From Greg Enslen.com:
Events, activities and other hometown items going on in and around Tipp City, Ohio, by Greg Enslen
Santa at the Enslens
We have a tradition at the Enslen house of writing notes for Santa on Christmas Eve—they accompany his plate of milk and cookies. The next morning, the kids wait upstairs until we can all come downstairs together and search for clues that Santa has been there. This year, both kids wrote notes to Santa; Xander wrote to say that there were milk and cookies ready, as well as a bowl of oatmeal for the reindeer. He also wrote, “Dear Santa, I am sorry … very sorry,” with no further explanation. Annabelle wrote to say that she loved Santa and she wanted to know how his reindeer were able to fly.
The next morning, we found the cookies and milk gone and the kids’ stockings stuffed with toys and candy. The bowl of oats had been taken outside and was sitting on our porch, empty. Some of the oats were strewn across the sidewalk … those reindeer must have been messy eaters! And Santa had taken time out on his busy night to respond to the kids’ questions—he told Anna that the reindeer flew “by magic.” As for Xander’s unexplained apology, Santa had a very simple response. “It’s OK, I understand.” I’m not sure what Xander was apologizing for, but I’m sure I’ll find out soon enough!
Christmas Shopping—in Tipp City
Sam, her sister, and her mom made a point this year of buying as many gifts as possible locally; particularly, right here in Tipp City. For example, they bought ornaments at M&Js and Past Perfect; a print and a bird house (made from a gourd!) at The Tin Peddler; a painting, vintage barware, and decorations at Benkins; and a small table and decorative shelf at A Royal Nest.
In past years, Sam has bought books for her staff through Amazon; this year, she asked Mary from Jay and Mary’s in Troy if she could match Amazon’s price. She couldn’t match it, but could come pretty darn close, so Sam bought there. Chocolates and rock candy for Sam’s lucky clients came from Winans, which has stores throughout the Dayton area (and beyond) and makes all their products in Piqua and a few other Ohio locations. It was great to find out how many varied, unique gifts we could find so close to home, and we were glad to keep as much of our Christmas dollars as possible here in the area.
Tipp Foundation Awards Grants
The Distribution Committee of the Tipp Area Community Foundations recently awarded over $27,000 in grants to six different local organizations. Since 1943, the Foundation has been awarding grants to local organizations. Groups that received grants this month included Bethel Hope, Community-Minded Women, Needy Basket, Tipp Monroe Community Services, and Tipp City Exempted Village Schools. Thanks to the foundation, its board members, and its donors for continuing to make such a positive and important contribution to our community.
New Holiday Inn Sign
A few weeks back, I wrote about the old Travelodge sign and the massive metal structure that used to hold it up. I’m very happy to report that the “metal skeleton” is down and the new Holiday Inn sign is up! I noticed the nice blue-and-green sign on my last trip to Tip o’ the Town. It’s a great addition to the skyline near I-75, and a vast improvement over the old, empty metal structure that was there for the past couple years. A special shout-out to the folks at the Holiday Inn—thank you for investing in Tipp City! We’ll hope that the sign brings continued good business.
Fantasy Football
I don’t know about you, but this is one of my favorite times of the year—NFL playoffs! After the regular season is over and Fantasy Football is wrapped up, I can sit back and enjoy rooting for my favorite teams instead of just rooting for my individual fantasy players.
Oh, and thank you to Michael Vick—because of him and the faith of Philadelphia coach Andy Reid, I managed to win both of the fantasy football leagues that I was in this year. Yeah! I picked up Michael Vick as my backup QB after his outstanding early season performance, and he just kept getting better through the year. I eventually started him over Aaron Rogers and Matt Schaub, my other QBs. Thanks, Mike. You made a big mistake, but you paid the price and did the time. I forgive you.
New iPad Coming in April?
I know this isn’t a technology column, but I’m interested in buying an Apple iPad in the new year and I’ve been reading up on them—it sounds like a new version, the iPad 2, may be unveiled soon and be available for purchase sometime in the first quarter of 2011. Reportedly, it will include two cameras and speakers (to allow for FaceTime video phone calls) and may be slightly smaller while retaining the same size screen. If you didn’t get an iPad for Christmas and are looking forward to picking one up, you might want to check the internet and see if it’s worth it to wait a few months for the next iteration. Last year, Apple announced the iPad just after Christmas and began selling them in April.
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!
