Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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SEC. B — PAGE 6 The Newberry Sun, Newberry, S. C., Thursday, December 22, 1966 PIERRES vc^promise* tikmikMUktA By Jean Charles Pierre was eight years old. His world was a vast one, bounded on the north by snow capped peaks of the Kelton range, on the west and south by the rolling Red River, on the east by the great pine forest. Somewhere, over the moun tains and across the river, were great concentrations of people Pierre had read about them ir the books brought to him by his father’s friend, .John, who made periodic visits to bring supplies and the hunters and fishermen Pierre’s father guided through the surrounding wil derness. On the days the plane was due, Pierre went early to the river, eager to catch the earliest sight of the float plane as it dropped down out of the sky and skimmed to a stop on the surface of the river. Today was a special day. It was Christmas Kve. Pilot John would fulfill a promise he had made long ago. He would take Pierre skyward, over the moun tain and across the forests to the Rig City. As John had de scribed it. the vision had lived with Pierre for almost a year . . . stores and shops, people milling about, shouting and laughing, some even singing . . . and at night, the lights of a thousand colors dancing across the.streets . . . and,.side by side, neat houses, alive with the sparkle and color ofChrist- mas trees and holiday green er v. The plane was not due for hours. Rut the boy scanned the horizons, even searching the sky in directions from which he knew the plane would not come. He felt the flakes on his nose and eyelashes before he realized that the sky had been almost shut from view by snowflakes whirling and dancing on the wings of a wind from the north. What if the plane didn’t come at all? What if this was to be just another day? All of the sights his eyes would behold and the sounds to delight his ears, were they fading back in to the never-never land of to morrow? Surely, the plane would come. Pilot John had flown in with supplies under more ad verse conditions on numerous occasions. Maybe there was a real storm across the moun tains. One could never tell. Per haps, too, Pilot John had for gotten his promise. '1 he snowfall intensified. Rut the boy was oblivious. He neither felt the bite of the wind nor the pelting fury of the flakes that gathered on his clothing and clung briefly until he absent-mindedly brushed them away. Vaguely, Pierre became aware that his mother was call ing him. He knew what she wanted. Rut it was not food that he craved. Food would not dissolve the ache that tore at his insides and seemed to in crease with each passing mo ment, each new awareness that the later the hour, the less the chance that the plane would come. "Pierre, Pierre, please come. Please come, now.” It was then he saw it, glid ing gracefully across the rim of the nearest peak, turning out across the meadow in a wide arc, meeting the river at the distant bend and coming to him like the fulfillment of a dream. Supper was a mechanical procedure. Pierre spoke when spoken to, only dabbled at the food before him. He could not stifle the feeling of anticipation that lived within him: it grew and grew; it surged within him until strapped in the seat of the plane, firmly clutching his father’s hand, he saw the roll ing river become no more than an amber thread against a field of whiteness and the snow capped peaks rush beneath the plane and pass away. It was a long flight to Rig City. Yet, in his mind’s eye, Pierre already could see Christ mas lights on the far horizon and the flight of his own fancy was more powerful than the iron strength of the grey bird soaring across the northern sky- Turkey is Choice With Americans Almost every nation has its own special Christmas dish. Since Americans represent peo ple from all parts of the world, it is not surprising that one finds different holiday menus in the various parts of the country. 'IYvo thoroughly American pedigrees, however, are turkey and cranberries. Indians ate wild turkey, cranberries and pumpkin be- for the first European colonists arrived. The turkey today is a domesticated variety of the native wild turkey. To most boys and girls, "jingle all the way” refers to sleigh bells and a one-horse open sleigh; but for Hanover. New Hampshire, youngsters' bells at Christmas time mean only one thing; the clanging of the fire bell for the annual Children’s Fire Engine Ride! This happens each Christmas when the local fire fighters step into the role of Santa Claus and give the town youngsters a holiday treat; a ride through the streets of Hanover in a shiny red fire engine! Young sters of all ages line up in front of their schools and pile into the fire trucks. ((Children that are too young to "hang on” ride at the head of the proces sion in the Fire Chief’s car.) More than five hundred boys and girls ride as the fire engines "race” (at five miles an hour) through the town as bells ring and sirens screech. Rack at the fire station the children line up for a visit with Santa Claus, who stands next to the shiny fire pole with a bag of candy and a toy for each boy and girl. When he asks them the perennial question "What do you want from Santa Claus”?, the answer is almost always: "I want a fire engine”. Finger Style Food Foods for nibbling are welcome at holiday festivi ties. Try this quick and easy spread for toast rounds or crackers. Combine 1 can (12 oz.) luncheon meat, ground with 1/2 cup sour cream, 1/8 teaspoon garlic salt, and 1 teaspoon dry instant onion, reconstituted. Mix thoroughly. Bologna Kabobs are good finger eatin’ too, and easy. On skewers or on wooden picks thread: bolo gna cubes, green pepper squares, and small spiced beets; or 2 bologna cubes and pickled cherry pepper; or 3 bologna cubes, pimento squares, green tomato pick les and gherkins. Stocking Accident It is the custom in Rritain to leave toys under the tree until afternoon on Christmas Day. During the Christmas visit by Santa, the stockings are filled. It was an accident, according to Rritish Legend, that th‘e stocking custom was origi nated. The story goes that Saint Nicholas dropped some coins as he was going down the chimney. The coins did drop into a stocking, but the stocking had been hanging by the hearth to drv. Spruce Or Fir? If you plan to keep a tree for just a few days, the Nor way spruce is very 7 well shaped, has good color and is perhaps your best buyu Its one failing is that is sheds its needles rather quickly. Any of the long needle pines such as the balsam fir & douglas fir. last much longer but are more ex pensive. Select the tree that has pyramidal shape, branches that come well down to the base, and with abundant foliage. N O I L /to/iflatf ( Jea i <//?// r w €t if/ii/e //ifl/ O witA Jotf AAaA newl eticfo. Newberry Steam Laundry and Dry Cleaning Co. 934 Main Street Newberry, S. C.