Good Tidings & Great Joy

A night of good food, good friends, and holiday cheer were in the air last Thursday in Malta as the 15th annual Christmas gathering - this year titled "Old Fashioned Christmas" -was hosted by the Phillips County Historical Society and Phillips County Museum at the Museum.

A total of four miniature Christmas trees, five wreaths, and four swags - each decorated by local businesses and organizations were on display for partygoers to view and vote upon for their favorites - and a menu of dozens of types of foods and desserts awaited all in the back of the museum.

Warren Taylor emceed the event this year (he and Penny Mackey provided the music on the evening, Taylor with a traveling mic and Penny on the piano) and Cliff Rustad once again ran the auctioneering on the night which helped raised nearly $3,000 through the sale of the Christmas decorations (the swag titled "Falling into Rustic Christmas" decorated by the crew at Independence Bank was the top earner at $400 after it was purchased by the American Prairie Reserve.) The People's Choice Award for favorite entry at what used to be known as the Festival of Trees went to "O Holy Night" donated and decorated by Avante.

Three members of the Rough Riders 4-H Club were in attendance on the night - their Christmas tree titled "Denim Country Christmas" sold for $210 to Mule Tracks Cattle Company - and they talked about designing the tree for the event.

"It is a denim theme and it has oatmeal cookies for ornaments," Sydney Gibbs said.

"And we drew the faces on the (wrappers of the) cookies and tied the bows and buttons," Kennedy Koss added.

The girls were joined by fellow Rough Rider Samme Gibbs who said she thought their tree would do well in the auction.

"It's going to sell for $150," Samme said, when pressed to make a prediction (she was only low by $60.)

The trio said the Rough Riders spent about two hours working to decorate and the three have been decorating trees for the last five or six years.

G.L. Jones said he has a nose for good things to eat and has been to the last several Christmas Socials at the Museum.

"There is one dish that I love, and it is the small sausage in barbeque sauce," Jones said. "If they don't have that, I am sure I will find other stuff I like to eat."

Jones' favorite meal wasn't on the menu last Thursday (but he did find plenty to eat) as the menu did feature 12 trays of sweets - Rice Crispy Treats, peanut brittle, chocolates, and cookies - half a dozen types of fruits, as well as shrimp, pinwheels, dips and chips, deli meats and cheeses, asparagus wrapped in ham with cream cheese and several different meat ball dishes. While the line for food snaked from the back of the museum toward the front, another line formed in front of the Tom & Jerry table hosted by David Rummel and Bruce Hould who dished up ladles of batter-mix and holiday spirits.

Whitewater's Helen Austin was in attendance on Thursday and said she thinks she has been to all 15 events over the years, adding that she hitched a ride to Malta with old Saint Nick to attend the night's event.

"It's always a very nice party," Austin, correspondent for the Phillips County News, said. "They always have a good turnout."

Look for a complete list of trees, wreaths, and sleds auctioned off on the night (including designers and auction winners) in next week's PCN.