Port Aransas South Jetty (Port Aransas, Tex.), Vol. 16, No. 52, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 25, 1986 Page: 2 of 14
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PACE 2
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 25, 1986
Editorial
PORT ARANSAS SOUTH JETTY
All right, kid... you’ll get the Rambo Commando set/..'
Spinoff-
Thanks for the memories
Scattershooting----
( ]hristmasgreetings
--By Jack L. Moore
Christmas is different these
years. And it is the same.
Christmas is different when the
house is not running over with peo-
ple. You know, chiidren-type peo-
ple. When Lite liver of me nas
poured down the rapids of expe-
rience, racing past the joys and lin-
gering beside the hurts. Christmas
is different when the battered and
worn supply raft has eddied out
into the calm, and the younger
paddlers hurry on to challenge the
white water around the bend.
When the children of yesteryear
have taken charge of the supply
rafts, gaining confidence as they go.
Still there is a sameness.
Christmas is different when mem-
ories crowd out expectations.
When the mind searches to recall
celebrations that have been
shunted aside by sheer numbers.
When the family gatherings of child-
hood seem to cry out for remember-
ing while more recent years gather
dust in the forgotten nooks of our
minds. Christmas is different when
the sound of voices long-stilled
echoes through our memory cham-
bers as we listen in vain for the
laughter of children.
Still, there is one thing.
Christmas is different when
there are no toys to assemble. When
the daybreak hours lie undisturbed
and the sunrise goes unnoticed.
When the loudest sounds in the
house are coffee perking and the
cat pleading for an early breakfast
Christmas is different when listen-
ing for the telephone to ring has
taken the place of getting up in the
dark to anxiously oversee the un-
wrapping of gifts and to watch the
response to old Saint Nick. It’s dif-
ferent.
Yet it stays the same.
Christmas is different when the
gifts are opened before Santa has
even hitched up the reindeer for his
magical trip from the North Pole.
When the sieighbells of Donder and
Blitzer. ar.d their friends an; muted
by the uncaring and unknowing.
Christmas is different when the
night before, all through the house
emptiness is stirring, there is a deep
sense of longing and blinking lights
are matched by silent tears. The dif-
ference is intense.
And still.
Christmas is the same because it
is always the celebration of the
Christ mass! It remains that special
Day set aside to recall God’s gift to
His children. To remember with
excitement that His gift came wrap-
ped in a love so pure that it cleanses
all who reach out and accept it.
Christmas memories, family gath-
erings, celebrat ions marking out pil-
grimage — all grow and change
with the calendar.
But Christmas is the same.
God’s love expressed in Jesus the
Christ has not, does not change!
It is with this certainty that
Peggy and I send you greetings;
that we remind you of our love for
you in Christ; and that we wish for
you a new year filled with realized
expectations adding immeasura-
bly to your coming memories!
Tidemarks
By Mary Henkel Judson
READING THE MOST MEMOR-
able’ Christmas stories from read-
ers of the Corpus Christi Caller has
me trying to decide which Christ-
mas was most memorable.
I haven’t come up with THE most
memorable, but sorting through
the years, my Christmas memories
seem to have one thing in common:
my brothers.
The youngest of my three broth-
ers is five years older than I am, so
obviously they were a great help to
my parents when Christmas rolled
around.
Until my sister and I were older,
our family ritual was for “the boys"
to put “the girls" (my sister and me)
to bed as close to the usual hour as
possible on such an exciting night.
Then, sometime after 10 p.m. we’d
get word that Santa Claus had
aome and gone. Five kids swarmed
the living room and when the dust
had settled, my mother somehow
managed to get us to Midnight
Mass, leaving Daddy behind to re-
gain his wits, I assume.
I remember one year as I was try-
ing desperately to fall asleep, I
heard Santa’s sleigh bells outside
my bedroom window. I was too
excited to realize that one of “the
boys” was not at his post, standing
vigil over us.
Another Christmas Eve the boys
apparently found it impossible to
get us to sleep. To add to the air of
excitement, they brought candles
into our bedroom and we told sto-
ries in the flickering light. Suddenly,
we heard stomping on the roof.
“Who is that stomping on my
roof? You’d better get off now!” one
of the boys shouted. Betsy and I
were terrified to think that Skip
had scared Santa away. We burst
out of our room to find that Santa
must have been on his way out
when we heard his footsteps.
