In a 1995 edition of the Atmore Advance, talk is all about the upcoming Christmas season. The Atmore Chamber of Commerce was urging shoppers to shop locally.

Each year, we see shoppers making that trip to Pensacola to buy Christmas presents. I, for one, do not make that trip. I figure if you can’t find it at home, you don’t need it as bad as you thought you did. All those things bought in Pensacola are just another dig out of our tax base here at home. Don’t line Florida pockets when we can help

out our own community by buying at home.

The Atmore Arts Council was getting ready to present its version of the “Wizard of Oz.” The cast consisted of more than 100 people and what could be more run than the Wizard of Oz? We all watch it every time someone decides to air it and this is the perfect time of he year to put a little cheer in everyone. The message it sends couldn’t me more clear.

There is no place like home and when we think of Christmas, we think of home and all our loved ones.

The City of Atmore was, according to the newspaper, unique in that the post office here does stamp cancelations.

Now I never thought about it, but according to this article, Williams Station Day is marked by having envelopes canceled by a special stamp.

According to the post office, they receive hundreds of envelopes each year to be stamped with a special stamp denoting William Station Day.

They say that they receive these envelopes and some of them are very fancy and much work has been done on them before adding the canceled stamp.

Although the Christmas Parade now takes place at night, that has not always been the case. In 1995, the parade was held on a Saturday morning. As usual, crowds of people came out to see the parade and to see the first good sighting they have seen of the jolly old man, Saint Nicholas. Little children light up and they began to make their lists.

Santa letters are written and the post office makes sure that all those letters get to the right place.

This was an interesting article in the newspaper. A former doctor who had practiced in Atmore was named as one of the ten most fascinating people by Barbara Walters in 1995. This was because of his work as one of the first responders at the Oklahoma City bombing earlier in the year.

With all the mischief going on in the world today, one begins to think there are no more heroes around. But every time we think that, we are proven wrong once more. There are many people willing to step up and do the right thing. And nothing makes us more ready to step up than someone messing with our own homes and people. Christmas always brings out the best in people. Just look around and see how many people you meet this time of the year with smiles on their faces.