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SECTION C — PAGE FOUR THE NEWBERRY SUN, NEWBERRY, SOUTH CAROLINA THURSDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1964 ARE YOU LISTENING? Christmas is for everyone, I know, but somehow I feel that it has an extra special meaning: for small towns. Certainly it is “good news which shall be for all peo ple”, but if anyone should under stand and appreciate Christmas, it should be the folks in a small town. The city dweller rides the public bus to work, to school, and to al most any other event he attends. He may belong to a church many miles away, and visiting with his friends is almost an impossibility. When Christmas comes to them they hurry through the hustle of the streets' and the busy depart ment stores; they fight their way through the crowds to complete their shopping as early as poss ible, but the spirit of Christ does not prevail. At Christmas we sing a beau tiful old carol that says, “O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie”, and we are reminded that our Lord was born in a small town. The prophets of old fore told that the Saviour of the world would come from the small town of Bethlehem. The greatest gift the world has ever known came from a small town. The pages of history reveal that many other small towns have made their con tributions. Louis Pasteur, Martin Luther, John Wesley, George Tru- ett, and many others came out of small towns and tiny villages to add greatly to the value of our world. This can only happen when the small town provides the proper atmosphere and environment for its children. If the small town al lows sin and crime to prevail with out raising its voice, then they can expect their children to grow up and compromise to these for ces. If the small town goes along week after week and never makes any improvements, they can ex pect their children to grow up to V'-V- P • S s £ V Vi f .1 * * * l > ~ J j- v**-- TV 1 * HEARTFELT i GoodtOisfies may the Qliristmas story inspire each hearers heart to see in everything §od’s gracious goodness ...to find reward in giving...to he wealthier for sharing to become as little children, for of such is Heaven’s kingdom. Ful mer Building Supplies Window Units - Doors - Screens - Cabinets “EVERYTHING IN WOOD” PHONE 276-4333 60 CALDWELL ST. be complacent and happy with things as they are and provide no better for the future. But when the small town takes a stand for right and puts down the forces of evil it will produce an atmosphere out of which can come servants dedicated to the services of God. This Christmas let us give our children more than toys and cloth ing and the pleasures of this life. This Christmas let’s give our chil dren a better knowledge of Christ. Are you listening? Who Started Holiday Toast? Whether with egg nog, coffee or whatever, nearly everyone offers a toast to the New Year. Just who started the custom of offering a “toast” is open to ques tion. I We do know however, that the ancients indulged in the custom of celebrating a fine'harvest or a fine hunt with a “toast”, although the word itself goes back only to the 17th century when it was English custom to place a bit of toasted bread in a cup of wine. The “broken glass” toast, or the habit of breaking the glass after the toast was made, origin* ated with the military practice of offering a toast to the queen and throwing the glass into the fireplace. We can speculate that breaking the glass prevented someone unlucky from spoiling the wish for good health by drinking from the same glass. UNIQUE CALENDAR The Moslem calendar is unique in that the twelve months of the year begin with the approxi mate new moon without any in tercalculation to keep them geared to the seasonal equinoxes. Thus the months, and New Years, too — retrograde through the entire year in about 33 Yu years. New Year Customs Many In Japan The most popular illustrations on Japanese'Christmas cards are of the stork and the turtle. These represent the wish for a long and healthy life, apparently, as the stork is supposed to live 1,000 years and the turtle said to live for 10,000 years. Also popular are illustrations of the Seven Gods of Good For tune and the Pine tree, which symbolizes good fortune. Most Japanese merchants send cards to their customers. It is also traditional for bells to welcome the Japanese New Year. The bells ring out 108 times on New Year’s Eve, reminding the people of the 108 commandments of Buddha. One interesting old Japanese custom is the spreading of parched beans about the house, in the belief that such drives away evil spirits and invites good luck to enter the household. DINNER DANCE THE CAROL Researchers say that the ear ly English carol was a poem suitable for singing, was danced as well as sung, and many times related to some popular subject of the day as much 1 as to the Christmas theme. The word carol, it is said, stems from the French word *carole f which means a round dance. Christmas traditions have a way of going on and on. In the city of Wichita, Kansas, in the year 1905, Sam Amidon, a local lawyer, buying his paper one wintry Christmas Eve, sponta neously treated a young news vendor to a new pair of shoes. Learning the youngster had no family, the lawyer treated him—and several of his buddies —to a Christmas dinner they otherwise would have missed. The annual Christmas din ners became a tradition. They eventually were served in the local Shrine club and Amidon enlisted the aid of other promi nent citizens. Amidon died in 1925, but the Christmas dinners were con tinued by his wife. When she died, ten years later, a trust fund was set up to see that they continued, a fitting memorial to one man’s generosity and kindness. There aren’t as many home less newsboys today as there were back in 1905, but, through the trust fund, administered by a local bank, and with the help of the Salvation Army, the leg acy of the Christmas dinner for the needy is still a tradition in Wichita. Take Happy Outlook For A Good Year. Thinking about that New Year resolution, or whether or not to make any promises for 1965? Why not resolve, simply, to try to make it a happy year for yourself and for those with whom you come in contact. Begin by making an effort to know yourself better. Sit down for a moment and think about the things you like about your self and the things you would like to change. Look for Good Think about the people about you -- your family, your friends. Consider their gobd points and consider as well the things about them that displease you. Ask yourself why this is so, and what can be done about it. Promise yourself to make an effort in the year ahead to be understanding of the problems of others, to think about the other fellow as well as yourself. Some times, if we just make an effort to put ourselves in the other fel low’s shoes, we get a better un derstanding of why he does cer tain things or acts a certain way. Resolve Resolve, in the months ahead, to do the things you like to do. Spend more time pursuing a fa vorite hobby, whether it be read ing, woodworking, or what-have- you. Make an effort to change the things you don’t like — and the best starting point is to change the things about yourself that you know should be changed. And — learn to live with the things that you cannot change. Be realistic. Accept what must be, and make the best of everything. mm WE OFFER The giving of gifts is an in dispensable part of the Christ mas observance. The Wise Men and the shepherds set the pat tern when they came to Bethle hem with presents for the child Jesus. Their gifts, no more than each could afford, were pre sented with humble sincerity. Let us not therefore consider Christmas as a time for u the exchange of gifts.’* If we offer a present to someone because we know or think they will offer one to us, we are not giving a gift in the true sense. And we destroy the significance of gift giving when we feel obligated to give to each individual some thing that is better or more ex pensive than that which we re ceive from them. Gift-giving is in the spirit of Christmas. It is sharing with others. It is remembering loved ones and fribnds. It is the re membrance—not the cost of the gift—that makes it worthwhile. ir< --ia. : TWIN DOLLS . . . After girl dolls came boy dolls and now, naturally, twin dolls have made their appearance. The 15-inch dolls are available separately, of course, but as a pair they can enjoy their own teeter-totter. They talk, too, with a vocabulary of 11 baby phrases. mm FIRES AND FLIES ... There’s always been an affinity between small boys and airplanes and the modem lad is no exception. Plane shown is a rocket-firing, cannon nosed Airacobra. It flashes a navi gation light to warn approaching aircraft, fires rockets from under its wings. Way the Christmas Star shine anew within your heart, with hope rekindled. Lominack’s Hardware W. H. LOMINACK KIRBY LOMINACK FOREST LOMINACK J. W. Longshore Ida D. Underwood