Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas! I'm Chris Scobba!
And I'm Kathy Kohlhaas! This is a special holiday episode of the "Bear Facts". Seasons greetings from all of us at Bishop Garrigan High School.
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. If you come out to Garrigan, you'll see a big Advent wreath, a Christmas tree, and a nativity scene in the main lobby. In classrooms you'll find decorative lights and posters, and even a paper chain with names of all the students. The teachers have been gorging themselves on holiday treats, and next week we should be hearing Christmas carols over the PA system in the hallways. Tuesday we'll really get into the holiday spirit when we have our K-12 Christmas mass at St. Cecelia's, and we'll all know Christmas is really here when we get out early Wednesday afternoon.
Every year at the holidays many different groups at Garrigan do a variety of service projects to Christmas a happier time for people in the area. The student council used some of the money from the fall magazine drive to buy gifts for three needy families on the Kossuth County CARE Team's adoption list. The Garrigan and Seton faculty and staff are taking a collection at their Christmas party to buy gifts for residents in the area care centers. The choir has been singing madrigals at area banks, and the Christian leadership group collected toys for needy children, delivered fruit baskets to the elderly, and helped the kindergarten prep class make Christmas cookies.
Each year at the holidays we do a survey on "Bear Facts". When we asked people what their Christmas plans were, the #1 response was the old classic "go to grandma's house". Some people are traveling further-to Iowa destinations like Waterloo and Davenport and out of state to places like Texas, Florida, and Oregon. Then there were Jude and Jesse Studer, who said the most exciting thing they'd be doing for Christmas was working at K-Mart.
We asked people what were the best and worst Christmas gift they'd ever gotten. For several people cars topped the list. Others enjoyed getting horses or dogs, four-wheelers and snowmobiles. Adam Elbert really enjoyed his train set, Amanda Golwitzer really enjoyed her electric guitar, and Dustin Shackelford's favorite gift was a paintball gun. On the downside, one student got batteries for Christmas-with nothing to use them in. Lots of people got various kinds of ugly clothes. Also among the least favorite gifts were Pokeman cards (for a sixteen-year-old) and a school uniform shirt.
Our final question was what people wanted for Christmas. Eric Goodman said he wanted a big screen plasma TV, but he's not holding his breath until Santa brings it. Amanda Steier wanted another kitty, and Jenn Vaske wants a puppy. A couple of people told us they wanted a boyfriend or girlfriend for the holidays, while others just said things like clothes. One way or another, everyone's expecting to have a Merry Christmas-and we hope all of you have a good holiday too.
The BGHS speech team has been busy preparing for the 2005 contest season. This year coaches Mary McCall and David Burrow are directing eleven large group events. There are three acting ensembles: "Flag Girls", "Our Hearts Were Young and Gay", and "Remember When". The two readers theatres are "The Case of the Glass Slipper" and "Happily Never After", and the one-act play is "Deliver Us Not - or Birth, Where Is Thy Sting". There are also four improvisation groups and one group mime. Best wishes to everyone involved in group speech this season!
Our senior spotlight for the holidays shines on Samantha Kirsch. Here to tell you about her is Michaela Pease.
Samantha Kirsch is a Wesley native whose strawberry hair stands out among her classmates. She's a four-year band member who played contra bass clarinet in last week's holiday concert. Samantha's other activities include speech, quiz bowl, and math team, and you may see her working as a waitress away from school. Merry Christmas, and good luck in the future, Samantha!
Thanks, CCCCC. We'll be off for the next two weeks for Christmas vacation, so we've got a lot of time to cover on our Golden Bear calendar. The events start tomorrow night, when the Garrigan and Seton staff will have their annual Christmas party.
Monday we'll have our fourth Advent prayer service, and Tuesday we'll get together with the Seton students for a holiday mass. The school board meets at noon on Tuesday.
Tuesday night is the big pre-Christmas crosstown matchup. This year the JV teams will play at Algona High, while the varsity plays here at Garrigan. Then on Wednesday we'll dismiss at 2:15 for Christmas vacation.
There's no school December 23rd through January 2nd, and there's basically nothing on the school calendar either. Classes resume Monday, January 3rd, and Tuesday the 4th the Bears will host Ft. Dodge St. Edmond. The softball team will serve an Italian dinner during the games.
Friday the 7th the basketball Bears play at Webster City. Then Saturday the 8th there's an honor band in Mason City, a math competition at Iowa Falls, and the quiz bowl team plays at North Kossuth.
That's the "Bear Facts" for 2004. We'll be off for the holidays the next two weeks, but be sure to catch us again on Saturday, January 8, 2005, when we'll be back with more news from Bishop Garrigan High School.
