EDITOR’S DESK: Dashing through the snow

Christmas is coming in a whirl, like snowflakes in a wind. After 11 months of “normal” events, the Westside's December calendar has suddenly filled with seasonal events. Santa has already been in the Bancroft cabin for a week, and every one of the Westside schools has some Yuletide concert or play in the works between now and the last week kids are in school before Christmas break.        The merchants, as well as Rock Ledge Ranch, have definitely got the Christmas spirit this year. Both are expanding their holiday offerings from that of years past. The merchants' enhanced Honor Tree Lighting Ceremony Dec. 10 promises to be a moving tribute to our men and women in the armed services, while it's good to see Rock Ledge Ranch - with its new Historic House Tours - finding another way to bring people out to that 1880s time capsule that's in the Westside's backyard.        Coming up this weekend are the Bed & Breakfast Holiday Tour - raising money for the Old Colorado City History Center - and the Old Colorado City merchants' Breakfast with Santa and Santa's Old Town Workshop. The latter is two days this year instead of last year's one. Oh, sure, a person could take the cynic's viewpoint and say the merchants are hoping to make twice as much money from the workshop's $4 admission fee, but having absorbed a bit of that experience last year, I don't think we're talking about gold mines here. Maybe, just maybe, there's an actual Christmas-esque wish to put that special smile on the faces of young kids.        In the meantime, now that the initial shock has worn off, I think I'm liking this Christmas stuff. Even Councilman Jerry Heimlicher has gotten in the spirit, with his crusade to let Santa meet kids in the Bancroft cabin, rent-free. "Ho-ho-ho," I say, and I don't mean Jabba the Hutt. - K.J.