Community Forum

Letter to Editor: Red Cross Exceeds Goal in Letters to Service Members Campaign

"This time of year generally brings out the best in people, and we have certainly seen that here at the American Red Cross."

This Letter to the Editor is from Cindy Erickson, Regional CEO of the American Red Cross. This time of year generally brings out the best in people, and we have certainly seen that here at the American Red Cross. Because Service to the Armed Forces is a key mission area for the Red Cross, during the month of November, we asked the community to help send holiday greetings to service members around the world, their families and veterans in homes and hospitals. While a holiday card might sound like a small thing, we hear every year that it means a great deal to those who are away from their homes and/or families.  Last year, the American Red Cross collected and sent an amazing 1.3 million cards around the world… and 4,000 of those cards came …

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“Deck the House” to Win $100,000 For U City Schools

Did you decorate your house for the holidays this year? Enter our "Deck the House" contest and you could win $100,000 for your local school district and $500 to pay your electric bills!

Holidays Happenings 2012

Best Christmas Gifts of 2012: Is It Gift Cards?

Six in 10 Americans say they'd love to receive a gift card for Christmas. What do you think? Great gift or easy way out?

Have you spent hours looking for that perfect gift for that special someone?  If so, you might be wasting your time. According to the National Retail Federation, requests for gift cards to stores such as Target, Best Buy, Walmart and Kohl's are up this holiday season. "When it comes to holiday wish lists, the usual culprits top the list each year: clothing, books, DVDs, video games, and electronics, but there’s one that stands out more than any other – gift cards," the NRF's annual holiday shopping forecast says. According to the survey, six in 10 (59.8 percent) of those polled say they’d like to receive gift cards this year, up from 57.7 percent last year and the most in the survey’s history. Instead of a store gift card, you can give the…

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Enter Patch's “Deck the House” Contest To Win $100,000 For Public Schools

Did you decorate your house for the holidays this year? Enter our "Deck the House" contest and you could win $100,000 for your local school district and $500 to pay your electric bills!

We’re launching our second annual Deck the House Contest to find the most over-the-top holiday decorations in America—the best “decked” house in the country—the one home so spectacularly decorated that everyone in town jokes your holiday decorations could rival Rockefeller Center’s. If this sounds like your house, upload a photo or video of your home to our contest page from Nov. 26 to Dec. 16. This is the site where you can learn how to enter the contest. Only residents of Patch towns are eligible to enter. We’ll select 24 regional finalists, and from them, pick one grand prize winner. Patch will pay up to $500 of the utility bill for each finalist, while our national winner will have $100,000 donated to his or her local school district. …

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Butterball Hotline Talks Turkey With Dazed and Confused Cooks

Fifty turkey experts will answer questions on meal prep and turkey emergencies this holiday season.

It's Thanksgiving, the guests are only hours away and your turkey still is frozen. What can you do? Have no fear, the Butterball Turkey talk-line is open and ready to help. For more than 20 years Butterball representatives have talked turkey. The questions run the gamut, from experienced cooks simply looking for tips to make the perfect bird, to panicked hosts trying to avert disaster. "We have many different hats that we wear," said Tara-Rose Groberski, who has worked on the turkey talk line for 10 years. "We're there to alliviate their angst. We'll tell them to take a deep breath and walk them through what they have to do." The first turkey talk line had six home economists answer 11,000 phone calls in 1981. This year more than 50 …

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Thanksgiving 2012: Movies to Watch on Turkey Day

Spending your Turkey Day in St. Louis and looking for a family-friendly activity? Skip the Black Friday lines and watch a movie on Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving 2012 in University City is quickly approaching, which means it's time to stuff your face with pumpkin pie, play with Thanksgiving crafts and watch some NFL football. And unless you're preparing for Black Friday deals, Turkey Day also serves as a great day for movie-goers.  If you decide to stay home, Moviefone published a list of the Top 21 Films About Thanksgiving for you to consider. But if you're looking to go out with family and friends around University City, be sure to check listings at the Tivoli Theatre, AMC Esquire 7, Galleria 6 Cinemas or Hi-Pointe Theatre.  Here's a list of movies that are opening the week of Thanksgiving: The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II Anna Karenina Silver Linings Playbook Life of Pi Rise…

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Enter Patch's “Deck the House” Contest For a Chance to Win $100,000

Did you decorate your house for the holidays this year? Enter our "Deck the House" contest and you could win $100,000 for your local school district and $500 to pay your electric bills!

Patch is launching its annual Deck the House Contest to find the most over-the-top holiday decorations in America—the best “decked” house in the country—the one home so spectacularly decorated that everyone in town jokes your holiday decorations could rival Rockefeller Center’s. If this sounds like your house, upload a photo or video of your home to our contest page from Nov. 26 to Dec. 16 (Check back here next Monday for a direct link to our contest page so you can enter). Only residents of Patch towns are eligible to enter. We’ll select 24 regional finalists, and from them, pick one grand prize winner. Patch will pay up to $500 of the utility bill for each finalist, while our national winner will have $100,000 donated to his or her local…

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Help the Hungry by Purchasing Operation Food Search Holiday Cards

Proceeds from the festive cards benefit those in need of food this holiday season in the St. Louis area.

Operation Food Search is selling holiday greeting cards with proceeds going toward the purchase food to benefit local men, women, and children in need of basic daily basic sustenance.  Operation Food Search holiday cards are available in sets of 25 cards for $25.   The OFS holiday greeting cards feature its signature red tomato as a festive holiday ornament. Personalization is available for large quantity orders. Inside, each card is the following message: Sending you warmest thoughts and best wishes as you celebrate the season. The back of each card features the OFS logo, its misson statement and a message about the benefit of the card purchase. See the attached PDF to view the full card. Operation Food Search Established in 1981 to …

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Who's Hiring

Seasonal Jobs Abound as Holiday Season Approaches

Many St. Louis-area big box retail stores are hiring seasonal workers to help handle the holiday shopping season.

Thousands of jobs are on the way to St. Louis as big-box retail stores such as Walmart and Target are set to hire seasonal employees in anticipation of the holiday shopping rush. According to a St. Louis Business Journal report, Walmart plans on hiring more than 50,000 seasonal employees, although it's not sure how many of those jobs will be for the store's 20 St. Louis-area locations. Walmart is not the only store hiring. Many of the Christmas season's go-to stores are also looking for seasonal help. The Business Journal reports that Target is set to hire between 80,000 to 90,000 workers across the country, while Kohl's plans to hire 52,000 workers. And Macy's, which has three locations in the St. Louis-area, plans to add 1,700 jobs to …

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