Opinion Page
THE BRUNSWICK&BEACON
Kihuiril M. Swviilt and (!nriil\ u II. Suratl Publishers
Kdnard M. Sural! Editor
Susan I'shrr .Ycirs Etlitor
Marjorir Mrfihrrn .Associate Etlitor
Kttn Sniitli Staff Writer
Johnny ("raifi Sports Etlitor
Mary I'olls Office Manager
("ri't'liii ("tori' X (.arolyn I prhurcli Iilccrtisinn lleps.
Tannine GulIoua\ ?X Uurolhv llrcnnan Typesetters
Hill McCiouan. . Pressman
Brondu C.lomnmns Photo Technician
I'lyilc ami Mallie Stoul. Phoebe ('iemmons < in itiation
Utiiity Board Makes
Promising Beginning
It is heartening to see a vigorous, courageous utility boaril
in Brunswick County, one that is willing to make difficult decisions.
even those potentially unpopular.
With pockets of people all over the county eager to participate
in the county water system, this board must bite the
bullet and say to some. Wait," while others get the go-ahead.
The system used by this board to make such decisions is
logical and fair. It first deleted those farthest from the trunk
lines, for obvious reasons of economy.
Then consideration was given to the highest number of
platted lots and densest populations. Presently tliis does not
take seasonal versus non-seasonal residents into consideration.
and if selling water is the object, that might be a mistake.
Still another screening device has been to ignore petitions
for water, circulated and signed by people who may or may
not nnrrhaeo it
tl.
These are all reasonable criteria by which water recipients
can be chosen in a common-sense fashion.
Politics appears not to enter into the selection process, for :
which the board deserves a second bouquet.
In addition, it has taken the courageous step of recommen- !
ding mandatory hook-ups.
This point is a difficult political pill for Brunswick County 1
commissioners to swallow. Many of their constituents oppose 1
this requirement as an unfair expense, but it seems essential if
the system is to be self-supporting. An investment in the water
system today by everyone insures its solvency, which in turn
attracts businesses, homeowners and a generally better quali- i
ty of life for everyone.
If the commissioners can follow the progressive lead of
the utility board, Brunswick County can take giant steps into
the future.
Creations Of
A Gentle Man
The Brunswick Beacon is proud to have a columnist of the
stature of Bill Paver, and that has nothing to do with his height
or his fame.
Along with his writing gifts, Bill is also an artist with a
camera, and his nature photography now on view at the Blue
Dolphin Gallery in Southport displays this fact.
Just as he writes lovingly of birds, shells and seagrasses,
his camera captures them with special flair as creatures with
whom we share a fragile environment.
Particularly noticeable in this exhibit are the eyes of
creatures he has photographed. A screech owl fixes the viewer
with a fierce glare, and Bill has a story to tell about his encounter
with this bird. He also relates the saga of a lame little
horned owl whose eyes are mournful. The heron pictured in
the Dec. 4 issue of the Beacon is part of the gallery exhibit, too,
his one visible eye trained intently on some prey.
There is wide variety in Bill's nature excursions. Holden
Beach sunsets, with their incredible colors, make up one
category: blossoms Slich as inclr-in-th<.-rmlm? onnlhon. onH
trees and landscapes still another.
A leisurely look at all his "borrowed images" causes us to
reflect on the fascinating sights that typically go unnoticed
every day. The pictures are not of exotic or even unusual
creatures and scenes, but those that unfold continually along
the coast as the seasons go by, and yet they are new to most of
us.
The problem is our focus on other things : our destinations,
as we whiz by in cars, windows closed, eyes ahead; our problems,
as we plod the beach, head down, kicking sand and
berating life; immediate wants that drive us, whether a new
dress or a better job.
And in ignoring nature, we not only miss refreshment and
beauty, but the healing that nature has to offer.
Thank goodness there are people like Bill Faver who
treasure what is important and take its picture for us to enjoy
secondhand.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Home Bound Meal Help Appreciated
To the editor: Older Adults Unit
We at Brunswick County Depart- Bolivia
rnent of Social Services/Older Adults
Unit w ould like to thank businesses in .1 t W II
Shallotte for donating home hound LIKGS lO r\GGp Up
meals to our participants during the To the editor:
Christmas holidays. r> _. -.. -
i-.njuy ine paper very much. We
Also, we would like to thank Jen- are part owner of condo on Holden
nics Branch Church of Shallotte for Beach, so I like to keep up on what's i
being a continuous support to the pro- going on in tluit area,
gram. W. R. Struchen
Ronnie Robinson, Supervisor Sharon, Pa. i
)
c
I'm ;i pretty traditional sort of person
most of the year, with conservative
tastes and habits in food,
clothing, recreation and lifestyle.
