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The NEW BERN
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PUBLISHED WEEKLY
IN THE HEART OP
. EASTERN NORTH
r /‘G^j CAROLINA
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C p o •
V-
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VOLUME 16
NEW BERN, N. C. 28560, FRIDAY, JUNE 29, 1973
NUMBER 1b
(Many of our present sub
scribers weren’t readers of The
Mirror, when the column
reprinted below first appear^
on June 20, 1958. Because of a
number of requests, we are glad
to publish it again).
In every town there ought to
be a local Hall of Fame, where
so called unimportant folks
could have inscribed their
name.
For instance, Albert Crabtree
Is a man we won’t forget, llie
many jobs be brought to us are
pleasant memories yet. We kids
ali dubbed him “Crabby” but he
never was that way. In fact,
with youngsters hovering
’round, you’d always find him
gay.
As generous as the morning
sun that shines on everything,
this little man with legs quite
bowed was like a breath of
Spring. We’re sure no one will
ever know, there’s no one who
could measure, the hours and
dollars that he spent for ot^r
people’s pleasure.
Many’s the time he knocked
off work, and closed his little
joint, to slave at firing up the
club we had at Uni(m Point. He
built a dock and put up swings,
and what a diving board! Yes,
Crabby shelled out money that
he had a chance to hoard.
New clothes never crossed his
mind, he stuck to coveralls. He
passed up swank occasions and
evaded social calls. He gave his
heart to boys and girls, they
came down by the score to get
the recreation that they never
had before.
Those boys and girls are
grown ups now, and scattered
everywhere. Stme of the gang
have evot died on battlefields
out there. But scattered though
we know th^ are, we hope each
grown up kid remembers all the
kindly things that good old
Crabby did.
These are the rhyming lines,
written years before, that we
read at Albert Crabtree’s
funeral. The lines fitted him,
iust like the simple epitaph on
his modest gravestone that
reads “He lived his life for
boyhood.”
Not only boys but girls as well
were blessed by the great
generosity of this grand little
man. We thought of him par
ticularly during the recent
Father’s Day because he was a
second father to every kid he
knew.
To us. Crabby was Santa
Claus without the red costume,
white whiskers and reindeer. A
bachelor, he nevertheless had
the biggest adopted family in
town, and did more for New
Bern youngsters than any man
of his era.
His gang (not to' be confused
with present-day punks who
lean toward lawlessness) had
its unplanned inception in
Crabbv’s tiny machine sh^.
Kids topped by to watch him
work, in much the same manner
that kids once watched
Longfellow’s Village
Blactemith.
Crabby was kind to them, and
they returned again and again.
He shared their jovs and
sorrows, forgave them for their
pranks, and gave them advice
(Continued on page 8)
SEA GULL AND SEAFARER SEEN FROM THE AIR.