GIVING BACK:
How to help Dawson’s “Exceptional People”
Tips for staying healthy during holiday feasting
December 2024 / January 2025
DECEMBER 2024/JANUARY 2025
4 Arts
Download ebooks with your library card
5 Christine Hinton
The paycheck tax tip
6 Giving Back
How you can help Dawson’s “exceptional people”
8 Wellness
Eat healthier during the holidays
10Recipe Corner No-Bake Oreo Truffles
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DAWSON LIVING
A Division of Dawson County News
Dawsonville, GA
A Metro Market Media LLC property
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PUBLISHER
Stephanie Woody
MANAGING EDITOR
Erica Jones
DIRECTOR OF REVENUE
Margie Rogers
ADVERTISING SALES
Meghan Hernandez, Multimedia Sales Representative
CREATIVE SERVICES
April Seymour
Chelsea Sunshine
Courtney Smith
Carmen Rivera
PHOTOGRAPHY
Erica Jones
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Sudie Crouch
Erica Jones
Tap into reading
WITH THE LIBBY APP
Want to keep up with the latest reads but can’t seem to make it to the library? With Libby, you can access the digital books (and audiobooks!) available from your local library. Download the app, enter your Dawson County Library card info, and start reading.
AVAILABLE IN EBOOK FORMAT:
Remarkably Bright Creatures
by Shelby Van Pelt
After Tova Sullivan’s husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she’s been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago. Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn’t dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors--until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova. Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova’s son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it’s too late. Shelby Van Pelt’s debut novel is a gentle reminder that sometimes taking a hard look at the past can help uncover a future that once felt impossible.
It Ends With Us
by Colleen Hoover
Lily hasn’t always had it easy, but that’s never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. She’s come a long way from the small town where she grew up--she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. And when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily’s life seems too good to be true. Ryle is assertive, stubborn, maybe even a little arrogant. He’s also sensitive, brilliant, and has a total soft spot for Lily. And the way he looks in scrubs certainly doesn’t hurt. Lily can’t get him out of her head. But Ryle’s complete aversion to relationships is disturbing. Even as Lily finds herself becoming the exception to his “no dating” rule, she can’t help but wonder what made him that way in the first place. As questions about her new relationship overwhelm her, so do thoughts of Atlas Corrigan--her first love and a link to the past she left behind. He was her kindred spirit, her protector. When Atlas suddenly reappears, everything Lily has built with Ryle is threatened. An honest, evocative, and tender novel, It Ends with Us is “a glorious and touching read, a forever keeper. The kind of book that gets handed down” ( USA TODAY ).
THE PAYCHECK TAX TIP –A Great Place to Lower Your Taxes
The tax code has plenty of ways to reduce your taxable income, and many take place on your paycheck. If you haven’t already done so, now is a great time to conduct a thorough review of your paystub. Here are some tips:
Review insurance withholdings. Many employers adjust the amount you contribute for your insurance at the start of each year. Check to ensure the proper amount is being withheld. This includes medical, dental, shortterm disability and long-term disability. Every extra dollar hits your pocketbook!
ACTION: Compare the withholding amount with your employer documentation. Double check whether the dollars withheld are pre-tax or after tax. Most of these benefits should be pre-tax.
Check elective pre-tax benefits. These elective benefits typically include Health
Savings Account (HSA) pre-tax contributions if you are in a qualified high deductible health plan or an FSA contribution if you are in this pre-tax health benefit. Remember that there are annual contribution limits, so double check you are taking full advantage of this tax benefit.
ACTION: Correct any errors as soon as possible with your employer and maximize your contributions to get your full tax benefit, but be careful with FSA contributions as part of the balance in this account does not carry over into the next year like HSA contributions.
Retirement Plans. Review to ensure contributions for employer-provided retirement plans are properly noted. If there is an employer contribution to your plan, make sure this is noted and properly calculated as well.
ACTION: If your employer is making a contribution to your plan, ensure you are
maximizing this tax-deferred benefit.
Update your withholdings. Determine if enough is being withheld for Federal and State tax purposes. File a new W-4 with your employer if you need to adjust how much is being withheld for these taxes.
ACTION: Cost of living adjustments made by the IRS are impacting the tax rate being applied to your income. This is because the tax brackets are expanding while tax rates are remaining unchanged. Either use the new IRS withholding estimator (not for the faint of heart) or look at last year’s tax return and make adjustments accordingly.
