The Harper News (Harper, Tex.), Vol. 8, No. 3, Ed. 1 Friday, December 3, 2010 Page: 2 of 8
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From the Editor
It is the busiest time of
the year when all are
shopping, decorating,
baking or going to parties
and community celebra-
tions.
It is the time of the year
to enjoy family, to visit rel-
atives or neighbors or
friends you don’t get to
see very often.
I think the best gift of all
is when you spend time
with those you love.
I remember when my
great uncle was in the
hospital during the
Christmas holidays. He had
heart trouble and didn’t
live long after that
Christmas.
My mom, dad, sister and
I spent time visiting him in
the hospital and we took
him egg nog to drink. He
loved it and we all had a
good time celebrating
Christmas with him.
When I lived in Austin, I
always took Christmas
cookies to my neighbors
and had a short visit. Our
neighborhood was usually
quite decorated with lights
and yard decorations on
every house.
Another gift I made was
a Christmas wreath out of
barbed wire. Actually my
husband, Rick, made the
wreath and I decorated it
with ashe juniper, pine
cones, ball moss and other
natural items. I added a
bow and gave one to each
of my immediate neigh-
bors and friends. After
Christmas, I’d collect them
and refurbish the decora-
tions the next year. I quit
doing wreaths when I
moved back to Harper.
There are lots of simple
acts of kindness one can do
for friends and neighbors
at Christmas, however, just
spending time with them is
probably one of the best.
If you have a friend or rel-
ative in the nursing home,
go visit. If you have rela-
tives and friends who live
far away, call them and
visit.
Enjoy the season and
take the time to enjoy
your family and friends
with a visit. You’ll be glad
you did.
Original Print of
Hill Country Deer
available and suitable for
framing from
The Harper News
Call 864-5655 to reserve
your copy.
Only $10.00
Contact Addresses
for Community
Memorials
The Harper Library. P. 0. Box
74, Harper, TX 78631
The Harper Volunteer Fire
Department and EMS. P. 0. Box
306, Harper, TX 78631
The Harper Community
Cemetery Fund. % Gene Bode,
P. 0. Box 176,. Harper, TX 78631
The Harper School Library. P.
O. Box 68, Harper, TX 78631
The Noxville Cemetery Fund %
of Tony Ackel, 15380 RR 479,
Harper, TX 78631
The Harper Historical Society,
% Joan Lennon, 490, S. Ranch
Rd. 783, Harper, TX 78631
Harper Community Park Board
% Joan Lennon, 490, S. Ranch
Rd. 783, Harper, TX 78631
Harper Help Center. % of
Geraldine Skipper, Treasurer,
P. 0. Box 97, Harper, TX 78631
The deadline
for the next issue
is Monday,
Dec. 13, 2010.
The next issue after
that will
skip a week and not
be published until
January 7, 2011.
The Harper News
December 3, 2010
Bode’s Hunting Stories
Youth Hunts
Now my oldest grandson
was seven years old and we
didn’t take the time like we
should have to shoot first
before hunting. That was
fifteen years ago. Like a
dummy, I had too large a
gun for him to shoot any-
way. We got in the blind
and the big deer with no
horns came up. Scott was
sitting on my lap and he
pulled the trigger and laid
him down. However the
gun kicked him in the face,
bloodied his nose and
skinned him up pretty good.
Well, i never did that again.
I had this eleven year old
girl hunting for the first
time. She got the big doe. A
year later, she and her fam-
ily came by the warehouse
and she had baked a box of
cookies and brought them
by to me.
Now had, my boy, Luke,
first time around this year.
He did good. Did have a lit-
tle help from Dad to get him
down. Also, this year, we
had the all-time “first”—a
five year old boy hunter.
Guess what? He also got a
deer.
This year did get my first
chance taking my younger
grandson hunting. Course
it was his first chance, also.
Gave him that first shot at
the target, and I ain’t sit-
ting here, if he dog sure
dead centered that sucker!
