This morning, as little Ben Hartzler walked carefully down the aisle with his mom, Laura, carrying an unlit candle in his hand, my mind was suddenly jolted back to a long-ago Advent season. Ben ~Ac^a'not^aEURoe his hand steadied by his mother~Ac^a'not^a"cs ~Ac^a'not^aEURoe carefully lit his own candle from the flame of last week~Ac^a'not^a"cs candle, then used it to light the next pillar. Whew ~Ac^a'not^aEURoe the wick caught the flame. I suddenly realized I was holding my breath, remembering the year that the candle wouldn~Ac^a'not^a"ct light.
Obviously no one has tipped off Rick and Pat Shaner of The Icon's existence. Just out of curiosity, I check Google Analytics today. While probably 95 percent of the Icon viewers live in Allen, Hancock and Putnam counties we've become discovered across the U.S. and the globe.
We've had viewers in 43 states. Those states not on our radar screen include: North Dakota, Wyoming, Nevada, Arkansas, Mississippik, Delaware and...Alaska. Thus, the comment about the Shaners.
Since we launched our Icon website in late September we've been very encouraged by the positive comments from viewers.
The interesting part is that the Icon is a very part-time job for us. We are grateful to the many viewers who send us material and story ideas. Without you we couldn't continue.
We are also encouraged as we find new viewers who recently discover us and pass our link on to others.
Some of you may be wondering what you can do to help us out. Here's a suggestion:
The Bluffton Post Office, The Bluffton Icon and the Bluffton Senior Citizens Center have signed on the with fat guy in the red suit this month. Youngsters of any age many write letters to Santa. A special mail box for the letters is located in the lobby of the Bluffton Post Office. The Icon will publish the letters. If a name and return address is printed on the letter, the elves at the Senior Citizens Center will send a reply to the writer. Letters will appear in the "Young Citizens" folder on The Icon.
I can probably count on one hand the few important times in our married life that my husband did not have a camera at his side. The day we got married. The day our daughter got married. The moment each of our daughters took their first steps (this counts as two). The day we saw a bald eagle.
