Polk County
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Polk County Itemizer-observer • December 23, 2015 4A
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EDITORIALS
‘A Visit from
St. Nicholas’
GoVeRnoR
Gov. Kate Brown (Dem.)
160 State Capitol
900 Court St. ne
Salem, oR 97301
503-378-4582
email: via website,
http://governor.oregon.gov/
—
STaTe leGISlaToRS
Sen. Arnie Roblan
(District 5, Democrat)
S-417 State Capitol
900 Court St. ne
Salem, oR 97301
503-986-1705
sen.arnieroblan@state.or.us
www.oregonlegislature.gov/roblan
(Also known as, “’Twas the Night Before Christmas”)
By Clement Clarke Moore
’Twas the night before Christmas,
when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds;
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her ’kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow,
Gave a lustre of midday to objects below,
When what to my wondering eyes did appear,
But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer,
With a little old driver so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment he must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:
“Now, Dasher! Now, Dancer! Now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! On, Cupid! On, Donner and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! To the top of the wall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!”
As leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky;
So up to the housetop the coursers they flew
With a sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too —
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.
His eyes — how they twinkled! His dimples, how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard on his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke, it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly
That shook when he laughed like a bowl full of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And he filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight —
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”
Source: The Random House
Book of Poetry for Children, 1983
PUBLIC AGENDA
Public Agenda is a listing of upcoming meetings for gov-
ernmental and nongovernmental agencies in Polk County.
To submit a meeting, send it at least two weeks before the
actual meeting date to the Itemizer-Observer via fax (503-
623-2395) or email (ionews@polkio.com).
—
MONDAY, DEC. 28
• Independence Library Board — 4 p.m., Independence
Public library, 175 monmouth St., Independence. 503-838-1811.
TUESDAY, DEC. 29
• Polk County Board of Commissioners — 9 a.m., Polk
County Courthouse, 850 main St., Dallas. 503-623-8173.
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 30
• Polk County Board of Commissioners — 9 a.m., Polk
County Courthouse, 850 main St., Dallas. 503-623-8173.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Mail not delivered
due to lights?
In the Christmas spirit (as
we have the last two years),
we decorated our house and
yard with lights. We cau-
tiously kept the walkway
and porch clear both for the
mailman and also for the
children and parents who
come to my home (I run a
day care). The first week was
fine the second week we
stopped receiving mail and
were concerned that it was
being stolen. Since I do run
a day care I watched as the
mailman did not even ap-
proach our home. Con-
fused, I looked up tracking
numbers to see my pack-
ages had been marked as
delivered. I called the post
office. After two phone calls
and two days later, our
mailman’s supervisor came
out and said our lights
placed in the yard are a trip-
ping hazard. I asked why he
didn’t use the sidewalk (the
professional thing to do).
She said he didn’t have to
and needed to save time. I
was told she would call
Monday after she could
speak to the union repre-
sentative (to protect the
mailman’s rights). She has
not called, so I now go to
you, the public. Am I the
only one not receiving mail?
Do I have no rights to have
Christmas lights?
Jessica Sheldon
Dallas
Editor’s note: Sheldon’s mail
now is being delivered again.
YMCA auction
huge success
It’s no secret that in re-
cent years, the Y has had its
struggles. My job over the
past year and a half has
been to repair our reputa-
tion, reinvigorate our pro-
graming, and once again
become an organization the
community can trust and
rely on to provide quality,
values based, programing
for children, adults, and
families.
On Dec. 11, the commu-
nity came together and
demonstrated they believe
in the Y. Our 16th Annual
YMCA Christmas Party and
Auction was a massive suc-
cess. For the first time our
event sold out — 193 people
packed the historic Green
Villa Barn. We had two local
bands, a delicious dinner
(organized, cooked, and
served by volunteers), a per-
formance by the Y’s Inspira-
tion Dance Company, over
170 silent auction items, a
video highlighting Y partici-
pants, and a very lively oral
auction. In the past, if we
reached a net of $9,000, we
considered the evening a
success. This year, because
of the generosity and hard
work of all those involved,
we raised over $20,000! All
the money raised stays in
our community to allow
those in need to attend our
programs.
Thank you to our corpo-
rate sponsor, Pacific Power,
whose sponsorship allows
us to cover most of our op-
erational costs for the event.
Thank you to Green Villa for
such a beautiful space and
thank you to all the volun-
teers, especially the Silber-
nagel’s, for your time, talent,
and effort. We received food
donations from Ovenbird
Bakery, the Grove Coffee
House, Roth’s, Sysco, and
the Bermudez Family
Farm — all of which helped
us to retain more of the
money raised. There are so
many more people to thank;
everyone’s help is greatly
appreciated and truly bene-
fits many in our community.
Thank you to those who
helped and to those that at-
tended our event — see you
next year!
Natascha Cronin
Monmouth-Independence
Family YMCA
Branch Director
Choose love over
differences
The main virtue of Chris-
tianity is love, but love
hasn’t been relevant enough
lately. I’ve been a supporter
of the people who have
been targeted within Dallas
because of who they are
(specifically, Muslim and
transgender communities).
