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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 23, 2017)
COFFEE BREAK Saturday, December 23, 2017 East Oregonian Page 5C OUT OF THE VAULT Ghost of Christmas Past brings holiday cheer to Weston T he ghost of a longtime Weston resident returned to his hometown in December 1978 to bring Christmas cheer to local school children. Charles Elliott, a former storekeeper in the small Eastern Oregon town, started a Christmas celebration during his life to bring Christmas to local boys who may have gone without. Elliott, who had no children of his own, started by inviting a few local boys to have dinner and open gifts at his home. But each year he found more kids whose families were struggling to provide a happy holiday. The annual event eventually outgrew Elliott’s home, and he continued the party at the local Catholic Church. Shortly after Elliott’s death in 1963, the community learned he had left money in a trust fund to be used each year for the dinner — enough money that the party was expanded to include students from neighboring communities whose names were suggested by their schools. The chosen were bused to Weston, and no expense was spared. “Spend all the money,” the administrator of Elliott’s estate told Lena Blomgren when he called to arrange the 1978 party. She rose to the challenge with a cadre of other local volunteers. Nearly 115 children from Milton- Freewater, Athena and Weston were greeted on their arrival on Dec. 18 and shepherded into the Weston Community Center for games. Dinner was served in the basement, consisting of two turkeys, three hams, mashed potatoes and gravy, and kid-friendly veggies like corn and carrot and celery sticks. The highlight of the meal: three gallons of olives. “We used to fix dressing and salads,” said Mrs. Bob Johnson, a volunteer, “but the kids never ate them.” Dessert was ice cream and homemade, decorated cookies. Following dinner, each child received a gift with their name on it. Hints had been provided by teachers, and volunteers wore a steady path to local merchants to fill all the requests. Popular with the girls were dolls, of course; boys tossed Nerf balls and plastic footballs, and basketballs dribbled along the floor. Teenagers sporting new scarves and games helped the younger kids figure out their toys. And little ones had a chance to whisper their Christmas lists into Santa’s ear. By 7:30 p.m., the children were heading home and volunteers, including the youth group from Brethren Church, were setting things to rights again. But no one was complaining. “We go home feeling good,” said Blomgren. ■ Renee Struthers is the Community Records Editor for the East Oregonian. See the complete collection of Out of the Vault columns at eovault.blogspot. com DEAR ABBY Teenage mom still bares brunt of her father’s anger Dear Abby: I’m 18 years old approval. He’s wrong to take and I have a son who’s 3. I’m his frustrations out on you. You still in school and live with my may have disappointed him, but parents. you are not a failure. If there are My parents treat me like other relatives with whom you I’m a nobody and always bring and your child can live while up how I got pregnant. They you complete your education, barely allow me to take my son please look into it. anywhere. I still have to ask Dear Abby: So often we Jeanne them if I can go to certain places. Phillips learn from your column what a My dad takes it out on me good marriage is NOT — how Advice when someone makes him mad. not to treat someone we love. I’m always getting yelled at for Could you please describe for everything, even if I did nothing wrong. my granddaughter just what a strong, My dad sees me as a failure even when loving marriage IS? Paint a picture I do something good for me and my son. of what to look for in a husband and Because I have a kid, he’s never proud how to create a marriage that will last of me. I don’t know what to do or how while bringing joy to both parties. Your to make this better. — Old Enough In experience can help me explain this to her. — Pondering Still In Honolulu The South Dear Pondering: I can try. But Dear Old Enough: Your parents are still punishing you for having the baby. before I do, I should mention that a good I’m glad you stayed in school, because marriage may mean different things the more education you can attain, the to different couples. To me, a good better able you will be to support your- marriage is a solid partnership between two people who respect each other, self and your child. It is important for your future that care about each other and are mutually you quit looking to your father for attracted. It helps if both have similar goals and values, and are willing to support each other in good times AND IN BAD. Like anything that’s worth- while, marriage takes work, patience and willingness to compromise. And of course, communication — which includes listening — is key. Dear Abby: I have a workplace challenge that requires your expertise. Our company sends greeting cards for every event that you can imagine. It’s an effective way to show the employees that we are a team and care about each other. The problem is, one staff member has a habit of writing a “manuscript” (heavy sarcasm) on the inside of every card, whether or not she personally knows the individual. This leaves little space for anyone else. I have jokingly asked the young lady to please be conscious of space, but she doesn’t get it. I don’t want to hurt her feelings, but people here are getting fed up. Would it be rude to take the card to her only after everyone else has signed it? — Please Sign Here Dear Please: Rude? Not at all. It’s a practical solution. Bravo! ODDS & ENDS DAYS GONE BY 100 Years Ago From the East Oregonian Dec. 23-24, 1917 Pendleton has a new industry of which few people are aware but which is now pretty well established. Dr. D.C. McNabb, well known veterinary, has started a fox farm in the eastern end of the city for the purpose of raising foxes on a commercial basis. He has four pair of silver gray foxes and one female red fox as a nucleus for developing a profit- able fur bearing business. Dr. McNabb has ten lots just above St. Anthony’s hospital fenced with heavy wire and equipped with kennels and all facilities for raising the animals. Silver foxes cost from $1000 to $5000 a pair and their fur sells proportionately high. So valuable are the animals that Dr. McNabb is taking no chances on losing them by theft. He has built a tent house next to his fox pens and sleeps there every night with an automatic by his side. He has an alarm system which makes it impossible for anyone to enter the pen without waking him and a switch by his bedside will flood the pens with light in a minute. 