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Show 6A Emery County Progress, Castle Dale, Utah Tuesday, May 4, 1999 O t jft. Youre V E 3afcAr.fetii. Is it Dog-gon- e Doug Wright, Progress Columnist O Wright possible to recover from being a chocoholic? Devoted to young man, who would down the last one They say that if an alcoholic is to begin as quickly and easily as the first, and long on the road to recovery the alcoholic must for more. first admit to him or herself that there is, During the 40s and 50s, the indeed, a problem. In light of that bit of punchboard was a big thing for the knowledge, I hereby confess that I am a younger set. For a price, they could chocoholic. As evidence of that statement punch out a folded paper from the board, being true, I can attest to the fact that I and, if they were lucky, would end up with have sat down to watch a ballgame, etc. some sort of prize as a reward. Sometimes with a full box of chocolates at my side, the prizes were stuffed animals, sometimes it was other objects, such as clocks, only to find the box empty at the concluetc.. But the most coveted prize of all was sion of the game. Back in my early life, when the craving a box of chocolates. for chocolate began, there was not a lot My older brothers used to play the of it around to tempt us; not nearly so punchboards a lot, and often came home much as there is today. However, the need with some of the loot they had won. I for chocolate drove me to the point of have no idea how much of it never made learning to make fudge, as I described to it home. I remember there were two you in an earlier article. It didnt seem to clocks made to look like airplanes, which, matter that the fudge was not first rate; if I recall correctly, never quite worked that it was sugary or runny, or over- well. But the thing that got my attention cooked. None of those things curbed the need nor the urge for chocolate. And, no was the chocolates. It was one day while playing in the upmatter what the end result was, somehow the sweet candy would reduce the need stairs of our house that I found them. Four boxes of chocolates, stacked neatly for such a thing.... for a time. a pile and hidden away in the upstairs a some to in I chance had buy Anytime sort of treat, it almost always ended up closet. To find the boxes was one thing. being something made of chocolate. But to catch the delicious smell of the chocolates inside was a temptation way Whenever there was a choice of someout of range of a young boy. one I chose like the cake, always thing For a few days, I would sneak up to the made out of chocolate. If cookies were handed out and there were some made closet and sit sniffing at the boxes. But of chocolate, or of chocolate chips, I al- the time came when that wasnt good enough to satisfy the chocoholic in me. I ways went for them. As the addiction developed, the habit casually mentioned the boxes to my of eating a whole box of chocolates in one mother, hoping that the owner(s) would setting grew and grew, way out of propor- be charitable and share with us younger tion. It became more of a reality that I kids (more specifically, me). Not so. I was would pay more attention to the chocosimply told that they belonged to my older brothers, and I was to stay out of lates than the game, or whatever was hapthem. pening at the moment. At first, I would be very picky, taking Even with the warning, I still found out only the ones I really liked, such as myself slipping upstairs and allowing mycherry chocolates, caramel, and those self to be consumed with the overpowerwith nuts. These always went first. But, ing smell of chocolate. One day, quite by lets face it, none of them was ultimately accident, I noted that the top box was left behind. Eventually, everyone of them being held together with nothing but a was devoured by a chocolate-addicteribbon, and with a small amount of effort, N.O.T.-N.O.- d Crime Prevention: the ribbon slipped from off the box, and its contents. I carefully lifted the lid, and beheld the wonderful, delicious look and smell of its contents. As the alcoholic, determining where the next bottle was coming from, my mind began to do a lot of calculating. If I just took out one chocolate, and moved the others around a bit, no one would ever know the difference. The little paper cups holding the chocolates were very close together, and the space was easily filled in. In fact, so easily that I took out another, and another. They were soooo good. Luckily, I caught myself at that point, covered the box, and replaced the ribbon. As I prepared to leave the closet, I noted, with a great deal of satisfaction, that three of the four boxes were bound the same way. The fourth was covered with a device known as cellophane. The next day, I repeated the process, only out of another box. And so on, and so on, going back over the boxes and taking out a few more and a few more of chocolates, until....until the little paper cups would no longer sufficiently cover the bottom of the box. At that point, I rationalized that whenever the box was opened by its owner(s), they would just think that the candy company just failed to put enough chocolates inside. So I took a few more. The next day, my chocolate supply disappeared. And the next morning (I assumed it took the night in between to open the boxes and discover some of the contents missing) there was an uproar in the household, as the owner(s) of the candy boxes sought to discover the culprit who was responsible for the loss. I dont really think there was any question in the minds of anyone who was to blame. Now I ask the simple question. Is there any hope for a misguided, misunderstood chocoholic? Or does heshe remain forever the victim, chained to the hopelessness of the addiction that has been slowly taking over for many years? kid-pro- Its No Laughing Matter Letters to the editor Public servants violating the public trust with fee program Dear Editor, Call Janette Kaiser, Director of the Manti LaSal Forest Service District; and perhaps she will assure you, just as she has tried to convince us, there is no threat to our freedom on public lands through the Fee Demo Program; that it is not about government control and those who believe it is, are just paranoid! Whos fooling who? Are there check points up the canyon right now where you have to stop every time you go there to show your papers? Are there officers of the Federal Government present, when you set foot upon the land, to require proof of permission or slap you with a federal fine? Janette Kaiser assured me, the Fee Demo Program in the southern part of the state has been very successful. She used as. her examples of improvements: a centralized parking lot where everyone has to park, and people are no longer being allowed to drive onto the desert floor or camp where they choose. Paranoia? This Fee Demo Program is section 315 of the Omnibus Consolidated Rescissions and Appropriation Act of 1996. Omnibus means: Covering many things (in this case public land). Consolidated means: united