VOLUME XVIII, NUMBER 3
NORTH CAROLINA WESLEYAN COLLEGE, ROCKY MOUNT.i N.C.
I REMEMBER.
Dawn was about to break.
There was a cool chill in the
air. As I look out the window
all I could see were snow-
covered roof tops, and tree
boughs heavy laden with
snow. There was a roaring fire
in the fireplace. As I sat by the
fire, the familiar smells of
spices and evergreen wafted
throughout the room.
It was still too early for
the children to be up so I sat
back in my chair, slowly
drinking a cup of coffee and
recalling some of the
Christmas mornings I had
shared with my family in the
past. As I sat there I thought
about how different my family
spends Christmas now and
how it was spent when I was a
child. Oh, how I yearn for
those days again. My children
are growing up missing all the
fun things we used to do.
As children, we all worked
together for days and days
getting the house decorated
for Christmas. It was a
tradition for us to spend
Christmas Eve trimming the
tree. After we had finish^ the
tree. Daddy would take down
the old family Bible and read
the Christmas story to us.
When he had finished reading,
we would say our prayers and
go to bed to dream about our
presents. We all looked for
ward to running downstairs
the next morning to see what
Santa Claus had brought.
Christmas was one of the
most important days of the
year for us. My mom got up
very early and would spend
the wee hours of the morning
in the kitchen cooking pies,
cakes, and candy. We always
had enough food to feed an
army. After we opened our
presents and played for a
while we would load the car
and head to my grandparents’
home. We’d pass the time by
singing Christmas carols and
taking in the scenery. Before I
knew it, we would be at my
grandparents’ home.
I knew when we got there
we would be greeted by aunts
and uncles and our cousins.
But I always looked forward
to my hugs from my grand
mother and my grandfather.
By the time we were settled,
my tummy was growling. We
had breakfast with Grandma
and Grandpa. The smells of
country sausage, scrambled
eggs, and brewing coffee filled
the air. We’d gather around
the big diningroom table and
“enjoy a meal fit for a king.”
After breakfast we would
go to the living room where
^e Christmas tree was.
Grandpa would come in the
room with his Santa suit on
and pass out our presents.
When we were through, there
would be mounds of wrapping
paper strewn all over the
room. When we tired of
playing with our toys. Mom
would bundle us up and we
would go outside to play in the
snow.
It was fun to build
snowmen, snow forts, and
make snow angels. Playing
the snow would wear us out
and whet an appetite for
Christmas dinner.
Christmas dinner was
super! We had ham, turkey
and dressing, an array of
vegetables, and cranberry
sauce. My aunt Jean made the
best yeast rolls; I don’t know
anyone who had rolls to
compare with her’s. But that
wasn’t all! Mom brought the
pie and cakes she had made.
We even had homemade snow
cream.
After dinner my aunt
would send us back outside to
play until it was time for us to
go home. What they did while
we were outside, I never
knew.
“Hey Mom, wake up,”
someone cried. I looked up
and saw my. husband and
three children standing
around me. “It’s time to open
the presents^” cried one.
“Mommy,’’ exclaimed my
little girl, “Daddy said that we
were going to spend the day
with Grandma and Grandpa.”
Tommy, my husband, had
left the room while we were
talking. The next thing I heard
was, “Ho, ho, ho!” In walked
Tommy dressed in Grandpa’s
old Santa suit.
I just smiled. With tears of
joy in my eyes, I joined my
little family as we opened our
presents. As I looked around
the room I thought to myself,
“Maybe they do care after
all.”
Jean Goolsby
The Energy Crisis:
Running On Empty
The energy crunch has
hurt us in many ways. The
strain on our pockets, and the
inconvenience of long awaited
hours in the gas lines. The big
monopolizing oil companies
along with the O.P.E.C.
nations are to share in the
A CAPTIVATIIVG CHRISTMAS
AP-Washington, B.C.
This morning. President
Carter, in an unexpected
press conference, announced
that Kris Kringle, a prominent
international figure, was
among the hostages presently
held captive by the Ayatollah
Ruhollah Khomeini.
The Ayatollah, in an
undisclosed letter to Carter,
revealed that Mr. Kringle is
among those to be tried as
spies. He denounced Kringle
as an attache of the U.S.,
claiming that Kringle’s world
tours during the month of
December are not for the
propagation of world peace,
brotherhood, and love, but
rather, are American satellite
spy missions. Khomeini ac
cused the U.S. of corrupting
the Christmas concept
through “subversive ac
tivities.” What these “ac
tivities” include has not yet
been disclosed by the White
House. He further described
the action taken by the U.S. as
an “abomination to
Mohammed.”
The President stated that
there was not any semblance
of truth to Khomeini’s ac
cusations. He said, “The
Ayatollah has gone well
beyond the bonds of ac
ceptable international
behavior. We have received
world-wide support in con-
deming Khomeini’s captivity
of Kris Kringle.” Carter once
again called for the im
mediate release of all
hostages.
How this recent
development will affect
Christmas is yet to be seen.
Unless Kringle is released
within the week, it appears
children around the world will
wake up to empty stockings
and minimal presents under
their trees. Parents and
children protesting
Khomeini’s actions rallyed in
the Capitol displaying banners
which read, “Box, gift wrap,
and send Khomeini to Hell!!”
blame, but what can be done
to help resolve the problem of
the energy shortage? The
most common of several
solutions to the shortage is to
have every individual help
conserve this precious
commodity.
The Wesleyan community
could contribute, if each
resident student closes his
window when the heat is on,
turns off stereos when not in
use, and regulate the use of
small appliances which guzzle
large amounts of electricity.
Wesleyan’s total utility bill,
which includes heating and
electrical power, cost
Wesleyan $175,000.00 last year
and increases annually with
inflation. Mr. Ray Kirkland
pointed out that if this huge
sum of money could be
reduced, by conserving
energy, the result would be a
stabilization or reduction of
tuition, depending on the
amount of money the college
, saves on its energy bills,
An idea stated by Dr.
Kenneth Finney is called the
“double-prong challenge.”
The double-prong challenge
would work like this: a
student decides to work on an
energy program for the
college, pending that he or she
is successful, and saves the
college a substantial amount
of money on their energy bills,
then this student’s tuition
would be waived for four
years. This is one of several
good ideas which can save
energy and help Wesleyan
students at the same time.
Students, wake up! Start
sacrificing now to help con
serve energy, or the result will
surely be a grave one.
Noel Patel
Only those who have the
patience to do simple things
perfectly will acquire the
skills to do difficult things
easily.