IN OUR COMMUNITY

The 12th Annual “A Village Christmas,” sponsored by the Metamora Area Business Association (MABA), is set for Sunday, December 8th from 12:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.   

Businesses and organizations on or near Metamora Square offer Christmas cheer, free make-and-take crafts, treats, smores, pictures with Santa, Christmas caroling, and more!  For a full list of activities and a map of participants, visit https://metamorabusiness.com/a-village-christmas

It’s time again for the Germantown Hills Fire Department Santa Parade!  Santa Claus will be enjoying a ride around town on top of a fire truck from 12:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, December 22nd!    Visit their Facebook soon for further details at https://www.facebook.com/GermantownHillsFD

The “Shine a Light on Metamora” Tree Lighting Ceremony is set for Saturday, December 7th at 5:00 p.m. Come out to help countdown to light the trees. Join this beautiful event in the middle of Metamora Square.  The Metamora Thespian Society will sing Christmas carols while you look at all the beautifully decorated trees!

A Metamora Hometown Christmas will be held on Thursday, December 5th, from 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. at the Village Town Square!  Enjoy shopping at the businesses on the square, the Riverview Christmas Carolers, carriage rides, Santa, a food truck, and a coffee truck!

St. Mary’s of Metamora will hold its annual Holiday Cookie and Candy Sale from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. (or until sold out) on Saturday, December 14th.  

The sale will be held in St. Mary’s School gym, 400 W. Chatham, and will feature a variety of prepackaged cookies for $8.00 per dozen.  Candies, mixes, and other specialty items will also be sold, along with a raffle on the day of the sale.  This event is sponsored by St. Mary’s Altar & Rosary Society.

The public is invited to Breakfast with Santa on Saturday, December 7th from 8:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. at Metamora Izaak Walton at 725 Seven Hills Road.   Bring your camera for photos with Santa from 8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.  The Puppet show “Once Upon A Time” will be performed at 9:00 a.m.

Breakfast is a cash donation and includes pancakes, sausage, milk, juice, and coffee.

The Christian Union Church, located at 925 West Walnut in Metamora, is hosting a Live Nativity Drive Thru on Thursday, December 12th from 4:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.  Live animals and live music will add to this beautiful Nativity scene.  

A free will offering will be accepted to benefit the Metamora Open Arms Food Pantry and other local charities.

The Lourdes Men’s Club is holding a Sausage Sale!    The last day to pre-order bulk or link sausage is Sunday, December 8th. The cost is $4.00 per pound.  Call or text Bill Kessling at 309-645-7795.  Orders can be picked up at St. Mary of Lourdes on Sunday, December 15th from 7:00 a.m. until noon.

Tune in to MTCO digiMAX Local channel 400 starting mid-December and through the holiday to see past MTHS Christmas band and choir concerts; and grade school Christmas programs.

New broadcasts this year will include the MTHS Band and Choir Christmas concert from December 11th. and the Germantown Hills Grade School 2nd Grade Musical from December 12th. 

The Metamora Park District is hosting a Gingerbread House Contest in conjunction with A Village Christmas on Sunday, December 8th.  Bring your decorated Gingerbread House to the Metamora Park District on Dec. 8th from 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.  Voting will be done by monetary donations to the Gingerbread House of choice by anyone who comes through during A Village Christmas (12:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.) when all the houses will be displayed.

The 1st and 2nd place winners will receive cookies from Berta’s Snack Stop.  All money raised through voting will go to the Park District’s next project:  Basketball Courts!

Check out all the fun holiday activities going on at your local library! For all the exciting details, visit their December Events Calendar at Illinois Prairie District Public Library 

MTCO is a drop-off location for the Woodford County Heartline and Heart House Tree of Hearts program that provides Christmas gifts to low-income people in Woodford County.  They are looking for new, unwrapped gifts for children ages newborn through high school.

Donations will be accepted at MTCO (220 N. Menard St., Metamora) until 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, December 10th. 

For a little nostalgia, check out MTCO’s new About Us timeline at https://www.mtco.com/?about

One picture you’ll see is the first Metamora Telephone Company work truck from 1945! The picture above is a picture of CEO Glenn Rauh in 1958 working on phone dialing equipment in the Metamora office.

Not to be confused with Spam from Hormel Foods, but spam as in junk mail. It seems that half of all junk mail is truly junk, while the other half is legitimate email. Be cautious of malicious emails trying to trick you into clicking unsubscribe links. If you’re not 100% sure an email is legitimate, use Browserling at https://browserling.com  

To check the legitimacy of an unsubscribe link, right-click the link, copy it, and paste it into Browserling. This will open a sandbox browser within your browser, keeping you safe from any malicious code. If it is a legitimate unsubscribe, you can just follow the prompts right inside Browserling’s sandbox and close it out when you’re done.

Don’t Click on Advertisements

Only shop from trusted retailer websites.  If a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Beware of Fake Delivery Notifications

If you receive a notification for an unexpected delivery, do not click unless you have confirmed the purchase is real.

Be Careful Downloading Apps

Only download apps from your device’s certified app store.   Confirm the publisher is trusted, and if in doubt, do not install it.

Monitor Bank Account and Credit Card Activity

Turn on alerts to notify you of larger or international purchases.  Call your bank or card issuer by using the phone number on the card if you notice anything suspicious.

Here is another one!  Malvertising is a form of fake online advertising that uses ads that look real but spread malware on your devices.  They can look like “sponsored” ads that you see when performing an online search (like the picture above).

Find out more about how scammers are tricking people with Malvertising at https://cyberguy.com/tech-tips-tricks/older-americans-are-being-targeted-in-a-malvertising-campaign/

The Butterball Turkey Talk Line, a hotline dedicated to answering turkey-cooking questions, started in 1981 with just six operators and a single phone line. Today, they manage over 100,000 calls every holiday season! Since 2016, they have also offered help via text, so you can get turkey-saving tips without stepping away from the stove. It’s like tech support...but for your feast!  Source: Kurt the CyberGuy.

Connecting a USB cable seems like it should be simple, but why do we often get it wrong on the first try?  If you have not already noticed, there is a symbol on one side. It’s not just a design—if you’re plugging the cable in horizontally, the symbol should be facing up. If you are plugging it in vertically, the symbol will face you.  Now you are set to plug it in right every time!