Page 2'
ICT. 1
Horse sense
ERNEST V. JOINER
Every year after the July 4 cleanup I begin working up a
h;ilc for Christmas. I am reminded that Dec. 25 is not the
birth date of Jesus in the first place, that Santa Claus has a
pagan origin, that commercialization has all but destroyed
the spiritual quality of the occasion, and that the whole thing
is a conspiracy to drive people to the wall, financially and
emotionally. I develop an affinity for Scrooge, and become
one of the best Bah. Humbuggers in the business. But
following the Thanksgiving binge something happens. People
become noticeably nicer to talk with and there is a warmer,
friendlier, kinder feeling among people. I find them doing
extraordinary little things for other people, friends or
strangers, that are above and beyond the ordinary human
consideration. Strangers greet me on the street and their
salutations have a sincere and more cheerful quality, and I
get the feeling they're genuinely interested in me. Slowly I
lose my admiration for Mr. Scrooge. I find myself humming
"While Christmas" and admiring beautifully decorated store
windows. I remember friends of ages past and make a note
thai Christmas would be a good time to shock them with a
greeting card. I get misty-eyed when caroleers come down
the street singing traditional songs of Christmas. I smile a lot
more, and get smiled at a lot in return. And, once again, I'm
hooked on Christmas and just about everything that goes
with it. Maybe that's part of the magic of Christmas.
Several years ago columnist Erma Brombeck wrote that
there is nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas
morning and not be a child. No matter how we try we cannot
duplicate (he excitement of a child as he rips the ribbon and
colorful wrapping from packages under a Christmas tree.
There is no way an adult can duplicate the wide-eyed wonder
and sparkling eyes of a child as he gazes on a glowing,
gondic-laden Christmas tree after he has spent half the night
awake and awaiting the wonder of it all. No one but a child
could make the house ring with laughter and infect an entire
household with the spirit of love and joy. Children, I think,
are what keeps Christmas alive, perhaps more so than the
miracle that gave it birth. Somewhere along the way the
Chrisimases we loved as children are gone, and we don't
quite know what happened to make it so. Maybe it happened
when we began having our names printed on Christmas
greeting cards instead of writing the messages in longhand.
Maybe it happened -when Christmas tree decorations
changed from colored paper chains, stringed popcorn and
cranberries to bright tinsel, artificial snow, angel's hair and
baubles from the 10-cent store. Perhaps something went out
of Christmas when people began trying to solve the gift
problem by writing a check instead of baking a cake, making
a pan of fudge or knitting a scarf for a loved one. It may have
happened when it became easier to hire a hotel banquet room
and cater a dinner for loved ones rather than have all the
relatives mess up the house during a weeklong family
reunion. Maybe it happened when we discovered it was
easier to have Bing Crosby sing our Christmas music rather
than tramp around in the snow at all hours of the night on a
caroling caper. Whatever happened and whenever it
happened, we lost something we try desperately to regain
every Christmas and that makes us all Children of
Christmas. There doesn't have to be children around the
house to remind us they gave thanks, love, gratitude, joy and
themselves, one to the other. Anyone can give these things,
and actually that's what Christmas is all about giving those
things. The ravages of time and creeping cynicism can, as
Mrs. Brombeck noted, take the Christmas out of the child,
"but you cannot take the child out of Christmas."
I shall always remember my finest Christmas. I was
about 10. We lived on a farm in the Oklahoma panhandle.
There was no tree; this was plains country. None of us had
ever seen a Santa Claus. There weren't even any presents.
