On Thursday of last week, I was driving towards Ridley’s when I noticed flashing police car lights at Bi-Mart. Always curious, I wondered what was going on and then I remembered that the Ho-Ho Express for the Annex children was taking place. I didn’t need anything at Bi-Mart at the moment, but I was determined to think of something to buy so I could justify going in to watch the event.

If there was nothing else going on this Christmas Season, stepping into the store and listening to the children’s giggles, squeals, laughter, and joy would have made my Holidays. Watching the kids search the store for “treasures” for themselves and others, was amazing. Seeing a little girl walking out to show her “elf” the sparkly shoes she had found and then dancing back into the shopping aisle was delightful.

Thursday’s event involved about 90 children and their accompanying “elves”. On Saturday, the Ho-Ho Express took about 250 Weiser kids and their “elves” to Walmart.

The Ho-Ho Express involves more people than most realize. Of course, Santa is at each event. He instructs the kids that the money they are allotted can be spent on anything they want for whoever they want – even themselves. In addition to Santa, there is an “elf” assigned to every one or sometimes two children to keep track of the spending and the kid(s). There are also the bus drivers, the escorting police, the adults helping with wrapping the presents when the kids get back to the schools, the store employees who help find specific requests, and other helpers, all playing a part in providing these children a special Christmas.

And of course, there are the donors without which none of this would be possible.

The spirit of generosity in this community is huge and is one of the many reasons to love Weiser. In this community, thinking of other’s needs seems to be more important than thinking just about ourselves.

It is surprising where this attitude shows up sometimes. Last week, a young boy who appeared to be about 9-years old came into City Hall to drop off his family’s utility bill because he didn’t want his mother to have to get out of car. When Natisha McDaniel asked the boy if he was excited for Santa coming, he responded by saying he was, but went on to say Santa was not the true meaning of Christmas, Christ’s birth was. He then went on – that he appreciated whatever he got for Christmas, because thought was put into the gift and that thought was what made the gift special and meaningful. He kept going along this line quite a bit further. I’m told that the young man came across as quite genuine, rather than repeating something he had heard. He had the office staff floored.

This example may seem a bit unusual, but I believe that this boy did not pick this attitude up in a vacuum. It is my opinion that the same unselfish attitude was displayed at home and I don’t think it is a stretch to think it was also absorbed from his community.

I bring up all of this to say Thank You! to all of you who make up this community called Weiser! The spirit of generosity, caring, and helpfulness is evident all year and especially this time of year. This spirit is a big factor in making Weiser the safest small town in America. We are a community that watches out for each other in so many ways. I feel privileged to live here and to be able to serve you! Weiser is a great community!

OK, moving on to City news. The Electrical Department is looking for a journeyman lineman. If you, or anyone you know is qualified, please come into City Hall or contact Wayne Wallace directly at 208-550-1595 for more information.

Also, the Street Department is in the process of completing the alley clean-up for the year. Leaf pickup has been completed. If you did not get your leaves into the street be vacuumed up, please do not place them in the alley. Dispose of them on your own. If the leaves are placed in the alley, the city crew must separate them before they can be taken to the dump. Both the leaf pickup and alley clean-up are provided as free service to you, so ask you now to please do your part with any remaining leaves.

Well, that’s it for this week. May you have a very Merry and Joyful Christmas!

By the time you read this article, the City’s Street Department should have the Christmas decorations up and on full display. May the Holiday Season begin!

Wow! What a great, gritty, hard-won victory for the Weiser Wolverine Football team. Good Job In winning the State Championship!

Over the last six months, the City has been working to update its comprehensive plan. A typical comprehensive plan has 17 different elements including current and future expectations regarding such things as demographics, community resources, land use, recreation, public services, etc. as well as recommendations to meet the future’s needs.

This is something most cities do every five to seven years. Part of the reason we wanted put one together now was to take advantage of and include the 2020 U.S. Census information which was to come out in September. It was originally expected that the project would be completed sometime in January or February 2022. The broad stroke Census information is out, however, we are being told the granular Census information we need to make our plan relevant will probably not be released until June 2022 at the earliest. This will delay the final report until some time after that. We will continue to work on the components of the report that can be moved forward before then.

That being said, part of the comprehensive plan relies on you! We need your input! Included with your next utility bill will be a survey. This will be an opportunity to voice your views regarding the City in a meaningful way. The results of the survey will be compiled and used to make observations and recommendations in the comprehensive plan.

So, when you get your utility bill, please take the time to complete the survey and return it to City Hall. The survey itself should take no more that 5 to 10 minutes to complete. At the same time that the utility bills are sent out, the survey will be posted to the City’s website. Your views are important to the City and to all of your fellow residents.

In other City news this week, we received the final three parts for the leaf vacuum on Monday and now are in the process of putting it back together. On the second day of picking up leaves, a hefty chunk of rock or concrete was sucked up, ruining multiple parts of the machine. Please, please, please, do not include put anything besides leaves in your leaf piles. Do not pile leaves over anything else that happens to be in the gutter. The City provides the leaf pickup service as a courtesy for all of the residents. Please help up continue to provide this service for free by limiting the leaf piles to leaves only.

