EASTON NEWS
by Debbie Smith
The first round of the National Geographic Bee will be held at the Easton Junior/Senior High School on Friday, Jan. 6, at 9 a.m.
For the 24th year, the National Geographical Society is holding the National Geographic Bee for students in the sixth through eighth grades in thousands of schools across the United States and in five U.S. territories, as well as in the Department of Defense Dependents Schools around the world.
The winner of the Easton Junior/Senior High School Bee will advance to the next level of competition — a written examination. All school winners are eligible to win the national championship and its first prize, a $25,000 college scholarship, at the National Competition in May in Washington, D.C. Contact Georgette Ireland, principqal/superintendent at 488-7702 with any questions.
Senior news
The Easton Senior Happy Days Club will be holding their first meeting of the year on Thursday, Jan. 12. A potluck dinner will be at the Manor at 11:30 a.m. for everyone to come and eat and join the fellowship, with games afterwards. A committee will be needed for nomination of officers for the New Year. Members are asked to invite other local seniors to join the luncheon. Bring a potluck dish as well as a place setting.
Scanlins host open house
If you have not had the privilege of visiting the Scanlin’s home in Easton you are certainly missing out on a blessing. They have graciously opened their home to thousands of people over the last few years. It all started in 1991 with them opening their home to guests. A neighbor made a suggestion that they do this because their home was so beautifully decorated. This was something that needed to be shared with others.
They have had groups of one or two to over 20. People find out by word of mouth. Believe me, if you visit this home, you will definitely be telling others about it. Not only is the house beautifully decorated, but the welcome that you get is awesome.
Winston is in charge of making all of the goodies to eat while you are there. My oh my, is he ever a wonderful cook. He makes cookies, pies, bread pudding, candies and all kinds of goodies. They are all delicious.
They put in many hours of labor getting ready for guests. They start the inside the last of October and work for about five or six weeks. On Dec. 1, they are ready for their guests. The outside takes a lot of work, too. Sometimes Winston starts that earlier to get ahead of the cold weather. Every year the decorations outside have to be painted, repaired and some lights have to replaced.
On the inside, every inch of their home is decorated beautifully. It is breathtaking to walk in and see a giant white tree in front of you with sparkling white lights. They even built a new walk-in closet and that is even decorated. Many of the ladies try on Joan’s hats and have their pictures taken in front of the big tree. Joan and Winston keep the real meaning of Christmas alive by telling true Christmas miracle stories to everyone that visits.
One year when they received their light bill they were a little nervous about opening it, wondering what it would cost them. When they opened it up the bill said paid in full. Now that was certainly a Christmas miracle. They never did find out who paid it but were very thankful.
If you have never visited the home of Winston and Joan Scanlin at Christmas, you are definitely missing out on a blessing. Call them and go and visit. You won’t be sorry that you did. They love to entertain guests.
Winston and Joan Scanlin celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on Nov. 25, 2011. They were married on Nov. 25, 1961. They live in Easton and have two children, JoEllen Scott in Danforth and Jamie Scanlin from Easton. They also have four grandchildren: Matthew and Patrick Scott and Lyndsay and Taylor Scanlin. They have also been blessed with two great-grandchildren, Cooper and Shelby.
Debbie Smith is the correspondent for Easton. She can be reached by e-mail at debbie-smith04_69@hotmail.com or call 488-5530.