We went hunting , knocked
that big doe down. We had
the “high five,” the “low
five” and the “hug five.”
Got down to where she
ought to be and she wasn’t
there. Found a good blood
trail. Finally called Delbert
and Dana—both of them are
pretty good blood hounds,
as well as the dog they had.
However, this time we could
not find the deer.
We’re already laying out
The Business Advisor
by Bill White
Parables of Business:
Parable of the Scar Tissue
Scar tissue is a reminder
that a bad situation was
encountered and we sur-
vived.
Personal example:
Way back, while still just a
skinny grade school kid, the
term “thinking outside of
the box” had not yet been
invented. Some kids were
just considered kind of
weird. Our talents(?) in this
department were on
parade one day when we
encountered a hard-to-
open glass-paneied door
that resisted our puny
weight and best efforts.
Thinking outside the box
hatched a plan for a friend
to turn the door knob while
we made a running charge
intending to hit the wood
panel frames. Missed the
frame - lots of glass and
blood. Lesson learned:
“Evaluate down side of any
plan” -post analysis says
this one was high risk, low
reward. Have three inch
scar tissue to remind us of
lesson.
Anyone who kicked-off
a business after 1982 has
seen a continuous increase
in the general economy
with very few really severe
interruptions until 2008.
Yes, since then some mar-
kets, like new housing,
have been hit hard, but
many others have suffered
much less. Consequently
there are lots of successful
business owners who don’t
have scar tissue earned in
fighting really severe
uncontrollable outside con-
ditions. . (Yes, 10% unem-
ployment is bad, but most
any WWII vet can tell you
about 25% unemployment!)
Without scar tissue, we sel-
dom think about -or plan
for - an economy that is
actually shrinking.
Do we really believe that
a shrinking economy is in
the cards? Perhaps not, but
don’t forget that the new
Congress has a mandate for
reducing government
spending. Personally, we
like to believe that our own
business is not affected by
government spending. But,
with the tremendous
amount of government
money being thrown
around, we are all dining
on tax money to some
degree. A bigger chunk of
the money seemingly is
going into the health care
and infrastructure areas, so
these are more likely to be
in the cross-hairs.
All things considered, it
would be wise for everyone
to “evaluate the downside”
in planning for 2011. Don’t
get a fortress mentality, but
do develop some contin-
gency plans that include
some shrinkage - particu-
larly if you are in the health
care and infrastructure
markets. What non-essen-
tial costs can be cut?
Do you have scar tissue?
A strong cash position? And
someone with the scars?
Bill White
thebusinessadvisor
@beecreek.net
Letter to the Editor
Former governor John
Randolph of Maryland came
to admire the style of an
opponent’s rhetoric as
much as he deplored the
error and jingoism of its
content. “He shines and
stinks like a rotting macker-
el at midnight,” Randolph
said.
I might say the same
though in a kinder, more
respectful way of Dr.
Weilburg’s reply to my arti-
cle, “Trainwreck: Boston
Tea Party versus Modern
Tea Party.” I will pass over
much of his reply, particu-
larly those parts which sim-
ply constitute opinion. But
the reply contains factual
errors, which should be
corrected.
The Sons of Liberty, under
Sam Adams’ direction, did
indeed act in response to
the repeal of the tea tax by
the Tea Act of 1773. (It was
replaced by a token excise
tax which enraged under-
sold Boston merchants. Dr.
Weilburg cites a leftist agi-
tator as a proponent of the
view of Adams as a violent
rabble rouser, as if this
view was not held by a
consensus of historians.
The Boston Tea Party has
been aptly described as a
“pre-arranged riot,” Dr.
Weilburg fails to distinguish
between the choreo-
graphed actions of the Sons
of Liberty and those of a
mob gathering in response.
He asserts that the Sons of
Liberty were indifferent
about the destruction of a
private company’s cargo to
express their boss’s anger
toward a government’s pol-
icy. He is right. Criminals
usually are indifferent. But
the Caspee did not burn “all
the brighter” in their eyes
as he ventures to surmise.
