This article, written by Todd Preston, President of the Magoffin County Historical Society, was taken from the December 23, 2010 issue of THE SALYERSVILLE INDEPENDENT newspaper.

            We had a successful and spectacular Christmas Parade and program here in Magoffin County!  Our county residents and those passing through our area have beautiful Christmas displays and decorations to view that make the holiday even more special and meaningful.  Our Ramey Park in Salyersville is decorated and is a very pleasant sight to see.  Downtown Salyersville is looking so festive and the Ivy Point is second to none!  Ben and Ruth Gardner’s decorations on their Ivy Point farm are doubly spectacular this year.  All over the county we have pleasant scenes of the season that remind us of the meaning of this wonderful time of the year.

            The Salyersville Downtown Christmas program began here at the Magoffin County Historical Society’s Pioneer Village.  Dorothy and the gang made and served “umpteen” gallons of hot cider and cookies galore.  We thank Dr. Hardin for opening the program with prayer.  His remarks and review of the year 2010’s Sesquicentennial events were much appreciated.  Miss Shirley Shepherd, Miss Teen Magoffin, was a valuable asset to our program with her wonderful singing.  We understand the City and County provided gifts of bicycles to students from each of our elementary schools.  One student from each grade Kindergarten through grade six was awarded a new bicycle as part of a drawing at the school for students with perfect attendance so far.  Thomas Howard, sitting in for Mayor Stanley Howard, along with several city employees was here to present the awards.  It was something to see how fast those winners could get up there to get their hands on the handle bars of those bikes.  Jim Allen and I are gonna suggest they give a few “scooters” to Senior Citizens next year!  Now, don’t laugh, you may reach the Senior Citizen category (it used to be called “old age”).

            We might be winners after all for we got to see all the floats, fire trucks, etc. all decorated and lit up with hundreds of twinkling lights – it was a wonder to see.  I would like to mention one Christmas parade float that had as its base a scene borrowed from Mrs. Helen Bailey that was handmade out of plywood.  The Santa and his reindeer have set in our yard and was on display on the roof last year.   Well, it was taken to a local school, repaired, repainted and outlined with hundreds of sparkling lights and provided a special sight for all to see during the parade. 

            Everyone who participated in the planning and carrying out the Christmas program are to be commended for putting on a good show for all those who had an opportunity to attend.  Paul and Linda Bussey and the Military Support Group did a tremendous job of decorating a tree in the Hall Community Center yard in honor of our military men and women. 

            In addition to the parade and the program at the Pioneer Village there were many other events for families to attend, including a tree lighting ceremony across from City Hall and a visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus at Salyersville Fire Department.  I’m sure there were lots of happy kids and several grown-ups as well who enjoyed all the festivities with toys, food, music, and good tidings for all!

            Now, let’s sort of turn the page.  There are those who are sick and shut-in who didn’t get to participate in all the merriment.  Let’s not forget to try to brighten their lives this Christmas season.   Any one of us could become classed in this category at any hour of the day.

            Here we are at the end of another year and one of much importance to Magoffin County as we have celebrated our 150^th birthday this year.  Several activities are still in the plans for this year; one is the New Year’s Eve Ball being held in the Lloyd M. Hall Community Center on December 31^st.  Another very important project will be the placement of the time capsule scheduled for February.  We will have more information about this at a later time.