But when it comes to gift-giving,
especially at Christmas, a loony side
emerges.
Now. while I am certainly not extravagant
in Christmas gift buying, 1
don't consider myself a tightwad I
either, but my metluxLs do appear to
have n tUMinv-miu'him' nnnlilv ih.tnl
them.
You see. gifts I .select come from
three sources: sales, impulse, and
my own year-round gift department.
The latter is derived from a thrifty
notion that nothing should be wasted,
so when 1 receive a gift at birthday or
Christmas, or Mother's Day. tlut Is
inappropriate or unwanted. I recycle
it. Kather than go through the hassle
of exchange. I quietly shelve the item
in my closet, ear-marking it for later
giving.
Sometimes there are items so
j
I
!
Cancer V
To the editor: I
1 received a copy of The Brunswick i
Beacon today and was absolutely 1
apalled at the account of what was in
the Wilmington Morning Star above <
Ann lenders column. <
You see I am a victim of breast '
cancer and it makes me sick to my '
stomach to think that such a thing i
could cause someone not to have a 1
mammogram test and possibly not :
discover their problem until it is too 1
late. i
I was 35 years old when I first had
breast cancer. I had never had a I
mammogram. After all, I thought i
my doctor knows all about my family <
i+ r i
M VwUUI
It was a first visit?but probably
not the last. And, we must
remember, it was Don's idea in the j
first place.
Not that I didn't enjoy myself, J
rnind you, but it was one of those experiences
a person doesn't care to
repeat too often. The kind of evening
you have to Ik? in the right frame of *
mind for, like a trip to the state fair
on a sweltering afternoon. f
In other words, it was fun. t
"It" was an outing to a popular piz- t
za paiacc in a nearby urban center.
You'd have to see?and hear?this li
place to appreciate it. If someone v
simply described it, you'd accuse v
them of overcxaggcration. t
But the place WAS bigger and
louder than life. After two hours t
within its confines, take my word for e
It.
Don and I tramped in from the cold c
with my two nieces. Jennifer and I
Kelly, smiling, fresh from the big- (
screen delights of "A Great
American Tail." It liad been Don's e
thoughtful idea to take the girls out f
7lass Grap<
Megivern
.strange I cannot in good conscience
unload them on anyone. A cluster of
glass grapes gathered dust in my
"gift department" for two years
before I found someone peculiar
enough to appreciate it.
Mostly these gifts are quite acceptable.
some valuable or lovely, like
UIV SOI III KIICI1CI1 IOWCIS JUKI I'.ipKUl
rings in shell motif that! just sent off
to a friend in Oklahoma. The problem
with that gift land this is a hazard of
ro-eycling?is that I have tlie gnawing
suspicion she's the one who gave it to
me last year.
Sales, at any time of year, are an
MEWy
LETTER TO T
fictim Soys M
liistory. He'll know what is l>est for
me and when 1 should have tests run.
Hut he didn't.
I found the growth which turned
iut to !)e malignant and which had
already spread to the lymph nodes. I
vas the one who went through six
weeks of radiation and two years of
intense chemotherapy. I was the one
who spent two years absolutely so
sick I thought many times I might
well die from the diease as the treatment.
The moral to that story is get more
ihan one doctor's opinion. After my
first surgery I had mammograms
ionc on the remaining breast every
d Have Beer
Susan
or a movie and pizza, a chance for
heir soon-to-be "Uncle Don" to get
o know them better.
Though a little tired after what had
*en a long day for all four of us, we
/ere in generally good luunor. That
/as fortunate, because wo needed all
he high spirits we could muster.
The place was warm?no, make
hat hot and stuffy, as well as crowdid
and noisy. I.ike most of the other
[rown-ups in the place Don and I
ould hardly hear ourselves think.
Jut we were there to HAVK-AJOOD-TIME,
so we did.
No one had warned us of wliat to
xpect?least of all the computerized
loor show tiiat featured an animated
2S, Anyone'
irresistible source of itifts to me.