The Sons of Liberty did not
burn the Caspee. It was
burned by some eighty of
the Boston merchants who
were annoyed with the
repeal of tariffs as well as
British efforts to quell
smuggling.
Moreover the Gaspee was
a Royal Navy ship sent to
interdict smuggling, not a
private vessel doing honest
business, like the victim of
the Sons of Liberty.
Dr. Weilburg spends a
great deal of effort to
candy-coat Samuel Adams,
but here he is really swim-
ming against the tide.
Adams’ smuggling, like that
of John Hancock, was well
known and even celebrated
by his friends, contempo-
raries and the criminal ele-
ment in Boston. So were his
methods against tax collec-
tors and most reprehensi-
bly, newspaper editors and
public officials, who dared
criticize or oppose him.
Beatings and intimidation,
not unlike that of modern
organized crime were his
methods at the hands of his
Sons of Liberty muscle. Dr.
Weilburg is the first histori-
an I have ever encountered
to take issue with the vast
consensus of historians of
the period. Since he never
dirtied his own hand, he
could not be caught.
Neither were Hancock and
Joseph Kennedy (who were
renowned smugglers) or Al
Capone (who was convicted
only of tax evasion).
Dr. Weilburg’s greatest
error consists in his account
of Samuel Adams reaction to
the issue of the Constitution.
The Constitutional
Convention was very small
with only two delegates
from each state attending.
The deliberations, drafts and
proposals were kept strictly
secret as a matter of honor
so that the delegates could
freely debate and question
free from grandstanding or
sensationalism from the
press. Samuel Adams was
not presented with a strong
federalist draft or any other
draft. He and his fellow del-
egates to the Massachusetts
Convention considered the
Constitution and the
Constitution only—without
amendments.
Contrary to Dr. Weiiburg’s
assertion, Samuel Adams
was not present and did not
sign the ratification of the
Constitution with “the ten
amendments” added (they
weren’t.)
Massachusetts, along with
two other states did not
ratify the first ten amend-
ments, the Bill of Rights,
until the 1930s and no, that’s
not a misprint.
As to Dr. Weilburg’s seem-
ingly cavalier, man of the
world attitude toward
propaganda, the “every-
body does it” argument
does not impress me. Many
organizations to be sure,
put the best face on their
own actions and a poor one
on those of others. But
when it comes to fomenting
war, bloodshed, street vio-
lence, the safety of persons
and the property, outright
lies and character assassi-
nation, I suggest that prop-
aganda is a dangerous force
that should not be winked
at, nor its users admired.
Indeed, as our society
faces crucial problems and
threats, both present and
future, neither our leaders
nor the citizenry seem
capable of holding any
intelligent rational dis-
course. The barrage of vir-
ulent propaganda televi-
sion, radio talk shows and
the internet have worked
the body politic into a fren-
zy of lies, insults and accusa-
tions of the most scurrilous
kind.
Reason is drowned in
media-fomented rage. I am
not sure I know the solution,
but condoning the purvey-
ing of this national poison is
not part of that solution.
There are all to many aspir-
ing Samuel Adamses among
us at the present, all too
many Sons of Liberty-like
militias.
Resist them. Reason with
one another. Calmly with
respect. That is true
Patriotism.
John Graham
From all the Organizations who come to the
“Harper Community Well”.....
Volunteer Fire Department, E.M.S., Lions Club,
American Legion and Auxiliary, Library,
Historical Society, Community Park, Harper 4-H
and Headwaters 4-H Club, F.F.A. Chapter, HALO
(Harper, Agricultural Livestock Organization),
Boy and Girls Scouts; Longhorn Angel Tree,
Community Chest, Harper I.S.D., including P.T.O.,
Booster Clubs (Athletic and Band), and a variety
of individual class “projects”, Catholic, Baptist,
Lighthouse, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian,
Wild Ride Churches and youth groups...