To say the least, people who
have been targeted do not
feel safe or welcomed be-
cause words of hate inspire
actions of hate. This is not a
matter of political correct-
ness, this is a matter of
human beings under perse-
cution. I was part of an ef-
fort to put forth a welcom-
ing community initiative to
help make everyone in Dal-
las feel safe and welcomed,
but our effort was swept
under the rug. Because of
that, nothing has been done
to protect those citizens, ex-
cept the reminder of Title IX
within the high school. Even
if you don’t agree with how
the people targeted live
their lives, please help them
feel welcomed and loved. If
you’re able to set aside your
differences and pursue love:
thank you. This is usually
the happiest time of each
year, so let’s make that hap-
pen. Merry Christmas and
Happy Holidays.
Justen Noll
Dallas
Talk provided
needed education
St. Thomas Episcopal
Church of Dallas provided a
much-needed service to our
community last Sunday by
presenting a most enjoyable
and educational talk by Dr.
Allen Fromherz, “The Reli-
gions of Abraham.”Based on
his extensive research and
study of the Middle East
and Muslim culture, Dr.
Fromherz clarified the facts
about much of the misinfor-
mation which currently cir-
culates as knowledge of
Islam. The standing-room-
only crowd provided a dose
of support to my belief that
Dallas is not the bigoted
and xenophobic community
which one might think from
recent local events.
Thank you to the congre-
gation of St. Thomas and
the ad hoc task force for
human rights in Polk Coun-
ty, for sponsoring this event.
I hope it is only the begin-
ning of a much deeper con-
versation on the issues
which seem to divide us.
Sen. Jackie Winters
(District 10, Republican)
S-301 State Capitol
900 Court St. ne
Salem, oR 97301
503-986-1710
sen.jackiewinters@state.or.us
www.oregonlegislature.gov/winters
Sen. Brian Boquist
(District 12, Republican)
S-305 State Capitol
900 Court St. ne
Salem, oR 97301
503-986-1712
sen.brianboquist@state.or.us
www.oregonlegislature.gov/boquist
Rep. David Gomberg
(District 10, Democrat)
H-471 State Capitol
900 Court St. ne
Salem, oR 97301
503-986-1410
rep.davidgomberg@state.or.us
www.oregonlegislature.gov/gomberg
Rep. Paul Evans
(District 20, Democrat)
H-281 State Capitol
900 Court St. ne
Salem, oR 97301
503-986-1420
rep.paulevans@state.or.us
www.oregonlegislature.gov/evans
Rep. Mike Nearman
(District 23, Republican)
H-378 State Capitol
900 Court St. ne
Salem, oR 97301
503-986-1423
rep.mikenearman@state.or.us
www.oregonlegislature.gov/nearman
—
u.S. ConGReSS
Sen. Ron Wyden (Dem.)
221 Dirksen SoB
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: 202-224-5244
Fax: 202-228-2717
Salem office: 707 13th St. Se,
Suite 285, Salem, oR 97301
Phone: 503-589-4555
email: via website,
www.wyden.senate.gov
Dale Derouin
Dallas
Sixth extinction of
life is inevitable
During the last 500 million
years, Earth has had five
major extinctions and is now
advanced far into the sixth
and worst and possibly final
extinction of all life on Earth,
including ISIS and the U.S.
Barack is moving to the right.
Global warming is the great-
est threat to life on Earth.
President Barack Obama is
right ISIS is the second great-
est threat to life on Earth.
Obama is right weapons of
mass destruction and all
guns are the third greatest
threat to life on Earth.
Albert Einstein once said
that there are only two
things that might be infinite:
the universe and human
stupidity. And, he confessed
he wasn’t sure about the
universe. I have spent over
80 years considering these
issues and sincerely hope
that I am wrong.
Walden Joura
Dallas
Sen. Jeff Merkley (Dem.)
313 Hart SoB
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: 202-224-3753
Fax: 202-228-3997
Salem office: 495 State St. Se,
Suite 330, Salem, oR 97301
Phone: 503-362-8102
email: via website,
www.merkley.senate.gov
Rep. Kurt Schrader (Dem.)
108 Cannon HoB
Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone: 202-225-5711
Fax: 202-225-5699
Salem office: 544 Ferry St. Se,
Suite 2, Salem, oR 97301
Phone: 503-588-9100
Fax: 503-588-5517
email: via website,
www.schrader.house.gov
—
PolK CounTY
Board of Commissioners
850 main St.
Dallas, oR 97338
Phone: 503-623-8173
www.co.polk.or.us
—
CITIeS
Dallas
187 Se Court St.
Dallas, oR 97338
503-623-2338
www.ci.dallas.or.us
Falls City
299 mill St.
Falls City, oR 97344
503-787-3631
www.fallscityoregon.gov
Independence
555 S. main St.
Independence, oR 97351
503-838-1212
www.ci.independence.or.us
Monmouth
151 W. main St.
monmouth, oR 97361
503-838-0722
www.ci.monmouth.or.us
HOW TO REACH US
Vol. 140, No. 51
(USPS) - 437-380)
The official newspaper of Polk County • Serving Polk County families since 1875
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which is in error if the Itemizer-observer is at fault.
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