Later, when the boys left for col-
lege, the excitement was over their
homecoming. We delighted in wrap-
ping the gifts they brought home for
the family — all except our own, of
course. It wasn’t until years later
that I found out Betsy charged
them for the service while I was
doing it for sheer excitement. Col-
lege wasn’t wasted on them — they
knew how to spot a sucker when
they saw one.
Now the boys have boys (and one
girl) of their own and the excite-
ment revolves around them and my
sister’s daughter and our own daugh-
ter.
My parents are, of course, central
to the holiday. I have many memo-
ries of hugging my mother’s soft fur
coat as she came in from the cold;
and of trying to keep pace with
Daddy on rny short little legs as we
made rounds around town, greet-
ing everyone we saw with a cheery
“Merry Christmas! Merry Christ-
mas!”
With a family like mine, it’s hard
to choose the most memoi able Christ-
mas. Besides, we’re still busy mak-
ing memories.
May this Christmas be the most
yet, but not as memorable as next
year’s.
Cactus Pryor
“We must deal with this Iranian
arms controversey."
“How. Mr. President?”
“Eliminate all public opinion
polls."
A one hour syndicated television
program that w as to have honored
President Ronnie on his 76th birth-
day has been canceled due to no
sponsors to pay the bill. I would
think that double strength Tylenol
would have jumped at the chance.
What the White House needs is
less P R and more I.G.
Philadelphia Eagles 23, H^ rschel
Walker 21.
• • *
“Mom, why is Dad still in bed?"
“His world has collapsed, dear.
First the Longhorn football team.-
..then the Oilers...and the Cow-
boys... and now, the worst blow of
all...the Lady Longhorns were de-
feated."
• • •
“And so when I take the gover-
nor’s office I plan to continue the
Sesquicentennial celebration for
one more year. It would be a shame
to waste it now that we know what
it means and how to spell it."
An Austin television station tech-
nician had redirected the station’s
satellite receiving equipment to
what management thinks must
have been the Playboy Channel. As
a result, when they pushed the but-
ton to run a commercial the aud-
ience got six or seven seconds of
hard porno. The technician was
fired. Isn’t that anti-sexual har-
assment?
From the mailbox
Letters
Do you believe?
At this time of year the most
important question is: “Is there a
Santa Claus?" Some of us don’t
know how to answer, but I tell you
definitely there is a Santa Claus.
How many nights before Christ-
mas have we lain awake, half dream
ing, and have seen jolly Santa in his
sled pulled by hip reindeer coming
out of the sky with the joyful ring of
sleigh bells or, maybe he was slid-
ing down the snow covered land
loaded with presents...or maybe
now he is on top of the roof of our
house. These are wonderful
dreams. Yes, Santa is real. Someone
that can give us such joy is bound to
be real
One of the most wonderful things
about Christmas is the “homecom-
ing.” We want to be home sur-
rounded by our own family and
friends. You have often heard a
person say “Oh, if my boy or girl will
be home for Christmas that will be
the best gift of all!"
I have been told by men who
experienced the occasion during
World War 1, t hat t he bitterest fight-
ing was taking plat e between the
American and German troops.
Their lines were drawn up nearly
parallel and only a few hundred
yards apart. They could be scarcely
seen by their foe as each side was
hidden in foxholes or trenches, and
the ground separating them was
known as "no man’s land." Each
man waiting with finger on trigger
for an enemy to get careless and
show himself. How the hysteria and
fervor of war had changed these
two Christian nations into human
butchers, we will never know. It was
Christmas Day; yes, the day we
celebrate Christ’s birth, and they
were engaged in mortal combat
with their fellow man!
It was Christmas Day and deep
down in the heart of every man
there was an increased longing to
be home. The American soldiers
were having a mini-celebration, tell-
ing each other “Merry Christmas,"
when one spoke up and said: “Why
don’t we have a cease firing and
invite the Germans to join us for a
half hour?" Word was quickly sent
to the German lines and within a
matter of minutes both German
and American soldiers were greet-
ing each other and giving little gifts
or tokens to their enemy in “no
man’s land!" The spirit of Santa
Claus was there even on the battle-
field.