However, in the glow inn moment of
purchase, things often look better
than they do later. That's why 1 now
have a stack of Incite salt and pepper
mills, filled with salt chunks and pep
pcrcorns. that I just can't find homes
for. looking at them in a calmer moment.
1 realize why these rather
ordinary-looking objects were on
sale.
Finally. I make too mnnv purchases
basetl on a fanciful notion that
a product is an unusual, therefore
great idea. This concept led me to
order a metal workbox full of tiny
compartments where all manner of
nails, screws, bolts, etc . are nestled.
Here at the 11th hour of Christmas, I
can't convince myself any one of my
sons will be thrilled with it. and my
husband lias already laughed in my
ff.on I uffi<ri><l i? l.i...
Actually. I do sometimes buy nifts
that are carefully chosen for particular
persons and their
preferences. In fact, it's a thrill to
v_? ' I I \ ' ~ I '
HE EDITOR
ammograms
six months. It was painless. Consequently,
when a spot was found four
years later in the second breast, it
was removed and no extra treatment
was necessary.
I thank God every day for modern
science.
It's a cruel thing for the family.
They never know if you're going to
make it tlirough another treatment
or not. It's especially hard on the
children in the family. When you
were small, did you ever have to
wonder if mom was going to be
around for next Christmas or for that
wedding or graduation?
To all women, regardless of age, I
i Headache N
countrified hear and a hip gorilla
singing fractured Christinas carols
and beach music. I clapped and hummed
and sang along on the birthday
song, generally making a minor fool
of myself. Isn't that wliat you're supposcd
to do in a place like that?
Suddenly it was clear why my
sister Carol had crinned so hard
when the outing was first suggested?and
why she helped the girls
round up the game token coupons
earned by their good grades in
school. She wanted us to use them all
up, delaying her next visit to this
'? ??'K innamii;. 1111 unu nas
ever called my sister a dununy.
As we hummed along with the computerized
critters while wailing for
our order number to pop up, a group
of birthday party stragglers one
table over divvied up balloons
delivered after most of the partygoers
iiad gone home.
Pizza devoured in a matter of
minutes, we headed energetically for
the game room, where Jennifer und
Kelly scored neck and neck on skee
discover someone is longing for a I
.specific something. Hut those
discoveries are rare, and I just don't
have the imagination to fit the right
gift to the ri^ht poison.
For very special people there is one 1
contingency plan 1 pursue every
year, with consistent failure. I try to
give of myself" in a gift. i.e.. make
something. The results have included
a hideous orange sweater for my husband
that was in progress three
years (never completed), and dry.
lumpy coffee cakes that even our
scavenger cats refused to eat.
Ciivcn all tins information, you
might be a little apprehensive about
being on my gift list. Susan, for instance.
can begin right now worrying
about her wedding present. It all
depends. Susan, on what the January
sales have to offer, and on what's
under my Christmas tree that will be
rejected.
Or couldn't a newly wed use a metal
workbox full of nails?
I
$43
Painless
can't stress strongly enough how important
these tests are. Mammograms
anil self-examination.
I have had around eight
mamogrnms and all of them were
painless. Believe me, the alternative
is devastating even if you're lucky i
enough to live through it like I did.
If my story and what I've been
through will help just one person, it
will have been worth it.
1 was born and raised in Brunswick
County and hope to go back Uiere to
retire next year
Frances Higdon Bozeman
Orange Purk, Florida
O. 66
ball. Dan and I even tossed a few
rounds of nine balls each, scoring
miserably alongside the girls.
As we sweated near the escape
batch, the nieces traded their skceball
prize tickets for junk jewelry, an
eraser and a folding oriental fan.
We were safely on our way home,
humor intact and feeling pretty
pleased with ourselves, when a small
voice piped from the rear scat that
her pocketbook Itad been left behind.
Actually, it was a purse she'd l>orrowed
from her sister and left hanging
on a chair in the pizza parlor. In
relocating to the game room, the
purse somehow landed on the
humidifier.
It was still there when, some
minutes and several big-sisterly
scoldings later, we retrieved it, cash
and other valuables intact.
Disaster avoided, we were on our
way toward Winnabow when the
overall experience begun to sink in.
As Don explained later, that's the
kind of place everyone .should go
to?once a year.
A