Web phenom shares

Homegrown YouTube sensation Sean Quigley will be putting his musical talents to work during his performance from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. today at the downtown Bay on 450 Portage Ave.

Gift will give Siloam Christmas leftovers

COLOR AD GROUP CHARITY: Donated 102 turkeys and $4,000 to Siloam Mission

How I'm sharing the Christmas spirit:"IT'S a good cause," says Ty Schneider, CEO of Color Ad Group. "We'll be doing a lot more of this."

"I think (Siloam) was a wise choice," said Ray Chang, the owner of Color Ad Group. "I'm very impressed with their comprehensive approach" to helping those in need, he said. "Giving is the easy part. Siloam does the heavy lifting."

The turkeys are going to be served as part of a Christmas dinner for about 700 people on Christmas Eve, but they'll likely last a lot longer than that, says Floyd Perras, executive director of Siloam.

Creston’s harvest of goodness Shamattawa RCMP detachment

How they're sharing the

Christmas spirit:

Sgt. Shayne Smith received about 20 to 30 boxes of gifts from the community of Creston, B.C., to distribute in the remote First Nation, as well as hundreds of apples.

The detachment also helped out with transportation costs of getting the goods into the community.

The Spirit of Christmas: Families (and their pets) need help

It is the season of giving so I'm ready to share the truth.

Ten years ago, I stole my husband's dog.

No, I didn't raid his man-cave/garage and take the dog to make him come out.

When we got our Angus, a dog that was supposed to be for him, Angus bonded with me.

And sew happy Christmas

When Garden City Gophers badminton player Kevin Li found out he was going to be sewing blankets in class, taking a kill shot in the face sounded less painful.

It turned out the 17-year-old high school student was pretty good at it.

Sewing blankets that is, not receiving the full-face kill shot.

"I really liked the project but I didn't know how to sew so I thought I'd iron (the fabric before it is sewn) instead but it turned out I don't know how to iron either," said Li, laughing. "I started with the cutting (fabric) and from there, I learned how to sew so I can do that now."

Cheer board needs your help

It's less than a week until Christmas and I think I am going to make it.

It has nothing to do with shopping for gifts or groceries, nothing to do with wrapping gifts or even baking (yes I do a little of that). No, it has to do with my body not giving out in the next six days.

After close to 20 years of raising money for the Christmas Cheer Board through the Free Press sports department's Spirit of Christmas campaign, this year I decided to use my brawn instead of my brains to help get close to 20,000 hampers out to more than 50,000 people in need in our community.

While I may physically hurt from the top of my head to the soles of my feet, it has been a rewarding experience. I have worked on the production line preparing hampers with students from several schools in the city. I have done the paper work for people who have elected to pick up their hampers at the cheer board's warehouse at 1395 Ellice Ave. (the old S.I.R. warehouse at Ellice and Empress). I have handed out hampers, sorted turkeys, chickens and hams. I have helped volunteer drivers heading out to deliver hampers and now I am handling hampers that couldn't be delivered, getting them back on the floor for a second attempt at delivery in the next six days.

Memories are for everyone

Nostalgia. It sneaks up on us at the strangest of time, surrounding us with wistful memories and yearnings of days gone by. Days you wish you could live all over again, but alas, are gone forever.

A few weekends ago, I was working on a story at the Winnipeg Gymnastics Centre, which was to be run the next day in the Free Press. Having finished my interviews, I left the Centre and proceeded across the parking lot to my car, when I stopped in my tracks.

Bathed in the dim parking lot light, I was drenched with nostalgia as I watched two young boys having the time of their lives, playing on a huge snow pile that the plows had built in the corner of the lot earlier that day.

Suddenly, it 1955 again and I was in Central Park with my friends playing king of the castle on the biggest snow pile we could find. Over and over, I'd tumble down the hill, oblivious of the freezing temperature, only to scramble back up to the top and dislodge the scoundrel who had only previously removed me from that perch.

Snow is here and it’s time to embrace the spirit of giving

The timing seems perfect. The mercury has dipped, we've had our first snowfall (yuk!) of the season and Santa made his way down Portage Avenue last weekend.

Time to embrace the spirit of giving.

For more years than anyone can remember the Spirit of Christmas fund here at the Winnipeg Free Press has launched its annual fundraising campaign in support of the Cheer Board in November.