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Show AS a x rr .Pm. - Could Teach the World If. I Has Christmas Been Sold Out? by James W. Powell ' it glitten enough, it will probably be sold. When you're looking at how many new, brightly packaged items have been released during die holiday season, look around at the other shoppers. Are they calmly looking for that one special gift that will put a spark in little Timmy's eyes or that perfect object that only Aunt Clarice could hive? Or are they running around like hungry beasts looking for prey? It seems that not only the malls and department stores have lost the meaning of Christmas, but die shoppers have too. Too many times have I been to the malls during this time of yur, only to find stores overflowing with angry mobs. Everyone seems to be pushing through the crowds of other upset shoppers, scowling snd frowning, truly mad about who knows what Are they upset at the other shoppers who are constandy invading their personal space? Are they angry at themselves for not getting around to the shopping earlier? Or are they losing control simply because they have traded in one meaning of ' Christmas for another, one that gives them an over- -; powering urge to buy, buy, buy. The power of the shopping season has got us by the tail. We feed into it We thrive on iL We love it.. Or do we? How many people worry that they' wont be able to find die most spectacular gift? How many people stress during the holidays because they cant afford all those shiny new toys? How many people have lost themselves in this new kind of holi- Remember how I said last week that stores seemed to forget all about Thanksgiving and skipped right to bombarding shoppers with Christmas goodies? Well, as I was writing, I began to think even more about what that meant. Not only are the stones overlooking an important holiday, 'some are apparently giving the wrong meaning to another. I remember when I was a kid, when it would start getting cold outside and snow would start to fly. ; I waa always happy during the holidays, because I be getting to spend time at home, watching yv. knew television with my family, or talking and laughing at the dinner table (not to mention the fact that I wu out of school for nearly a month. Who wouldnt be ' happy?). Of course we shared gifts, and put them under the tree. I was always the first one up, usually before the sun, and I ran to the basement to see what Santa had left for me this year. I .eagerly ripped into each package, hoping it wasn't mote baring underwear or depressing socks. When I had examined each gift, I couldnt wsit to get to thenext one. .. But I took my turn, struggling with impatience as one of my brothers or my sister opened a gift , time it was my turn. Id tear apart the icach Afid fv Wrapping like it was the only present Td ever seen. Now that I look back on those fun times, I real-Uze that even as a kid there was something more than v .jtut bbening gifts; something more than just rece- Id I- iving. i J day spirit I'll admit, I do these things too. I sometimes run around, frantically looking for a better gift, and sometimes wish I had more money to buy something more expensive and thus deemed "better. When I feel this way, sometimes I have to repeat that old saying: It's not the gift, iti the thought that watching my family open their gifts from and foom each other, aid seeing the happiness thal it brought them. It was Watching football games, It Was pot. necessarily caring about die score, but enjoying the time and laughter shared with my brothers. It wSs the aroma of food emanating from the kitchen as my mom and sister cooked the second biggest dinner pf die: year (sure, I look bade now and say I should have helped more and done so without complaining, but come on, I was only a kid.). "Thats what I always remembered Christmas as being: family time. For me, die entire holiday season has always boiled down to those two words. Yet, it would appear that to die overall masses, Christmas has lost its meaning. It seems that Christmas has just turned into a massive marketing ploy, something that will guarantee money for big businesses.. Whenever you go to the mall looking for gifts, look at how every shelf is overflowing with items. How everything seems to come out during this bccausc its a quality product, but because if camti. Then I have to think, if my family and friends are like me and have kept the true holiday spirit, it wont matter how big or how shiny the gifts are. Because most likely, spending time with me and the rest of die crew, is what makes the holidays so special to them as well. Its natural to want nice things or to want to give them to loved ones, but its not in the holiday spirit to be consumed with that need. Christmas time isnt about all that. Its about showing our love, and sharing a little bit of happi- - Its a pity sea-yjoua-oi that more holiday shoppers havent realized this yet mmiM- - jt. Just Stuff by Jan Twenty years ago this Thanksgiving my dad passed away. He died suddenly, without warning - a massive coronary took him at the young age of 55 He died peacefully at home as the sun rose the Sunday after Thanksgiving. At the time I didnt know how life could go an. His death left such a painful void and it hurt for a long, long time. For sometime after his death just the thought of him would make me cry. But, as they say, time heals all wounds and, while I still miss him, the memories are no longer painful and I dont think of him everyday, but every now and