This year, with the economy not at its best, many people are looking for affordable ways to entertain their friends and families.

You are in luck because there are many opportunities for family fun all around us.

Almost every church in our county has musicals and plays, with some being major dramatic productions. There are living Christmas trees and live nativity scenes, some for free and others for minimum prices.

You can even teach your children about the good old days of drive-in theaters by taking them to the Harpersville Drive-In, watching a movie and sipping hot chocolate.

Schools have end of the year events and Christmas musicals not to mention all the parades in every city. Why go to just the parade in your city when you can go to the ones in neighboring cities as well. There are also festivities at the University of Montevallo and the American Village.

Have your family participate in the Toys for Tots or Angel Tree programs in an effort to teach them how to help others who are less fortunate. Donate a bag of food to your church to give to a needy family. Better yet, serve as bell ringers for the Salvation Army for a couple of hours. After all, Christmas is all about giving.

Load the family up in the car and go view Christmas lights. If you visit television station Web sites or watch the news at night, they will give addresses of spectacular decorated homes to go see.

The children will love it and it will cost you nothing.

Check out Christmas books at your local library for your children to read while they are out of school for the holidays. Read the Christmas Story from the Bible and sing Christmas carols together.

Attend a midnight mass or a Christmas Eve candlelight church service to express your appreciation and show respect to the reason for the season — Christ’s birth.

This year may be a little tighter on family budgets than in the past, but Shelby County has lots of fun to offer at affordable prices. A little research will go a long way in finding it.