6A COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL DECEMBER 20, 2017
1943.
Her voice
refl ected a past
that had seen
both joy and
pain. She had
fond
child-
hood memo-
ries of riding
into town on
her bicycle to get groceries in
the 1920s. She loved being a
mother but later she suffered
through years of being treated
for lymphoma with massive
doses of chemo and prednisone.
Sandy then began a downward
slide into what she described as
“a nightmare disease—Alzhei-
mer’s.” He passed on and she
was living alone but said, “This
is a nice time.”
So how did she get to be a
writer? Well, as an only child
living way out in the country,
Marvel loved to read, and hoped
to be a writer. But when a high
school teacher asked her to be
editor of the school paper, she
“couldn’t be bothered.” She was
too busy. Later, as a wife and
mother of two she was still too
busy.
She was the leader of her
daughter’s Brownie Troop when
she learned that the mother of
her daughter’s best friend had
won $5,000 in a cake-naming
contest. “So,” she said, “I called
her and she told me how she did
it.” It turns out that there was
money to be made in contests
that extolled the attributes of a
Betty Kaiser's
Chatterbox
I
t’s tradition! For nearly 20
years it has been my plea-
sure to tell an old-fashioned
Christmas story in the month of
December. It brings joy to my
heart to share how generations
past celebrated this sacred holi-
day. Money was usually scarce,
gifts were homemade and there
were no glitzy shopping centers
to buy “stuff.” It was all about
family and church—and the
birth of Jesus was the reason for
the celebration.
I vividly remember the in-
spiration for one of those fi rst
columns. Her name was Marvel
Stephen. She wrote me a note
asking if I would be interested
in one of her stories that had
just been published in a Christ-
mas edition of Country Wom-
an magazine. Of course, I was
interested and an appointment
was made.
Sitting quietly in her tidy liv-
ing room, Marvel Stephen, then
82 years old, exuded a serene
peace and dignity that is often
absent in today’s world. She was
born in Montana, but grew up in
Sandpoint, Idaho. She married
Sandy Stephen and they moved
to the Cottage Grove area in
name brand product in 25 words
or less.
Marvel thought it sounded
easy, and she started entering
contests. “It was a long time be-
fore I won anything. Local con-
tests were the easiest. A group
of us got together and encour-
aged one another. It was a lot
of fun. The biggest prize that I
ever won was a statement about
a mattress. I won a trip for two
to Miami Beach!”
When we met, she was long
retired as a weekly columnist
for the Dead Mountain Echo
newspaper in Oakridge. Farm
Life News had published her
fi rst story and she was still writ-
ing for magazines. Here’s one of
her favorite heartfelt Christmas
stories that happened about 90
years ago:
"The year Papa decided I
should learn to ski, deep snows
covered the land, the buildings,
even the towering trees on our
small farm.
Our rustic house was burst-
ing with excitement and activ-
ity. Christmas was only a few
weeks away.
"December's early sunsets
urged us to fi nish our chores
and supper fast so we could get
to work on our Christmas gifts.
Having recently mastered the art
of making French knots, I chose
to embroider dish towels cut
from fl our sacks. Mother was
tatting lovely lace to trim her
presents and Papa was creating
a pair of skis for me. Working
close together in our cozy kitch-
en made it impossible not to be
aware of what each other was
making — but we were clever at
pretending we didn't know what
they were doing.
"No one mentioned anything
about Papa crafting skis for me,
but I knew what he was doing."
Her story goes on to describe
the excitement of Christmas
morning. New skis! She was so
excited. Sadly, the homemade
skis were a failure! Somehow,
the tips of the skis had straight-
ened out and instead of gliding
down the slopes Marvel tum-
bled down the slopes. Her Papa
was embarrassed and he apolo-
gized profusely,
Marvel remembered sigh-
ing, "Oh, Papa. This is the
best Christmas I've ever had.
I wanted to say more as I put
my small mittened hand in his
large gloved one, but I couldn't
fi nd the words to tell him he'd
already given the greatest gift of
all...his love."
After all these years, love,
gratitude and understanding are
the best gifts of the season. May
they bless your heart, mind and
soul.
Merry Christmas to one and
all!
Betty Kaiser’s Chatterbox is
about people, places, family,
and other matters of the heart.
Contact her at 942-1317 or via
e-mail — bchatty@bettykaiser.
com.
Happy holidays
from the Sentinel!
The Cottage Grove Lions Club
will be offering wonderful See’s
products to benefit their sight &
hearing projects in our community.
Our sales trailer will be located in the Pinnocchio’s Pizza parking
lot on Main Street.