thro something will trigger a memory - Ill hear a song on the radio, or catch a scent of something that reminds me of dad die smell of a snowmobile starting, of fresh cut wood and sawdust, of Old Spice and Juicy Fruit gum. They all spark a memory of him. I cant hear a muring Sousa march, or my brother sing a sad lament, without getting a lump in my throat And now, even after all these years, there are some days I just think of dad and a smile will cross my lips, a tear might even roll down my check. He left all of his kids with many happy memories. "Lion on the doorstep and Easter egg hunts, raking the leaves on Thanksgiving morning and a "Merry Christmas holler to the neighborhood before the sun rose on Christmas. I remember cooking him tuna casserole and feeling like cheL I remember having to tell him that his socks didn't match, that he couldnt wear "that shirt with those pants, and that he needed to get hia bean bobbed (which is what be called a hair cut). And I remember his JAN FUELLENBACH! alone could bring me to tears. I remember dad would look out on a bright sunny morning, or just after a rain storm, or on a moon lit night and say "Ill be its petty at Happy Fish." I remember him sitting on a sandy knoll at Lake Powell, on a river bank down the San Juan, or an the porch at the cabin, and saying T wonder what the peasants are doing tonight. Dad was a man who worked hard, played bard, laughed loudly and loved life. And there are still people who remember his wonderful, witty way with words, whether it waa recounting something funny that had happened to someone through his weekly column The Rat Race, or taking someone to task in an editorial He had a way with " --? words and he is still missed today. " --more the him over is life and missed time than half my Ive 'Twenty yean a long years. I missed him when I danced at my Junior Prom and as the bells of Old Main peeled and I received my college diploma. I missed him as I stood in a beautiful grove of quakies, the wind dancing with the leaves, and said I do, to a man I wish could have known him. I missed him both times there was a babys cry and the doctor said "You have a beautiful baby boy. Even though hes gone, Ive felt his presence, if only in my heart I would liked to have known my dad as an adult I never had die chance to argue with him about politics, talk with him about womens rights, or discuss with him about my future. I would like to have asked "How do you instill in your children good values, a sense of responsibility and the love of life 7" all of which he did. And it wasnt until I had kids of my own that I had any real idea of just how much be gave me. Its painful when a parent dies, no matter the age of die child. I was sixteen and draught my world had come to an end. But I cant begin to imagine die pain and heartache one must feel at the loss of a spouse. Many people, when faced with such adversity, give up hope, and in essence, die themselves. Not my mother - shes a survivor. I am so proud of die independent lady she has become since dad died. I know dads death was painful and Im sure she still misses him. But his death did not stop her life. She has blossomed into a beautiful determined, optimistic individual who, in her own way, has touched the hearts of many. She has been an example through the years and I know da l loved her immensely. In my column after my dads death I wrote: "His death will be felt in the hearts of many. It will leave a void that cannot be filled, except by memories, happy memories, that will linger and live on. And the memories have kept him alive in the hearts of those who bad the privilege of knowing him. Oh, I dont mean to make him out a saint or place him high on a pedestal He was certainly not without his faults. But, as it should be, it is the good we choose to remember, the happy tunes that linger in our minds And now, after 20 short years, I am still very proud to say that Norm Fuellenbach was my dad. And this year, as the candle light flickers on the table, laughter fills the house and we offer thanks for our many bounteous blessings, I will pause and give thanks for the man who was my father, for the lessons he taught me, the life he gave me, the memories he left me and the love he shared. To quote the last line my father ever wrote, may we all remember feat There arc so many joys to hold and behold in this wonderful rotten world. More than a father, he was a friend, he was my dad, my Bodo. May he rest in peace. Happy Thanksgiving! w W QSSffii SS2M L D D . iir'0 ' ? L- ' VJ ;i ! 336-550- Kama Drop-ofRichard M. Susan F. Buys............................................................ Nancy L Davis ........................................... Office Manager Editor James PnwM Sharon Pace CorrespondenfOffice . Newspaper ProdCirculation June Muir........... Office Melanie TnumUy Karotyn Office Jennie Christine Caldwell. OfficeClassifieds . AdvertisingMarketing LaRee Pedro : Dave Godfrey AdvertisingMarketing ; Bruce Welch AdvertisingMarketing Mona Olsen... Advertising Production Manager e Motley ClassifiedsAdvertising Production Joanne Archbold Advertising Production Kathy Langston .......................................... Advertising Production ........ Press Jay Provost Dan Carlile Press Mike Burton r Press Brad CaHile BinderyPress Randi Haniinn. Bindery Kim Hmrortw Bindery Daren North................... Distribution Paul McFee Production Manager Production Ken Hastings Production Shayla Cardie Carol Eaton Production T.J. McPhie ..Production Production ; T.J. Giles Pnutm-tf- . Michelle Kari Gibb Sports Editor Leon Simister Columnist f '.''Ai s 1 P.O. Box 7 Coalville, UT 84017 at The Tack Shop 85 S. Main, Kamas, UT 84036 Publisher Buys..................................................... 17 South Main -- mi , Fira: . 