NEW BERN
PUBLISHED WEEKLY
'HE HEART OF
"ERN NORTH
ROLINA
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5
VOLUME 2
NEW BERN, N. C., FRIDAY, JUNE 5, 1959
'MBER 10
Like a lot of other newspaper
men, we’re called upon at various
timse to speak at this or that func
tion. So far no oratory for the ages
has resulted. Quantity rather than
quality has characterized our
speech-making, up to the present.
Tuesday we had our toughest as
signment—tougher even that being
in a pulpit as a lay speaker when
you know you’ve got no business
assuming so sacred and solemn an
undertaking.
Until you try to deliver a com
mencement address for an alert
and highly critical groun of eighth
graders—graduating from Junior
High—you have no idea of what
a torture chamber is.
This is an important occasion,
and you know it. You can read it
on the face^ of this horde of
youngsters. They’re going to re
member the eveiit for the balance
of their days, and the printed pro
gram is going into their scrap
books.
They’re expecting to hear some
thing that is worthwhile, yet en
tertaining. They don’t want to be
preached to, fussed at, or flattered.
To tell the truth, they aren’t ex
actly sure what they want, and
the commencement speaker isn’t
sure either.
As you face them, waiting to be
introduced, you are at least smart
enough to realize that you’ve got
two strikes against you before you
even start. To these boys and girls,
every adult is a square.
'““ -SKice commencement speakers at
a Junior High graduation are
adults, they’re a square just like
the proud parents, relatives and
friends who take a back seat in the
audience and watch.as you attempt
to speak the language and reach
the hearts of kids who are wise
and think they’re wiser.
It doesn’t help any, when you
stand there and remember that
you’ve never cared much for com
mencement speakers yourself. Ypu
recall your own youth, when the
orators forced upon you were tre
mendously dull and talked entirely
too long.
Already unnerved because your
son (among the graduates) dida’t
laugh when you tried out your best
joke on him ahead of time, you
brace yourself and meet your as
sembled executioners.
Trying to impress an eighth
grade class is futile. Certainly you
’ve got no chance to impress them
when they have known you since
their infancy, and are quite aware
of your shortcomings.
So you decide to just be yourself,
and pour your heart out. You re
mind them of the great blessings
bestowed upon them by God, when
He gave theni healthy bodies and
sound minds.
And, in all sincerity, you call at
tention to their countless other
blessings. Havifig taken your own
blessings for granted, time and
time again, you ask them to be
grateful—every moment of every
busy day.
You urged them to judge others
fairly—not by what they have but
what they are. In using the yard
stick, they are advised to consider
how far a fellow human has come
from, hot how far he or she has
gone.
And, in that vein of thought, you
point out the injustice and the lack
of intelligence we mortals display
when we classify the worth of oth
ers by the houses they live in, the
cars they ride in, and the clothes
they wear.
You try to sell them on the idea
that all of God’s children are im
portant, and deserve to be treated
with tolerance, compassion and dig
nity. You remind them that the
great foundation of the American
way of life is respect for the dig
nity of man. You invite them to be
CREATIVE EXCELLENCE ^ Sue Joe Lowery, Albert
Thomas III, and Sidney Keeter pose happily with the New
Bern Mirror awards presented to them Tuesday when Jun
ior High graduation exercises were held at the Masonic
Theatre. Sue Jo’s engraved loving cup was for art. Tom
my’s for poetry and Sidney’s for an original story entered
in prose competition. Seventh and eighth graders were
eligible to compete.—Photo by Billy Benners.
Trying to Keep Up with New
Is Making New Bernians Old
You don’t have to rummage
through Grandpa’s keepsakes—
crammed in a corner of the at
tic—to discover that compared
with him the New Bernian of to
day is a restless and decidedly
uncertain soul.'
When next you visit a grocery
store, just take stock of the items
in your basket, and those in the
basket of the shopper who waits in
line ahead of you.
Maybe it’s part and parcel of our
troubled world, and an outgrowth
of our mutual frustration. Anyhow,
we no longer purchase products
that have admirably stood the test
of time.
a part of that greatness.
