INSIDE AURORA: ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas

December 20, 2017 · 0 Comments

By Scott Johnston

‘Twas the night before Christmas, it’d been a long day
Planning for that evening, was well underway
Despite the last minute rush, and deadlines to meet
Santa sat for a minute, and put up his feet.

Donning his glasses, he sipped from his tea
And drew an Auroran, from the pile by his knee
This paper covered that Town, with unbiased views
Santa found it the best source, to hear all the news

The first thing he read was a bit of a surprise
Council this year had voted to reduce its size
Next year he need not carry, nearly as much weight
If council put out only six stockings, not eight.

The Town’s old library would be torn down, he read
But once that was done they would build nothing instead
That was a decision he could not understand
Besides, that roof was a great downtown place to land

Then Santa read that in fact an option or two

For the Square had been proposed for council to choose
He was outwardly hopeful, but deep down afraid
It’d be twenty more years ‘fore a foundation was laid

Glancing at the next page the story to follow
About the armory was better to swallow
Food and wine would be sold there, as quick as a wink
Next year his team might even pop in for a drink

Vehicular challenges continued in Town
For endless parking chaos no help could be found
While Council with patience still hoped it would score
Funds for a new exit at Highway Four Oh Four

The Joint Ops Centre’s debut had drawn a big crowd
It was a structure of which the Town could be proud
It had all kinds of features, from big ones to small
It lacked only funding to pay for it all

For the Town’s local Bridge Club the year had been hard
Playing on in Aurora was not in the cards
While for schools good news was there were now more spaces
But sadly in portables – unpopular places

He then read of a change at Aurora Peace Park
The addition of something that left quite a mark
For a moment he feared that his team might be harmed
But the Light Armoured Vehicle had been disarmed

Santa sat back and jotted some notes on his list
Then re-read it to make sure nothing was missed
He shook his head as he set The Auroran down
Every year brought surprises, in that little Town

Feel free to e-mail Scott at: machellscorners@gmail.com