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Show New Utah Pleasant Grove RevicwLindon New Utah - Wednesday. December 19. 2001 - Page 2 Opinion Christmas is Then in despair I bowed my head. "There is no peace on earth," I said, "For hate is strong and mocks the song Of peace on earth, good will toward men." Few events in recent memory evoke the sentiments of the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Christmas carol more than the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 and the repercussions which continue to reverberate around the yorld. In New York City, Ground Zero has become the focal point of the rebirth of American pride and unity. In Afghanistan, the Taliban . has been routed, and the local al Qaeda force is on the run, as America's response to the attacks has been sure and swift. Our allies, for the most part, have rallied around our efforts to root out the threat of terrorism wherever it may be. Still, there is no peace on earth this Christmas. Not here at home, where our sense of well-being well-being within the walls of our homes and the boundaries of our hometowns has been shattered. And not abroad, where messages of hate and discontent continue to scoff at the words of the angels who heralded the birth of Christ Christmas traditions Are you ready for Christmas? I have been so busy with so many things, that when I actually actual-ly get one thing accomplished toward my goal of being ready before the big day arrives, I feel a little less stress and move on to the next item on my list. I know people who have everything done and are now just sitting back waiting for Christmas Day to get here and they have no stresses at all. That is what I promise myself I am going to be doing every year and it never happens. You who shop ABC catalogs like I do know that with a little planning you can have all your shopping done by August and then you are only left with just a few loose ends to tie up. Well, I have had my stuff from ABC hidden hid-den away for a long time now, but there were a few presents I could not find in the catalog so I had to go shopping for those. But, when I was really stuck and found myself with no time to shop and a deadline at hand, I talked to my daughter who sells Avon and in no time I got that all finished. Then it dawned on me that there were a few other people I needed to get a gift for. People like the name I drew at work, the present for the gift exchange at club, a $10 gift for a professional group party I belong to, and things for Santa to bring to the family Christmas party. Last but not least there is a gift for my husband who rarely can think of anything he would like and so I have to find something on my own for him. We are in the process of painting paint-ing and putting new carpet in our downstairs area. I told him that maybe we could count that as our Christmas present to each other. He nodded and said okay but I know that he will still get me something very nice and I would look like a piker if I did not have something for him under the tree. One of the big things at our house every year is the family Christmas party. The kids really look forward to it and so do I. But it does take a little planning and it takes time to get all the gifts wrapped and put under the tree. I dorft put them under the tree too soon because of the temptation tempta-tion factor. I had to laugh at my little grandson. His mother was telling me that she put some wrapped gifts under the tree and told him not to touch. He is two years old. He did very well for quite a while. She would check Pleasant Grove Review KewUtah! (ISSN No. 1521-6S611 (U.S.P.S. No. 435-TSOi 59 West Main American Fork, Utah 84003 time of hope more than 2000 years ago. Despite the discord which continues con-tinues to afflict our planet, there is great hope to be found in the timeless message of universal love and understanding delivered by the Prince of Peace, whose birth we will celebrate on Tuesday. Tues-day. In troubled times, the story of Christ's life and the lessons he taught can provide tremendous comfort and inspiration. When Longfellow penned his carol in 1863, this country was in the depths of the most devastating devastat-ing conflict ever waged on American Ameri-can soil, as brother fought against brother in the Civil War. Despite the bloodshed and discord, the poet found hope in the belief that the forces of right would overcome, over-come, and that the message sung by the angels would continue to ring through the ages. Christmas is a good time to renew our hope as well that good will overcome evil, as the battle continues for the souls of men and women. The poet said it best: Then pealed the bell more loud and deep, "God is not dead, nor doth He sleep. "The wrong shall fail, the right prevail "With peace on earth, good will toward men." on him once in a while and all was going well. But finally when she went to see what he was doing, he was sitting by the tree and he had unwrapped the gifts and was feeling pretty good about the entire thing. She rewrapped the gifts and put them way behind the tree and she hopes he will stay away from them from now on but you can't really trust a two year old. The fact was, he had had a birthday in October and found that unwrapping gifts was a pretty good deal. I'm sure he thought he might as well try it again. Anyway, back to the Christmas Christ-mas party. We have a nice dinner. Santa comes. We read and act out the story of the Nativity. We exchange gifts. The kids go play with their gifts and the grownups heave a sigh of relief and snack and gab. This year we plan to do a few things different and I hope it all works out. New things are nice and add to variety. vari-ety. But some traditions are good to keep. I love traditions. When my children were small, I could hardly