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Show Pleasant Grove Review - Thursday, Dec. 23, 2004 - Page 2 o PINT ON Santa, are you listening? "m'v j" Readers show their generosity 0 nee again, the readers in north Utah County have come through. Nominations for 23 families in the area were turned in to the North Coun ty Newspapers. Those who sug- gested their names knew of circumstances cir-cumstances that would prevent the nominees from having a merry Christmas. Unemployment, medical bills and other unexpected events brought these circumstances to the families. Others were aware of their needs, but they couldn't give sufficient assistance. Enter our readers. Individuals, families, groups of workers, Scouts and other youth groups all volunteered to provide Christmas to these families. Their circumstances probably would not place them on the Fortune For-tune 500 list, but their hearts certainly cer-tainly would make some Top Ten list. Youth groups spent time and energy that they would otherwise have used to do the usual things youth do socializing, shopping, dating and other activities turning their attention to others. Some extended families decided decid-ed to forgo their annual gift exchange and instead donate the A new and glorious morn I was guilty no question about it. The police officer flashed his lights in my rearview mirror. I was speeding. I knew it. And worse the officer knew it. I rolled my eyes and looked at my tousled hair in the mirror. I hadn't showered or shaved yet. In fact, I was still in my jammies. I had just thrown on a jacket so I could drive my daughter to school, which meant I didn't have my wallet or my driver's license with me. Great. Not only was I guilty of speeding, but I was also guilty of driving without my license and looking extremely tacky. I had visions of spending Christmas in the Big House, complete with festive fes-tive orange jump suits, institutional institu-tional cranberry sauce on processed turkey hash and some hairy Neanderthal eyeing me while humming "Merry Christmas, Christ-mas, Darling." As the officer made his way to my car I tried running through a few excuses. There was that car that was coming up so fast behind me. And it was cold outside, and I was trying to warm up the car. And it's not good for modern automobile auto-mobile engines to go slow, is it? And dang it, it's Christmas who can concentrate on speed limits when there's debt to be incurred! "Good morning, sir," the fresh-faced fresh-faced young officer said as I rolled down the window. "I pulled you over for speeding. Were you aware that you were speeding?" "I . . . uh . . . well . . .1 . . ." For some reason, I couldn't get any of those excuses out. So I just said: "I guess I wasn't really paying attention." atten-tion." The officer smiled. "Well, at least you're honest about it," he said kindly. He took my registration registra-tion and insurance cards and took them back to his car to do . . . well, whatever it is that police officers do in their cars. Meanwhile, I sat there in my jammies and fretted and worried and stewed about the cost of the ticket that was sure to come, about the horrifyingly possible results of my inattentive driving and, of course, about that Neanderthal. Nean-derthal. Guilt, it turns out, can really mess with your mind. money saved to help someone else. That is noble, but it is especially especial-ly so when the family they are helping is not known by them. Year after year, we have been privileged to see tremendous displays dis-plays of generosity as our readers have gone many extra miles and given of themselves to render assistance to those in need. It is a great example of the best of the Christmas spirit: a selfless love, beginning with discerning someone's need, then finding a way to get the necessary help. Often the physical needs are just the beginning. Many times, those who have the temporal needs are also lacking in support systems of relatives and friends who offer kindness and love. It is very heartening to see strangers expressing this to others. We understand the Christmas Family project conducted by the newspaper is only one of many throughout the area. It speaks well of the north Utah County residents res-idents that they are willing to give of themselves to help others. Thank you for your support of this and other programs. We hope you have as great a Christmas as you have been willing will-ing to provide for others. J At last the officer returned to my window. "Mr. Walker." he said, "I'm going to let you go with only a warning this morning." I was stunned. Relieved. Thrilled. Yes, Virginia, there IS a Santa Claus. The officer bent to look me directly in the eye. "Please be careful on our streets," he said with an urgent tone that suggested suggest-ed there would be no such mercy if there ever was a next time. Then he smiled and added: "And please enjoy the Christmas symbolism." Christmas symbolism? Where's the symbolism in being pulled over for speeding? But since I wasn't about to argue with the officer, I began to consider symbolic symbol-ic possibilities. It could be said that he was giving me a gift, which made him sort of like the magi, the little drummer boy and Santa Claus all wrapped up in one. Was that the symbolism he was talking about? I pulled away from the curb and slowly, cautiously began to drive