If this last week were summed up in one word, it would have to be cut. It seems like I have spent the whole week cutting. From ribbon cuttings to cutting Footloose to cutting cardboard, it was another crazy, fun, busy week.
The week started out with three ribbon cuttings. That has to be some kind of a new record for the Chamber of Commerce. There was a ribbon cutting at Mercy for their new pulmonology clinic on Tuesday. It’s exciting that they are getting a Pulmonologist, because many of the cases that come into their 24-hour emergency room are directly related to the respiratory system. They had a nice ceremony in which the chaplain blessed the clinic and anointed the door with oil and it was great to see so many community members come out for the event.
The next ribbon cutting was Thursday evening at Schmidt Associates, which is the CPA firm that my sister-in-law, Sarah, worked at until just a few days beforehand. They gave away really nice tumblers, which was perfect timing since I left mine with Kori at Works of Art last week and have been too busy to go pick it up. While I was touring their new offices, I had to take a selfie with the skeleton they had left in Sarah’s cubicle in remembrance of her. The Carthage Press was laying on her desk so I opened it to my column and set it on the keyboard so Skeleton Sarah would have something somewhat entertaining to read instead of staring at a blank computer screen.
The last ribbon cutting was at Joslyn’s Artisan Market on Friday evening. This is a new store on the east side of the square and it is full of fun handmade items. There is a scarecrow wreath up there that I absolutely love, so if anyone is looking for a new front door wreath for Thanksgiving it’s hanging on the north wall! They have hand folded origami clocks, which was something I had never seen before, as well as handmade soaps and candles and decorations of every kind. It’s a little like taking Silver Dollar City craft shops and putting them under one roof, but with better prices.
Friday night I was able to cut Footloose at the Carthage High School musical. There’s a whole article devoted to it in this week’s paper, but I had to be non-biased and just report the facts with no opinion so I didn’t get to say all the wonderful, glowing things I wanted to say. This is my column though, and I can be as biased as I want to be in it (unless Hacker and David tell me no) and I have to say that those kids were absolutely amazing! I was blown out of the water by the amount of talent on that stage! I really want to single out all the kids that sang and publicly tell each and every one of them what an awesome job they did, but there are so many that would have to be mentioned that there isn’t enough room in the paper. It was seriously amazing that those kids could sing and dance and some of them even tumbled at the same time and never even sounded out of breath or off-key! I thoroughly enjoyed every part of the performance.
It was a little intimidating to try to write the article and I hadn’t taken any notes since I was so engrossed in the performance so I decided that I should watch it again on Saturday. After all, it’s research, right? The second performance was just as good as the first. I still didn’t take any notes, but at least I sat more to the center and got an awesome picture of Ren dipping Ariel in their dance hall scene to use with my article.
The final cutting was cutting cardboard. I am blessed with eight (or more, depending on the day) nieces and nephews and children I consider adopted nieces and nephews. I went with them to the Drive-In Movie family night that Carthage Nazarene hosted on Saturday night. Each child was encouraged to bring their own cardboard box car so Sarah, David, Matt, Skyla and I spent about nine hours on Saturday cutting boxes into a unicorn, race car, limo, Dodge truck, ice cream truck, semi truck cab, and two generic cars that were decorated in Avengers and Trolls. The kids had a blast and I was just excited I didn’t fall asleep watching the movie!
You know, most people think of Carthage as this sleepy little town where nothing much happens. That really couldn’t be farther from the truth. There is something going on in the community just about every day, especially with all the holidays coming up. I hope everyone is able to get out and enjoy all the things that Carthage has to offer!
Brandi Ensor is a lifelong Carthage resident. She is adamantly single, spoils her nieces and nephews as much as possible, and loves camping and boating with her 16-year-old son, Johnathan.