go to sleep on Christmas Eve. I would lie there in bed and picture in my mind the excitement and joy on their little faces the next morning when they saw what Santa had brought them. I was so excited myself that I could not sleep. I can remember that Christmas Eve oh so long ago when I was trying so hard to go to sleep so Santa could come and suddenly I thought I heard the jingle of sleigh bells on the roof and I was paralyzed with fear that he would, not stop because I was still awake. But, you know what? I did go to sleep and when I got up the next morning and we went in to see if Santa had come, he had been there and left nice gifts all around. But I still wonder about that and if I really went to sleep in time or did Santa come anyway, any-way, even though I was awake? Christmas is tradition. Holy tradition. I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I Ki8x x A member of 'ItfJL'f?,,, r-a NATIONAL NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION The giving spirit is alive in Pleasant Grove Christmas is coming. In just a few days, this wonderful holiday will be here. Homes are bedecked with lights. The city buildings downtown are gaily decorated. Shoppers scurry to and fro, finishing finish-ing their Christmas shopping. Yet in spite of the hustle and bustle, there seems to be a mantle of gentleness descending upon us, soft and gentle like the snow, that softens our hearts during the holiday hol-iday season. Pleasant Grove is in a giving state of mind, as church groups, Scout Troops, and other organizations organiza-tions sponsor food drives for families fami-lies who are down on their luck, and to replenish the shelves in local food banks. The firemen have been collecting collect-ing blankets for "Project Linus" and coats for the homeless. The donation boxes for the Literacy Lit-eracy Center at the library are filled to the brim with books. Students at the local schools have been involved in service projects. proj-ects. Students in all schools have been generous in donating food to their food drives. This food is donated to the Food Bank which gives to those in need. Most of the 500 angels on the Pleasant Grove High's "Angel Tree" have been selected. Students and people The best Christmas invention since sliced bread As we consider the gadgets, gizmos giz-mos and new technology available these days, it's interesting to consider consid-er the "break-through" ideas of the last century. For example, how much new stuff can be "the best tiling since sliced bread?" A jeweler by the name of Rohwedder first developed his bread-slicing machine in 1912, but at that time was unable to keep the slices together, which meant the bread became stale. It took another 16 years to solve that problem when he developed a machine that sliced and wrapped in the same process. Coincidentally, with a heating element made of wires, General Electric introduced the first electric toaster in 1909, but we burned a lot of toast until 1926 when a Minnesota Minneso-ta mechanic added a timer and a spring mechanism just in time to pop up all that sliced bread. As a I look at our family toaster 75 years later, the technology hasn't changed much. Literally sewn into the fabric of modem society are other timeless inventions: One was patented in 1893, but took another 30 years to became popular. That's when B.F. Goodrich put a "hookless sliding fastener" fas-tener" in their new rubber boots. However, because of the sound it made, they re-named the new fastener fas-tener the "Zipper." We've been "zipping" "zip-ping" all kinds of things ever since, including large computer files. After another 30 years in 1955, a Swedish engineer went for a stroll in the countryside. Upon returning home he examined the cockleburs attached to his jacket and found they were covered with tiny hooks that became looped in the fabric of his coat. Based on the same idea, he Hitting the road for the holidays The day is always the same just a different number on the calendar. cal-endar. It starts with the slow onset of a deep-rising panic attack, which proceeds pro-ceeds to rage and roar as the day goes by. On this day, the cloudy sky always seems more turbulent and ominous. The air feels thick and heavy. The sun, sensing rotten moods, seems to take shelter. Now, as an adult, I recall that this day was always the same when I was a child, too. I remember slinking back in the shadows, tip toeing around my parents, par-ents, looking forward to the clay's end, and knowing the sun would come out tomorrow. My father would surge from the car to the house and back to the car, over and over, almost wearing a path in the concrete with his heavy stomping hell bent on his mission. mis-sion. My mother, like a determined Telephone Numbers Circulation 375-5103 News & Advertising 756-7569 Publisher Brett Bezzant Managing Editor Marc Haddock City Editor Karli Poyfair Subscription price S26 per year Periodicals Postage Paid at American Fork. Utah POSTMASTER: send address change to 59 West Main. American Fork. Utah 84003 Deadlines Classified Advertising . . Tuesday, noon Display Advertising . . . .Monday. 5 p.m News Monday. ? p m. Missionar.es Monday, 2 p.m Weddings Monday. 2pm tetters to the Editor . Monday. 10 am Sports .... . Monday 10 am Community Calendar . Monday. 10 am Obiluanes Tuesday. 1 1 a m in iiliiii '.