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Duringtheselazydays of summer, Christmas is probably the farthest thing from your mind! With thoughts of vacation, finding ways to keep cool and big fam- ily get-to- gethers fill- ing these summer days, the sounds of jingle bells and carolers out in the snow are ancient history. Now I want to break this to you gently, but Christ- mas decor will be appear- ing in a store near you in only a matter of weeks — if you haven't seen hints of that already. Devoting only a few minutes each day to getting started early with your Christmas plans will come back to bless you in money saved. And you'll have beaten a lot of stress, too, come December. Here are some quick and easy ways to get started now. Crashsave Once each week put $10 — or an amount you find appropriate —into an enve- lope for a person, such as your mail carrier or news- paper delivery person, who you will thank with a tip during the holidays. La- bel and seal the envelope. Then make a note in your calendar so you don't for- get where you put it. Group cra ing Spend an evening with three or four friends mak- ing holiday decorations. Each person brings an idea plus all the materials and supplies needed for that project. By the end of a very fun evening, everyone goes home with three or four new items. Collect This summer as you are traveling and camping, col- lect pinecones, seashells, even dried plant materials and other such items. Now you have the stuff you need to make wonderful tree or- naments and other crafty items. Stockings Don't sew? No problem. You can still "make" great Christmas stockings. Buy large, wooly socks (find them on sale now at camp- ing and outdoors stores). Roll up one sock and tuck it into the toe of the other and fill up the "stocking" with little gifts. Turn the top down to form a cuff. Decorate with glue-on let- ters or embroidery, or leave it plain. Creative writing This year, resolve to send out a family Christ- mas letter. Throughout the year, record events and happenings in a small notebook that you keep handy. Come December, it will be simple to write because you have all the material you need with- out racking your brain. Friends and relatives will be thrilled to receive such a great gift. Family cookbook One year a friend got the best gift. Her mother is an excellent cook and of- ten cooks without a recipe. Her sister spent hours with Mom in the kitchen and painstakingly recorded the exact ingredients and measurements of the fam- ily's favorite dishes. She then developed them into a recipe book and gave it to her sister, my friend, for Christmas. Over the years it has become even more special — not only because her sister made it for her, but also because the reci- pes are now recorded for both of them to pass on and to always remember their mother. Memory quilts If you and your kids have saved every T-shirt from every school event they ever participated in, cut out the pattern or words from each shirt and make memory quilts. Use the recipients' favorite col- ors for the border and co- ordinating fabric for the backing. It won't be too ex- pensive, but it will be time consuming. Question: How do you feel about getting started early with your Christ- mas planning? Some of us dig it big time, while oth- ers find even the thought of doing that somewhat disturbing! Go ahead; spill the beans in the com- ments below. MaryHuntisthefounder of www.DebtProofLiving. com, a personal finance member website. You can email her at mary@ everydaycheapskate. com, or write to Everyday Cheapskate, 12340 Seal Beach Blvd., Ste. B-416, Seal Beach, CA 90740. EVERYDAYCHEAPSKATE Get a holiday head start this season Mary Hunt SUBMITTEDBYSARAHBROCKCORNTHWAITE The clouds reflecting on the water at Sacramento River Discovery Center. Beautiful. If you would like to submit a photo for consideration, email it to editor@ redbluffdailynews.com with "reader photo" in the subject line or bring it to 545Diamond Ave. in Red Bluff during normal business hours. READER PHOTO SACRAMENTO As sum- mer winds down, law en- forcement is ramping up efforts as part of a national crackdown on drunk and drugged driving. An 18-day, high-visibility campaign, Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over, is a state- wide campaign to curb im- paired driving and save lives that got underway Fri- day and continues through Labor Day, Sept. 7. Law enforcement agen- cies across the state and nationwide will show zero tolerance for drunk or drugged driving. Increased state and national messag- ing about the dangers of drivingdrunk,coupledwith checkpoints and increased officers on the road, aim to reduce the toll of drunk driving. The California Of- ficeofTrafficSafety(OTS) is remindingmotoriststoplan ahead by designating a so- ber driver. "Summer and holidays aretimesforfunandfamily, not for the tragedy that can come from a traffic crash," said OTS Director Rhonda Craft. "Avoiding a crash or DUI arrest is simple. Make sure that every summer and Labor Day celebration has a designated sober driver." Statistically, someone is killed in a drunk-driv- ing crash every 52 minutes. But over the 2013 Labor Day weekend, those fatali- ties increased to one every 28 minutes. Nationally in 2013, there were more than 10,000 killed in drunk and drugged driving crashes, almost a third of all traf- fic fatalities, as well as hun- dreds of thousands injured. In California alone, nearly 1,200 died and more than 23,000 were injured in al- cohol involved crashes. Thirty-eight percent of crash