The Albany News (Albany, Tex.), Vol. 131, No. 28, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 7, 2006 Page: 4 of 14
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PINION PAGE
4A Pace
The Albany News
Thursday, December 7, 2006
The Albany News
Since 1875
Oldest journalistic venture west of the Brazos
Publisher Donnie A. Lucas
Editor
Melinda L. Lucas
Advertising Manager
Donna Hargrave
Moran Correspondent
Audrey Brooks
Office Manager
Sheryl Spore
Typesetter
Betty Viertel
Office Assistant
Jordan Lucas
editorial
Shop at Home
Fandangle season is not the only time to
"dance the old dances and sing the familiar
songs." We do that from time to time in this
space. And right now, with Christmas on the
horizon, it's time to sing the old song about
shopping at home.
Those of yeu who aren't local merchants or
related to a local merchant or in the habit of
talking to a local merchant occasionally may
not realize just how important it is to spend
as many of your dollars as possible here
inside the city limits of Albany.
Discount stores seem to be popping up on
every other corner of the larger cities, and it
is tempting to make frequent trips there
instead of shopping at home. We all have to
save money where we can, but what some of
us may not understand is that we're not
always saving when we buy out of town.
Some of you out there may not care one
way or the other, but there are a number of
reasons why you should care.
• Service and convenience. No other busi-
nesses can provide both of these as well as
your local merchant. They are right here in/
town. You don't have to spend money apa
time driving to Abilene or Fort Worth. WKen
you need something, you can usually have it
in a matter of minutes.
• Price. Local merchants work hard to
provide products that they know their cus-
tomers want at the lowest price possible.
That doesn't mean the price tag is always the
lowest. Small town merchants usually can-
not buy merchandise nearly as low as the
giant retailers, but when the cost of travel is
included, especially at today's gas prices, the
»bottom line becomes very comparable.
• Taxes. Local sales taxes stay at home to
pay for things in Albany, like paving streets.
Also, merchants pay property tax, not only on
their buildings, but their inventory as well.
• Local merchants support local causes.
Albany merchants buy ads in the yearbook
and football program, sponsor sports teams,
give to the Albany Chest and other fundrais-
ers.
The next time you head out to go shopping,
please give local merchants a shot at your
business. Let them know that you would
rather trade at home if the selection and
pricing is good and see what they can do.
At least give the hometown merchants a
chance to compete.
If not, the small town store may well be a
thing of the past, and sooner than we think.
policy
THE ALBANY NEWS
(USPS 012-400) is published weekly, except for one week in
July 2006 and one week in December 2006, for $28 per year
for subscriptions within Shackelford County, $33 per year
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Albany, Texas 76430. Periodicals postage paid at Albany,
Texas. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to THE
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AFFILIATIONS
2006 MEMBER: Texas Press Association,
West Texas Press Association.
ponderings by pat
By Pat Lidia Jones
It's only three weeks until
Christmas, and I'm so far be-
hind, I'm still not ready for
Thanksgiving. Thank Heaven
this was not my year. Ann Jones,
Jean Tucker, and I take turns
hosting Thanksgiving and 4th of
July for our families. For the
other holidays, it's everyone for
themselves.
I am not ready for Christmas,
and I'm not even ready to get
ready. I have a daughter, Patti
Holloway, and sister-in-laws,
Ann Jones and Jean Tucker who
are so organized and do every-
thing so early; I wonder how
they manage to get excited for
the actual holiday. Of course,
mine is not excitement; it's panic.
I have bought a few things;
they are in the trunk of the car.
The tree/candles/wreaths - the
various Christmas decorations
are up and out. I can take no
credit for any of it; I have excel-
lent people to help me.
Parties are underway, and so
is the planning for more. I had
my annual physical this morn-
ing. My luck on no aches or pains
seems to be running low. I had to
have a large injection directly
into a shoulder joint. Horrors!
Arthritis, I guess; I told him I
didn't even want to hear the
word.
And the end of the Lions foot-
ball season found me with a genu-
ine old-fashioned chill. I was
wrapped up well enough for a
blizzard at the game, but about
the half, I began to shiver - this
was a shock because I was in
layers of cotton, wool, down, blan-
kets, etc, etc.
