Cindy Hval

With a snort and a shake of his head Manly Stanley indicated his readiness to get the show on the road. He and his partner Highfalutin weren’t exactly dashing through the snow, and they towed a two-horse covered wagonette instead of a one-horse open sleigh. Even so, scores of people lined up downtown on Saturday to enjoy a taste of an old fashioned Christmas. Bedecked with festive jingle bells, the horses trotted down Main Avenue, attracting waves from adults and excited shouts from children.

When Hurricane Sandy devastated the East Coast on Oct. 29, the American Red Cross sprang into action. Volunteers from across the U.S. converged on storm-damaged cities. Thirty-two of those volunteers were from the Spokane area. Spokane Valley residents Chuck and Janet Boehme were vacationing in Las Vegas when they got the call. They left their RV behind and flew to New Jersey, returning Dec. 2.

Now that you’ve had your fill of succulent roast turkey, savory stuffing and pumpkin pie, it’s time to focus on the food ahead. The Christmas season stretches before us, rich with the tasty promise of candy canes and cutout cookies washed down with gallons of eggnog. I hesitate to address the F-word (food) in this column because when I last wrote about a related topic (Pig Out in the Park) a Spokesman.com commenter speculated about the status of my muffin top. And I don’t think he was talking about my homemade blueberry muffins.

Her white nurse’s uniform caught his eye. “Those sexy white shoes!” he recalled, grinning. Then he noticed her slender legs and shapely ankles. “I could marry those legs,” he thought. Gene Zanck was a young Marine stationed at Camp Pendleton when he met his future wife, Jackie, at a dinner party. That was 62 years ago. While Gene felt an immediate attraction to the nurse with the shapely legs, his feelings weren’t reciprocated. As they sat in their Spokane Valley home, Jackie shot him a sidewise glance and said, “When I first laid eyes on that guy I was NOT impressed.”

Christmas is all about giving, but it’s also nice to receive. That’s what makes Christmas cookie exchanges such a popular holiday activity. Whether you host an intimate group of friends or make it a gala event, cookie swap parties are a great way to celebrate the season. For the past four years, the folks at Ronald McDonald House Charities of Spokane have hosted a cookie exchange at Patsy Clark’s Mansion. “It’s fun, festive and a great way to get a sampling of cookies while supporting Ronald McDonald House,” said Colleen Fox, director of marketing and communications.

Something as simple as braiding her daughter’s hair can be painful for Ashley Smith, 30. At 18 she was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. “All I could think was, ‘Arthritis? That’s an old-people’s disease,’ ” recalled Smith. But it’s not. In fact, 300,000 children in the U.S. are affected by arthritis.

The shot rang out at 8:45 in the morning on Oct. 25 as Collette Bise fed her animals. The Bise family owns a small farm in Newman Lake, and though the land along McCoy Road is privately owned and liberally posted with No Hunting and No Trespassing signs, gunshots are a familiar sound. “There’s shots continually out here,” Bise said.

Hard as it is to believe, this column wasn’t the first thing some of you looked for in today’s paper. Instead, many of you lugged your super-sized Spokesman-Review into your home and began poring over the copious advertisements. While the heady aroma of roasting turkey filled the air, you began making your lists and checking them twice. With the diligence of military generals you mapped out your Black Friday shopping strategies.

They walked down the same halls at West Valley High School – had some of the same teachers, knew the same people, and graduated together in the class of 1969. Yet Daryl Williams and Ginnie Schmidt never met. Fast forward to West Valley’s 20th reunion. They both attended. The reunion photo shows him in the back row and she a couple of rows in front of him. They didn’t meet then either.

All is ready for your Thanksgiving feast. The turkey’s thawing in the refrigerator, the sweet potatoes are washed, and the pies are cooling on the racks. But what about the wine? Red or white? Dry or sweet? Sparkling or not? These questions can vex even the most experienced host or hostess. Thankfully, local experts are on hand to help us sort out the chardonnay from the cabernet, and choose the wines that best complement the flavors of our holiday meal.

