After suffering several storms over the past couple of years, Atmore took the time to have a disaster drill in early December of 2005.

The drill was held near the YMCA at the soccer field, and according to public safety director Glenn Carlee, several rescue agencies were involved. Carlee said there had been an effort to hold these drills at least one time each year, but the city had been operating under recovery conditions for the past couple of years from the past hurricanes.

The Atmore Area Chamber of Commerce sponsored “Santa in the Park,” and chamber director Emilie Mims said there were twice the number of those attending than the last year. Santa was there to listen to all the wishes of the little ones and I bet there were plenty of other things going on.

A drug bust by the drug task force netted $75,000 worth of drugs, including 770 grams of cocaine and crack cocaine. The bust was organized and carried out with the help of various law enforcement officers.

We need to give thanks to our law enforcement that do their best to keep the harmful drugs off the street. I would hazard a guess that you know someone who has ruined their life and, in the process, a family. I know that I have and I wish we could rid ourselves from this dreadful home-wrecking disease.

Joyce Bolden retired from her position as director of the Atmore Public Library. A few days later, a new director was named to the post. Cathy McKinley, who had been working in the library for years, was given the job by the board.

I have frequented the library several times. If you have not, you should go down there and check out the place. It has, not only books, but collections and DVDs. Libraries are up to date and feature much more than just books. Go see for yourself.

There was an article in The Atmore Advance featuring Alex Mouldin, a student at Escambia County Middle School, who had earned 363.2 points for the number of books he had read as part of the Accelerated Reading Program.

Sometimes I think that the art of reading has fallen by the wayside.

There are too many other things kids use today that takes away from their reading. Television and cell phones are much more likely to be furnishing the information that all of us receive these days. A good book is to be valued.

The Twilight Parade was held in downtown Atmore, If nothing else gets you ready for Christmas, a good Christmas parade will. And, by the way, I still believe in Christmas trees, Christmas sales, etc. So many people have taken Christmas out of their vocabulary and switched to “Season Greetings” and “Happy Holidays.” Not me. Without Christ, there would be no Christmas and we all need to remember that.

So when you meet someone on the street, say Merry Christmas.