Opinion Page
THE BRUNSWi
Edward HI. Sweatt and Carolyn
Edward ill. Sweatt
Su?>an Usher
Halm Adams & Doug Hotter...
Johnny Craig
Christine Itallou
Carolyn H. Sweatt
Sue llarefoot ?X Timherlev Ada
Tammie Galloway & Dorothy 1!
William Manning .
Uremia Clemmons
I.onnie Sprinkle
Clyde anil Mattie Stout, l'hoehe
Page 4-A
We Need
BY BILL
There is the old story about t\v
center during the Christmas season.
cialization of CI
with activities.
A even the churcli
programs, and f
beginning to sue
of Christmastim
Ivsjfetfr C'1U.rC'leS V
.. Historians t(
r aver
as a holiday eve
was centered around a midwinter f<
greens, use of mistletoe, holly and d
Christian people. The Christians ad
adapted them for use in homes and
This bringing of nature into our
an old, old custom; it reminds us wi
outside.
Gift giving, too, is an adaptation
gift of Christ as our Savior. We exp
family and friends. We also have ex|
to those in need of food and clothing
earthquake devastation in Armenia,
in Mexico City, and the homeless in n
pie evidence of those in need.
Most of us would like to help, t
make life more meaningful for peoph
of us feel guilty about the excesses w
to be met. We also feel helpless wher
the enormity of the problems. We e
governments, to world relief organic
happen.
But we need to give at Christmas
our caring for our loved ones. We nee
who have needs we hopefully will nev
agencies and programs aimed at pn
health. They need our support and on
it shows our values and puts our liv(
because it makes us better people as i
community.
Dear Santa: I
Bring AAe A (
I must be getting old and set in my
ways, but I've had it with modern
technology?personal computers,
video-cassette recorders, compact
disc players, the whole works.
Ever since I was a tyke, I've liked
gadgets. Even now, I'm one of those
guys who always drags the little lady
into the electronics store at the shopping
mall but never buys anything.
My wife has come to understand that
it's a deep-rooted addiction of sorts.
While most kids my age played
with G.I. Joe dolls, mini-bikes and
BB guns, I got my kicks years ago by
tearing apart junked tape recorders,
cameras, radios and record players
that were supplied by a family friend
whose father-in-law was a garbage
collector. We had connections.
i aiways priaea myseii in tne tact
that I owned almost as much equipment
as my storybook hero, junior
sleuth Brains Benton, had in his
secret crime laboratory. Whether or
not my contraptions actually worked
didn't matter. Half the fun was
tinkering with all the little knobs,
wires and screws without getting
shocked.
And over the years I've tried to
keep up with technology. My parents
bought me a cassette tape recorder
one Christmas, after I took rny portable
reel-to-reel model apart one too
many times. Another Christmas I got
one of the first pocket cameras on the
market?which made me feel one up
on Brains Benton, since he didn't
have a "spy camera" like mine.
The old tube radio that blew out on
me during an after-bedtime, underthe-covers
"surveillance" of an
Atlanta Braves baseball game eventually
was replaced by an AM transistor
radio that had an earphone
jack for secret listening.
Ana me singie-speea, monophonic
record player?the one that used to
play my yellow Roy Rogers records
like a charm but later chewed up my
"Hey Jude" 45 after the tonearm
broke?was chucked in favor of the
console stereo my folks bought in the
late 1960s.
Since my parents liked the Beatles
less than my old record player did, I
rarely got the chance to listen to my
rock'n'roll records. But I've heard
every Chuck Wagon Gang song
pressed in vinyl, and I can still do a
fair impression of Andy Williams
i.
ICK&BEACON
11. Sweatt Publishers
Editor
iSvws Editor
Staff Writers
Sports Editor
Office Manager
Advertising Director
ma.Advertising Representatives
trcnnnn Typesetters
Pressman
Photo Technician
Assistant Pressman
Clemmons Circulation
Thursday, December 15,1988
To Give
FAVER
o women overheard at a shopping
They were discussing the commeriristmas
and how busy they were
One was heard to remark, "Why,
les are getting into it, with all the
>ageants, and bazaars!"
she meant was the churches were
cumb to the commercial pressures
e. Of course, she could have meant
?ere beginning to be a part of
ill us the celebration of Christmas
nt predates the birth of Christ and
estival. Most of our hanging of the
lecorations had little to do with the
opted these rites and customs and
churches.
