Christmas Eve is here, and that means stores closing early, banks closing early, and even the big box stores closed tomorrow. County Government offices have all been closed since yesterday. The Federal Reserve is closed, so if your bank is open today – most are until early afternoon – nothing gets processed till Monday.
Just in case you were wondering, there are no changes in trash pickup schedules for the County this week, or next week – trash haulers ARE working both Christmas Eve and New Years Eve. In case you’ve lost track, this is yard waste week.
Highlands County Sheriff personnel helped make Christmas happen for a couple hundred Families this week, as the community helped the COPS Adapt unit collect hundreds of toys, which were then sorted and delivered to more than 50 local families. The toys also helped the Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots program and helped hand out toys to close to 200 people. The toys that were left over were distributed at three different community events.
This’ll be the last night to enjoy some of the lighting displays up in the area’s neighborhoods and business district – if you’re out and about and haven’t seen Downtown Sebring’s Carousel of Lights, it’ll be lit up in all its glory – neighborhoods who’ve made it a point to invite you by for a look at their home displays include Thunder Road in Sebring, off Highway 98 across from Spring Lake, the Sebring Village
Mobile Home community, Sun N Lake of Sebring, and Lakeview Drive in Sebring.
Up in Lakeland, a man stole Christmas gifts and other items from a Lakeland home Monday morning – on camera. The sheriff’s office said a woman left her home and came back around 11:30 a.m. to find her door had been forced open. Deputies said wrapped Christmas gifts, a company laptop and a television were stolen from the home. Photos and video of the man stealing the items were captured on the home’s surveillance cameras. Polk Sheriff’s Charities is kicking in to replace some of the stolen toys for the kids.