Your paycheck is often one of the best sources of information to figure out how you can reduce your tax obligation. So keep it on your radar and come back to it for a quick review a few times during the year.
“Thank
Best of Dawson
you for making us
for six years in a row.
We are known for the quality of our service and the high standards we set for ourselves. Our primary goal is to help our clients make informed financial decisions.”
Healthy Holidays
by Sudie Crouch Health & wellness columnist
The holidays are upon us and for many of us, that can mean we’re surrounded by temptations that we usually don’t face. If you’ve been working on your health the last few months, or even a few weeks, it can create some concern of how you can make progress or if you’ll find yourself starting over come Jan. 1 like so many with the resolution to lose weight and get healthy. There are some simple, yet effective ways you can navigate the holiday season and still stay committed to your health goals.
One of the biggest dilemmas we face around the holidays is all of the abundance of holiday food. It can seem like we have two months of non-stop eating events, filled with foods we may not eat the rest of the year. So one of our greatest strategies can be using portion control.
You’re at holiday dinners surrounded by sweet potato casserole, luscious desserts, and an assortment of cocktails and want to try all of it because it feels like it’s something you don’t normally have and in some cases,
that can be true. There are certain foods and drinks we only have during the holidays. Exercising a bit of portion control can help us enjoy a sampling of the foods without feeling deprived. Sometimes, we get a large slice of cake or a serving of a dish, only to find out the first few bites taste better than the rest or we may not like it as much as we thought. Giving yourself a smaller serving can allow you to enjoy it without feeling obligated to eat a larger serving than you may really want.
When it comes to drinks, try to alternate water between alcoholic beverages to stay hydrated and to cut down on the calories in the drinks. Alcohol can also lead us to eat more than we intended, or to make choices that may not be the healthiest. Another option if you don’t want to drink at all can be having a glass of flavored seltzer water over ice to help you feel like you’re not missing out on the celebrations but still have a glass to toast with.
It’s also so easy to engage in ‘all or nothing’ thinking when it comes to the holidays. We fall into thinking “Well, I ruined the day by eating a piece of cake and pie, so may as well eat some cookies and whatever else I want.” While it may have been more than what you wanted to eat and foods higher in sugar, calories, and carbs, it doesn’t mean the whole day is lost. When you know you’ll have a meal that may be full of delectable treats later in the day, try to balance it by eating healthier beforehand – it can also help you stay more mindful of your choices later. Stick to veggies, fruits, and lean proteins ahead of the meal to help you have some nutrient dense foods. Some people try to avoid eating anything ahead of the holiday meal, and that is not something I recommend. You’ll often be way too hungry and may end up eating way more than you intended and can also make yourself feel sick by doing so. So just eating sensibly ahead of time - and the day after – can help.
I’ve also heard people say they will exercise intensely before or after a holiday meal to ‘burn off the calories’ and this is something I don’t agree with either. For one, we shouldn’t have to feel like we’ve ‘earned’ the right to enjoy a special meal. It’s natural and normal to want to enjoy the celebrations and thinking we have to put ourselves through a grueling workout makes it feel like we’re punishing ourselves in some way. Secondly, the amount of calories burned in a workout cannot possibly ‘burn off’ a meal, so unless you’re just wanting to go for a walk afterwards to help digest or want to walk or
workout beforehand because that’s your routine, I wouldn’t put a lot of stake in burning off all of the calories.
Sleep is another area we may struggle with over the holidays, simply because our routines are typically different. Strive to aim for 7-8 hours of sleep and stay on schedule as much as you can. Oftentimes, when our sleep is disrupted, it throws our hormonal cycle off, and that can cause us to see an uptick on the scale. Lack of proper sleep can also add to the stress we experience around the holidays too.
Check in on how you’re feeling throughout the holidays too. You may find grief may resurface in a profound way, or even depression and anxiety. Check in on loved ones who you know may be alone, as they may be struggling extra hard this time of year too. Being able to connect with others, especially those we care about, helps us not feel alone as well.
The holidays can be a whirlwind time, but hopefully you can find some ways to stay healthy as you get through them. Wishing you all a healthy holiday season!
HOW YOU CAN HELP PROVIDE CHRISTMAS PRESENTS FOR THIS LOCAL GROUP OF “EXCEPTIONAL PEOPLE”
Erica Jones
DCN Editor
This December, community members have a chance to help provide Christmas cheer to a very special group of local adults through Dawson County Parks and Recreation’s EPIC program.
