Albany’s Cause for Paws’ mission is to give an affordable option to pet owners to get their cats and dogs fixed, according to the non-profit’s president Lacey Anderson, but that mission comes at a price.

Members of the local community have worked together to organize a special event and everyone is invited to gather around the big tree in downtown Moran for lighting of the tree and Christmas caroling at 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 9, and then head to the Community Center to visit with Santa and Mrs.

Several activities are crowded into the final two weeks of the fall semester at Moran including, of course, exams, but also classroom Christmas parties, a visit from Santa Claus, UIL contests, basketball games, the annual PTO holiday meal, and gathering presents for the Angel Tree.

The First Baptist Church of Moran’s Kool Kidz will have a Happy Birthday Jesus party on Wednesday, Dec. 12, beginning at 6:30 p.m.   “Each class will do a short program then we will serve refreshments,” said organizer Jo Hise. — —

Weekly printing of The Albany News continues to be a moving target with the usual press at the Abilene Reporter-News (ARN) still out of commission because of a Nov. 15 fire.

Pick-up dates for the December distribution of the commodity food program are Dec. 6 and 7. On Thursday, Dec. 6, certified eligible families in Moran should pick up their monthly commodity food at the Moran City Hall between 9:00 a.m. and 12:00 noon.

Santa letters and holiday essays for the 2018 Christmas issue published by The Albany News should be submitted by the end of this week if possible.

The Christmas season has officially begun and preparations are underway for the upcoming 2018 performance of the Albany Nativity.

There is one month left in the annual Albany Chest campaign and many more contributions are needed in order to meet the 2018 fundraising goal of $42,000 set by the directors at the start of the campaign after they reviewed the submitted funding requests from over two dozen organizations.

Applications from parents requesting that their children be included in the 2018 Toys for Tots program must be filled out and turned in to ResourceCare before the close of business on Friday, Nov. 30.  As of Tuesday, 45 children were signed up.