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Page 2A-KINGS MOUNTAIN HERALD-Tuesday, December 24, 1985
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TODAY’S BIBLE VERSE
And when they saw the star they rejoiced with exceeding
great joy. St. Matthew 2:10.
Take Time To Be Glad
The stores were busy this last week before Christmas and
harried clerks were attempting to help last-minute shoppers
who had not yet made up their minds about what to buy
friends on their gift list.
“T wish Christmas would hurr; and get here”, the clerk
said, more to herself than those around her. “Because I'll be
glad when it’s over.” |
How many of us share her frustration? So much to do, so lit-
tle time. That gift list still is long. How can you buy clothes
and gifts for people you don’t see but once a year? All those
Christmas cards to address and mail. Not enough days left to
do all that needs to be done and still there’s the grocery shop-
ping and the cakes to bake. Now, if I didn’t have to work this
usy season...etc. and etc. | 3 :
Relax, people, the ministers tell us from the ipl Be still
and know what youre about and reread again that
Christmas Story from the second chapter of St. Luke.
In those days a decree was issued by the Emperor Augustus
for a general registration throughout the Roman world. This
was the first registration of its kind; it took place when
Quarinius was governor of Syria. For this purpose everyone
made his way to his own town; and so Joseph went up to
Judaea from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to be registered
at the city of David, called Bethlehem, because he was of the
house of David, by descent; and with him went Mary who was
betrothed to him. She was pregnant, and while they were
where the time came for her child to be born, and she gave
birth to a son, her first-born. She wrapped him in a manger,
because there was no room for them to lodge in the house.
~ Now in this same district there were shepherds out in the
fields, keeping watch through the night over their flock, and
when suddenly there stood before them an angel of the Lord,
and the splendour of the Lord shone round them. They were
terror-struck but the angel said, “Do not be afraid: I have
good news for you; there is great 10y coming to the whole peo-
ple. Today in the city of David a deliverer has been born to
you - the Messiah, the Lord. And this is your sign; you will
find the baby lying all wrapped up, in a manger.”
© All at oncg there was with the angel a great company of the
‘heavenly hdaswmiaing the praises of God: ~~ y..
“Glory. ~&od in the highest heaven, ahd ona
for men on whom his favor rests.”
Be glad. J
More than anyihing you do doing this of self-imposed
pressure, be gla
Take time to remind yourselves why you are trying to do so
much for so many.
Ten Commandments
Of Christmas
Some years ago The Herald published “For Christmas -
The Ten Commandments’ at the beginning of the Christmas
season as an assist in preparation for this great festival.
Dr. Herbert Spaugh wrote these “Ten Commandments”
an The Herald includes it again this year in this Christmas
ition.
“Thou shalt not leave Christ out of Christmas, making it
Xmas, for this is the sign that thou art lazyminded and
spiritually listless. To most minds “X’’ stands not for Christ
‘but for the algebraic unknown.
“Thou shalt not value thy gifts by their cost for verily many
shall signify love that is more blessed and beautiful than
silver and gold.
“Thou shalt give thyself with thy gifts. Thy love, thy per-
sonality and thy service shall increase the value of thy gift a
hundred fold and he that receiveth it shall treasure it forever.
“Thou shalt not let Santa Claus take the place of Christ. In
many homes Santa Claus supersedes the Christ child and
~ Christmas becomes a fairy tale rather than a subline reality
in the spiritual realm.
“Thou shalt not burden thy servant. The shop girl and mail
carrier and the merchant should have thy consideration.
“Thou shalt not neglect the church. It’s Christmas services
are planned to help spiritualize the Christmas season for
thee, thy child and thy household. Remember the church is a
symbol of what we are fighting for in this war.
iis peace”
Letters to Santa have never been my “thing”, I leave that
to my brother, Gary, my co-worker, friend all our lives and
his traditional letter appears in his column in this Christmas
edition. ;
This season I had the shock of my life when I asked a couple
young friends at our church, Dixon Presbyterian, what they
ad asked from Santa Claus. They hadn’t decided yet. And, I |
had a bigger shock when I read the hundreds of letters that
came over my desk from local school children about who, not
what, they wanted to find in their Christmas stocking on
Christmas morning. I decided at that point that times had
changed!.
There was never any doubt in my mind, of juvenile years,
for dreams were cheap. I merely wanted the moon and
several stars round about. The problem was/is gearing my
dreams to Santa’s budget.