But this Christmas Eve my mother and sister began baking
the cakes, pies, candy and doughnuts for the Christmas
dinner. It was Christmas enough just to lick the bowl and
spoon after the dough was mixed! That day we spent making
paper chains, stringing popcorn and cranberries. There was
no tree and no fireplace, but we did the entire living room in
festoons of paper we children had colored with school
crayons. The night before Christmas was a wonderful time,
full of anticipation, and sleep was impossible. At the crack of
dawn my younger brother and I stormed down the stairs
shouting "Christmas Gift", and rushed to where our long,
black cotton stockings hung on the wall. They were stuffed
with little but oranges, apples, nuts and candy :the greatest
gift to the whole family was a set of checkers, all of which had
been bought with carefully hoarded nickels and dimes and
hauled by wagon from town, 30 miles away a long day's
travel each way. Dad, one of the best checker players in
Texas tournaments, would occasionally lose to one of his two .
younger sons. That was always a triumph for us. We were
both grown before we realized he deliberately "threw" a
game now and then, loudly bewailing his loss and simulating
anger in defeat, just to keep us interested in the game and to
give us a feeling of pride in the competition. There was joy
and love here, and each other. I was never to have a more
wonderful Christmas because I. like most of us, have ceased
to be a Child of Christmas.
If it were possible I would wish for all our friends this
Christmas, not the fruits and nuts that delighted me then, but
the joy and love we shared that Christmas on a lonely,
wind-swept prairie farm.
Last Tuesday night at the Mustang-Cardinal basketball
game a Heppner player, Dave McLeod, pushed an lone
player into the bleachers. He got his quota of boos from the
spectators and was ejected from the game by the officials for
unnecessary roughness. McLeod tried to explain at the time
why he shoved his opponent, but officials had no time to
listen. The following day he came to the Gazette-Times office
and inserted a classified ad apologizing for his rude behavior.
Asked how it happened, he said that he and the lone player
went up after the ball. As he was coming down he saw he was
going to land on the back of his opponent. Not wanting to
injure the youth, he shoved him out of the way. The lone boy
lost his balance and fell into the stands. "Everyone thought I
was a dirty player," McLeod said, "but all I wanted to do was
keep the player from getting hurt, so I shoved him. Then the
fans began booing me, and I guess I lost my cool. That's when
I was thrown out of the game." McLeod has published a
public apology for what appeared to be a deliberate foul, for
which he is to be commended. Now, perhaps, the officials and
the spectators who didn't grasp the situation should make a
similar apology for not recognizing McLeod's attempt to
keep from injuring his opponent. P.S. The Mustangs won the
Sportsmanship Trophy at the Elgin Tournament the
following Friday and Saturday.
piiiiiiillliipii
v v. 5i Ks v. N s s v w . v ss ss s S . V.
- s . 1
ECONOMlcl j
vi: advisory " pv -
Heppner, Ore., Gazette-Times, Thursday, Dec. 19, 1974
Chamber Mayor of Hareman
elects
"Right! The Little Brown Ones Are The Pennies!
Now We're Getting Somewhere!"
The Heppner-Morrow Coun
ty Chamber of Commerce
unanimously elected five new
members to (he board of
directors Monday: Harold
Kerr. Ray Boyce, Don Cole,
Dave Franzen and Marshall
Lovgren.
The newly-elected officers
will be installed Dec. 30 at the
regular noon luncheon of the
Chamber. Following the in
stallation, board members
will meet to select a president
for the coming year.
The Heppner High School
Choir entertained the Cham
ber Monday with a medly of
Christmas carols, including
"Here. There and Every
where," "Three Carols for
Christmas." "As Lately We
Watch" and "Silent Night,
Holy Night."
Next Monday, Santa Claus
is to pay the Chamber a visit
and have members join him in
singing Christmas carols.
GAZETTE-TIMES WILL
CLOSE DEC.
The Gazette-Times will be
closed Christmas Day and
also Thursday. Dec. 2fi.
Columbia liasin Co-op is
relocating power poles that
serve the newspaper plant,
and the operation will take a
full day during which the
paper will have no power.
Work at the (IT will resume at
x a. in.. Friday.
The next issue of the paper
will he out Dec. 21. Christmas
Ke.
The mail pouch
EDITOR:
In the very near future, or better yet, right after the first of
Ihe year. Ihe Chamber of Commerce puppets will be heading
for Ihe Salem puppet show . Their purpose will be to oil and
grease Ihe law-making machinery, and there's no doubt in
my mind hui that this will be a big year in the law-making
business.
