Page 6B
East Oregonian
PEANUTS
COFFEE BREAK
Thursday, December 14, 2017
DEAR ABBY
BY CHARLES M . SCHULZ
Christmas babies find plenty
to celebrate at the holidays
FOR BETTER OR WORSE
BY LYNN JOHNSTON
B.C.
BY JOHNNY HART
PICKLES
BY BRIAN CRANE
Dear Abby: This letter is in
“Everyone has a birthday. Mine just
response to “Blessed in New York”
happens to be at Christmastime, so
(Aug. 4), the mom who gave birth to
please acknowledge that.” The only
her precious daughter on Christmas
thing I do wish is, if I receive a birthday
Day and wondered if maybe she should
gift, I hope it’s wrapped in birthday
have timed her pregnancy better.
paper and not Christmas wrap. —
Our daughter was born on Dec. 20.
Holly In Arkansas
When she was only a few years old,
Dear Abby: I do not recommend
we purchased a 2-foot-tall artificial tree
celebrating
the kid’s half-birthday in
Jeanne
and named it the “birthday tree.” She Phillips June. In June, people are away at camp
could decorate it every year however
or on vacation, and there’s no one to
Advice
she liked. Any birthday presents went
invite to the party.
under that tree. That made her day
Early December is a perfect time
special. When she got married and moved out, for a birthday party. Sports are over and the
her birthday tree went with her. — Blessed, holiday parties haven’t started, school is still
Too, In Indiana
in session so everyone is still around. Another
Dear Blessed, Too: I enjoyed reading the good time is early January, right after school
letters from you and other readers who are starts again but the other activities haven’t yet
Christmas babies or have a family member geared up. — Busy December Mom
who is one. Their upbeat, positive experiences
Dear Abby: Fifty-five years ago my
made me smile. Read on:
husband and I weren’t thinking ahead either.
Dear Abby: My daughter was born on Our son was born on Christmas Day. He still
Christmas Eve. From the time she was 5 and thinks that’s great.
able to recognize that her birthday cards were
Christmas always lasted until after the
getting scrambled in with the other holiday presents were opened and the kitchen was
cards, we started celebrating on June 24 — her cleaned following lunch. Then it was birthday
half-birthday. She gets excited every year as time! It was special because his long-distance
it nears. She’ll be 32. Celebrating her half- grandparents were always there.
birthday was the best thing we could have
When he became old enough for birthday
decided to do, and I have no regrets. — Mom parties, he could choose to have it on any day
Of A Christmas Baby
while school was out for the holiday break —
Dear Abby: I was born in December and I either before or after Christmas. It worked well
LOVE my birthday! My mother, grandmother, for our family and it might for others, too. —
sister-in-law and niece were also born in Carolyn In Texas
December. It’s a great time to have a birthday.
Dear Abby: Tell that new mom to cheer up.
Everything is decorated for the holidays, and My mother was born on Christmas Day and
most people are in a good mood. My family she loved it. She said the reason was no one
never blended the occasions, so that helped.
ever forgot it, and everyone got the day off! —
As to people’s comments, my reply is: Sara In Florida
DAYS GONE BY
BEETLE BAILEY
GARFIELD
BLONDIE
BY MORT WALKER
BY JIM DAVIS
BY DEAN YOUNG AND STAN DRAKE
100 Years Ago
From the East Oregonian
Dec. 14, 1917
Somebody has been feeding the council raw
meat. At least the disposition of the individual
units of the council was such last evening that
there was hardly a thing suggested or proposed
that did not immediately start an acrimonious
discussion. Whether it was a recommendation
to permit a wooden balcony in the fire limits, a
proposal to buy fertilizer for the grass plots or
a suggestion to start a crusade against speeders,
some one of the eight began to backfire. It was
with a sigh of relief that Recorder Fitz Gerald
noted the motion to adjourn for as he remarked
later, “I was beginning to think I would have to
fine the whole bunch.”