homes during the winter months is
th color and fragrance of the world
i. The churches remind us of God's
ress our response through gifts to
pressed our response through gifts
and friendship. This year, with the
*?: J- * J
nam wrecits in i.onaon, explosions
lost of our cities, we have first am0
give something in some way to
} caught in such devastation. Some
e practice when there is real need
1 our little efforts are compared to
nd up leaving it to others, to the
:ations. Maybe that's what should
>. We need to express our love and
d to share of our bounty with those
er experience. We need to support
itecting our environment and our
ir caring. We need to give because
;s in perspective. We need to give
individuals and a better people as a
Please Don't
ID Player
singing "Alfie."
Years later when I started working
part-time after school, my first couple
of paychecks were spent on a
stereo of my very own?and a set of
headphones, since my parents were
still paying the power bill and didn't
think much of "wang wang" music in
the first place.
Until I moved away from home and
started paying for my own electricity,
a new LP was added to my record
collection almost every payday. I
also bought two stereo tape
decks?cassette and reel-to-reel?to
recora aiDums uiai i Qian't want to
risk scratching. I was in gadget
heaven.
The predicament I'm in now,
though, is that my stereo system is on
its last legs. Sure, I could let gizmo
fever get the best of me and ask Santa
for a compact disc player, but
what would I do with my 200 scratchfree
LPs? No one needs that many
Frisbees.
I also don't like the idea of being
forced to buy these supposedly indestructible
compact discs, since
records are being phased out just as
eight-track tapes were a few years
ago. No matter what CD lovers say,
nothing sounds better than the album
that didn't get sun warped when you
left it in your parked car outside the
mall last August?that is, if you've
ever heard one that did warp.
Besides, if I give in to CDs now, I'm
sure I'll eventually ask St. Nick to
replace my cheap IBM-incompatible
computer with a more expensive
mnripl hllU mo O triHo/v-r>npoo#fn
j miv w yiuv vv-aoacnc
recorder that doesn't eat every other
tape, and trade my manual 35mm
camera in on one of those automatic
jobs that does everything except
count to three.
I hate to admit it, but Santa's
checkbook and I are fed up with progress.
That's enough to make a
gadget junkie cry.
Sho|
One of the things I like best about
the Christmas season, at least here at
the Beacon, is the stack of letters to
Santa we get each year from local
elementary school children.
From the first batch of carefully
lettered notes that begin, "Dear Santa,"
I can tell right away what items
are "hot" each Christmas. There's
no need to call area merchants; I get
it straight from the consumers, the
kids.
Over the years, letters to Santa
have remained essentially the same,
though as a nation we're perhaps a
little more selfish or greedy than forty
or so years ago.
While researching the subject at a
former place of employment, I found
Broo
To the editor:
Dec. 8 I saw WECT-TV's news
broadcast about my employer,
Ocean Trail Convalescent Center of
Southport.
I found the information as
?r THwiW,
(Xf f Ihl j. ?
Alma Mat<
It seems like only yesterday that I
was talking about the giving season.
Hard to believe it's heen a uoar
already.
No, I'm not referring to Christmas.
I haven't even started to think about
that yet.
I'm talking about the annual fund
drive at my alma mater, Lock Haven
University. You may recall that I
successfully avoided donating to the
LHU Foundation last year after sitting
down and coming up with some
pretty darn good excuses.
After all, I had only been working a
few months and really didn't know
where I was headed. I also didn't
have any money sitting around collecting
dust at the time.
Well, here I am a year later with a
little more security and a little more
money, desperately searching for a
few innovative excuses to turn down
the place where I spent four of the
best years of my life.
This comes from a person who was
never any good at turning people
down. I recently paid one dollar for a
bumper sticker for some unknown
cause and have been known in the
past to purchase small stuffed raccoons
to benefit others. It seems I'm
always looking out for everyone but
myself. Anyway, I think you get the
idea.
This year, LHU has taken a new
I
My Mosr ?
BY JESS PARKER
Brunswick County Veteran Servict
My most eventful Christmas Eve
I was at sea on an early warning rada
the North Pacific. Generally the duty
this occasion the Russians decided t
line.
During the noon meal wc cxpcric
over by Russian aircraft. For the rest
to the evening we became a regular I
afternoon our station rotated and in ti
involved with a Russian intelligence
As the two ships closed we took a<
miles, but he would not allow the sep.
changed directions he would adjust t<
course. Finally our skipper signalled
ceed on a steady course and speed. Tl
back emergency to avoid the knife
Destroyer Escort.
