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Annual International Festival to be held

The annual St. George International Festival will be held Saturday, December 9 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The festival is an annual festival hosted by St. George Orthodox Church, in Pharr, 704 W. Sam Houston Blvd. The festival has been held annually each December since the 1980’s

Members of St. George are multicultural and offer the local community a vibrant celebration of cultures from around the world. It’s a day filled with delicious food, lively music, colorful performances, and local vendors selling holiday items for yourself or gifts.

This is the largest fundraiser for the church each year, and funds ongoing parish needs, improvements projects and ministries. The event is free for all to attend. Food and drinks are available to purchase, but the church tours, vendor booths, and entertainment are all free for the community to enjoy.

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Angels of Love seeking donations

After having a successful Thanksgiving event, Angels of Love is reaching out to local businesses and organizations to help them with their 14th Annual Christmas Toy Drive and Christmas Party. They are inviting community members to partner with them.

Angels of Love is a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide victims of violence and their families with individualized services in a safe and loving environment. They provide these things in hopes of providing them with the tools necessary to heal and move forward from their trauma. The organization also provides clients with empowerment classes, victim advocacy services, referral services, parenting classes, financial literacy, dating violence workshops, counseling and more.

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Deadline approaching for Texas Master Naturalist annual training

Texas Master Naturalists sell native plants at RGV Home and Garden Show webWinter Texans and residents over the age of 18 in Cameron, Hidalgo, and Starr counties are welcome to register to join the 2024 South Texas Border Chapter Texas Master Naturalist training class. The deadline to register for the 2024 class is December 15.

Texas Master Naturalist is a unique educational volunteer program sponsored by Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, Texas Sea Grant Program, and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

Read more: Deadline approaching for Texas Master Naturalist annual training

Swing by MOSTH for holiday fun

Capture the holiday fun at the Museum of South Texas History Sunday, December 10, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Come on by to take a photo with Cowboy Santa. Each four inch by six inch photograph is $5 and will include a blank photo frame that can be decorated with supplies provided by the museum. These frames can be added to your Christmas tree at home or gifted to someone special, making it a fun holiday keepsake or gift.

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Cartoonist shares new prose, comic collection at MOSTH

MOSTH Jose Alaniz webAuthor and cartoonist José Alaniz will present a new prose and comics collection published by FlowerSong Press at 2 p.m. December 10 at the Museum of South Texas History (MOSTH).

The hybrid book features short stories and comics, mostly set in the Rio Grande Valley along the Texas-Mexico border. The stories reflect the author’s upbringing in this region as a second-generation Mexican-American, at times fusing folk beliefs with Bradbury-style science fiction. For example, “Tamales” sets the immigration narrative on Mars in 2063, when a migrant family makes the crossing in search of work via (malfunctioning) rocket.

Read more: Cartoonist shares new prose, comic collection at MOSTH

Now on to the Christmas festivities

ON THE ROAD Festival of Lights TrainRides 2012 12 15 317 webAnd how was your Thanksgiving? Mine was extra special with a visit from my grand nephew and his father. It is so great to have family come visit, especially when one of them is a champion at almost every cook off that he enters. So naturally, he cooked the turkey … and I had never had smoked turkey before. Since I had already cooked two turkeys for a special early celebration, I was more than glad to turn over the chore to someone else.

However, I still wanted to do my share and contribute to the festivities. Desserts seemed to be in order along with homemade cranberry sauce. It had been a while since I had prepared that and oh it is so good – much better than the canned you buy at the grocery store. The supply chain interfered somewhat with preparation of the pecan pie – there was just no Karo syrup on the shelves at my local store. What a disappointment. For years, our family has been ordering green label Karo from Amazon – but not to find any Karo at all on the shelf, that is really unusual.

Read more: Now on to the Christmas festivities

Lakewood RV holding fundraiser

Submit Pic for 2023 2014 webSubmitted by Donna Wright

Winter in South Texas is anticipated this time of year. As Winter Texan residents are returning to the Valley for the winter, here at Lakewood RV Resort that means time to prepare for our 30th Christmas for the Children project. We are providing Christmas for fifteen less fortunate families from a local elementary, where many of our Lakewood RV Resort Winter Texans spend time mentoring the students over the years. This all started with our Worship Committee several years ago.

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November 22, 2023 - Rina's Ramblings

I can’t believe Thanksgiving is tomorrow. This year has gone by fast… and this season seems to be speeding on by. Thanksgiving Day is usually quite a busy day for us. We usually have family over or are visiting family.

This year, we are spending it with friends. And although we aren’t hosting, we still have a few things we are making to take to that gathering. We also have a turkey to cook for ourselves.

No matter what, my husband has to have his own turkey. He likes the turkey leftovers. We get a big turkey so that we can have meat for casseroles, sandwiches, and other meals. I can get tired of just plain turkey, but when it’s used for other types of meals, it’s something else entirely.

We also have traditions that start this time of year. Sometimes we are able to keep them, sometimes, depending on the availability of tamales, we don’t do the full thing.

Read more: November 22, 2023 - Rina's Ramblings

Sharing your talents this holiday season

On the ROad Kids Quilts webThanksgiving! It’s a time for caring. It’s a time for sharing.

As we turn our thoughts to the Thanksgiving celebration, let us remember how much we have to be thankful for. How grateful we all should be to be living in a beautiful world. And to be able to see and enjoy the flowers and trees that surround us. How thankful we should be to be able to communicate with each other. How grateful we should be for the skills, the attributes, and the talents that we have.

But what are we doing with our talents? Are we sharing them with other people? Do you have skills as a mechanic? Are you sharing those skills by offering to help a neighbor with a problem that he cannot fix? That he knows nothing about?

Perhaps you were a teacher or a tutor. It’s not too late to give of your time and talent to a local school or to your church.

So many of the Winter Texans share their skills with us. Thank you for your time and talent. Let us follow their example.

Read more: Sharing your talents this holiday season

Food Bank has service opportunities

mission popup webDuring the holidays, many organizations seek out the community’s help to fill extra needs that the community has during this time of year. Some organizations help with clothes, blankets, school supplies, food, and Christmas gifts during the fall months more than they do other times of the year.

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