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Vol. 45 No. 4.
Elizabeth City, N.C
...14 Pages
December
Circulation 1,500
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One day at my Christmas job,
Santa brought down to my
station a cargo of presents. Being
an employee of Santa’s Gift
Wrap is fun, despite all the Ben
Gay and Absorbine Jr. that has
been rubbed on my fingers due to
the cramps after wrapping
millions and millions of presents.
After seeing the sizes of some
of the gifts, I questioned Santa if
he was serious about having
some of them wrapped.
“Will a large red bow do?” I
asked Santa.
“No,” he said with a gleam,
“these presents are for special
people and they deserve a nice
gift wrapped box.”
Ooodles and oodles of words
ran throught my mind when I
thought of the boxes I would
need to wrap some of the
peculiar, but cute presents. If I
wanted to keep my job as the
Official Gift Wrapper for Santa
Claus, then it was my duty to do
as Santa requested.
“Here’s the list,” said Santa as
he shoved tobacco into his pipe.
“Please use the best decorative
paper you have.”
“Well Santa,” I sighed,
wishing he would not tell me how
to do my job, “who do you think
these people are?”
“Just do a good job as you have
done so in the past,” praised
Santa,while exiting the door.
“A-l-r-i-g-h-t,” I exclaimed
agreeably as I opened the en
velope which contained the list.
“After wrapping,” the in
structions read, “these gifts are
to be delivered to Elizabeth City
State University in N.C. before
everyone goes home on Dec.16th.
I know it is rushing you a bit,but I
know you will not let me down.
Joyfully yours, Santa.”
I thought I was dreaming.
Santa really trusted me to do this
job. I wondered whether it was
because of my affiliation with
ECSU. I took this job as an honor
and placed pride in each roll of
paper'I selected to wrap the gifts
in.
I became tickled as I scanned
the list. Some of the gifts were
quite humorous. At the bottom of
the list, Santa had written a
special note. I was to inform him
when I was finished with my task
because he had one more sur
prise present to be wrapped.
Putting away the idleness, I
quickly began my task.
I did not have a box in stock for
Chancellor Jenkins and his
family’s gift.. Their gift was so
big that I had to make a box
myself. Dr. Jenkins must have
been a good person to deserve
this gift from Santa I thought,as I
placed the yellow bow on the
purple-foiled wrapped box.
“It’s not everyday Santa just
gives Mercedes-Benzs away,” I
grunted while attempting to push
the box aside.
After that present which came
close to taking all of my energy, I
thought I would wrap something
small. The smallest gift I could
find was a check that Santa had
written. Resorting to just placing
it in a decorative envelope, I
time
for
by
Algie H. Mabry, Jr.
leaped for joy when I reviewed
the check and saw who and what
it was for. Santa had endorsed a
check in the amount of 1.5 million
dollars to Butler Hall for
renovations. He even asked that
a chimney be built so that he
won’t have tospend his time
trying to crawl through the
cracks of the wall.
The next present I chose to
wrap was for a pretty young
lady. I agreed with Santa that
this present was for a special
person and it deserved the best.
Ever since the night of
Coronation, Santa has grown
fond of Miss ECSU 83-84. I made
sure that each piece of tape was
placed neatly and that each
comer was creased to its fullest,
as I wrapped the video of
Coronation 1983 that Santa had
recorded. Apparantly, he must
have wanted it to be an
everlasting memory for Inez and
wanted her to always think of
that special occasion.
Carefully placing Miss ECSU’s
present aside, I had to wipe tears
from my eyes. The thought of
Santa wanting Inez to remember
her dream come true was too
touching. After I pulled myself
together, the next gift I wrapped,
which required me to make
another box, was a new dish
washer. I tried to figure out who
on campus was in need of a dish
washer and finally it came to me.
Once again I had to agree with
Santa on his selection of this
present which was well needed.
The cafeteria was in for a sur^
prise on Christmas morning!
About tBis time my fingers
began going through their usual
routine. They all ACHED! I
could not stop my job because the
next present I had to wrap was
for Dr. Anne Henderson. I
speculated as I handled the
porcelain Mamma Smurf doll. I
even wondered if she would think
of it as a bribe if I wrapped it in
Smurf Christmas Gift Wrap.
Now down to only three more
presents, I found strength to
continue my job. Making 4.90 an
hour as a gift wrapper was not all
that bad! Aware of the cir
cumstances of the Band, once
again I leaped for joy but even
higher when I saw their present.