A high state of nervous tension pc
coupled with the sadness of yet anothi
away irom noine. i ne missions aepai
we attempted to return to normal ro
no success at normalcy?the games, 1
kept erupting into temper flareups.
Taps were sounded at 10 p.m. hi
bed. Throughout the ship sailors wer
ding involved in what we knew as \
oping From Sc
Usher \
JW.
' (,y' / ,
that back in 1944, children who sent
letters to Santa at "The News i
Herald" in Morganton wrote (in 1
perfect English!) on topics such as <
world peace, a coat for their grand- 1
ma, a bike for brother, candy and 1
oranges and nuts for everyone, and of '
course, the best of everything for t
LETTERS TO T
dcast Told On
presented to be extremely \
misleading and unbecoming to the f
news media as a professsion. i
Allow me to express the unstated
facts; facts on which I am quite ?
qualified to elaborate, being an RN e
- A V) ft J ?
er Wants Mor
Doug Hpi dr
Rutter By*->- JL f
<rirv d
approach in its request for money. v
They mailed me an attractive ti
brochure detailing the goals and ac- h
complishments of the school and how
the foundation makes all of that hap- b
pen. It talks about all the "new cam- p
pus energy" and stuff like that. p
The bottom line, however, is still ii
the same. The foundation wants c
money, and it wants as much as its a
graduates are willing to give. v
As if it really matters, the school
also offers its valued alumni several ii
ways to contribute. g
In addition to mailing off a check
and enrolling in the appropriate club, v
the foundation offers personalized c
methods of giving which they have so c
aptly have included in a comprehen- a
sive "Planned Giving Program." i
Options include making a pledge c
and asking the foundation to bill me
later in the fund year. That's out of t
the question. If I don't have the 1
money now, I have to believe it would r
be asking for trouble to make a f
:ventful Chrisf
i officer (distance to the hori;
occurred in 1957. ed to the south w
r picket station in preparations at Peai
was boring but on I finally turned ii
o visit the picket to doze when word \
target was closing
need the first fly- radarman I came be
of the day and in- Combat Information
arget. In the late The weather ha
ransit we became through the compar
trawler. deck was wet, and I
ction to pass at 10 iron. (Later the ar
aration. When we Somewhat bloodied,
) stay on collision CIC watch. The tari
intentions to pro- Claus.
he Russian had to I must admit the
-edged bow of a the sky. Cooler hea
allowed to continue (
srmeated the ship to uiu maae tne roi
2r Christmas Eve ment could be hear
rted at 7 p.m. and went to bed, some
utine. There was Christmas Eve awaj
bull sessions, etc.
That was 1957. T
it no one went to Lot's all try to meet I
e sitting or stan- yet another Christm;
the 12-mile stare soldiers, sailors and
jnta's Letter
themselves and their parents.
Some of the letters asked about the
Claus family and the reindeer; many
others made pleas for the needy of
the world.
Kids are still asking for gifts for
their immediate families and
themselves.
This year, of course, the most common
refrain may be, "I want a
Mintendo." Repeat three times.
Scooters and trampolines are back
in style in '88, and bikes and Barbies
lave never gone out of style. And
some "Cabbage Patch" kids and
labies are still popping up in Santa's
etter bag. Anything associated with
'wheels"?from Hot Wheels to
ricyles to four wheelers?is a good
HE EDITOR
ly Half The '
,vith six years experience ranging
rom ICU and ER to director of nursng
When Ocean Trail hired me in
September they had experienced an
xtensive loss in nursing personnel.
e Money
ledge. That's sort of like buying a
efrigerator on credit without having
lie money to buy it in the first place.
I also could check the box inicating
that a corporate matching
ift is on the way or that one is being
ent by my employer. But for better
r worse, I value my job too much to
o something so foolish.
Including a little something in my
an tor me rounaauon is anotner opion
I have to pass up. I don't even
ave a will.
Naming the foundation as a
leneficiary in my life insurance
tolicy is also out of the realm of
lossibility because I don't have life
nsurance. (By the way, that's not an
pen invitation for all you insurance
igents out there. And I don't want a
rill, either.)
The only practical thing to do, then,
s to write a check or decide not to
jive altogether.