50 Years Ago
From the East Oregonian
Dec. 14, 1967
A 1967 station wagon, owned by Loren
Frazier of Hermiston, was recovered five miles
east of Heppner about 1:30 a.m. Hermiston
city police said the keys were in the ignition
when the car was stolen at Hermiston about
5:40 p.m. Tuesday. Heppner policeman John
Mollahan, who was aware of the report of
the stolen car, became suspicious of three
youths in downtown Heppner shortly before
1:30 this morning. He attempted to stop them
for questioning and they took off. He gave
chase at high speed up Hinton Creek, where
the station wagon went out of control and
ended in a ditch. Two boys ran from the car
and disappeared into the darkness. Delores
Smothers, 18, was left in the car. Mollahan
radioed the dispatcher at Heppner City Hall for
help. The dispatcher called a state policeman,
the sheriff and a sheriff’s deputy. Taken into
custody a short way from the car after a few
minutes were Daniel Marvin Lamb and Lee
Alvin Westcott, both 17. The three runaways
were from Yakima.
25 Years Ago
From the East Oregonian
Dec. 14, 1992
Reinhart Hoeft enjoys car rides, wildlife
shows on television and keeping up on poli-
tics. He routinely visits Sampson’s Saloon &
Cafe in Pilot Rock. Hoeft celebrated his 100th
birthday on Sunday. He was born on Dec. 13,
1892, in rural Wisconsin. Now he stays with
his son-in-law and daughter, Sam and Jean
Smith of Echo. His daughter says Hoeft still
owns his father’s ranch property at Coombs
Canyon near Pendleton, but rents it out. Now
Cliff Hoeft, his great-grandnephew, works the
land. But the centenarian cared for the cows and
mended fences long after retirement. Asked
about his secret for long life, Hoeft replies with
a chuckle. “I don’t know. I shouldn’t be here
now.” Sampson’s was the site for his 100th
birthday party on Sunday afternoon. About 60
people gathered to wish him well.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
DILBERT
THE WIZARD OF ID
LUANN
ZITS
BY SCOTT ADAMS
BY BRANT PARKER AND JOHNNY HART
BY GREG EVANS
BY JERRY SCOTT AND JIM BORGMAN
Today is the 348th day of
2017. There are 17 days left
in the year.
Today’s Highlight in
History:
On Dec. 14, 2012, a
gunman with a semi-auto-
matic rifle killed 20 first-
graders and six educators
at Sandy Hook Elementary
School
in
Newtown,
Connecticut, then committed
suicide as police arrived; the
20-year-old had also fatally
shot his mother at their
home before carrying out
the attack on the school.
On this date:
In 1799, the first pres-
ident of the United States,
George Washington, died at
his Mount Vernon, Virginia,
home at age 67.
In 1819, Alabama joined
the Union as the 22nd state.
In 1911, Norwegian
explorer Roald Amundsen
and his team became the
first men to reach the South
Pole, beating out a British
expedition led by Robert F.
Scott.
In
1916,
President
Woodrow Wilson vetoed an
immigration measure aimed
at preventing “undesirables”
and anyone born in the
“Asiatic Barred Zone” from
entering the U.S. (Congress
overrode Wilson’s veto in
Feb. 1917.)
In 1946, the United
Nations General Assembly
voted to establish the U.N.’s
headquarters in New York.
In 1964, the U.S.
Supreme Court, in Heart
of Atlanta Motel v. United
States, ruled that Congress
was within its authority to
enforce the Civil Rights
Act of 1964 against racial
discrimination by private
businesses (in this case, a
motel that refused to cater to
blacks).
Today’s
Birthdays:
Singer-actress Abbe Lane is
86. Actor Hal Williams is 83.
Actress-singer Jane Birkin is
71. Pop singer Joyce Vincent-
Wilson (Tony Orlando and
Dawn) is 71. Entertainment
executive Michael Ovitz is
71. Actress Dee Wallace is
69. Rhythm-and-blues singer
Ronnie McNeir (The Four
Tops) is 68. Rock musi-
cian Cliff Williams is 68.
Actor-comedian T.K. Carter
is 61. Rock singer-musician
Mike Scott (The Waterboys)
is 59. Singer-musician Peter
“Spider” Stacy (The Pogues)
is 59. Actress Vanessa
Hudgens is 29.
Thought for Today: “No
one feels another’s grief, no
one understands another’s joy.
People imagine that they can
reach one another. In reality
they only pass each other by.”
— Franz Schubert, Austrian
composer (1797-1828).
PHOEBE AND HER UNICORN
BY DANA SIMPSON
BIG NATE
BY LINCOLN PEIRCE