Well, that’s it for this week. Hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving, and a great Holiday Season.

Congratulations go again this week to the Weiser High School football team in their quest for the state championship! The Weiser Wolverines had a decisive win of 49-27 over the Gooding Senators. Weiser now plays Sugar-Salem for the state championship at Holt Arena in Pocatello at 5:30 on Friday, November 19. Good Job Weiser and good luck at state against Sugar-Salem!

For those of you who follow the City Council meetings, in October, the City Council was presented with letters from students of Courtney Thompson’s Weiser Middle School Exploratory Computer Class. The letters were a product of a class project to get students to think about ways to improve the city, estimate the cost to make the improvements, develop ways to finance their ideas, then prioritize which ideas to present to the city. The ideas ranged from improvements to the parks, to bleachers at the swimming pool, to improving the sidewalks. The City Council was impressed with the suggestions. There will be some follow-up on these suggestions later. Kudos to Courtney Thompson for developing her student’s interest in civic matters with this great project.

However, this fits in well with something I had started to work on. Through the Association of Idaho Cities (AIC), I learned that some of the cities in Idaho had a Mayor’s Youth Advisory Committee. I have started to work with the High School to possibly set up a committee of Weiser students to advise the Mayor concerning policy suggestions and other needs around the community. Part of the purpose would be to provide additional eyes and ears on ways the City can improve from a student’s point of view. In addition, it would also help students understand how city government works and encourage involvement in the community. It is also exciting to think of the suggestions the students might have for the objectives of the committee. I will keep you posted as this project develops.

In City news this week, the Street crew is concentrating on cleaning the alleys at the moment. The leaf vacuum is down due to a clutch that failed. The guys are working feverishly to get parts to make the repairs. As soon as the vacuum is running, the leaf pick up will resume.

Also, the power will be out at the Parkview Apartments on E. 3rd Street on Wednesday May 17 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. for replacement of the wiring to the apartments. There has been some intermittent problems with the wire. The Electrical Department wants to replace the wire now before it gets colder. A winter outage could involve wires frozen in the conduit that cannot be removed resulting in a much longer outage during the coldest part of the year. So, the Electrical Department is making the repairs now during the warmest part of the day to help the residents retain as much heat as possible while the power is out.

Pat Malay of the Street Department has asked me to remind you not to place notices on city street signs. Not only will the notices create a hazard by distracting driver’s attention from the road signs, but the tape placed on the sign will harm the reflective surface of the sign making them more difficult to see at night. So, please, do not attach notices to street signs.

Well, that’s it for this week. Go Wolverines and Good Luck at State!

Congratulations! to the Weiser High School Football team for another state playoff win; a 21-0 victory over Snake River High School. Being able to hold a rival scoreless at the state playoffs level of competition makes quite a statement. We wish you all of the luck in the world against Gooding this Friday!

Also, Congratulations go to those elected this last week in the City Council races. Michael Hopkins, Alicia Cavazos, and Sterling Blackwell were the top vote getters for the three positions available. I look forward to working with each of you as well as the remainder of the Council for at least the next two years. Together, I think we can accomplish a great deal.

Last Wednesday, I attended the retirement party for our retiring Fire Chief, Kerry Nyce, with mixed emotions. I am very glad for Kerry now that he will be able to enjoy himself full time, but I will definitely miss working with him.

The fire crew put on a nice party. It was very satisfying to see the respect Kerry received from other fire fighters. The people attending not only included the City and Rural fire crews, but Fire Chiefs and fire fighters from throughout the surrounding area. I was also pleased to see the number of people unassociated with the Fire Department who came to show their appreciation. The evening ended with the firefighters giving Kerry a ride home in the ladder truck complete with lights and a few airhorns, and escorted by all of the other fire vehicles. Thank you, Kerry, for your years of hard work and dedication to fighting fires and reducing hazards in Weiser. We appreciate you!

In City business this week, the Chief of Police for the #1 Safest Small Town in America, Carl Smith, wanted me to remind you to continue to stay safe in the colder weather, by making sure your windshield is frost free before driving in the mornings. If you scrape your windshield, be sure to get the whole surface to insure a clear view. If you prefer to clear the windshield by letting the vehicle run for a bit, please be sure to lock your vehicle if you leave it unattended while it is running. An unlocked, unattended running vehicle is just a target of opportunity for the wrong person to have a new set of wheels. We then might loose our #1 safest city status and you might be late for work.

Also, I left out a reminder in last week’s paper from our recently retired Fire Chief, Kerry Nyce. Kerry wanted to let you know it is again time to change the batteries in your smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors. The batteries should be replaced twice a year and using the time change as a reminder is a good way to remember. Changing the batteries only takes a few minutes, but might save your home and belongings—as well as yourself.

Well, that’s it for this week. Go Wolverines and good luck in Gooding!