As you speak, you have a gnaw
ing feeling that what you are say
ing may sound pretty corny. But,
because you believe it, you keep
on saying it. If you can’t make a
good speech, at least you’ll voice
what is in your heart.
Sooner than you expected, your
commencement address is over.
You take your seat—breathing a
little prayer that somehow some
thing you’ve said has taken root
in the youth of your own home
town.
You feel good inside, when you
hear the applause. You hope des
perately that it isn’t-just polite
ness, and you feel humble and un
derserving. Maybe the speech did
n’t do anyone else any good, but
for you it has been an unforget
table moment that you’ll treasure
as long as you live.
Gone are the days when a family
used the same brand of soap or
baking powder for generations. In
stead, we avoid the old standby
like it was poison, and invariably
clutch the new.
Whether it be coffee, washing
powder, toothpaste v or cigarettes,
we’re all easy prey for the shrewd
manufacturer who comes up with
a sales pitch that assures us “some
thing new has been added.’’
Any and everything that we use
in the household, including head
ache remedies, is apt to be on our
shelves because it is claimed to
have something included that no
other competing product has.
Everybody who has a ware to
peddle has long since gotten into
the act. Naturally, you would ex
pect the manufacturer who is try
ing to introduce an item that is
unknown to resort to such tactics,
but he has been joined by the old
established merchandiser, either
through absolute necessity or ap
prehensive fear.
If nothing else, the established
trend proves that advertising pays.
But for advertising, all of us would
no doubt still be clinging to the
things that our parents and grand
parents remained intensely loyal
to, through the years.
Of course, it is only fair to ad
mit that there actually has been
vast improvement in many fields.
In frozen foods, particularly, prog
ress has brought about a higher
standard of living. By and large,
the product of today really is bet
ter than what Grandma thought
was wonderful. Whether we’re get
ting better meals with better prod
ucts is debatable.
What should disturb New Bern
ians—and all other Americans—
is the strong indication that much
of the ballyhoo about “new” mira
cles that are added to our neces
sities and luxuries is strictly false,
and if not false, rather misleading.
That it disturbs us enough, or
any at all, is doubtful, considering
the eagerness with which we accept
even the most idiotic statement
phrased in a commercial for ab
solute fact.
Obviously, all of the cigarettes
on the market today can’t be the
best. Yet, if you believe the sales
pitch that each has to offer, you
are supposed to reach the conclu
sion that no other smoke can do for
you what this particular brand can.
As for headache powders, the
three leading brands on the market
now are engaging in a ridiculous
fight to belittle competing prod
ucts. It’s enough to give you a sec
ond headache, just figuring out
which pain reliever to use without
upsetting your stomach or suffer
ing other harmful results.
It’s the same way with tooth
paste. ’This despite the fact that a
reputable New Bern dentist tells us
that all toothpastes among the
leading brands are equally good
for doing the one thing that they
are capable of—cleansing your
teeth.
The same, we’ve been told, goes
for any quality shampoo. And, re
gardless of what some glib spieler
tells you when he rattles off his
commercial, there is more than one
deodorant available to keep your
closest friend from shunning you.
How much simpler it was for
Grandpa. He didn’t even know
what a deodorant was. What he did
know was that enough soap and
water properly applied could get
you in good shdpe for church, a
square dance or a husking bee.
As for this or that shaving
cream. Grandpa didn’t have to wor
ry about that either. Somehow,
with still more soap, he got his
whiskers off. And despite all the
wonderful hair tonic available to
day, it is easy to see that bald
heads haven’t vanished from the
scene.
Gnce there was nothing new un
der the sun. Now everything is
new, and more newness hits the
market just as fast a$ packages can
be turned out by the printers, and
commercials can be written.
No doubt about it, we’re a trou
bled bunch of humans—here in
New Bern and throughout the
length and breadth of these Unit
ed States.
Now, if you’ll pardon us, we’d
like to head for the nearest store.
We can’t wait to find out what we
should buy next.
RULING THE ROOST
Marysville, Ohio — The pigeons
have competition for the space atop
the statue of justice on the local
courthouse. Attached to the statue
is an antenna for the sheriff’s
radio.
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