I'm sure that this operation will turn out at least a thousand
or more of these bills, and when the dust settles I'll find my
taxes have more than doubled and my freedoms had been
restricted at least another 60 per cent. So I haven't much to
look forward to. As for help, from this operation for the many
problems that we have that exist now. it looks impossible.
I see where Senate President Jason Boe suggests a time
limit in acting on these bills. In 1972. on one of their better
days, they cobbled together ino laws. Maybe that's not fast
enough for (hem. so it's possible that they may try for 200 this
year.
Ot course, they're not going to be the only ones heading for
Salt in Ibis year, because Ihe little old ladies with tennis shoes
and hearts as "big as a mountain" will repeat their
pilgrimage to Ihe Oregon Capitol begging for "mercy" for
the "defenseless animals" thai are being exploited by the
mess called the human race. Dog-racing, horse-racing, dog
lights, cock-fights are just a few that man's evil and twisted
brain can cobble together and call it "sports." But for these
Indies the clouds look awful dark, for I'm sure they'll be
branded "trouble-makers" and escorted from Salem by the
National Guard, with an assist from the State Police.
Alter watching this puppet show for over 40 years, one
doesn't have to be a prophet to know what's going to happen,
for it's just like playing a cracked record. When this
law-making machine is well oiled and working, it can be fed
at a tremendous speed, and these bills or laws can be put in
up-side down, cross-ways or backwards, it doesn't matter,
but Ihe trouble is the only ones who can understand them will
bo Nixon's attorneys or the Chamber of Commerce.
OTTO H. JORGENSEN JR.,
Scappoose.
EDITOR:
EDITOR:
I w ant to urge all w omen, regardless of age, to 'have a
medical examination at least every six months for lumps,
tumors, or anything unusual in the breasts. Not all tumors
are malignant and there may be various causes for the
others, but your doctor will decide and treat accordingly.
The time has come for husbands to realize that breast
cancer is becoming more prevalent and do their part,
insisting and making sure the wives have regular
examinations, besides help with the self checkup at home.
Any doctor will give instructions or pamphlets on how this is
done.
Tumors can show up in a short time and the sooner found,
the belter. I have had both the bad and good ones, so I know!
CHARLOTTE DOHERTY,
Heppner.
Oregon Country
Oregon's weekly column"
Rick Steber
Kristi Ottoman
The purpose of this letter is to confess that I have been
mailing your "Horse Sense" columns to President Gerald
Ford when most of it pertained to national interests or issues.
Occasionally. I mailed a Xeroxed copy to my congressman.
There are many reasons for this action but I will not bore
you with an explanation at this time. It may please you to
know that anything I would mail to the President would have
to be very good.
Wilh warmest personal regards and best wishes for the
coining holidays. I am.
LEE EVANS,
Santa Rosa, Ca.
EDITOR:
MerrijClipfa
As a member of the Merchants Committee of the Chamber
of Commerce I would like to thank Barbara and Jim
Paullus for selecting the community Christmas tree, and also
seeing that it had a way of getting to its destination; Don
McEwen for hauling the tree; Columbia Basin Electric
Co-op, Heppner TV Inc., and the crew from the City of
Heppner for getting the tree in its place.
Many thanks to the crews for taking time from their busy
schedules to string the lights on the tree and also string lights
across the streets and on the poles.
I have heard many compliments from several people and
must agree with them that it looks nice.
RANDALL E. PETERSON,
Heppner.
EDITOR:
I would like to thank all of the people who made my stay
here in Morrow County such an enjoyable experience.
My grateful thanks to Judge Paul Jones and Carolyn Davis
for asking me to come to your county and get the necessary
training Uncomplete my college education. Also I would like
(ogive special thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Emmett McKenzie for
(heir gracious hospitality during my stay with them.
