PHOTOS: SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY CHRISTMAS SPIRIT
A Dewey High School cheerleader, decked out in holiday spirit, cheers on the Bulldoggers basketball teams last Friday prior to Christmas break.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
The Bartlesville High School wrestling members participated in the first annual Cherokee County Classic Tournament in Tahlequah, bringing home several medals and Christmas spirit.
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The Washington County Sheriff’s Office held its annual event to help families in need for Christmas recently. Santa and Mr. Claus were on hand to talk to children and hand out gifts.
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Last week, Washington County Sheriff’s deputies placed wreaths on area peace officers who gave the ultimate sacrifice for the citizens they served.
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A Wesleyan Christian basketball fan enjoys the last basketball game of 2025 before the Christmas break last Friday.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
Wesleyan Christian School held its Christmas program earlier this month.
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Dewey High School cheerleaders cheer on the Bulldoggers during their final game of 2025.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
A Wesleyan Christian School cheerleader cheers on the Mustangs last Friday.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
Santa and Mrs. Claus visited the Copan Truck Stop and Restaurant earlier this month.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
Copan Public Schools held a door decorating contest for Christmas. Jasey Forth and Shannon Cody’s door won a gift certificate from the Copan Truck Stop and Restaurant.
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Club Ace 12s held a Christmas party featuring a white elephant exchange and cookie decorating before the Christmas break.
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Bartlesville Public Schools’ tennis players held a Christmas party before the holiday break.
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-Michael Jerry Tupa
I see beauty beyond the highest number on the scoreboard.
I see a winner in the last-place finisher, I see a champion in the tears of defeat.
No symphony has ever been written more supreme than a baby’s laugh.
I see Santa Claus — and all his opulent generosity — in the face of the true give-givers.
I see love stronger than the most grizzled mountain in the tender hearts of newlyweds —
whether they be married for a day or whether they be lovers closing in on a century.
I feel God’s grip in the sincere handshake of a friend or a stranger,
I see countless treasure piled up to the sky in the home filled with love in every corner.
I see genius in the individual who loves others, believes in God and nourishes humility.
Truth and reality are not made up of inches, tangible substance or the scepter of power.
The truest things are seen only by spiritual eyes, measured only by emotional senses.
You show me your vault of wealth and I’ll try to show you a depository of countless value
of faith and happiness in God — and between loved ones — that thrives in all economies
and that endures and grows with continual returns beyond your final breath.
I see no individual stand taller then when she stoops and reaches down to help another
or I see no greater power than when he comforts and makes gladder a crying child.
I see a beauty behind the highest number on the scoreboard.
It might be — in a sense beyond ego gratification and immediate reward —
that the final score might be the least important thing that happened that hour.
I perceive that loyalty, commitment, determination, stamina, and pushing beyond limits
might be the only elements that really count in the competition of youth.
I see that winning and success are good and positive and help spur one’s greater efforts,
but the true warriors are those that compete to their ultimate limit without quitting.
Yes, I see that we live in a material world governed by a cornucopia of physical sensations.
But, I also have learned that mortal potential reaches its ultimate supremacy,
when attuned to thoughtful intuition, loving others and the substance of goodness.