Holiday cheer is here in many forms around Juniata River Valley

LEWISTOWN — Kaye-Raye Hepler is ready for Santa Claus, are you?
The Milroy woman is all set for Christmas day proclaiming, “Everything is all wrapped and under the tree!”
Others in the Juniata River Valley are scurrying to retailers, who have extended hours due to the holiday season, or watching out the window with baited breath for those last-minute packages to arrive.
One thing that did arrive just in time for the holidays was a van full of brand-new bikes for the Every Kid Rides Project, which recently opened the SteelWorx Pump Track in Burnham. Volunteers were busy assembling the new rides so they could be delivered for Christmas.
“The bikes have all been distributed,” said Shannon McGonigle of Every Kid Rides Project. “The Every Kid Rides Project bought all the bikes and gave them all away to kids who applied to our bike assistance program.” Carli Russler, who also helped found the project, was on-hand giving out the bikes.
Spreading the holiday cheer is just part of the job at Geisinger Lewistown Hospital.
Alex Betz, an inpatient registered nurse, dresses up for the holidays to try and bring some smiles to his patients and colleagues at Christmas; it seems to do the trick.
“I usually get a smile from the patients and also my co-workers when I do dress up,” Betz said. “It’s important now to bring holiday cheer, because the holidays can be challenging for many people for a variety of reasons, let alone having to be in the hospital during the holidays.
“I’ll always try my best to bring joy to those in my life around the holidays, especially to my patients,” Betz added.
Hospital officials said inpatient teams at Geisinger sacrifice time with their loved ones and family to spread the holiday cheer on Christmas. Whether they provide special gestures like playing Christmas music, handing out candy canes or simply sitting at the patients’ bedside with a listening ear, they do so with compassion and extreme care.
Sunmeet Singh, MD, of Geisinger-Lewistown Hospital’s Rural Family Medicine Residency Program said it only takes a few minutes of time to reach out to those who are less fortunate, especially this time of year.
“It’s important to remember that there are people in need during the holiday season,” Singh explained.
And forecasters say that those hoping for a white Christmas might get their wish. An inch of snow could be on the ground come Christmas morning.
Areas that currently have snow on the ground now should have it last through Wednesday, many predict. A weak clipper pushing through Tuesday might also drop an inch in parts of the state. The Juniata River Valley is just on the border of that system.