The experience gained while working with the various
schools, working with families, helping to get a Day Care
Center started in Boardman and attending various
community meetings will be extremely helpful in my
endeavors as a social worker.
s BOB CORTINAS
Christmas Day 1805, found a
cheerless camp for the first
overland explorers to reach
Oregon Country, the Lewis
and Clark expedition, It had
been nearly two years since
the little party left civilization
for their trek into the un
known. The Oregon coast extended
Ihe expedilion its usual winter
welcome. According to the
Lewis and Clark Journals, it
had rained continually since
Ihe third of December. Dec.
16. Clark wrote in his journal:
"rained all last night, we
covered ourselves as best we
could with Elk skin and set up
the greater part of the night."
Five days later he added,
"rained as usual last night and
all today."
If the party had known of the
weather conditions perhaps
they might not have made
' camp so near the ocean at
Fort Clatsop. But they had
hoped to renew their store of
salt and sight trading vessels
so they could increase their
supply of trinkets to use in
trade with the Indians.
The expedition began build
ing log winter quarters on
December 5. Fighting rain,
snow and hail they completed
the crude shelters the day
before Christmas.
Christmas Day fell on a
Wednesday in the year 1805
with "all the party fired
snugly in their huts." Accord
ing to Clark's journal: "at day
light this morning we were
awoke by the discharge of the
fire arms of all our party and a
Salute. Shouts and a Song
which the whole party joined
in under our windows, after
which they retired to their
rooms, were cheerful! all the
morning. After breakfast we
divided our tobacco. .we
gave to the men of the party
who used tobacco, and to those
who do not use it we make a
present of a handkerchief. I
received a present from
Captain Lewis of a fleece
hosiery, shirt, draws and
socks. .two dozen white
weazel tails and some black
root. .the day proved
showerey, wet and disagree
able." There was no Christmas
feast in the American outpost.
Clark wrote, "we would have
spent this day the nativity of
Christ in feasting, had we any
thing either to raise our
sperits or even gratify our
appetites, our dinner concist
ed of pore Elk, so much
spoiled that we eate it thro'
near necessity, some spoiled
pounded fish and a frew
roots."
'
A:
iff
X
X
X
X.
X
X&8&
THE GAZETTE-TIMES
MORROW COUNTY'S NEWSPAPER
Box 337, Heppner, Ore. 97836
Subscription rate: $6 per year in
Oregon, $7 elsewhere
Ernest V. Joiner, Publisher
Published every Thursday and entered as a
second-class matter at the post office at
Heppner, Oregon, under the act of March 3, 1879.
Second-class postage paid at Heppner, Oregon.
DEAR MISTER EDITOR:
Neither hail, nor snow, nor nge nor the price of sugar shall
keep my old lady from her appointed rounds.
She has been chose lo cook and come Christmas she is
going lo cook. I give up trying to calm her down years bfick.
Mister Editor, and I come to relize that when she's done I
look forward to eating and enjoy (he enling more ever year.
She had me addressing and stamping Christmas cards the
other night, and I fell to thinking nbnul what (he dead letter
boxes at all the post offices is going to look like around the
first of Ihe year. I figger they is going lo be a heap of
greetings and best wishes that die fer wan! of a stamp. Ever
year, you know, you git a few postage due cards and letters
on account of people gitting in a hurry and forgetting to put
on the postage. Now the post office people say they won't
deliver postage due mail anymore. They say they will return
it if t hoy can find the sender, so some of us may be gitting out
own Christmas cards at New Year's.
With jest me and the old lady around the house out here in
the country. Mister Editor. I have a heap of thinking time.
And with the weather closing in the sessions at the country
store Saturday nighls ain'l running as long as usual. I saw a
filler in the paper Ihe other day (hat started me thinking. It
said thai in 1973 the United States admitted 400,063 people
from other countries. These are people who wanted to come
hereto live, to better Iheirselves. to get out from under a gun,
lo try and give their children more than they have. I don't
know how many Americans left in disgust fer other
countries, hut I'm willing to bet we look in more than we lost.
It may be old timey lo wave the flag and talk about things like
freedom lo celebrate Christmas, freedom to do what we want
Ihe way we want, but to me the spirit of this holy season is
tied direct to what America was in (he beginning and, down
deep, she still is.
