The spirit of the season did not go lacking in Vicksburg this week. Locals gave of their time and talents for those less fortunate and also to those not able to spend Christmas with family. Instead of dining at one of the local casinos for the holiday Mary Chatten and Cecio Withrow, originally from California and one-year residents of Vicksburg, chose to use their cooking talents and fed those who were hungry on the corner of Washington and Speed streets. After the couple found success in preparing Thanksgiving dinner for about 40, they duplicated their efforts on Christmas Day.

Erin Hern and others delivered Christmas diner to firefighters, police officers and dispatchers at the Vicksburg Warren 911 Communications Center, making this the second year for the Emergency Workers Appreciation Meal. The outreach program began with a couple of Facebook posts and developed into a program to help emergency service workers who have to leave their families on Christmas Day to work get some holiday cheer.

“It’s really a community effort. It’s not a church program; it’s a group of people who are willing to do something good for people who aren’t able to spend time with their families. Some people who help, when they cook dinner for their families, they’ll cook an extra ham to bring to us,” Hearn said.

Other happenings in Vicksburg included:

• The opening of The Mad Baker, a bakery at 1119 Washington St. The business is owned by Live Work Play Downtown Vicksburg (Mary Jane Wooten and Daryl Hollingsworth) and will be open Tuesday through Sunday form 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Hollingsworth and Wooten said their goal is for the bakery to bring more people downtown to see all the great new things happening in Vicksburg. The bakery menu will include a variety of breakfast foods, a full service bakery with cakes, cupcakes and cookies, healthy lunch options, and it will also offer T-shirts, coffee cups, bagels, Sweet Magnolia gelato, homemade popsicles, farm to table milk and cheese, and other basic groceries. The bakery will be available for children’s birthday parties.

• Running back DeMichael Harris is the 2015 Vicksburg Post Offensive Player of the Year. The St. Aloysius senior had a total of 3,689 rushing yards making it the sixth-most by any player in Warren County history. His 47 rushing touchdowns are second only to Warren Central great Brian Darden, and the most in SAHS history.

• Vicksburg High defensive end Jo’Mon O’Neal is the 2015 Vicksburg Post Defensive Player of the Year. The sophomore had 61 tackles and led Warren County with 13 sacks. He’s the first VHS player to win the award since 2008, and the first defensive lineman to get it since 2000.

• Warren Central High School had an eight-game winning streak, finished with a 10-3 record, and won a playoff game for the first time since 2002, earning WCHS head coach Josh Morgan the 2015 Vicksburg Post Coach of the Year award.