Hi everyone. I hope you all are enjoying our beautiful Christmas season. What a very special time to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.

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It is definitely a time for counting our blessings and sharing good cheer. This year we will once again come together in Valley Home for our small-town lighted Christmas Parade. This year we are excited to announce that long time Valley Home cattle ranchers Larry and Mary Ann Fraguero will be our Parade Grand Marshals. Larry was raised on Fraguero Road. Mary Ann and Larry have been very successful cattle ranchers for many, many years. The two of them worked side by side to raise the most amazing red Angus herd. They were members of the Cattlemens Association. The Fragueros were awarded lifetime memberships in recognition of their continued support and dedication to the cattle industry. Mary Ann was born on June 24, 1940 and Larry was born on December 24, 1932. They were married on May 24, and have enjoyed an amazing life of raising top-notch cattle. Mary Ann and Larry are very well-known and very well respected throughout the cattle industry and our entire area for their high-quality red Angus. Mary Ann and Larry both held down full-time jobs while building their amazing herd of cattle. Mary Ann later would retire from the Department of Corrections and Larry would retire from Caltrans. Both enjoyed their careers and they definitely enjoyed working together and raising their prized red Angus.

We are happy to report that Mary Ann and Larry will be our 2024 Christmas Parade Grand Marshals. We are very excited and honored to have them. We would like to wish Larry a very Happy Birthday on this Christmas Eve, when he will turn 92 years old.

This year our Valley Home Lighted Christmas Parade is on Saturday, December 21st at 6:30pm. No sign ups, always safety first, entries in good taste, line up at 6:15, please stay 10 feet from the entry in front of you. Go slow; parade goes three times around the block starting at the Pioneer school campus. Each entry must have lights.

Immediately after the parade we will gather for the lighting of our community Christmas tree and we will sing two Christmas carols together.

We will once again honor the memory of our sweet Bonnie with our cookie exchange. Bring a dozen, take a dozen. There will be plenty of cookies so even if you are not able to bring a dozen, please still enjoy the cookies … eat what you would like and take some home in honor of Bonnie. After the Christmas carols, we will be blessed with a Christmas prayer. We hope to hear the beautiful sounds of Christmas bells ringing across Valley Home right before we sit down for a delicious Christmas potluck dinner together. Please bring your favorite potluck dish to share. If you were not able to bring a dish, no worries, come enjoy yourself and enjoy dinner together. We are also hoping for snow … it is going to be a very special night in Valley Home.

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As always you may contact me by email at winniemullins51@gmail.com or by telephone at 209-985-5233.