fatalities on Labor Day weekend in 2013 in- volved drunk drivers with a Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) of .08 percent or higher. More than a quar- ter — 27 percent — of the crash fatalities that oc- curred on Labor Day week- end involved drivers with BACs of .15 or higher — al- most twice the illegal limit. OTS now offers a free mobile app that makes be- ing the designated driver easy and worth your while. The app, "DDVIP" for Des- ignated Driver VIP, is avail- able for download on iOS and Android devices. DDVIPoffersfeaturesthat designated drivers can take advantage of, like allowing users to "Map a Spot" with their current location to find DDVIPpartneringestablish- ments in their area or a "List of Spots" to search all partic- ipating bars and restaurants throughoutCalifornia.Users willbeofferedfreeincentives at each bar to celebrate their life saving role. They can stay up-to-date with the lat- estfromDDVIPandseewhat other users are saying via its social tab. Also through the app, for those who want to imbibe but also make it a point to plan ahead, users can eas- ily order a sober ride from Uber, Lyft or Curb — all from one screen. For more information on impaired driving and other tips on staying safe behind the wheel, visit the California Office of Traffic Safety at www.ots.ca.gov or via facebook.com/Califor- niaOTS and twitter.com/ OTS_CA. SAFETY Don't end your summer with a DUI REDDING The Bureau of Reclamation is releasing ad- ditional water from Trin- ity Reservoir for the lower Klamath River to help pro- tect returning adult fall run Chinook salmon from a dis- ease outbreak and mortal- ity. Supplemental flows from Lewiston Dam began Friday and are expected to extend into late September. "In this fourth year of se- vere drought, the conditions in the river call for us to take extraordinary measures to reduce the potential for a large-scale fish die-off," said Mid-Pacific Regional Direc- tor David Murillo. "This de- cisionwasmadeafterdiscus- sions with federal and state fish regulatory agencies and serious consideration of the impacts on all affected par- ties." Continued dry hydrologic conditions and the recent dis- covery of the presence of Ich, the fish disease thought pri- marily responsible for a fish die-off in the river in 2002, promptedReclamationtocon- sider supplementing flows in the lower Klamath this sum- mer. In July, Reclamation re- leased a Draft Environmental Assessmentfortheplantouse water from Trinity Reservoir for the supplemental flows. The EA also analyzed using a potentialemergencyvolumeif needed to avoid a significant die-off of adult salmon. Real- time monitoring and adap- tive management will help guide implementation of sup- plemental flow releases. Re- leases from Lewiston Dam will be adjusted to target 2,800 cubic feet per second in the lower Klamath River. Current river flow forecasts indicate that Lewiston Dam releases could increase up to 1,300 cubic feet per second before dropping to 450 cubic feet per second in late Sep- tember. Additional informa- tion will be provided in the event that higher peak flows are needed in early to mid- September as part of the pre- ventative action. Flows from Lewiston could be raised as high as 3,500 cubic feet per second for up to five days if real-time monitoring infor- mation suggests a need for additional supplement flows as an emergency response. Over the next several weeks, releases could increase as quickly as 250 cubic feet per second every two hours, and flowreductionscoulddropas quickly as 100 cubic feet per second every four hours. The publicisurgedtotakeallnec- essaryprecautionsonornear theriverwhileflowsarehigh. The Final Environmen- tal Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for this project are available on- line at http://www.usbr.gov/ mp/nepa/nepa_projdetails. cfm?Project_ID=22309. If you encounter problems ac- cessing the documents on- line, please call 916-978-5100 or email mppublicaffairs@ usbr.gov. SALMON Lower Klamath flows to increase through September AlfalfaHay FOR SALE •Excellant Quality •Fine Stemed •Great for horses goats and sheep South Red Bluff Call Scott 945-9276 $11.00 Bale JoinOur"HydrateOurHeroes"WaterDrive Let'sgetlocalareafirefightersthewatertheyneedforwhentheybattletheblaze. FromnowuntiltheendofSeptember,BrookdaleRedBluffwillbecollectingcasesofbottledwater from local businesses, veterans groups, civic organizations and not-for-profits in effort to keep local firefighters hydrated as they keep us safe. Drop off your water at 705 Luther Road, or call us at (530) 529-2900 for a pick-up. All participating partners will be officially thanked in The Red Bluff Daily News. Our firemen are our heroes. Let's be theirs during this very special drive. Donate today. For more information, call (530) 529-2900. BrookdaleRedBluff FormerlyEmeritus ® at Lassen House Assisted Living | Alzheimer's & Dementia Care 705 Luther Rd | Red Bluff, CA 96080 | (530) 529-2900 RCFE # 525002546 brookdale.com EQU AL HOUS ING OPPORTUN ITY Take15%offyourmeal with this ad dineinonly 723 Main St. 527.5470 www. palominoroom .com PrimeRibonFridaynights Open Tues-Sat Smog Check (MOST CARS & PICK-UPS) 527-9841 • 195 S. Main St. starting at $ 29 95 + $ 8 25 certificate Allmakesandmodels. We perform dealer recommened 30K 60K 90K Service At Lower Prices. Hours: Mon: 7am-2pm Tues-Sun: 7am-9pm 8051 Hwy 99E, Los Molinos • 384-1031 "Cafe by day, Steakhouse by night" FamousforourhandpressedREALBurgersandChoiceSteaks. 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