A4
OPINION
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, December 29, 2021
OUR VIEW
Yes, Virginia,
there is a
Santa Claus
E
ditor’s note: The following editorial, written by Francis
P. Church, ﬁ rst appeared in The New York Sun in 1897.
It was an immediate sensation and became one of the
most famous editorials ever written.
We take pleasure in answering thus prominently the commu-
nication below, expressing at the same time our great gratiﬁ ca-
tion that its faithful author is numbered among the friends of The
Sun:
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?
Virginia O’Hanlon
115 W. 95th St.
Virginia:
Your little friends are wrong. They have been aﬀ ected by the
skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except what
they see. They think that nothing can be which is not compre-
hensible 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 generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they
abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas!
how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It
would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be
no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable
this existence.
We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The
external light with which childhood ﬁ lls the world would be
extinguished.
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 those that
neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies danc-
ing on the lawn? 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 unseeable 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 strongest man, nor even the united 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 forever. A
thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years
from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.
OFF THE BEATEN PATH
On the horns of a DNA dilemma
M
y DNA test results showed
WHAT?”
The paperwork from
my DNA test swab came back. I
stood stunned at what I saw.
This all started when a friend
stopped by.
“Would you like your DNA
tested?” the friend asked. “You can
ﬁ nd out where your ancestors came
from.”
“No, I’m good,” I replied.
I knew where my ancestors
came from — paternal grandparents
immigrated here from western Fin-
land, the area of Swedish-speaking
Finns with some lines reaching back
into Sweden.
I ﬁ gure I’m 50% Swedish/
Finnish.
As for maternal great-grandpar-
ents, they emigrated from Denmark.
I calculate I’m 25% Danish. And
for the remaining 25%, England and
Western Europe make up the rest.
These immigrants came in the
late 1700s, late 1800s or the early
1900s. Each group settled in diﬀ er-
ent parts of the United States. The
common thread: each searched for
greater religious and political free-
doms and economic opportunities.
With my friend’s encouragement,
in time I relented, purchased a DNA
test kit, and sent oﬀ the mouth swab.
Horriﬁ ed, I noted the results
showed little mention of Denmark.
Instead, the test results showed I
was part NORWEGIAN! Not that I
have anything against Norwegians
— after all, Norway is just across
the North Sea from Denmark. It’s
not as if the results show the country
of Maldives — someplace I’d need
to look up on a map
to ﬁ nd where it’s
located.
Through the
years, our family
has learned more
about where we’ve
Jean Ann
come from. While
Moultrie
in college, I discov-
ered we still had
relatives in Finland. In time, several
of the family have visited there and
they have visited here.
I felt such a sense of history
when I strolled into the old farm-
house of ancestors — where ﬁ fth-
and sixth-generation farmers
raised rye and ﬂ ax. In the kitchen,
a wood-burning oven baked the
wheels of rye bread with a hole in
the middle. The poles still remain
where the bread was slid onto the
poles and then slid into slots near
the ceiling — the bread available for
the coming month.
A reunion a couple years ago in
Finland involved about 300 people
celebrating the 200th anniversary of
an ancestor’s birthday. A handful of
us came from the U.S. — most were
locals we got to meet.
The DNA list showed only a
minuscule percentage from Den-
mark. How can that be? We knew
from records several generations
were born and died in Denmark.
A few years ago, a group of
Americans organized an event that
celebrated the emigration from
Scandinavia to America and then to
the West. My brother and I played
the role of great-grandparents. We
drove through areas where they had
lived and farmed, located the church
where one ancestor preached in the
1600s.
To further the re-enactment, we
boarded sailing vessels where par-
ticipants acted as part of the crew.
Below deck, the sleeping area felt
cramped between families. Some of
the ships opted to sail to New York.
That was more sailing than I could
commit to. My brother and I did a
shorter stint in the Baltic Sea.
One night, an incredible number
of stars seemed to burn holes into
the dark sky. The crew leader doled
out tasks with some on watch, some
in the galley working on breakfast
while still dark. The rest of the par-
ticipants oﬀ to assigned duties. I was
the only one left behind.
The leader said, “Your task is
to stand on the deck and appreciate
the beauties of the night.” I’d never
been given a ﬁ ner task.
As the bell rang for breakfast,
the wind picked up, choppy waves
slapped against the boat. When the
wind turned to a gale, we scrambled
up the stairs to the deck and tugged
on ropes to drop the sails. I was at
the end of one rope when a wave
swept over the rail, hit me behind
the knees, knocked me down, and
spun me across the deck into a pile
of ropes where I smacked my head.
Seasickness struck like a hammer
to my midsection. I gained a new-
found appreciation for those perse-
vering, hardy ancestors looking for
a new life.
Jean Ann Moultrie is a Grant
County writer. She found Norwegian
ancestors six generations back. Oluf
and Mette, born in Norway, married
and died in Denmark.
M110 needs more accountability for drug users
N
WHERE TO WRITE
GRANT COUNTY
• Grant County Courthouse — 201 S.
Humbolt St., Suite 280, Canyon City 97820.