However, never in my wildest imagination did I long to find
a movie star, Superman, Hulk, etc. in my Christmas stock-
ing. In the first place, Santa never would never have got down
the chimney with those characters. Most of the times the five
children in our family poured over catalogs months before
Christmas but usually wound up with what Santa’s budget
would allow: clothes for school, a few toys, essentials. And
most of the time we made our own Christmas decorations and
never owned a store-bought tree. But we always had love in
our home and joy in our hearts as we grow older we
sometimes forget at this busiest season of the year what
Christmas is all about. ;
That solemn, yet splendid, celebration of the birth of Jesus,
the carpenter's son who is the Messiah to Christians,
transcends the lights and Christmas wrappings. That birth,
long ago, is reason enough to get us through the holidays in
better spirits than we might have otherwise known, under
any current circumstances.
It usually takes me to just after midnight on Christmas Eve
. to discover that mystical time of Christmas and it’s usually
enroute home from the Christmas Eve service at First
Presbyterian Church. There are usually no trains rumbling
through town, no automobiles screeching and only the traffic
lights going but in the stillness of an early Christmas morning
is that time to realize again that Christmas is special.
Nothing can shut out images of plain that some feel more than
others at this season and nothing can shut out the good im-
ages either; the smile on the face of the elderly woman being
surprised in the nursing home by a friend; the wonderment of
a child’s eyes on Christmas Eve; the experience of a
candlelight church service; the appreciation of people being
helped by the many Santas in Kings Mountain who have given
to the needy. We feel the pain of the suffering, the happiness
for friends and loved ones. But we couldn’t stop the world and
get off even if we wanted to. And usually at this special time
~ of the year we wouldn't want to, anyway. There’s nothing like
Christmas:
The staff of The Herald join me in wishing you and yours a
happy holiday season. Let us pray as we experience the true
meaning of Christmas that New Year 1986 will be the best
ever for all of Kings Mountain, at your house and mine.
Western Wedding
When Karen Hall and Knox Adams became Mr. and Mrs.
he th, they choge the setting where they met
18 months ago. ree
Possum Hollow in York, S.C. was the setting for the
western country nuptials and Magistrate Donnie Gregory
heard the exchange of vows at 9 p.m. during a break in the
dancing festivities.
Since Karen and Knox are both country western fans, they
asked their attendants to don blue jeans and western shirts
and background for the ceremony were red lanterns arrang-
ed with satin ribbon and bales of hay.
The bride wore a navy blue dotted swiss dress and white
Larry Mahan leather boots and carried a bouquet of wheat,
baby’s breath and navy silk ribbon. The bridegroom was
dressed in western attire and all the attendants wore western
attire.
Stewart
Kim Ledford was her mother’s honor attendant and
bridesmaids were Linda Robbins, Nora Ashe, Debbie Peter-
son and Kathy Mobley. Ken Riley was best man. P.J.
Perkins, son of the bride, carried the rings on a miniature and
leather saddle and Heather Melton was flower girl.
Groomsmen were Shane Absher, son of the bride, Jeff
Adams, Bill Adams, and Dwayne Adams, sons of the
bridegroom.
Two hundred wedding guests enjoyed refreshments after
the ceremony and the bride and bridegroom cut a three-
tiered western style cake which was topped with miniature
Uoraied horses and adorned with fence trime in beige and
white.
The newlyweds, who are at home on Lake Wylie, have
postponed their wedding trip until later in the year when they
plan to attend the Grand Ole Opery in Nashville, Tennessee.
Mrs. Adams is the daughter of Mrs. Nellie Hovis of Kings
Mountain and is employed in the offices of Dr. James Mason.
Mr. Adams is employed by Duke Power Company.
000
40th Celebration
A fire in 1945 at the home of Mr. and Mrs. L. Arnold Kiser
started what has become a tradition in Kings Mountain for ci-
ty firemen, city police, and members of the Cleveland County
Sheriff's Department and area Highway Patrol.
After that fire, the late Mr. Kiser and the late Dr. J.E. An-
thony go the idea to honor the firemen at an appreciation din-
ner during the Christmas season. In later years, the late
Mayor Glee A. Bridges joined the group and the guest list was
increased to include the Kings Mountain Police Department.
In 1948 when Senator J. Ollie Harris joined the group
members of the Sheriff’s Department in Highway Patrol
serving the Kings Mountain area were included on the guest
list. Former Rep. W.K. Mauney, Jr. joined the group as a co-
host in recent years and at the death of their father, Glee E.
Bridges and J.C. Bridges. joined the host group.
