4A |
SATURDAY EDITION
| DECEMBER 22, 2018
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
NED HICKSON , EDITOR
Opinion
| 541-902-3520 | NHICKSON @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
C
The First Amendment
ongress shall make no law respecting an es-
tablishment of religion or prohibiting the
free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom
of speech, or of the press, or the right of the
people peaceably to assemble, and to petition
the Government for a redress of grievances.
“I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend.” —Thomas Jefferson (1800)
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Copyright 2018 © Siuslaw News
Published every Wednesday and Saturday at 148 Maple St. in Florence, Lane County, Oregon.
A member of the National Newspaper Association and Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association.
Periodicals postage paid at Florence, Ore. Postmaster, send address changes to: Siuslaw News, P.O.
Box 10, Florence, OR 97439; phone 541-997-3441; fax 541-997-7979. All press releases may be sent
to PressReleases@TheSiuslawNews.com.
Jenna Bar tlett
Ned H ickson
Erik Chalhoub
Publisher, ex t. 318
Editor, ex t. 313
Co n s u l t i n g E d i to r 8 3 1 -7 6 1 -7 3 5 3
echalhoub@register-pajaronian.com
M ar k e t i n g Di re c to r, e x t . 3 2 6
O ffice Super visor, ex t. 312
Pro d u c t i o n Su p e r v i s o r
Pre s s M a n a ge r
Su s a n G u t i e r re z
Cathy Dietz
Ron Annis
Je re my G e n t r y
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Letters to the Editor policy
LETTERS
Good news for
local families in need
This letter is one way to say “thank
you” to everyone who has supported
the efforts of First Step, a transition-
al housing program for families in
need.
Your letters to the Planning Com-
mission, donations and hours of
work is appreciated. First Step has
helped some individuals in several
ways, even before the conditional
use permit was approved and work
began on the site.
Here is some of the good news that
I want to share: Two families are cur-
rently housed in trailers. One fami-
ly has paid off some debt, has a job
and is looking at building a future for
their family.
Another family has moved into a
rental house, is working, and their
child is doing well in school. One
other family moved away to be near
their children and has moved out of
living in their car, which is a huge
step toward self-sufficiency.
There are challenges to face re-
garding electricity and plumbing for
the site, but things are coming to-
gether.
First Step continues to be blessed
by members of our community who,
like us, see that we are committed to
helping families move towards per-
manent housing and a stable family
life.
Best wishes to you all, thank you
for your dedication, and may you en-
joy a wonderful holiday season.
—Kathryn Lenox
Board Member, First Step
Yes, Virginia, this 121-year-old editorial
remains relevent in the heart of childhood
T
he following editori-
al was first published
Sept. 21, 1897, in the New
York Sun, written in re-
sponse to 8-year-old Vir-
ginia O’Hanlon’s poignant
question: Is there a Santa
Claus?
The thoughful and heart-
felt response from then
editor Francis Pharcellus
Church was printed as an
unsigned editorial and has
since become history’s most
reprinted newspaper edito-
rial.
More than 100 years lat-
er, its relevance remains,
not just in the lessons of-
fered regarding the heart
of childhood, but also in
the wisdom that we recog-
nize easily as children but
risk forgetting in adulthood
— unless you “continue to
make glad” your own heart
of childhood.
Dear Editor,
I am 8 years old. Some of
my little friends say there is
no Santa Claus. Papa says,
“If you see it in The Sun, it’s
so.” Please tell me the truth,
is there a Santa Claus?
be the world if there were
—Virginia O’Hanlon no Santa Claus! It would be
115 West Ninety-Fifth St. as dreary as if there were no
Virginias. There would be
Virginia, your little friends no childlike faith then, no
are wrong. They have been poetry, no romance to make
affected by the skepticism of tolerable this existence.
a skeptical age. They do not
We should have no en-
believe except what they see. joyment, except in sense
They think that nothing can and sight. The external light
From the Editor’s Desk
Ned Hickson
be which is not comprehen-
sible by their little minds.
All minds, Virginia,
whether they be men’s or
children’s, are little. In this
great universe of ours, man
is a mere insect, an ant, in
his intellect as compared
with the boundless world
about him, as measured by
the intelligence capable of
grasping the whole of truth
and knowledge.
Yes, Virginia, there is a
Santa Claus. He exists as
certainly as love and gen-
erosity and devotion exist,
and you know that they
abound and give to your life
its highest beauty and joy.
Alas! How dreary would
Of course not, but that's
no proof that they are not
there. Nobody can conceive
or imagine all the wonders
there are unseen and unsee-
able in the world.
You tear apart the baby’s
rattle and see what makes
the noise inside, but there
is a veil covering the unseen
world which not the stron-
gest man, nor even the unit-
ed strength of all the stron-
gest men that ever lived,
could tear apart.
Only faith, poetry, love,
romance, can push aside
that curtain and view and
picture the supernal beauty
and glory beyond.
Is it all real?
Ah, Virginia, in all this
world there is nothing else
real and abiding.
No Santa Claus! Thank
God! He lives and lives for-
ever. A thousand years from
now, Virginia, nay 10 times
10,000 years from now, he
will continue to make glad
the heart of childhood.
__________________
with which childhood fills
the world would be extin-
guished.
Not believe in Santa
Claus! You might as well not
believe in fairies. You might
get your papa to hire men
to watch in all the chimneys
on Christmas Eve to catch
Santa Claus, but even if
you did not see Santa Claus
coming down, what would
that prove?
Nobody sees Santa Claus,
but that is no sign that there
is no Santa Claus. The most
real things in the world are
“Is There a Santa Claus?”
those that neither children
reprinted from the Septem-
nor men can see.
ber
21, 1897, edirtion of The
Did you ever see fairies
New York Sun.
dancing on the lawn?
The Siuslaw News welcomes letters to the editor as
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ter that doesn’t follow the above criteria.
Emal letters to:
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WHERE TO WRITE
Pres. Donald Trump
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
TTY/TDD Comments:
202-456-6213
www.whitehouse.gov
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court St.
Salem, Ore. 97301-4047
Governor’s Citizens’ Rep.
Message Line:
503-378-4582
www.oregon.gov/gov
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
541-431-0229
www.wyden.senate.gov
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753
FAX: 202-228-3997
541-465-6750
www.merkley.senate.gov
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio
(4th Dist.)
2134 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6416
541-269-2609
541-465-6732
www.defazio.house.gov
State Sen. Arnie Roblan
(Dist. 5)
900 Court St. NE - S-417
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1705
FAX: 503-986-1080
Email: Sen.ArnieRoblan@
oregonlegislature.gov
State Rep. Caddy McKeown
(Dist. 9)
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1409
Email: rep.caddymckeown
@state.or.us
West Lane County
Commissioner
Jay Bozievich
125 E. Eighth St.
Eugene, OR 97401
541-682-4203
FAX: 541-682-4616
Email: Jay.Bozievich@
co.lane.or.us