I’ll never forget that ride. The bells made a merry jingle and the fur robes were warm, but theweather was growing colder and the snow was drifting, so that the horses must break their way through thedrifts.We were racing the strong wind and every little while he, who later became the “man of the place,” must stopthe team, get out in the snow, and by putting his hands over each horse’s nose in turn, thaw the ice from themwhere the breath had frozen over their nostrils. Then he could get back into the sleigh and on we’d go untilonce more the horses could not breathe for the ice.When we reached the journey’s end, it was forty degrees below zero, the snow was blowing so thickly that wecould not see across the street, and I was so chilled that I had to be half carried into the house. But I was homefor Christmas and cold and danger were forgotten.Such magic there is in Christmas to draw the absent ones home, and if unable to go in the body, the thoughtswill hover there! Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are betterthroughout the year for having in spirit become a child again at Christmastime. Laura Ingalls WilderWilliam Anderson, Editor’s Note for “Home for Christmas”In 1881, two months before her sixteenth birthday, Laura Ingalls Wilder was hired to teach a winter schoolterm in an abandoned claim shanty twelve miles from DaSmet, Dakota Territory where her family was living.The school was drafty and cold, and Laura’s living conditions were miserable. She was painfully homesick for Paand Ma and Carrie and Grace, who were wintering comfortably in Pa’s store building in DeSmet.To spare her from homesick weekends, young homesteader Almanzo Wilder regularly drove out from town tosquire Laura home. She expected her rides behind Almonzo’s Morgans to end when her first school term ended; however, he came courting for three years and continued to appear at Laura’s schools until she agreed tomarry him.At Christmastime in 1924, more than forty years after Almanzo’s fearless drives over the bitter-cold prairies,Laura warmly recalled the “man of the place” and his dashing team saving her from a miserable Christmas milesaway from home. She shared this story with her Missouri Ruralist readers, noting that at Christmastime “ourhearts grow tender with childhood memories.”14A Good Life December 2020

Fun n GamesA Good Life December 202015

Lowell Center220 Third Avenue S.Suite 3Wisconsin Rapids, WI 54495GET YOUR SUBSCRIPTION NOW!Add yourself to the Mailing List!This Newsletter is free to all individuals wishing toreceive it. However, if you would like this newsletter mailed to your home, there is a 12.00 fee tocover postage.Please make check payable to:City of Wisconsin RapidsMail check and this form to:Lowell Center220 3rd Avenue South, Ste. 3Wisconsin Rapids, WI 54495I have enclosed 12.00 to cover postage cost ofthis free Newsletter for 1 year.I would like to support Lowell Senior Centerwith a additional donation.Name:Address:Phone:Email:Connect with us on

umes. December 25, 1939: "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens was read on CBS radio for the first time. December 26, 1982: A computer was named "Time" magazine's Man of the Year, the first time a non-human re-ceived the honors. December 27, 1966: The Cave of Swallows, the largest known cave shaft in the world, was discovered in Mexico.