EPIC, which stands for Exceptional People In our Community, is a program aimed at “enriching the lives of adults with disabilities through activities, crafts, games and more”. The program meets on the third Thursday of every month and draws a wide range of attendees from Dawson and its surrounding counties to enjoy food, time together and a fun outing.
EPIC days are offered to the community free of charge, and the program serves clients from high school age all the way through adults of any age. While EPIC is hosted by Dawson County Parks and Recreation, it’s completely run by volunteers
and funded by donations and local sponsors.
One of the biggest programs that EPIC holds each year is its Christmas party, during which attendees will have the chance to spend time with Santa and celebrate the holiday. As part of this celebration, each attendee is provided with a personalized Christmas present.
In order to be able to provide these presents for each of the attendees, Parks and Rec staff have been working hard for months, together with local high school students, to create a “stocking wall”, which allows community members to come and pick a person to sponsor by purchasing their requested gift.
“It’s about a $30 gift; we have their name and their gift idea and we just ask people to come take the stocking off the fireplace,” Parks and Rec representative Kris Rowan said. “Each client will get a gift; in December Santa Claus will be here to give them all out.”
Photos by Erica Jones
This isn’t the first year that the group has held the gift program, but this year several members of Dawson County High School’s chapter of FCCLA (Family, Career and Community Leaders of America) were able to help make the setup a little bit easier.
“In the past Kris has emailed trying to get pictures and information from all the caregivers, so we thought this year while they’re all here already that we could get them involved and let them pick a few things that they would like,” Parks and Rec representative Buffie Hamil said.
And so FCCLA members, in a project spearheaded by DCHS seniors Audrey Collum and Macie Rahn, helped interview each attendee to get gift ideas, cut out the stockings and helped assemble the wall. The stockings represent almost 140 individual clients asking for a wide variety of different Christmas presents, and the impact that just one $30 present can make on one of the clients is huge, Parks and Rec staff said.
“Last year we had an EPIC friend who received an Edward doll — like a Barbie doll but Edward from Twilight — and when she got that doll she hugged it even though it was still in the box and she just cried she was so happy,” Hamil said.
“People don’t think about adults as much as they think about kids; some of them don’t get Christmas so this is really a big thing for them,” Rowan added.
The stocking wall is set up at Rock Creek Park in the main gymnasium, and stockings are available to pick up at any time that the gym is open. Presents should be purchased and returned unwrapped with their accompanying stockings by Monday Dec. 9, and EPIC volunteers will wrap the presents for distribution during the Dec. 19 Christmas party.
“It brings joy to the EPIC people; getting to see their faces when they get their presents is really cute so we’d love people to help out and help get those presents for them,” Collum said.
“It’s truly a great day; and especially this year with the community helping pitch in it’s great to know that the community is behind it,” Rahn added.
To learn more about EPIC and how you can be involved in the program, go to https://www. developdawson.org/parksrec/page/epic-days.
NO-BAKE
Oreo Truffles
FROM ERICA JONES, DCN EDITOR
These easy, four-ingredient truffles are always a favorite on the Christmas cookie platter each year. You can make them as simple as you want or switch them up by using different kinds of chocolate or different flavors of Oreo cookies — the possibilities are endless!
INGREDIENTS:
• 36 Oreo cookies
• 8-ounce block cream cheese, at room temperature
• 12 ounces semi-sweet or white chocolate
• 1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil
DIRECTIONS:
1. Place the Oreos in a food processor or blender and pulse until ground into fine crumbs.
2. Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together the Oreo crumbs and the softened cream cheese until combined into a dough.
3. Using a tablespoon, scoop out spoonfuls of the mixture and use your hands to roll into balls.
4. Place the truffles on a baking sheet or a plate lined with parchment paper and refrigerate for an hour.
5. Place the chocolate and the vegetable oil in a glass bowl and microwave for 20-second increments, stirring after each increment, until completely melted.
6. Working with one refrigerated truffle at a time, dip the Oreo balls into the melted chocolate and swirl to coat, then carefully lift out using a fork and allow the excess chocolate to drip off. Place dipped truffles onto a parchment-lined baking sheet to harden.
7. Optional: While the truffles are still wet, you can garnish them with sprinkles, Oreo crumbs or other toppings.
~Tim & Lindsay White
