Events, activities and other hometown items going on in and around Tipp City
by Greg Enslen
Goodbyes, Thanksgivings, and Hellos
So, this was a strange week in the Enslen household. Sam’s grandmother passed away last Saturday. Sam, her sister, and her mom and aunt spent many hours over the last three weeks with “Grandma June,” first at Good Samaritan and then at Friendship Village, where “June Bug” lived. Hospice was with them the last week around the clock. It was a difficult time, but it was also moving to see Sam’s family come together to take care of and say goodbye to their grandma. Xander and Anna and even little Katie got to be with her both at the hospital and at her apartment, and they all attended the memorial service on Tuesday. Anna tells us that “she’s not really that sad that Grandma is dead, because she knows she’ll get to see her later in heaven.”
On Wednesday, everyone scattered—Sam’s folks had Thanksgiving with some good friends at the Inn at Cedar Falls in Hocking Hills, her sister and brother-in-law headed to Tennessee, and her aunt and uncle headed back to Brooklyn. We had a quiet Thanksgiving, just the five of us, on Thursday. Don’t tell anyone — we had a Honey-Baked Ham, green bean casserole, au gratin potatoes, and deviled eggs instead of turkey and dressing. I kept expecting some kind of Thanksgiving goblin to jump out of the corner and chastise us for breaking the hallowed Thanksgiving feast tradition. But it was a great meal, and a peaceful day.
Then to top the week off, this morning I got the message that my sister had had her third child, a baby girl, Sara. Pam and her husband have waited a long time for this baby and gone through many struggles in the process, so it’s with special joy that we welcome the newest member of the Enslen clan.
Tippecanoe Christmas in Village
The Tippecanoe Christmas in the Village celebration is this weekend, so if you have a chance, get out there and participate in the many activities planned.
Ø Breakfast with Santa (Dec. 4, 9am-11am): Santa will be visiting Broadway Elementary School from 9am to 11am. The morning will be filled with games, crafts, food and fun. And it’s a great chance to find out what your kiddo is thinking Santa should have under the tree!
Ø Homemade Fudge for Sale: Melissa Fowle will be selling homemade fudge at the American Legion to raise funds for this benevolent organization.
Ø Gingerbread House Display (Dec. 4, 10am-7pm): A large number of gingerbread houses, including the winning houses from the Tipp City Area Arts Council contest, will be on display from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the Tippecanoe Community Room, located at the corner of 1st Street and Main. Look … but don’t bite!
Ø Studio 14 Gift Boutique: Gifts by local artists and craftspeople are available at Tipp’s new art studio. It’s a great place to pick up unique Christmas gifts. You won’t be able to find these things at Wal-Mart! The prints by Rusty Harden are particularly beautiful.
Ø Decades of Toys Display: The Tippecanoe Historical Society will be presenting a “Decades of Toys” display at their building located at 20 North Third St.
Ø Annual Holiday Tour of Homes (Dec. 4, 2pm-7pm): This annual Tipp City tradition will highlight nine homes in the historic downtown, giving guests a rare opportunity to tour some of our city’s most beautiful residences. This event is presented by the Downtown Tipp City Partnership and Tipp Monroe Community Services, with the support of Re/Max Professionals, the Willowtree Inn, Evans Title, and Monroe Federal. For more information, call TMCS at 667.8631 or visit www.visittippcity.org/citv.
Ø Downtown Shops and Restaurants (all weekend): PLEASE take this opportunity to browse through our local shops and restaurants—they are the lifeblood of our historic downtown shopping district. You’ll find some great deals and unique gifts in some of the nicest shops you’ll find in Miami County. If you need some shopping ideas, take a gander at the Tippecanoe Gazette Holiday Shopping Guide, included on page 10 of this issue of the paper, which highlights some of the specials, sales, and promotions from our local merchants. Sam has already picked up some decorations from Past Perfect and A Royal Nest.
NaNoWriMo Update
Yeah—it’s over! The NaNoWriMo writing competition wrapped up on November 30, and I’m happy to say that I stayed on target for the whole 30 days and managed to complete a VERY rough first draft of a book. This national writing exercise encourages quantity, not quality, but it also helps procrastinating writers focus on getting their words down on the page. I found it very helpful to have a daily word target—it really kept me focused on getting a chunk done every day, instead of staring at the blank screen and stressing about writing a giant novel in one sitting. Next November, we’ll have to get a group of Tipp Citians to try this out with me!
The final word count turned out to 51,475, about 175 pages, and I’m happy with the story—it came out better than I expected. I’m certain that putting together the first drafts of my other two books took much longer. Now I have a draft of book about a physicist who, if he can complete construction on his machine, may be able to save his family and prevent 9/11 from ever happening.
I had one character surprise me by turning out to be someone I hadn’t planned, something that’s never happened to me before. Usually, I know exactly where things are going, but that’s the danger and the thrill of writing and writing and writing—things might get away from you. I also ended up with several orange and red days where I didn’t get to write the daily minimum, but I was able to catch up on other days. Now I think I’ll take a little time off and then come back to the book and begin the long editing process. If you’d like to learn more, check out my website at www.gregenslen.com.
Xander and Youth Basketball
Just wanted to give a quick shout-out to TMSC for organizing this year’s round of Youth Basketball. Xander had his first practice last Saturday, and we were so impressed with the organization and the quality of the coaching. It’ll be fun watching him play … and what a great way for kids to get exercise over the winter months. Kathy Taylor at TMCS says that they have more than 280 kids signed up this year, playing on some 30 teams. She says that a few spots are still open on the 7th-12th grade teams — but parents need to let her know right away if their kids would like to play, because the kick-off day is December 11. You can call TMCS at 667-8631 if you’re interested.
Hear something interesting for “Tipp Talk”? Visit my website at www.gregenslen.com and use the “Contact Me” page to let me know what you’re thinking. And don’t worry – I won’t quote you unless you want me to!