The Christmas season get-to-gether has been a highlight of
the holiday activities for local and area law enforcement of
al ;
ficers and city firemen. Ne :
Tuesday evening, the 40th annual Christmas celebration
was held at Depot Center and it was a nostalgic evening as
each of the four hosts recounted some of the early parties and
how it all got started, each taking the occasion to thank local
firemen and law enforcement personnel for the tremendous
job they do for Kings Mountain area people.
A favorite food for the traditional parties has always been
oyster casserole and heaping portions were served by Mrs.
W. Lawrence Logan and Depot Center staff along with turkey
with all the trimmings.
Tables were decorated in the holiday motif and a ceiling
high tree and the mantel over the fireplace were decorated in
Christmas red and green.
Give Thought To Feelings
[The following incident happened this season. The names
have been changed.] : *
There were 14 seconds left in the game. The coach walked
down the bench and suddenly yelled, ‘‘Jones!...Jones!”
Butch Jones sat on the bench and did not acknowledge hear-
ing his name. An assistant coach took up the head coach’s de-
mand, ‘“Butch!”’
But still Jones had not moved, as the head coach walked
toward him. ’
“Did you hear me, Jones?”
Jones nodded.
“Get in for Jenkins.” :
“There’s only 14 seconds left, Coach,” Jones said, motion-
ing toward the clock.
“I don’t give a -—- if there’s NO time left. If I tell you to go
ACC INSIDE
STUFF
Dick DeVenzio
AND PRETEND YOU LIKE IT, or it’s gonna be better for
everyone if you just turn in your gear right now. Do we
understand each other?
The expletives were more freely used. The words may have
a ih didn’t get up. been slightly different. But that was the gist of it. A/coach i
“Thou shalt not neglect the needy. Let thy bountiful bless- | “Do you want to be a member of this team, Jones?” furious about insubordination, and a player deeply wounded ;
ings be shared with the many who will go hungry and shiver by being called upon in a lopsided game only for the final 14 [
with cold unless thou are generous in their time of want. Jones nodded again, and the coach turned away. He seconds.
“Thou shalt be as a little child. Christmas is the day of the
Christ Child. Not until thou has become in spirit even as a lit-
tle child are thou ready to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.
‘““Thou shalt Papas thy soul for Christmas. For verily
most of us spend much time and money getting gifts ready for
few seconds in preparing our souls.
‘“Thou shalt give thy heart to Christ. Let thy Christmas list
have Christ at the top and thy heart as the gift. For in so doing
thou are as the Wise Men of old and verily thou shalt find
thyself born again on Christmas Day.”
Both Were Textile Leaders
In the last several weeks the community has lost two of its
most well-known and prominent textile industrialists, each of
whom was identified in the business community as a leader in
the old Margrace or Neisler Mill when that industry was a
giant in the textile industry in the Piedmoat
The Herald joins with others in the cominunity in express-
ing sympathy to the families of Charlie Moss and Harry E.
Page.
couldn’t wait for the seconds to tick off the clock so he could
give the team a piece of his mind--in private, where no fans
were listening to the exchange.
and he probably sho
Maybe you think a player should do whatever a coach says,
ih the pros where players are getting
In the lockerroom, despite the big win, there were no high- paid. But 14 seconds just isn’t enough for a former high school
fives, no congratulations being passed back and forth. The star, heavily recruited, who always thought he was going to
coach was boiling, and everyone knew it. His talk, I'm told, be a star.
went something like this: =
Do you guys know who's coaching this team?...Is there
anyone who doesn’t like it?...If any of you don’t, you're
welcome to walk out that door right now, ‘cause I won't have
this again...When 1 tell a player to go in a game, he goes
in...Got that?...Is there anyone here who thinks he knows
more basketball than me? Huh? Is there? Cause I'm the guy
who makes the decisions around here.
Then the coach turned directly to Jones. Who the — do you
think you are? You said you want to be on this team, right?
Do you also want to decide who plays and how long?...Do you
also want to start paying for your own education? If you do,
just let me know, cause I sure as — don’t need this
anymore...The next time I put you in a game--IF I decide to--
you have a decision to make. Either you jump up and go in, §
I don’t see how a coach can ask a kid to play the final 14
seconds if he hadn’t put him in earlier. I don’t think coaches
give enough thought to Players feelings. After all, according
to the NCAA, aren’t these kids supposed to be AMATEURS,
playing for FUN? :
It isn’t fun playing for 14 seconds. Coaches ought to know
that. |
_ This Column Sponsored By
Kings Mountain,
ne.