50 Years Ago From the East Oregonian Dec. 23-24, 1967 Cargill Elevator, built in 1948 at Arlington, went up in a puff of smoke Friday as 2,500 pounds of dynamite cleared the way for the lake that will form in the Columbia River when the John Day Dam is completed. Dynamite was spread around the perimeter of the interior, in plastic bags. The elevator had a capacity of 250,000 bushels of grain while its new counterpart has a capacity of 260,000 bushels. 25 Years Ago From the East Oregonian Dec. 23-24, 1992 Glenn Cochran livens up the Christmas decorations next to his barn by adding Sam — a docile mule — to his nativity scene. This marks the fifth year Cochran and his wife, Shirley, have provided the popular display near their Echo home. “People expect it now,” Shirley said. “They ask, ‘Are you going to put it out again?’” Adding Sam helps give the display a unique touch, she said. The Cochrans, who have lived in Echo for 33 years, said their display is just one of several pretty holiday decorations in town. THIS DAY IN HISTORY Today is the 357th day of 2017. There are eight days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On Dec. 23, 1967, Presi- dent Lyndon B. Johnson, on his way home from a visit to Australia and Southeast Asia, held an unprecedented meeting with Pope Paul VI at the Vatican; during the two-hour conference, Johnson asked the pope for help in bringing a peaceful end to the Vietnam War. On this date: In 1788, Maryland passed an act to cede an area “not exceeding ten miles square” for the seat of the national government; about 2/3 of the area became the District of Columbia. In 1823, the poem “Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas” was published in the Troy (New York) Sentinel; the verse, more popularly known as “’Twas the Night Before Christmas,” was later attributed to Clement C. Moore. In 1913, the Federal Reserve System was created as President Woodrow Wilson signed the Federal Reserve Act. In 1928, the National Broadcasting Company set up a permanent, coast-to- coast network. In 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt restored the civil rights of about 1,500 people who had been jailed for opposing the (First) World War. In 1941, during World War II, American forces on Wake Island surrendered to the Japanese. In 1948, former Japanese premier Hideki Tojo and six other Japanese war leaders were executed in Tokyo. In 1954, the first successful human kidney transplant took place at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston as a surgical team removed a kidney from 23-year-old Ronald Herrick and implanted it in Herrick’s twin brother, Richard. In 1968, 82 crew members of the U.S. intel- ligence ship Pueblo were released by North Korea, 11 months after they had been captured. In 1975, Richard S. Welch, the Central Intelli- gence Agency station chief in Athens, Greece, was shot and killed outside his home by the militant group November 17. In 1986, the experimental airplane Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, completed the first non-stop, non-refueled round-the-world flight as it returned safely to Edwards Air Force Base in California. In 1997, a federal jury in Denver convicted Terry Nichols of involuntary manslaughter and conspiracy for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing, declining to find him guilty of murder. (Nichols was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.) Ten years ago: The New England Patriots set an NFL record with their 15th regu- lar-season win, the best start in league history, as they beat the Miami Dolphins 28-7. Jazz pianist Oscar Peterson died in Mississauga, Canada, at age 82. Choreographer Michael Kidd, 92, died in Los Angeles. Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II launched her own special Royal Channel on YouTube. Five years ago: President Barack Obama, Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie and other dignitaries attended a memo- rial service for the late Sen. Daniel Inouye at Honolulu’s National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. Jean Harris, the patrician girls’ school headmistress who spent 12 years in prison for the 1980 killing of her longtime lover, “Scarsdale Diet” doctor Herman Tarnower, died in New Haven, Connecticut, at age 89. One year ago: The United States allowed the U.N. Security Council to condemn Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem as a “flagrant violation” of international law; the decision to abstain from the council’s 14-0 vote was one of the biggest American rebukes of its longstanding ally in recent memory. Actress-writer Carrie Fisher was trans- ported to a Los Angeles hospital after suffering a severe medical emergency on an international flight; she died four days later at age 60. Today’s Birthdays: Actor Ronnie Schell is 86. Emperor Akihito of Japan is 84. Pro and College Football Hall of Famer Paul Hornung is 82. Actor Frederic Forrest is 81. Rock musician Jorma Kaukonen is 77. Rock musician Ron Bushy is 76. Actor-comedian Harry Shearer is 74. U.S. Army Gen. Wesley K. Clark (ret.) is 73. Actress Susan Lucci is 71. Singer-musician Adrian Belew is 68. Rock musician Dave Murray (Iron Maiden) is 61. Actress Joan Sever- ance is 59. Singer Terry Weeks is 54. Rock singer Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam) is 53. The former first lady of France, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, is 50. Rock musician Jamie Murphy is 42. Jazz musician Irvin Mayfield is 40. Actress Estella Warren is 39. Actress Anna Maria Perez de Tagle is 27. Thought for Today: “Only the thinking man lives his life, the thoughtless man’s life passes him by.” — Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, Austrian writer (1830-1916). All 1,694 residents of U.S. town becoming Scottish landowners SCOTLAND, Conn. (AP) — Residents of the rural town of Scotland, Connecticut, are becoming lords and ladies in the United Kingdom country of the same name. The Scottish land preser- vation company Highland Titles said Tuesday it’s gifting all 1,694 residents 1 square foot of land on its nature reserve in Glencoe Wood, Scotland. The resi- dents will get courtesy titles of Lord or Lady of Glencoe and instructions on how to visit their plots. The company sells forest land ranging from 1 square foot to 1,000 square feet so they can’t be developed. Scotland First Selectman Dan Syme says the Connecticut town was settled by a Scotsman named Isaac Magoon in 1700 and celebrates that heritage by hosting an annual Highland Festival. Highland Titles says residents have to call Town Hall to claim their free plots. B I N G O $ 1,000 WILL GO! 60 63 59 15 47 67 71 56 SATURDAY EVENING $ 5.00 BUY-IN (6 ON - 5 UP) DOUBLE PAY PACKS www.bingoblvd.com 6222 W. 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