Tuesday night at our regular VFW meeting at Post 3656 we were pleased to award the three top Patriot Pen essay winners. This year’s essay theme is “What is patriotism to me”. The three winners along with their families where invited to enjoy a great post holiday meal. The three top winners received a cash prize of $100.00 for first, $50.00 for second, and $25.00 for third place. The first-place winner is Katherine Wilhite, she is a 6th grader at Bristow Middle School and the daughter of John and Juli Wilhite. The second-place winner is Alexandra Wilhite, she is an 8th grader at Bristow Middle School and is also the daughter of John and Juli Wilhite. The third-place winner is Laryn Wages, she is a 6th grader at Bristow Middle School and the daughter of Cory and April Wages.

The Bristow Retail Merchants Association has had to make a tough decision. Covid has forced many people to make tough decisions; and those decisions don’t come easily. We do feel like with it being an outside event it decreased the chances of exposure to anyone, but with the lacing and unlacing of the skates we felt like the risk would still be somewhat present. We made a decision that if we were to err we wanted to err on the side of caution. Therefore, we have made the hard decision to not open the ice rink during the holiday season. Stay tuned though, because We haven’t given up on the possibility of ice-skating in the summertime. Thank you to all who helped us get the rink set up and who are helping with the takedown process. A special thank you to Coop’s Stop & Shop for allowing us the space to put it up, and for being patient with us while we get it disassembled. Again we apologize and we hate that Covid has forced us all to make decisions like this, but we hope you understand.

Bristow Into Action Bristow Into Action Alcoholics Anyomous meeting is temporarily being held on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7 p.m. at 708 West 11th Street, Bristow.

The week after the Thanksgiving holiday in Oklahoma ended with what many public health officials feared, with new highs in COVID-19 death reports, hospitalizations and daily cases. Meanwhile, new active cases rose the fastest in the past week in both rural and suburban ZIP codes. Among the biggest gains were in ZIP codes in Guthrie, Moore, Oklahoma City and Weatherford, according to an Oklahoma Watch analysis of data from the Oklahoma State Department of Health.

An Enid woman whose appointment to the state Board of Education sparked immediate backlash has withdrawn from consideration, Gov. Kevin Stitt announced Monday.

(StatePoint) Online holiday shopping is booming this year, as more consumers avoid brick-and-mortar stores in an effort to socially distance. According to a national consumer survey by Experian, 62 percent of shoppers will buy from the comfort of their computers.

Pirate Action Skate Park winners from left is First Place scooter, Jackson Moore, Mayor Rick Pinson, First Place skateboard Kobe Boyett and Overall Winner Cade Williams. courtesy photo.

Kinzie Williams (Mvskoke Creek), a sophomore from Bristow High School, has received District Offensive Player of the Year for the second year in a row. courtesy photo.

A huge congratulations goes out to Mike and Ann Sanford and the Bristow Vocal Music Program. Nine of the students have been chosen as All State Chorus Members, or All State alternates. This honor puts these students in the top 28 singers for their singing parts (Alto 2, Tenor 1, and Bass 2) in the State of Oklahoma. These students will participate in virtual rehearsal and concert, Jan. 21-23, 2020.

The Boy Scout Troop #571 attended the VFW Post 3656 meeting Tuesday night. They were invited to attend our evening meal and to speak with the VFW members about doing a flag retirement which may be sometime in January and will be open to anyone in the community. Amos Ingram, the assistant Troop Leader along with two of the Boy Scouts senior leaders, Jacob Ingram and Nathan Burgett spoke about the ceremony involved in retiring the American flag. They laid out a plan to the VFW members on how they will be conducting the ceremony and what steps are taken to retire an American flag properly and respectfully. After they concluded speaking about the plan of the flag retirement, they took questions from the members.