Our hours will be 11:00 A.M. until 5:30 P.M. through
Christmas Eve. NOW ACCEPTING Credit & Debit Cards
Shop early…..stock will be limited!
If your business would like to place a
large order, please contact Jessica Baker
of the Cottage Grove Lions Club
at 541-221-7685.
Thank You in advance for your support!!!!!
Order Your
Christmas Ham NOW!
Please place order
no later than Tuesday,
12/19/17
Smoked $8 per pound
Honey $10 per pound
Pick up Sunday, December 24th
by 12 pm
942-3999
733 East Main
Crumley’s
Christmas Trees
Teacher arrested for sex crimes
By Caitlyn May
cmay@cgsentinel.com
Andrea Nicole Baber, 29 of Cottage
Grove, was arrested on charges of sodomy
II, rape III, contributing to the sexual delin-
quency of a minor, online sexual corruption
of a child and unlawful delivery of marijua-
na to a person under 18 years of age.
On Dec. 12, the Douglas County Sheriff's
offi ce received a report of a female teacher
who had been engaging in a sexually inti-
mate relationship with a former student, a
minor.
Baber is a former teacher at Logos Chris-
tian Academy in Springfi eld.
"Deputies began their investigation and
discovered evidence to substantiate the re-
port," a press release on the arrest read. "It
was learned Barber began the relationship
Andrea Nicole Baber
with the then 15-year-old student in 2016
and had engaged in a sexual relationship on
a regular basis with the minor and provided
him with marijuana."
Law enforcement obtained a search war-
rant for Baber's residence on Dec. 15 on the
1200-block of Territorial Hwy.
Detectives reportedly discovered addi-
tional evidence at the residence.
Baber later returned home and was con-
tacted by deputies after reporting a burglary.
She was taken into custody.
Detectives are asking anyone with infor-
mation to contact them at (541) 440-4458 or
at dcso.pio@co.douglas.or.us.
2 New Locations
29th & Willamette St.
18th & Chambers St.
St .
s
Wreath
and
d
Garlan
cash/checks only please
Serving South Eugene for 30 years!
CGSENTINEL.COM
OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP
December 24, 2017
1025 N. 19th St Cottage Grove
Family Christmas Eve Mass: 6pm
Christmas Eve Mass: 10pm
Christmas Day Mass: 10:30am
ST. PHILIP BENIZI MISSION
552 Holbrook Ln, Creswell
Christmas Day Mass: 8:30am
COTTAGE GROVE FAITH CENTER
33761 Row River Rd
Christmas Eve Service: 10am
Candlelight service: 5pm
DELIGHT VALLEY CHURCH OF
CHRIST
33087 Saginaw Rd East
Christmas Eve breakfast: 9am
Service: 10:30am
Candlelight service: 7pm
LIVING FAITH ASSEMBLY
467 10th St
Christmas Eve
Candlelight Service: 9am & 11am
UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
334 Washington St
Christmas Eve
Candlelight Service: 5pm
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
3rd & Adams St
Christmas Eve
Service: 10am
Candlelight Service: 7pm
TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH
6th & Quincy
Christmas Eve: 10:30am
Great Christmas Mystery
Candlelight Service: 6:30pm
Wonder of Christmas
Christmas Day: 10am • Word & Wonder
E
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O
T
R E S
E
L
A
S
Y
A
D
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L
H O
C HRISTMAS D ECORATIONS & M ORE
AT GREAT PRICES
OPEN
T HURSDAY - S ATURDAY
10 AM -4 PM
Winter Hours and Specials
“Holiday Casino Days” returning December 21-23
HOPE FELLOWSHIP
100 S Gateway Blvd
Dec. 17th
Christmas Program: 11am
CALVARY CHAPEL COTTAGE GROVE
1447 Hwy 99 (Village Plaza)
Christmas Eve
Candlelight service: 7pm
COTTAGE GROVE BIBLE CHURCH
1200 East Quincy Ave
Christmas Eve
10:30am • Christmas Drama & Music
Candlelight service: 6pm
Roll the dice for your discount for your entire purchase - 10%-60% possible
• The ReStore will be closed December 28-30 - Happy New Year!
• The ReStore will be open for sales and drop offs
ONLY on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays 10am-4pm
• For Drop Off appointments after hours,
call the offi ce - 541.767.0358
Habitat Offi ce and Warehouse
2155 Getty Circle ~ Unit #1
in the Cottage Grove Industrial Park
South on Hwy 99 past the High School
NS Call 541.767.0358
O
I
T
A
N
for more information
DO
S
Email
Y
A
W
L
A
info@habitatcg.org
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