home. The morning was bleak and cold, but somehow I felt warm and good and not just because the heater in the van had finally kicked in. On the radio Josh Groban was singing "Oh Holy Night": Long lay the world in sin and error pining Till he appeared and the soul felt its worth. A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn! Suddenly the officer's "Christmas "Christ-mas symbolism" became clear. It wasn't about presents that can be purchased and exchanged. It wasn't was-n't even about the Biblical offerings offer-ings of gold, frankincense and myrrh. It was about the gift of a child, and the "new and glorious morn" of eternal hope that dawned that Holy night in Bethlehem. Bethle-hem. Especially for those of us who are . . . you know . . . guilty. The North County Newspapers Newspa-pers asked children for letters let-ters to Santa Claus to print in the American Fork Citizen, the Lehi Free Press, the Lone Peak Review, the Pleasant Grove Review and the Pony Express. Most children had Christmas lists, some drew pictures of toys, others cut out from a catalog what they wanted. Below are excerpts from some letters that touched our hearts. Names have been withheld. We received letters from Shelley Shel-ley Elementary School in American Ameri-can Fork. A young student wrote, "Santa, I tried to be good this year. I'm sorry I got sent to the principal's office. How are you doing? I'm doing good ... would you please put a calculator in my stocking." We received many letters from the American Fork post office. Dear Santa, Do you have any answers to cure a bad-tempered sister? I have two you know. Dear Santa, What I would like for Christmas is for my family to be together and not separated. Please Santa, all I want is that for Christmas. Children responded generously generous-ly at the Pleasant Grove library. Dear Santa, All I want for Christmas is my (brother or sister) sis-ter) to come home. (He, she) is on a mission. If you cannot do that, I want my family to get along better. bet-ter. I have been OK this year. Hello, Santa, I want a panther from He-Man, a big Spider-Man (one as big as me). Please bring lots of toys, at least 10,000. Dear Santa, I want an ornament, orna-ment, and Care Bears and My Little Ponys. Most important, bless my dad overseas. Dear Santa, Thank you for all the presents over the years. I'm The seeds of When asked what they want most in the world, many people responded, "peace on earth and good will toward men." World peace is a lofty goal, and it is something we think about a lot during the Christmas season. I, too, would love to see peace on earth. As a matter of fact, I'd love to see peace in my own home. A week before Christmas, the living room is a tangle of tree, presents, lights, and unfinished last-minute gifts. The kitchen is a mass of flour, chocolate, and baking bak-ing sheets. I won't even go into wrapping paper, tape, and packing pack-ing peanuts. My home is in chaos, but it's a good chaos. It's the disorder of Santa's Workshop, of elves feverishly feverish-ly finishing presents. And peace will reign, albeit briefly, on Christmas Eve, before the flurry of unwrapping unwrap-ping gifts on Christmas Day. How can world peace possibly start in a cluttered home? How could my hands, my children's Dear Pleasant Grove residents: At this time of year, we think of family and friends and our neighbors, and we usually go out of our way to wish them well. We also spend hours shopping shop-ping for the gifts we give and are grateful for the gifts we receive, but this year we should be especially especial-ly mindful of those men and women from our community com-munity who are in the armed services. These people, who are also among our friends and neighbors, are at work not only to preserve our freedoms free-doms and the lifestyle we enjoy, but also are trying to help other countries to be able to, sometime or other, enjoy the same freedoms that we are blessed with here in the United States of America. We should also be very not sure what I want for Christmas Christ-mas yet, but I'll write back to you. Dear the Best Santa, I would like new shoes. I would like other things you would like to give me. I am glad you are Santa. You are the Best Santa. Dear Santa, Thanks so much for the candy cane ... What I would like for Christmas is a cute little hound and I want my mom to be happy more often and I want my dance teacher to get better bet-ter so she can dance again. Well Merry Christmas to you too! Dear Santa, My name is Sandra and I'm 12 year old. Even though I am too old for this stuff, I need your help. I want new clothes, a boombox, new shoes and $12. Thank you and Merry Christmas. Dear Santa, There are four kids in my class that don't believe in you. Please send them a letter telling them that it is not their parents. Dear Santa, I don't want much because I have almost everything I want, family friends, a house and a little sister whom I love. Dear Santa, Please bring the world peace and good will toward all mankind, so that my daddy doesn't have to go to war. Then there was an especially good child in Highland who forgot to ask for something for herself. Dear Santa, Do you think I've been good? My mom wants a clean house and nice kids for Christmas. My dad loves to work. I think he can have some tools. And my little world peace hands, and my neighbors' hands