We wish to say Thank You, to the individuals
that continue to support each and every
one of us with your time, talents and
financial support.
Gene Bode
the plans for the next year’s
deer hunt. I betcha’ we
bring back the bacon this
next go-round.
Counting back through
the years, we have probably
taken twenty-five kids
hunting and everyone has
taken a deer home. Still
plan on taking many more
hunting!
Stay well and healthy.
See you next time.
(Editor’s note: This is only
one of Gene’s hunting
stories. All the rest are
avail able in his new book,
Me and My Old Winchester
270: A Lifetime of Hunting
Quote of the Week
“When you waCh with beauty, the miCes are
shorter, the jpaths Cess steejo”
(By (A. C. Tisher, Jr.
tfwPl&bfaL §EO§'RlA‘F}dtlC, October, 1979, jp. 443-
Submitted by “Edward Ojreding
(idote - You are invited to submit your favorites.)
Local Groundwater Districts
Should Protect Property Rights
Gillespie County farm
Bureau President Elgin Pape
is calling for state under-
ground water conservation
districts to recognize
groundwater as a vested
property right of Texas
landowners.
“Local government
should work with landown-
ers to protect this private
property right,” Pape said.
“Underground water con-
servation districts should go
on record in recognizing
groundwater as a vested
property right of Texas
landowners.”
Pape noted that thirteen
influential agriculture and
land organizations, includ-
ing the Texas Farm Bureau,
have banded together to
help landowners protect the
right to water beneath their
land. Those organizations
fear that groundwater
rights could be stripped
from private property own-
ers by the government and
the courts.
Although the Texas con-
stitution and over a century
of case law support Texans’
right to groundwater, that
right has been challenged in
recent years.
“Districts must respect
property rights,” Pape said.
New Ag Committees Impact
Future of Farming
Washington will see a new
crop of legislators come
January and for the agricul-
ture industry facing new
farm legislation, this means
some unfamiliar faces will
join the House and Senate
Agriculture Committees.
“Farmers and ranchers
will need to work quickly to
engage incoming mem-
bers,” said Elgin Pape, presi-
dent of Gillespie County
Farm Bureau. “Some of
them may not have much
experience in agriculture,
so it is important for pro-
ducers to be proactive in
telling the food and fiber
story.”
Congress will determine
the fate of the next national
farm bill. In light of a grow-
ing national budget deficit,
legislators likely will look
for ways to reduce spending
across several pieces of leg-
islation. Farmers and
ranchers hope that a better
understanding of the indus-
try will lead both the Senate
and House Agriculture
Committees to develop a bill
that will provide a sufficient
safety net for agricultural
producers and American
consumers.
“The success of America’s
family farms depends upon
their ability to freely pro-
duce and market their
crops,” Pape said.
“We depend on Congress to
draft and pass legislation
that helps farmers and
ranchers provide health,
affordable and abundant
food to our nation.”
The Harper News
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shall not be liable for damages arising out of errors and adver-
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by that portion of the advertisement containing the error,
whether the error is due to the negligence of the publisher,
employees or otherwise, and there shall be no liability for non-
insertion of any advertisement beyond the amount paid for such
advertisement.
•The Publisher reserves the right to change subscription rates
without notice.
The Hamer News
is Owned and Published by Martha Stevens
The Hamer News
23797 West U. S. Highway 290
P. 0. Box 418, Harper, TX 78631 -0418
Martha Stevens - Editor/Publisher
email - hnews@ktc.com • Phone/Fax - 830 864-5655
Subscription rates: $20.00 locally (Gillespie Cty. and/or a
Harper address), $21.00 out of county,
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Stevens, Martha. The Harper News (Harper, Tex.), Vol. 8, No. 3, Ed. 1 Friday, December 3, 2010, newspaper, December 3, 2010; Harper, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth844838/m1/2/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Harper Library.