Like most Christians in the world today, I join the celebration of the birth of our Saviour Jesus Christ, the only Son of Almighty God, and the merrymaking and thanksgiving for all the bless­ings—material and spiritual (es­pecially our health)–we received this year and which we will hope­fully and graciously continue to receive next year and the years to come.

Truly, there is no sweetest Christmas than celebrating it with our loved ones—our family! This is basically the essence of Christ­mas Day: to be with our beloved family members and share the blessings of the Lord in gift giv­ing.

Families attending the tradi­tional “Simbang Gabi” Masses and feasting on Noche Buena, among other events and activi­ties related to Yuletide Season, were indeed lucky to have full attendance of every member—fa­ther, mother, sister, brother, lolo (grandfather), lola (grandmother). They represent the real epitome of love, humility, generosity, for­giveness, patience, and Christian values.

The true spirit of Christmas is also for some overseas foreign workers (OFW) who have been separated from their loved ones due to circumstances beyond their control.
I can empathize with how they feel and how they fight sadness and loneliness while celebrat­ing Christmas in faraway places – Middle East, Europe, Austra­lia, USA, Canada—longing for the kisses and embraces of their daughters and sons, wives and husbands whom they haven’t seen for so many years.
And, of course, we have been reminded since were kids to al­ways love our neighbours, which means that we should not forget to also celebrate Christmas with our brothers and sisters next door, including those who have less in life (for people in depressed ar­eas; ditto for those living in the Third World).
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By the time this column ap­pears here, the World Boxing Council may have already con­ducted the voting to determine the awards for “The Best of 2010,” and the results would have been announced before the end of the year. All listings are in alphabetical order by last name:
BOXER OF THE DECADE: Oscar de la Hoya, Vitali Klitschko, Floyd Mayweather, Erik Morales, Manny Pacquiao, Pongsaklek Wonjongkam
BOXER OF THE YEAR: Ser­gio Martinez, middleweight world champion; Manny Pacquiao, su­per welterweight world champion; Jean Pascal, light heavyweight world champion
FIGHT OF THE YEAR: Sergio Martinez W12 Kelly Pavlik, April 17, Atlantic City; Jean Pascal TW11 Chad Dawson, August 14, Montreal; Humberto Soto W12 Urbano Antillon, December 4, Anaheim
MOST DRAMATIC FIGHT: Christian Esquivel W12 Tshifhiwa Munyai, August 7, Mexico City; Alberto Garza W12 Justin Savi, November 20, Monterrey; Rendall Munroe TKO9 Victor Terrazas, April 23, Coventry; Omar Niño W12 Rodel Mayol (II) June 19, San Juan del Rio; Edwin Valero TKO9 Antonio Demarco, Febru­ary 6, Monterrey
KNOCKOUT OF THE YEAR: Saul Alvarez KO6 Carlos Bal­domir, September 18, Los An­geles; Sergio Martinez KO2 Paul Williams, November 20, Atlantic City; Fernando Montiel TKO4 Ho­zumi Hasegawa, April 30, Tokyo
RETURN OF THE YEAR: Ho­zumi Hasegawa, featherweight world champion; Erik Morales, super lightweight Silver world champion; Edgar Sosa, Interna­tional flyweight champion
CONTROVERSY OF THE YEAR: Rodel Mayol TD3 Omar Niño (I), Feb. 27, Guadalajara; Andre Dirrell WDQ11 Arthur Abraham, March 27, Detroit; Juan Hernandez WDQ3 Denver Cuello, May 22, Mexico City
EVENT OF THE YEAR: Manny Pacquiao-Antonio Margarito, No­vember 13, Cowboys Stadium, Dallas
MEMORIES OF OUR DECADE: Diego Corrales, Vernon Forrest, Arturo Gatti, Edwin Valero
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THE REYFORT MEDIA GROUP headed by yours truly as chair­man would like to express our sincerest and heartfelt thank you and season’s greetings to all our beloved readers and advertisers who have been with us in all our efforts and sacrifices to serve the public and to the best of our abil­ity and struggles to keep the fire of press freedom burning in the entire British Columbia and its environs and to uphold the tenets of journalism in the multicultural society. Public service in publication is akin to acting as mirror of soci­ety and catalyst of progress and brotherhood.

May you continue to join and buttress us as we traverse the exciting 2011 and fulfill our mis­sion of serving the reading public with variety of news and features in government, sports, business, entertainment, and world events. Maligayang Pasko at Manigong Bagong Taon sa inyong lahat!

Rey Fortaleza