contribute toward a more peaceful peace-ful world? "Think big, start small," I once heard. Peace comes through individual individ-ual efforts, as one heart is blessed and strengthened by another's good deeds. I may not be able to do a lot to make the whole world better, but I can make the world better for one person. My children and I helped make Christmas better for a little lit-tle boy named Javier. We "adopted" "adopt-ed" him from the high school's angel tree. Although we'll never know Javier, we found just the right gifts for him. One by one, 304 other children will have a merrier Christmas because of the giving and sharing of local families and groups through the angel tree program. msm iron iiiu mvm mindful of the families of servicemen and women who are left at home while their loved ones are away. They may not be able to enjoy all the things they would like during this holiday season. Let's make sure that at this time of year we put forth an extra special effort to seek them out and make sure they understand and feel our love and support for them. Let's all work hard at sharing our blessings with others so that when we look back a year from now we can say it was a good year because we were willing to make the changes in our lives that have improved the lives of others. From all of us at Pleasant Pleas-ant Grove City, we wish each of you a very merry Christmas and the happiest happi-est of new years! Jim Danklcf Mayor, Pleasant Grove r. : ... tt i Brats. Oh and my bahv' 1 Ryker can have some b LttherdP We had several g007 write atALeapAhL p 'd m ratoga Springs! rhere Z tain wVm o.., gleMUn-f the sa has 9 "iuuc oanta. Dear Santa, My broth, a trike. Hp wnntc HI tell you what I want, it f new norse and a Repun2il and another tige for ffiybrothe ft? hink he needs some more ffione ;' to pay his bills and another tige r What I need is a new toothbrush injr Kan-... lnanks for your; love, 1 like you Santa. Dear Santa, I found nice kid's compound www.cabelas.com. Just you would like to know. ! a really bow at thought Of In Lehi, one child bribery. resorted to ,jator ?ave a Dear Santa. How 1 Claus. How are the reindeer '"' Santa, please can you bring me a remote rnntrnl t-rnpL- i . ';jS3flt , ouu i won t lorget the cookies and Coke and 0 ro; 'eh th eggnog. Kb. Merry Christmas, Even a teenager wrote liribec ,-iangf to Santa. Santa, Hey, OK, listen up. I'm $ J being totally selfless this year. I ibut want the wolves to stop being slaughtered in Alaska. I want 20 bucks to give to the "Angels """"" Among Us" thing at school even if it means les presents, I think ni live. Oh, and don't be shy about """""" helping out the homeless, they need it and do you think you , could help out with the rain for- StTI est deforestation? Well, I guess :jon ( I'm done now. So, luv ya. Hatch A Pleasant Grove child said it j- re best when she wrote, "You rock :Srner Santa." May his gift of love, hope ; vuth and joy find a place in your home, jom this holiday season. 1 ' is a lie within us E snh the ;w. ; also cgou :ie st Bot "j i - whi 3, is And that's just a beginning, Members of church, Scout, and civic service groups are spreading spread-ing peace and joy as they help people to have a merrier Christmas. Christ-mas. Though they increase their service efforts during the holiday season, many of these groups are actively bringing peace by serving serv-ing others year-round. t -tree' irouj coll Peace multiplies as people serve through the PTA, the library board, youth court, Kiwa-nis, Kiwa-nis, Special Olympics, and other worthwhile, valued organizations. Many of the seeds of peace are minuscule. A kind word, holding a door, allowing another to take a close parking space, are seemingly seeming-ly small acts of kindness that can bring peace to harried hearts. The seeds of world peace he within each of us, even if the living liv-ing room is a bit chaotic with tinsel tin-sel on the television and candy canes on the carpet. The Christmas carol can ring true, "Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me. 'Con iai - sdrit sed i ' 3di-ic 3jat ( a -2tion "Jrin 'Con i niitwil'"M'1 I appreciate this opportunity to express a greeting to all Lindon residents at this time of the year. I encourage all to take a moment and think about that which we celebrate, focusing focus-ing on the special meaning it can bring to us. The thought of gifts, service and charity central to this time of year for me. I note tna the citizens of Lindon are involved in many a of charity and service throughout the year an I thank you all for this. ... My hope is that eveiyone will be blessed wi health, safety and happiness during the conW year. As we receive those blessings in our it is my wish that we will become bene, acquainted with our neighbors and share gifts and talents with them. In doing this exemplify him whose birth and life we this special season. If we can set aside any fcrences we may have with others, our n and minds will be liberated so we can the genuine nature of one another and fee love that is intended to prevail at this sea and throughout the year. " ,on. I sincerely appreciate being part of this derful community and wish eveiyone Christmas and the best new year ever. 1 you all for the opportunity to serve and with the community. ' .. n i Jnvin a "lade Son "j Men .ft IV . .,'tai iHiii 'Vft i?5 |