How does he get into the house to
deliver the presents? Some houses
do not have chimneys. Does he use
a skeleton key? I don’t know...but he
gets there. When I was very young I
tried hard to find footprints of
Santa or his reindeer. I never could.
As I grew older I wondered how he
could be at so many places that one
night Maybe he has a lot of helpers.
Still, I grew older wondering about
Santa Claus. I know he is real!
to the editor
I have come to the conclusion
that Santa Claus is born within the
home of every Christian family. He
is a great factor in keeping us from
being selfish...and not just at Christ-
mas time.
I believe that the spirit of Santa
Claus is just as real as our love for
our family and consideration of our
fellow' man. Were it not for Christ,
there would be no Santa Claus!
Douglas Anderson
San Antonio
We have what
you’re searching for
l>x)king for a new house, a car, a
job. an antique ’ find it faster
i the (Tassifierift where hundreds
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749-5131
South Jetty
NATIONAL NEWSPAPER
ASSOCIATION
How do you spell
By C. M. Henkel Jr.
LAST WEEK BROUGHT A FEW
hours relief from the Iranian mess
when there came the announce-
ment of an operation President
Reagan will undergo in a few weeks.
The tube made the news all the
more enticing with graphics of his
innards. You can top that only with
the discovery of a new pill that will
prevent the arrival of unwanted
children in an already over-pop-
ulated world.
RESPONSE TO ENDORSEMENT
here for American English, or Eng-
lish only if you prefer, indicates that
this scribe is rather a long way from
being the only Ugly American.
THERE IS SUCH A THING AS
hearing figures ami quotations so
often one is caused to forget them.
In other words, something can be-
come so well implanted in the mind
that of a sudden it blanks out. Thus
with me when I try to recall the
count on the numbers of Ameri-
cans who are genuinely poor and
needy. This came to mind the other
day when I was reminded that all of
one quarter of the foreign aid dis-
tributed by the United States goes
to tiny Israel with a population that
falls just short of four million. The
total broken down means $750 per
year for every man, woman and
child in that country. Now while
there may be some among you who
may not believe me, I’ve nothing
against Isreal. However, I find it dif-
ficult to consider a nation that sur-
vives only by maintaining itself as
an armed fortress a good invest-
ment. Frankly, I’d feel better if
those $750 per Israeli went to four
trillion genuinely needy among my
own countrymen. If anyone consid-
ers this a selfish, insular attitude I
would only ask in reply that they
tell me what country in the world is
spending its foreign aid dollars to
benefit the poor in the United
States. Yes, no denying, I can be an
irascible grouch even on Christmas
Eve. Forget it.
NOW THE CITY OF CORPUS
Christi is being sued by a bunch of
jailbirds who are dissatisfied with
their living conditions. The same
hums would probably refuse to pay
their bill at any of the town’s lead-
ing hotels on grounds that room
service was unsatisfactory. At the
same time the city is bent on ex-
panding its lockup accommoda-
tions in order to meet the needs of a
growing population which is antic-
ipated to come with Homeport.
Isn’t it time to back up? Or does this
mean that dreamy chamber of com-
merce type cheerfully welcome the
arrival of more criminals if cash
registers can be made to ring longer
and louder?
NOW I READ SOMEWHERE
that the cost of keeping a single
offender in jail is upwards of
$20,000 a year. That being true,
shouldn't someone ask a few ques-
tions? That figure is comfortably
above the national average family
income, an amount that enables
millions of decent people to live as
solid citizens, even if not in luxury.
Perhaps I should confer with Wil-
liam Wayne Justice, but on the
other hand speculation is prefera-
ble to a kooky response.
COMING UP ARE A FEW
thoughts which should have filled
this space earlier. In the past I have
commented on junk mail, meaning
mostly the mail order catalogues
which represent the bulk of what
fills my box. It has tempered off in
the past couple of weeks. I calculate
that the mailers figure if I haven’t
been suckered already it’s too late
now. But wait until Jan. 1. Count on
wowser sales designed to gather
the long green that has hopefully
arrived in the Christmas stocking.
Now I’ve read somewhere that one
of the big catalogue distributors
calculates his cost at *4 per custo
mer. Having some knowledge of the
printing business, I figure that smal-
ler but more posh catalogues pro-
duced in less quanity must at least
approach that figure. And they
must bring results because the
producers are seldom fools. In any
event, the cost of producing and
mailing the catalogues that arrive
at my address must amount to at
least $500 per year. If that estimate
is anywhere close to being right it
would be money in the bank to any
catalogue sender to subscribe to
this newspaper, if only for the ben-
efit of reading this single column.