And since I really can't come up
rith any workable excuses, 1 guess I
:an give a little something for stulent
scholarships. Besides, I've
ilways wanted to fill in that little box
n my checkbook for tax deductible
lonations.
For just a $1 contribution, I can
lecome a member of the famed Bell
rVwi/nr Qnniotu T don't l/nnif> *?tho+ i*
iuiivi uu>.tbi.j. a uun v rvnuvr wiiat n
neans either, but it sure sounds imiressive.
mas Eve
son). All unseeing eyes were turnith
thoughts of Christmas Eve
1 Harbor.
) at 11 p.m. and was just beginning
ivas sounded that an unidentified
from the north. As the leading
>iling out of the rack, heading for
Center (CIC).
A rvinlr/v/l 1 J.."* T A
u pitncu ujj cjiiu jui>i ci5 1 Weill
tment hatch the ship rolled. The
slid against a sharp edged angle
ikle was diagnosed as broken),
wet, and in pain I faced a raucus
get had been identified as Santa
: willingness to shoot Santa out of
ds prevailed and the sleigh was
>n its mission. Word of my transit
unds, tempers cooled and merrid
throughout the ship. The crew
to hide tears for yet another
f from home.
his is 1988. Christmas Eve is near,
the 12-mile or 1000-meter stares of
is Eve away from home for many
marines.
Bag I
bet. Also safe for Santa's bag is most
anything with "turbo" in the title, or
Atari.
Kids' tastes are getting more expensive
every year. If Don and I were
parents, I'd be frightened by all the I
pressure. "No, we can't afford it"
and "Why not X instead?" would be
our own refrains. 1
It's nothing for kids to want?and
expect to get?a TV, VCR, telephone,
stereo, computer and camera of their
own.
That's incredible. How much we
take for granted. As another generation
of Moms used to say, "Think of I
all the starving children." And not I
just in Africa.
Story
A loss that is indeed reflected in their
licensure evaluation.
There was one 7-3 LPN, two 3-11
l-PNs, one 11-7 RN. Then myself and
two nurse managers. Hardly an adequate
staff. Each day was a struggle.
Since then we have fully restaffed.
The variations between acute care
(hospitals) and long-term care (nursing
homes) are significant. Hence,
we still have a way to go educating
staff about the specifics of gerontological
nursing.
implementation 01 pians is 111 progress
to complete the necessary
changes. You will find, if you look
closely, a dedicated staff striving to
carry out the necessary corrective
measures.
The WECT news broadcast only
told half of the story.
Robert D. Meek Jr., RN
Rt. 5, Shallotte
Clarification
From Church
To the editor:
Prior to the recent election, in a
candidate profile, published in this
paper, it was stated that Chris Chappell
was a member of Bethel
Primitive Baptist Church. Subsequently,
an article titled
"Correction" was published pointing
out that Chris Chappell was not a
member. This article appeared to
have been published under and by
authority of the church.
Because of the statement in the
correction, we feel clarification is in
order.
First, the correction was not
published under or by authority of
the church.
Second, even though Chris is not a
member of the church, he has attended
our church and his family attends
often. We are pleased that Chris and
his family feel this is their church.
Further, we feel this clarification is
in order because we are afraid the article
may have left the impression 0}
that non-members are not welcome
in our church. This of course is not
true.
Chris and his family and others in
our community are welcome, yes in
fact invited to attend our church and
worship with us. a
We have a warm, loving and caring
church and wish to clarify any
misconception which may have
resulted from the correction article.
This clarification approved for
publishing by the membership in
regular conference on the 11th day of
December, 1988.
Mason H. Anderson
Church Clerk
Shallotte
A dams' Column
Draws Praise
To the editor:
I would like to thank Rahn Adams
for his column in the Dec. 8 issue:
"We're Lucky Some 'Heels' Are Willing
To Serve."
I don't think that there is an
emergency service volunteer in this
county that can't agree with me
more.
Greg Faulk
Emergency Medical Technician
Firefighter
Sunset Beach Volunteer
Fire Dept.
Keeps Informed
To the editor:
It's a pleasure to receive your wellwrittpn
nnnnr m?otni
tYCijf WUCfV?CVCIl
though it takes a while to get all the
way to California.
I especially enjoy your coverage of
all the communities in Brunswick
County, and I feel I am well informed
when I go back to the area (about
four times a year).
Best wishes to your staff for a happy
holiday season.
Ken Earnest
LaMesa, California