By now, those who were going to get a deer this season, got it. Lots of hunters don’t really care about actually shooting and killing the deer. No, they’re out there because they like to be out there.

It’s also interesting to note that deer hunting isn’t going out of style, like clean-shaven faces. There are avid hunters among the young.

The checkout clerk at the Bethel Food Liner, for example, reported someone around here bagged a 14½-point buck. Is that a very big deer? Yes.

This clerk/hunter likes a rainy morning, because — he was whispering — the deer can’t hear you.

But hunting season is behind us. It’s Christmastime again.

There are always good reasons to shop locally, of course, but highway construction in most every direction is an added incentive. Say you’re thinking of a run to Lewiston and on to Freeport and LL-you-know-what. Think again.

Route 136, that pretty road along the river, is closed from L-A to Durham. The detour takes you out Lisbon Street all the way to Lisbon Falls, where you cross the river on a bridge that inspires prayer and twists and turns till you’re back on 136. (P.S. There’s construction on Lisbon Street, too.)

You might not remember when the work on Route 2 west to Gorham began. Long ago. Suffice to say, it is far from finished. All those flagmen and women on Route 26 for these many moons are probably glad of the employment. There is ample time to study their cheerful faces in downtown Poland.

Jim Ferguson is contract support manager for the Maine Department of Transportation. He said Route 136 will reopen Dec. 23 with the base pavement laid.

Route 26 will be finished come next July, and Route 2 in early summer.

So stick around and shop the Island. Take in the many holiday celebrations. Begin with the Christmas parade Friday evening. The Rumford Fire Department, the Firemen’s Relief Association and the River Valley Chamber of Commerce are behind the parade that begins at 6 p.m. at Hosmer Field.

Christmas at the Moses Mason House in Bethel on Dec. 4 from 3:30 to 5 p.m. offers an old-fashioned Christmas experience, warm cider and all. No charge and no construction on Route 2 between Dixfield and Bethel.

At 7 that evening and again at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 5, is RAAPA’s annual holiday performance. Tickets are on sale at Bartash’s: $10 for adults, $5 for children.

Just a short ride or walk will get you to the Christmas Tree Festival on Saturday, Dec. 11, in Rumford Falls Auditorium. Doors open upon an array of lovely tannenbaums. The music begins on stage at 7 p.m. and features Thea Dunn’s young ensemble and sing-alongs, too. Refreshments, of course, and celebrity guest appearances.

Admission is free for children under 12; all others, $5. The Rumford Performing Arts Committee, still aglow from the Coos Canyon band’s success, is putting it all together.

The week of Dec. 20 there’ll be special treats at the Rumford Public Library, and word has it Mrs. Santa Claus will be there to meet and greet.

Linda Farr Macgregor is a freelance writer. Contact her at [email protected]