The reason is quite simple. All I can
think of that I have made in cata-
logue purchases in the past year is a
couple of tobacco pipes, items not
available here to my knowledge.
What ho. Am I impressing you with
my good citizenship? Not inten-
tionally, other than to contend that
every dollar spent with a mail order
house detracts from an already far
from healthy local economy. On the
other hand, how often have I heard
people boast that they bought an
item for less than it identical “down
town.” A few have been embarassed
when asked how much they paid in
shipping charges. Surprising how
few take that into account. Then
mention if you will that the more
the local merchant prospers the
more he pays in school taxes, etc.
{tut all of that is too tiresome, too
complex.
Of course, these observations are
not intended to impress the shop-
per who drives 40 miles to save a
couple of bucks. What point in re-
minding him that his car on the
road costs at least 20 cents per
mile. All hopeless as telling me that
I should dispose of all my tobacco
pipes. I suppose in one way or
another we are all rather hopeless,
each in his own way. The thought
can be summed up with the obser-
vation that humankind throughout
its existence has done more to des-
truct than build. Now someone will
refute that with a reminder of the
progress in his own lifetime, for
example advancing from the horse
and buggy to the motor car that is
harbored in a stall that doesn’t
have to be- shoveled out every morn-
ing, Ah well, “Alle menchen brud-
em ” probably misspelled Gmuun
from the choral in Beethoven’s
Ninth and means “All men through
out the world are brothers."
Council--
continued from page one
city needed a chief and an assistant
chief, but that the decision as to
who would get the top job was
difficult.
"Whichever way we go, the coun-
cil’s going to have to stand behind
the decision, and the community is,
too," Williams said, adding that the
position of Port Aransas policechief
would be a hard on for anyone to
accept.
“It’s the kiss of death,” McNatt
said.
Sumner said he also would sup-
port the chief-assistant chief con-
cept, although not the one proposed
by Beck.
“That's fine,” Sumner said. "With
Perkins as chief and Clampitt as
assistant chief."
Wymore said he agreed that
"whoever we appoint will have a
tough time of it."
“I want what’s best for the city,"
Wymore continued. “I don’t know
which is the best, but whoever it is,
the council must support him and I
hope the community supports him.
They’re both good men."
Bietendorf reminded the coun-
cilmen that they hired Beck to han-
dle the city administration, and
that he is qualified to make an
acceptable recommendation.
“We pay a city manager $35,000 a
year to make these decisions," Bieten-
dorf said.
"If a majority of the council sup-
ports Mr. Clampitt, I’ll join them,"
Wymore added.
“I’m going by the Charter," Coun-
cilman Jim Barr said. “The city
manager has made his recommen-
dation, and we need to back him all
the way. If we want the police chief
to be elected by the people, let’s
change the Charter. But until then,
I’m going by the Charter."
Councilman Glenn Martin agreed
with Barr.
“This isn’t a popularity contest,"
Martin said. “We hired a city man-
ager to make these decisions, and
he interviews the applicants. This is
nothing against Don Perkins, but
I’m going to back him when he
endorses a man."
On the vote to approve Clampitt,
Barr, Martin, Williams and Wymore
voted yes; McNatt and Sumner voted
no.
Bietendorf, because of Sumner’s
earlier statements, said he would
abstain from the vote, although he
added that “I do accept the recom-
mendation of the city manager."
Sumner concluded by saying “I
think you made a terrible choice.”
TIXAS PRIM
ASSOCIATION
„ JURhjRA ,
^ AvVAH 1 vVir JMt k
1986
Southern Publishing, Inc.
749-5131
P.O. Box 1116, Port Aransas, TX 78373
141 W. Cotter
Second Class Postage is paid at Port Aransas, TX 78373
Publication Number: 946:020
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Judson, Mary. Port Aransas South Jetty (Port Aransas, Tex.), Vol. 16, No. 52, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 25, 1986, newspaper, December 25, 1986; Port Aransas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth662786/m1/2/?q=Lamar+University: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Ellis Memorial Library.