-V' from throughout the community select an angel and bring the (unwrapped) gift back to the High School; students will wrap and give the gifts to their "angels" for Christmas. Students at the Jr. High have collected funds for "Operation Smile," a group of local doctors who volunteer their time and services serv-ices to treat children in less-developed countries. Students at the Jr. High have also adopted a family in the "Sub for Santa" program. Central Elementary students have shared the joy of Christmas in their gifts of song. They have performed at the Senior Center and the Beehive House rest home. Students at Mt. Mahogany raised $700 for Jerry's Kids, to help fight Muscular Dystrophy. "Quarters for Christmas" was a project at Manilla Elementary; students donated quarters that will help the less fortunate in the area. Students at Grovecrest Elementary Ele-mentary have raised funds to provide pro-vide families in developing patented the funnest fastener of all, "Velcro." And speaking of fasteners, a strong, yet easily removed adhesive had been kicking around 3M laboratories labora-tories for years until Art Fry, one of 3 Ms chemical engineers, who sang in his local church choir, wanted a removable bookmark to put in his.. hymn book on Sundays. The year was 1978 and the "Post-It" note had just been bom. I remember being fascinated with the nut and bolt fasteners in my childhood "Erector" set. It also contained brackets, flanges, pulleys, wheels, rods and gears to make a mechanic out of anyone. Although it failed on me, this year is "Erector's" 100th anniversary. About the time I was bom, another anoth-er set of construction toys entered the market and has been going strong ever since. Based on the Danish Dan-ish words "leg" (play) and "godt" (well), a Danish carpenter had formed the "LEGO" toy company in the 1930's. For many years they made only wooden toys, but expanded expand-ed into plastics after WWII. Later, the company realized that the Latin word "lego" means "I put together." This toy not only connects colorful little bricks, it also spans genera- trooper, would scurry to and fro, only motivated by the sunshine which surely awaited down the road. Now that I have children of my own, I curse this day. But, it is almost a rite of passage. I am driven by fond memories from my childhood of the fun times which always followed this clay. Now and then, throughout this day, I will glance down the road, knowing we will be on our way sooner or later. And, the sun will surely be shining clown the road. I am driven by the confidence that tomorrow it will all be worth it. It always is. Tomorrow we will officially be on vacation. Today, the only goal is to get on the road. However, in order to get on the I : iter fZZt r 1 11 ny i i &&& ILaJ 1 By Mail P.O. Box 7. American Fork. UT 84003 In Person 59 W. Mam. American Fork "u "vestork t them gam self-suffinDL ,.3 View students tied fleece hi T' for "Project Linus" 6 blan well at local businp H : , , : J uic union i . lectincr new hnntc (- u , the vow OhilHWc 7L rr'mar "plLcU. ine ees also Davticmaf ; , ''JK' Mervvns thev hnnn-kf ., '-J ed shoes to children in Orem Christmas is a time of nr. ana snaring, it ,s an opp0rtur: o pcnence tnejovofV mg as we share our abunthr with those less fortunate it for us to count our blessing extend the hand of friendiD our neighbors who have fallen hard times. Perhaps in this season of mg, we might pause a moment consider that while our donatio-" are welcome during the holid'-'i season,, they are also need ' throughout the year, long afh the colorful lights come down a-the' a-the' Christmas carols W, II bLuppeu piaying. Maybe the 25tM of every month would be a ?J time uu luuiv aiouno. ana seewlvj we have that we can share with str dis res pa: toi Th of 1 uuiei s. tions. As demonstrated above, it's of 1 as Ea all pre S. ; 10( Wii Gei Da: 1 the the the name or a marketing conctj that makes something a houselni nuiiii.. in j- w j vtuiavuail T) 1 3: ' .L 1 .1 1 oumuaiuier uiirouucea nis sno'.fl mobile to the public. It was dirt i i ii m t- . i i teneu me OKi-uog, Dut a typograpu ical error, which Bombardier decifl ed not to correct, changed its nar. forever. The "Dog" was dropped ii his "Doo" and the rest, as they say. ii history. If you buy any computer softuarl or hardware this year, you'll want td make sure it is free of "bugs, term comes from 1945 when Mark I, a large-scale automatic ca! culator, unexpectedly broke dowi moth had made its way into thj machine and created a short circuit; I don't know about you, but raj B The hope for this Christmas is that wfhool discover new ways to de-bug oiiftmes social programs, keep our countrwnei zipped together, fasten husband; I H wives, erect strong families and put-e thi together diverse communities. We14."" could even turn our doo-doos i"1 something positive. Perhaps most importantly, as mf "; wrap all those Christmas gifts. m g-could g-could stick a Post-It note in ouG minds that the greatest invention oL all time was bom in a manger ab: jLyoi 2000 years ago. He called him-47pi the bread of life. (John 6:28-40 4 Hill 58) His timeless technology could sj a lot more popular. In fact, puDI) His name in every home rea.l would be "the best thing since bread. (Historical information from 1 ular Science's "Science Year by ' a Scholastic Reference Book.) road, there are bags to pack. j cases to stuff, ice chest to fill.?1'''; lists to check off, instruction-review instruction-review with the pet sitter, door. J windows to lock, laundry to im . the list seems to grow as the nal panic attack intensifies. With each impending vacaJ-; try to plan ahead and prepay this dav. But, the first day oi I -tion is inevitably a blow out P r, time we get the family and ena-'n ena-'n caboodle loaded, my hu?ban; T m-P no longer speaking 0 ' other. The children are usua . ering in the shadows. But, tiv . linger close, scared they may t-gotten t-gotten or left behind in tne -rush swirling around them- . As we finally hit the roac comforted by the know e s after a silent-cole -shou hour drive, the troubles of Wi disappear in the rear-we . we will all apologize forouij .; ble behavior, and our long a ed vacation will truly C( We welcome letters to the editor. 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