Phone: 541-575-0059. Fax: 541-575-2248.
• Canyon City — P.O. Box 276, Canyon City
97820. Phone: 541-575-0509. Fax: 541-575-
0515. Email: tocc1862@centurylink.net.
• Dayville — P.O. Box 321, Dayville 97825.
Phone: 541-987-2188. Fax: 541-987-2187.
Email: dville@ortelco.net
• John Day — 450 E. Main St, John Day,
97845. Phone: 541-575-0028. Fax: 541-575-
1721. Email: cityjd@centurytel.net.
• Long Creek — P.O. Box 489, Long Creek
97856. Phone: 541-421-3601. Fax: 541-421-
3075. Email: info@cityoﬂ ongcreek.com.
• Monument — P.O. Box 426, Monument
97864. Phone and fax: 541-934-2025. Email:
cityofmonument@centurytel.net.
• Mt. Vernon — P.O. Box 647, Mt. Vernon
97865. Phone: 541-932-4688. Fax: 541-932-
4222. Email: cmtv@ortelco.net.
• Prairie City — P.O. Box 370, Prairie City
97869. Phone: 541-820-3605. Fax: 820-3566.
Email: pchall@ortelco.net.
• Seneca — P.O. Box 208, Seneca 97873.
Phone and fax: 541-542-2161. Email:
senecaoregon@gmail.com.
SALEM
• Gov. Kate Brown, D — 254 State Capitol,
Salem 97310. Phone: 503-378-3111. Fax:
503-378-6827. Website: governor.state.or.us/
governor.html.
• Oregon Legislature — State Capitol, Salem,
97310. Phone: 503-986-1180. Website: leg.
state.or.us (includes Oregon Constitution and
Oregon Revised Statutes).
• Oregon Legislative Information —
(For updates on bills, services, capitol or
messages for legislators) — 800-332-2313,
oregonlegislature.gov.
• Sen. Lynn Findley, R-Vale — 900 Court St.
NE, S-301, Salem 97301. Phone: 503-986-
1730. Website: oregonlegislature.gov/ﬁ ndley.
Email: sen.lynnﬁ ndley@oregonlegislature.
gov.
early a year after Oregon’s
drug decriminalization
experiment began, results
point to fewer arrests but little
interest in addiction services.
In 2020, Oregon voters approved
Measure 110, which decriminalizes
small amounts of controlled sub-
stances, including meth and heroin,
and funds drug addiction treatment
and recovery services. It came into
eﬀ ect on Feb. 1 of this year.
As predicted, fewer drug arrests
were made in 2021. Instead of earn-
ing jail time, those found in pos-
session of drugs are charged with a
violation and pay a $100 ﬁ ne.
Or they can avoid the ﬁ ne alto-
gether by partici-
pating in a health
assessment over
the phone.
As of Novem-
ber, there have
been 68 total
Rachel
health assess-
Dawson
ment screen-
ings. However, 49 callers were
not interested in resources and
merely underwent the assessment
to escape the fine, while only 11
people were connected to some
kind of addiction or recovery
service.
While M110 is still early in its
implementation, this data is tell-
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Vaccine is best bet
against omicron
To the editor:
My wife and I were honored to
serve as physicians in John Day from
2005 to 2015. When I returned in
October to help cover the ER, I heard
of a friend/previous patient who had
had a very rough case of COVID.
My ﬁ rst thought was, “I should have
called him to get the vaccine.” I
didn’t expect that response but had I
still been working here, I would have
reached out and encouraged him and
others to get the vaccine. I’m glad to
report he’s recovering well. Another
patient I saw at the hospital didn’t do
well.
Now, we as a community and as a
nation face omicron, a new and much
more transmissible COVID vari-
ant. While we don’t know how seri-
ous these infections will be, it is much
more contagious and forecasts suggest
the number of hospitalized Orego-
nians will be two to three times higher
than what we experienced in August/
September.
As a physician who has cared for
Blue Mountain
Grant County’s Weekly Newspaper
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multiple COVID patients, I am writing
to urge folks in Grant County to either
(1) get a booster if you have been vac-
cinated or (2) get vaccinated. It is the
best tool we have to ﬁ ght this ﬁ ght.
Compared to COVID, it is incredibly
safe, and early data shows the booster
helps substantially against omicron.
Please, for yourself, your family, your
community and your health care work-
ers, get vaccinated. I look forward to
seeing you in John Day, but not in the
hospital.
Andrew Janssen, MD
Hillsboro
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Oﬃ ce Assistant .....................................Alixandra Hand, oﬃ ce@bmeagle.com
MEMBER OREGON NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION
ing. What good will pumping mil-
lions of dollars into the behavioral
health network be if no one’s there
seeking help?
What’s missing in this equation
is any kind of personal account-
ability. Many of those who need
help won’t seek it out. Drug courts
were helpful in this regard because
they pushed addicts into treatment
which reduced substance use and
drug-involved crimes. Oﬃ cials
should consider adding similar
teeth to this program.
Rachel Dawson is a policy ana-
lyst at Cascade Policy Institute,
Oregon’s free market public policy
research organization.
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