Incidental, (he fellers at the country store Saturday night
look up this report by a United Nations study group where
they said it is possible to control the world on the TV screen.
The report warned of brainwashing whole countries by
flashing message from satellites to the TV without folks
watching even knowing about it. Fer instant, one country
could flash "tired" on all the screens and everlmdy would
feel pooed all day and not know why. The message would
.nine on the screen so quick you would see it hut not know you
ee it. was Ihe way Ed Gonty told it. Ed said this trick
already had been showed lo work in selling on TV. You keep
flashing "popcorn" and everybody in America gits the urge
lo run to the kitchen and pop a batch. Ed said.
Personal. 1 reckon that explains my old lady (his time of
vear. They been flashing "cook" and "buy" during all Ihem
soap oprys she can't miss.
Yours truly,
MAYOR ROY.
Epistle
to the
travel agents
By LESTER KINSOLVING
The letter received recently by 1400 U.S. travel agents is
soiiii'ihiug of a classic in the annals of Christian
correspondence:
"Through (he acquisition of correspondence and computer
prinlouls. the Center For Social Action of the United Church
nl Christ has evidence that your travel agency has
apparently enabled tourists to visit Southern Rhodesia.
"Your activities clearly indicate apparent violations of
U.S. law s and regulations and international laws. In the U.S.,
the penalties for violating these laws are $10,000, or 10 years
imprisonment, or both, and in appropriate cases, forfeiture
of properly. (See U.S. Department of Treasury regulations.
Part 530. Subparagraph G. Section 530.701). '
This letter further explained in detail that Rhodesia's
minority while government has had economic sanctions
imposed by the United Nations, which sanctions were
implemented by the U.S. government. The letter concluded:
"We therefore respectfully call upon you to cease all such
transactions and request that your written reply reach us
w ithin :io days. This is to advise you that if we don't receive a
satisfactory reply, we intend lo transmit our information to
the appropriate U.S. government agencies. Thanking you in
advance for your full cooperation, (signed:) Rev. Donald
Morton."
By w ay of response lo this ecclesiastical stand-and-deliver
order, more than half of the 1400 travel agents ignored it.
Among the 630 who did respond, there were "only about 10
per cent that were hostile," according to the Rev. Mr.
Morton's superior, the center's executive director, Rev.
Larold Schulz. (Morton was not available for comment as of
this writing since he is overseas, on loan to the World
Council of Churches.)
But Travel Weekly magazine reported a nationally
negative reaction from travel agents, who described the
Morton UCC letter as "Impertinent and presumptuous. .
.overbearing and intimidating. . .defeating to his own
cause."
The magazine also noted that the head of the Treasury
Department's Office of Foreign Assets, Attorney Stanley
Sommerfield, dissented with South African citizen Morton's
interpretation of U.S. law:
"Since the Supreme Court takes a dim view of passport
restrictions, there is nothing illegal about U.S. citizens
traveling to Rhodesia. And since the licenses to arrange such
travel are available on demand, we are hardly in a position to
prosecute anyone who inadvertantly overlooks this
requirement."
But Morton's superior, Larold Schulz, replied: "Sommer
field is wrong." (Perhaps. But the law which Morton cited
happened to have been drafted by Sommerfield, himself.)
In Washington, the Rhodisian Office of Information
featured in its newsletter a notable piece of American
literature:
"He has excited domestic insurrections among us and has
endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers the
merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an
undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and
conditions."
"That's Thomas Jefferson in your Declaration of
Independence from England," said a Rhodesian spokesman.
"We declared our independence from England in 1965 and
we too are confronted by merciless savages. For example, in
the Central African Republic, they cut off peoples' hands."
He went on to note that not even Asian minorities much
less whites have managed to survive the coming of black
nationalism, in such, places as Uganda, where 62,000 Asians
were deported. "Then there are the growing number of
massacres, which seem to escape the concern of some
churchmen, such as in Zanzibar and Burundi although
these 110,000 slaughtered were not as bad as the deliberate
starvation policy of the Nigerians toward Biafra."