After 66 years of nomadic existence, Spokane Children’s Theatre finally has a place to call home. On Friday, the organization welcomes the community to take a tour of its new facility. Located in a light industrial area just south of Gonzaga Prep, the row of white buildings doesn’t much resemble Broadway’s Great White Way.

When Army Sgt. Joe Wardell learned he was going to be deployed to Afghanistan for a year, he wondered how to explain his absence to his 3-year-old son, Clive. He started by drawing a map of the world on his dining room wall. Wardell told his son that Daddy would be flying over the big water to a place called Afghanistan. “I want to go with you,” Clive insisted.

It started a couple of years ago with a school project. Justin Peterson, now 12, interviewed 10 World War II veterans in his Chewelah, Wash., hometown. “I like learning about history,” he said.

In fourth grade he tried Little League. He didn’t own a baseball, or a glove, or a bat, but none of his brothers had tried it and therein lay its appeal. When you’re the third of four sons, it can be hard to find something all your own. Zachary thought Little League might just be his thing. He and his dad went shopping and came back with the needed gear. Later that night, his brother Alex took him to the backyard to play catch.

Dawn Nelson can be hard to track down. The author is more likely to be found rounding up cattle, castrating bulls or weaning calves than sitting in front of her computer. That’s probably just as well because her novels and her nonfiction short-story collections spring from her life on her family’s cattle ranch near Creston, Wash.

Maya Murphy, 28, believes in setting goals. She recently completed her first triathlon and started an investment firm with her husband, Dave Murphy. Her most treasured long-term goal also involves Dave. She said, “Several years ago at my grandpa’s funeral, my grandma told me, ‘We were married for 61 years and I still liked him.’ I thought – I want to do that! That’s when I set my goal of a 50th wedding anniversary.”

On a recent Saturday, patrons at the North Spokane Library checked out more than books. A smoky, spicy aroma wafted all the way out into the parking lot courtesy of the first Firefighters vs. Librarians Chili Cook-off. Spokane County District 9 firefighters and Spokane County librarians went head-to-head in a taste challenge to see who makes the most mouth-watering chili.

One of the best forms of exercise doesn’t require expensive equipment, trendy fitness DVDs or a gym membership. Everyone from Thomas Jefferson to health guru Dr. Oz have touted the benefits of walking. All I know is that while my “Buns of Steel” DVD gathers dust on my shelf, my walking shoes wear out on a regular basis.

When Lacey Williams was 4, she received a medical diagnosis that changed her life – and just may have saved it. She was diagnosed with hereditary angioedema, a rare, potentially fatal swelling disorder affecting around 6,000 people in the United States. HAE patients have a defect in the gene that controls a blood protein called C1 inhibitor.

On Monday, Cat Davis got a fabulous early birthday present: An independent medical review board overturned her insurance company’s decision to deny her a potentially life-saving stem cell transplant. Davis, who turned 25 on Tuesday, was ecstatic. “God hears prayers,” she said.

Stretching between two towering pines, the treehouse seems like something out of “The Swiss Family Robinson.” It’s a place where imagination and adventure can thrive, but it’s also something more – a memorial to a vibrant woman who died much too young. Brendan Wiechert always wanted to build a treehouse for his children Emma, 12, and Calen, 9. “I had an idyllic childhood,” he said. “We lived in a neighborhood with 12 kids and we’d play hide-and-seek, four-square, football.”

On Monday, Cat Davis got a fabulous early birthday present: An independent medical review board overturned her insurance company’s decision to deny her a potentially life-saving stem cell transplant. Davis, who turned 25 today, was ecstatic. “God hears prayers,” she said.

Sixty-two years ago, a sock in the shoulder got the attention of Dick Nolt, and the girl who gave him the playful punch has kept his attention ever since. Dick, originally from Ohio, had come to Vidora, Saskatchewan, in 1950 to serve one year as a volunteer youth pastor.