One by one, one after another, I
put the best uniforms ever
designed into a box that
resembled a storage closet. I
thought I would never find a bow
large and long enough to go on
the box that was adorned with
musical notes.
My job now was sort of like a
space rocket countdown. I was on
my next to the last present when
Santa called from his mansion.
“Are you ' still wrapping?”
asked Santa, who had just
returned from taking pictures
with the children at some local
Children’s Home.
“Are you crazy?” I threw back
to him over the phone, “ I only
have two more to wrap and could
b ‘ finished if I did not have to
chat on the telephone.”
“Just call when you’re
through,” chuckled Santa, who is
never aware of what goes into
gift wrapping, “ but don’t forget
the special gift.”
“ Shaga,” I screamed as I
hung the phone up so that I could
get back to my job. Every year
Santa comes up with these same
old games. It is sort of like a
tradition between Santa and me.
Never in a day have I had to
wrap an entire room. I heard
about painting a room, re
arranging a room, or decorating
a room, but never wrapping a
room. Santa must have been out
of his mind,but as a dedicated
worker I did my job. Santa had
combined all the needed
equipment that the COMPASS
has so long been in the need of
into a nice package.
“ Finally, the last present,” I
shouted as I calculated the
number of hours I spent wrap
ping the presents.
Mrs. Claus is employed part-
time as an interior decorator,and
I guess that it was her interest in
furniture that sparked this gift
from Santa. From now on, the
lobby rooms of the apartments in
the New Complex were to be
furnished with Victorian fur
niture. I was amazed when I
forgot to pull one of the price tags
off of the leg of the love seat and
saw its value as I placed it in a
box. Santa spent a pretty good
penny for that furniture. I was
through. It hai been done.
After taking a breather, I
called Santa.
“Hello Santa,” I chuckled, “
this is the number one gift
wrapper in all the world. I have
completed your orders and am
waiting for your approval.
Also,when you find time, will you
bring the other surpise present
down so that I can do such an
excellent job as I have done the
rest?” You could not tell me
anything; I knew that my gift
wrapping was the best.
Before I could hardly hang up
the phone, Santa had arrived and
was pleased with the gifts that I
had wrapped for him. Santa
pulled out of his red velvet jacket
the surprise present that I was to
wrap. It really surprised me
because I was expecting
something out of the ordinary
like the rest of the gifts. This
present was for the entire ECSU
University Family so I knew I
had to do a great job. It was a 24
karat gold plaque with “Merry
Christmas and A Happy New
Year” engraved on it.
Recollecting and hoping that
everyone will enjoy their
Christmas presents, Santa and
myself sat down and fixed our
selves a nice relaxing drink.
About to be full of the Christmas
spirits, the only thing we both
could say was “Merry Christmas
and A Happy New Year To All!”
Valerie- The Parachuter
▼
i
by James N. Howard, Jr.
Valerie Watson, 22, is the first
woman parachutist in the ECSU
Army ROTC Program. A
Sociology major with a minor in
Criminal Justice, Watson is a
Second Lieutenant in the ROTC
Program. She joined the
program in 1982 and enjoys
working with the Army. There is
only one other parachutist in the
Cadet Corps.
Valerie has won a variety of
awards: Science Award,
Academic Achienement Award,
Advanced Course in Physical
Fitness Award, Advance Camp
Physical Fitness Award and
Parachute Badge.
Valerie decided to pursure the
Cadet field because she said, “It
is a challenge and something
different and I love challenges
and adventures.”
When Valerie graduates from
ECSU she plans to continue in the
Army as a Second Lieutenant.
She hopes to make the Army her
career.
She said, “I really enjoy
working in ROTC. Lots of
students do not realize the op
portunity that they have with
ROTC and they’re wasting time
by not giving it a try.”
Valerie said, “Yes, I get
scared a little before I jump out;
it something that I feel I have to
do since I volunteered to do it.”
The Cadet Program obviously
requires a great deal of courage
and you have to know what you
want. Valerie said, “I am glad
that I chose ROTC and if I had a
chance I wouldn’t change my
mind.”
“The main thing to remember
when in the air is to keep your
feet and knees together to
prevent breaking your legs. You
have to keep your mind on what
you are doing and you cannot be
scared,” said Valerie.
The Cadet Program is a
volunteer program and the
parachuters do not get paid. THe
program could be better if we
had more people involved.
Anyone interested in an “Ad
vantage” with the ROTC
Program shsould Contact Sgt.
Greene in the ROTC building.
Valerie Watson
photo by R. J. Walker
Christmas 1983
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