Edmond Life and Leisure - December 5, 2024

From the Publisher

Sorghum Mill Christmas Tree the place to go

This is my annual and shameless promotion for our friends at Sorghum Mill Christmas Tree and Blackberry Farm. It is located at 7121 Midwest Lane here in Edmond. Our family has shopped for our live trees from the farm for decades and love this locally owned and operated business. You could make a great case for shopping there because you are shopping at a small local business but an even better case to be made is because they are the best.

They are known for being able to cut down your own tree, but you do not have to folks. They will help you cut it down or even cut it down for you. They also have a great selection and variety of fresh trees that are precut for you to pick from. Yes, they do advertise with us every year, but it has nothing to do with me telling you to shop for your live tree there.

First, just the facts:

Open daily after Thanksgiving

Hours: 1 pm to 7 pm Mon.- Fri.; 10 am to 7 pm Saturday and Sunday.

ALL FIELDS CLOSE AT 5PM DAILY (that is so you are not wondering around in the fields looking for that right tree in the dark. Probably a good idea to keep folks like me out of those fields after dark)

Choose and Harvest: Virginia Pine, Scotch Pine, White Pine, Austrian Pine, Loblolly Pine, Leyland Cypress, and Blue Ice Cypress.

Fresh Pre-Cut: Noble, Fraser, Douglas, Grand and Nordman Fir.

Live Trees (Balled and Bur lapped): White Pine, Scotch Pine, Austrian Pine, Loblolly Pine, Blue Atlas and Karl Fuchs Cedar. Shade and Ornamental Trees are Also Available.

Features: Wreaths, Garland, Door Swags, Mantle Pieces, Tree Stands, Drilling and Saws Provided. Excellent Service. All Trees Shaked, Wrapped, Loaded and Tied.

Photographers: Professional photography is not allowed.

They do offer free refreshments of hot apple cider and hot chocolate so be sure and take the entire family. It is such fun for the kids, and it will put you in the Christmas spirit for sure. We have some cool but not frozen weather so be sure and get out early for the best choice.

Besides the facts, I love this family and their business because they employ so many young people to work there over the season. It is incredible. You will love these young people. You will notice that the culture this family has instilled in their business makes shopping there a pleasure. They are fast and friendly. What I really appreciate is they are turning out students who will be running our town in not so many years and running businesses everywhere with training that will make them successful. It is the kind of person any business would want to hire. Parents should be paying the tree farm for training their kids.

Directions: I-35 to Exit 143 (Covell Rd.), East 1 ½ miles to Midwest Blvd, North on Midwest Blvd 1 ¾ to Midwest Lane, East 1/8 mile to the Farm.

Samaritan campaign of the Hope Center in full swing

Please look at the names of folks who are giving to the Hope Center Samaritan campaign this year on page 16 of this week’s paper. Thank you so much to all who are giving. It is not too late folks. There is information on how to give to the campaign on that same page.

If you prefer your name, not published, you can have your donation listed as anonymous. The reason for publishing the names is to encourage your friends and neighbors to donate as well. Lisa and I as well as the newspaper have dropped off our donations this week and hope others will too. The Hope Center are excellent stewards with your money, and they help so many folks who truly need it here in Edmond.

PLEASE GIVE!

We fled for Thanksgiving

Lisa and I hated to miss that many activities in Edmond over the Thanksgiving break. The turkey trot is a favorite, but we are spectators only. This old man does not run unless being chased. Downtown was bursting with fun including a visit from the Grinch on Small Business Saturday. But we needed a getaway, so we totally ditched our families and escaped to Branson, Missouri for four days. Heck our kids are in their 30’s so it is about time they learned how to make a turkey. “Baptism under fire” is how my dad would have put it. It is a fantastic get away. Easy drive in right under five hours not including potty breaks. Really nice folks there and tons to do. The best thing we did other than eat at some great places was Top of the Rock Nature at Night on The Lost Canyon Cave & Nature trail. It runs now through January 5th and the hours are 5 to 10 p.m. but you will need a reservation. Sadly, we saw many families turned away who just showed up expecting to get in.

Lisa and I had done this trail as a nature activity a few years ago but this had a Christmas twist to it. You experience the Ozarks after dark at Top of the Rock's Nature at Night. Drive your own private golf cart through a 2.5-mile trail featuring stunning light displays, waterfalls, bridge crossings, a marvelous cave, and classic holiday scenes. Sip on festive hot beverages while taking in thousands of twinkling lights and making memories in the great outdoors.

It is beautiful. The cool part is that as you enter the cave in your golf cart there is an open bar. How cool is that? I was hoping for hot chocolate and peppermint schnapps, but they did not have it. They did have some great tiki drinks such as margaritas. Pretty fun way to kick off the Christmas season.

Of course, the recorded tour guide voice takes you through the caves, but they also tell the story of the Osage Indians native to the Ozarks and the meaning of Christmas from their viewpoint and how they celebrate. It is a wonderful time and it is worth the drive to see it alone.

Lots more to do in the area thanks to John L. Morris, American billionaire businessman, and the founder, majority owner, and CEO of Bass Pro Shops, a hunting and fishing retail chain in the US and Canada. As of August 2024, his net worth was estimated at US$9.9 billion. He has certainly done well in business, but he has also done much for conserving nature and the great out of doors. The man puts his money where his mouth is folks. John Morris was born around Springfield, Missouri in 1948. Morris was educated at Drury University. I like that he never left his roots. His success comes from how he was raised and educated by his home base of the Ozarks. My dad was born and raised in the Ozarks. They are special folks with a work ethic second to none. He is married, with four children, and lives in Springfield, Missouri. Morris founded Bass Pro Shops in 1972 when he began selling fishing equipment in the back of one of his father's Brown Derby liquor stores in Springfield.

Morris also founded the Top of the Rock golf course in Branson, Missouri, which houses one of the largest collections of Native American arrowheads and art in the region. Top of the Rock experienced a 70-foot-wide sinkhole on May 22, 2016. It was no problem for Morris, he just builds around it. Got to love a guy with that attitude.

(Ray Hibbard, publisher of Edmond Life & Leisure, may be reached at ray@edmondpaper.com)