Bruce Traverse is getting a big gift for Christmas this year — a lot more free time. He is retiring on Friday after working 32 years at Carson City Hospital, the last 25 as the president and CEO.

Ron Snead came to Ferris State University for the first time more than four decades ago amid one of the most painful chapters of racial unrest in the school’s history. He now is entering the final year of his eight-year term on the school’s Board of Trustees, serving the last two years as the board president.

Two Montcalm County residents are in jail after police responded to a robbery Friday at Cedar Springs Mobile Estates, Mobile Home Park. The victims, a 42-year-old man and 41-year-old female, told Officer Chad Tucker of the Cedar Springs Police Department that they responded to a knock at their door about 8:20 p.m. saying “come on in” only to have two young men enter, one with a shotgun.

Read The Daily News Funeral Notices for Monday, Dec. 19, 2011.

So close. The Montabella girls basketball team was five seconds away from handing Lincoln Alcona their first loss of the season, but a three-pointer at the buzzer by Karina Cole gave the Tigers a 40-38 win Saturday night.

Each year I like to give readers a story about what it may be like when Christmas arrives in the animal’s forest world. This story may also be found in my latest book, “A Brown Trout Bicycle,” or: “Once Upon the Woods & Waters,” available through Amazon or the Kindle link.

Central Montcalm Public School is preparing to host the inaugural Winter Fest Community Dinner. The free dinner will be from 1 to 3 p.m. Thursday in the Central Montcalm Middle School cafeteria in Stanton.

Sometimes it isn’t the big things in life that are the most important. I am talking words here. We think big words mean someone is smart. That may be true. However it was brought to my attention the other day, that six letters made into three teeny words, really say a lot and can make a person feel mighty proud.

The Greenville Yellow Jackets started strong and finished even stronger against the East Grand Rapids Pioneers. Torrey Davis scored seven first half points en route to a 21-point effort as the Yellow Jackets defeated the Pioneers 65-48 on Friday night. The win gives the Yellow Jackets an early boost in the O-K White Conference race as they improved to 4-0 overall and 1-0 in the league.

One of America’s fastest growing industries is that of nursing homes and all forms of elder care. We’ve reached the dawn of the twilight years for the baby boomer generation, the children conceived and born immediately after World War II. They have reached their retirement years, and their numbers will soon be adding to nursing home populations. They’ll be joining an already burgeoning previous generation of folks in their invasion of senior living facilities.