into one body or system. Rescissions means: make void, repeal, nullify. And Appropriation means: take possession of. Fee means: a fixed charge, or in feudal law: an estate in land held from a lord on condition of homage and service. Demonstration means: conclusive evidence, a public display of group opinion, a show of military strength. Program means: list of events, or to train or regulate to perform in a certain way. Put together, the fee demo program is an avenue for the government to nullify our historic freedom on the land; withhold it from us except upon conditions of our rendering them money or services; and enforcing it with governmental force. Also, you want to take your family up the canyon, into the forest you have always loved? You will pay in order to avoid the penalty. They will give you no choice. And then they will declare, because you paid, you are in support of their program. (Have I got the right jist of it Kent Petersen, County Commissioner, Emery Progress pg travels into the canyon if they think they pay plenty enough taxes for the government to allocate adequate funds for the necessary upkeep of the forest if the government so chose. Ask them if they would prefer their past freedoms, or prefer to con- sider it a criminal act to be upon the land without proof of paid permission. Or how about, in their positions as public servants, all those involved in this matter uphold the voice of the people who expressed overwhelming rejection of the fee program al- ready unmistakably established by their thousands of petition signatures, choosing freedom not fees. Those, we the people, whd signed those petitions wanted the fee demo program completely stopped and withdrawn in this area, not revised or just slowed down. The petition stated that failure to do so on the part of our forest district managers should result in removal from their positions of public service, due to their violation of the public trust. It is disturbing to realize, while our taxes paid these peoples salaries this past year, they continued to pursue this program, in total opposition to the people. It is also a very disturbing fact that, Janette Kaiser stated in a meeting with her and Joe Gallagher, those thousands of signatures didnt mean much to her. Didnt mean much to lier? Thousands of petition signatures dont mean much to Janette Kaiser, public servant, paid for by our hard earned tax monies. Tley had better mean something. They had better be extremely important, because some things are just plain destructive to our freedom in this land. Thousands of people in this area agree the Fee Demonstration Program is one of them. The flagrant disregard for the voice of the people,' as de- clared and displayed by Janette Kaiser, is another one. If you remove all the watchdogs from any system of government, through power hungry despots who dont feel the peoples voices concerning their own freedom mean much, you get a government which not only gluts itself upon the taxes of those people, but also feels free to use those same peoples monies to enslave them in their own land. 10b April 20, 1999?) Now, how about a real indicator? Ask each person who Roxane Abney Price Writer expresses appreciation for Paula Wellnitzs columns Dear Editor, Many swindles are perpetrated through the mail. Determine the legitimacy of the offer before committing your money. Check with your local postmaster or postal inspection service. Thank you for your regular columnist Paula Wellnitz. Her helpful column, her good advise in personal letters to me when I wrote to her for help and her friendship and counseling skills has helped me recover from a long- standing, deep depression and feelings of hopelessness. Paula has been working at the Mental Health office in Castle Dale for the past eight years, but I had never met her. She is well educated, and well qualified to help people in need. Now she is retired and has purchased the Old Luke Home in Orangeville, and turning it into a very nice re- Learn to communicate effectively with others One night as I left the auditorium in a little town far from here, I passed a girl who was sitting on a bench near the parking lot. It seemed an unlikely spot to catch a bus at any time of day much less that time of night. I remarked, Waiting to catch a bus? No! was the quick, rather defiant reply. I decided to continue the conversation with, Just waiting around? Yes, sort of. What do you mean.... sort of? I began walking closer. Im running away. I sat down beside the girl to see what the situation was and give her a chance to talk. After doing all that seemed possible at the time and being assured about her safety I took leave of her. When I started walking away she said, Thanks for caring. And somehow it seemed to me her face was a little more relaxed. It pointed out to me the need people have to really listen to each other and work out or accept differences; to trust one another; to be able to state problems without demeaning the other. Yet so many will not take time to learn these skills but say, We can work it out. It seems to them so much easier to patch things up for the time being according to ways they have dealt with problems before. Often people do not realize how much better their home could be because they have never known real peace and relaxation. So much hurt and heartache could be avoided, if people would say, Im going to take that effective communication course. or ...that workshop on or whatever. Then really follow through with it. self-wort- h. treat house called Home Place. She has brochures printed and will send them to anyone who asks for it. Her name, address and phone number are in the local phone book. When I first read her column it did not really apply to me much as it talked about families and raising children and mine are already raised. But one day she wrote about Loneliness And Feelings Of Uselessness and that fit my case at the time and I wrote to her a couple of times. When she wrote me back, I found a true, helpful, and lov- ing friend. One who under stands, listens well, and is I want to express appreciation to her, and the Emery County Progress for pulling me out of my depression, and helping me to get back to work here in Banning. I recently joined the staff as a social worker in a nice Board and Care Home in Banning, which helps mentally and physically disabled patients to recover from their illness. I also volunteer now at the local Salvation Army office here in Banning, helping poor, homeless, and needy families. It just goes to show you what friendship and listening can do. I appreciate you Paula, and also Doris Quinn, editor, who' so patiently many of my poorly written letters and gave me a voice and a way to reach out to old friends, and recapture the security of Ferron for a short time. I also appreciate the letter I received telling me how to use the years supply of stored foods and the cookbook catalogue, from Kathy Gist in te Woodland, Washington. Now I am sharing this food with the needy here in Banning. Doris Saigeon Banning CA |