'A.i f ,r to r,,"lA Ki "V: Xfj DonUui SifcThere. W i.'p4 : DEADLINES Inserted Monday, 440 p.m. Ayr Display Advertising Tuesday, pjn. Display Classifieds .......................Friday, pan. Classifieds MnnHay, 4:00 p.m. Legal, Articles, Announcements Tuesday, 4:00 pan. , - , 4.-0-0 4.-0-0 PRICES Wedding, Engagement & Anniversary articles Pageants and Special Events with Photos Missionary FawwIU 5cach photo All Birthdays. c Card of Thanks McmnrialTrihirte Obituary Attention: RenewaIs to The f Smvnyihr H5 County Bee renewals to The Summit County Bee should reach the Coafvie or Kamas Office by the third Friday of the month to keep your Bee from being canceled by die computer- We need your renewal by Ms time In order to get your name on the renewal bland keep you from being canceled. Thanks far helping us help you The Summit AH X&ttnfy Bee fUPSP 525640) is published weekly for $16.00 per year in Summit County, Senior Gtizen Discount $13 in county and $21.00 per year oukoteounty by Wave Publishing toe, 675 West 100 South, Heber City, UT 84032. Periodicals postage paid at Coalville, UT 8401 7 post office. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: The Summit County Bee, P.O. Box 7, Coalville, UT 84017. POSTAL IDENTIFICATION NO. 525640 : . C-- .' to theEditor! Tell Me About It Action Packed November by Leon Simister, Columnist Lots of happenings in the month of November. For example, and just to name a few, this is the month Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address (1863). Resident John F. Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald (1963), and a couple of days later, that same month, Oswald was shot dead by Jack Ruby, while surrounded by police officers and detectives, is they were escorting Oswald from the Dallas jail. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected to (the first time ever) an unprecedented third term (1940). November 15, 1806, Pikes Peak was discovered in Colorado (not thal they had been looking elsewhere for it). A hundred and sixty-seve- n years later, the mysterious eighteen and one-ha- lf minute gap in one of the White House tape recordings of the Watergate scandal was revealed. , And on Monday, November 24, all of the D.B. Cooper aficionados celebrated his 1971 hijacking of a Northwest Airlines 727 and his parachuting to earth with a couple of hundred thousand bucks ransom money in his back pack. Although many of the experts were dubious to whether Cooper could have survived the nighttime jump (and especially the landing), another almost identical hijacking, from the same Seattle, Washington, airport occurred just a few months later. This time, the perpetrator, a Mr. McCoy (sorry, I cant recall his first name) who used almost the exact same M.O. u Cooper, bailed out, almost directly over his residence in Utah County. Thats right Here in squeaky-cleapolitically correct state of Utah, we had an airliner hijacker. But he wasnt h very smart one, though, because they caught him. He was, of all things; a Criminology Major from Brigham Young University in Provo, and they recovered the money he got for his efforts, buried trader a pile of hone manure behind his shed. A friend of mine, who retired from the FBI a few .yean ago, wu one of the officers who arrested Mr. McCoy, and this former FBI agent is convinced that DA. Cooper and Mr. McCoy are one and the same individual who performed both higtyackingx. In Diet, two of the other agents instru u n, mental in McCoys capture have written a book about it, for which they were sued by Mr. McCoys widow. Unfortunately, McCoy cant contribute any clarifying statements because when he escaped from custody, he wu killed in a gun battle with FBI agents. , D.B. has become kind of a folk-her- o Oddly enough, over die Cooper Most the theftof crowd who favorite watering years. party frequent holes the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, will celebrate D.B.s success at that time, and they tell me it is quite a festive occasion for those who u view themselves his support group. I suppose their reasoning could be because he was a guy who tackled the establishment and got away with it, presuming of course they do not accept the two former FBI agents' (now authors) evidence they have it documented in their book. One thing for certain, Cooper or McCoy, he-oboth-we- re interesting characters. In context of the ancient Greek philosophy, the word character to mean the "stamp of personality each of us possesses, and wu derived from tiie process die Greeks used to stamp an impression in wa frith a seal-stoor seal-rinThey called this mark a character. These ancient philosopheis flien used to teach human nature hydMrrihingVharariia referring to humans with distinctive behavioral traits in our fellow humans, we refer to them not character, but "stereotypes. Aristotle observed succinctly, "Men acquire a particular quality by constantly acting in a particular way. And Plato, knowing hat habits are what establish character, rebuked a person who wu a chronic gamhitf when the person protested that he had oily played for a "trifle, by iniiwg The habit is not a trifle. u u ne u u Thought of the Day: "We first make our habits, and then our habits make us. ohnDryden -J- i f & h POOR |