That shivering and shaking
kept up for over 24 hours, de-
spite vats of hot chocolate, and
pots of homemade soup, and long
johns and fur-lined boots.
And I'm still cold - just can't
get warm. Now I'm in bed with a
stack of blankets, and Janey dog
acting as a living, sleeping, hot
water bottle.
I have to go to a dinner to-
night. A.V. is gone on business -
and all I want to do is turn the
furnace up to 80 degrees and
hibernate. I haven't had the flu
in a number of years; I wonder if
that's why I feel so wretched??
Hope it's just a chill.
I spoke of the Lions earlier;
this entire piece was going to be
about them when I got side-
tracked by my own ailments.
How selfish - I'm sorry.
The Albany Lions are great.
They played game after game of
heads-up, tough football. And
they won, contest after contest.
Albany was - and is - so proud of
all the coaches and players who
worked together to make the
2006 football season an exciting,
place to be, the team to follow
week after week. Lions, you
played clean and mean, and we
came close - too close for our
opponent's comfort.
In fact, nobody beat us; we
just ran out of time. It was a
season to remember, and to look
back on with pride. Thanks,
guys, for the memories.
I look back, and I remember a
fourteen-year-old girl-me. I was
an Albany High School fresh-
man cheerleader. There were
three other girls: a sophomore,
junior, and a senior. We had prac-
ticed hard, and we had about 30
girls in the uniformed pep squad.
It was hard to recognize our
round and about
team with their helmets on. They
played well, and at the closing
whistle, I said, "Now, what?" The
senior cheerleader, Margaret
Roe, said, "We walk the players
off the field."
So, we did. I found myself
walking by #18, who was very
friendly, and I wasn't sure of his
name.
It turned out to be a sopho-
more named A.V. Jones, Jr. I
didn't know him, but we met
again later.
We were both so shy I'm sur-
prised we got to be friends, and
he might never have asked me
for a date, but wonder of won-
ders! The Home Ec girls had a
Backward Party planned. You
know, the girls ask the guys,
pick them up, and go to the party,
and then take them home.
I asked A.V. He said, 'Yes."
Good party -
Good date -
Good steady —
Good husband -
Good father -
Good life...
By Emalyn (Sam) Gillispie
Do you know where you were
and what you were doing on this
date when Pearl Harbor was
bombed?
My family had just come in
from church and the radio was
blaring out the news. It was like
I had been hit in the stomach
and I really did not know where
Pearl Harbor was. I soon found
out and we lived through the
war. Like many families, we had
sons, brothers, uncles and some
fathers in the service. My family
was very fortunate in WWII. A
brother was wounded, but not
bad; but several good friends of
my brothers were killed in the
Pacific fighting. This is always
been a sad day for me.
I have been fortunate to have
seen Pearl Harbor several times.
The air ways that I travel with
always comes over the harbor
and my imagination always
takes over and I hurt for all the
good men who were lost in the
attack.
Hope you have enjoyed the
snow and cold weather. Not me.
I am a warm weather person.
But the yards were beautiful
with the snow covering every-
thing. We did not get as much
snow here as they got at Stam-
ford and between Stamford and
Hamlin snow was still piled up
as much as 18 inches Saturday
when I was up that way.
It is beginning to look a lot
like Christmas now. The stores
are crowded with shoppers. It is
not crazy last-minute shopping
yet, but it will be in a couple of
weeks.
You will have to excuse me for
not having much to report this
week. The weather kept me in
the house.
Two things have come to my
notice this season. One is not
many pecans on the trees around
here. They are hard to come by.
I did get some to shell from
the idle americam
Seagraves, so I lucked out.
Another thing in short supply
is cotton. Not much in the fields
toward Stamford, Hamlin and
Snyder. My niece who works in a
gin in Seagraves said they were
getting some cotton to gin, but
not as much as in recent years.
She said that in years gone by
they would be working up into
February and March, but this
year they expect to be through
ginning all the available cotton
about the middle of January.
Take care traveling, shopping
and being out. This is Sam and I
will see you Round and About.
By Don Newbury
I do not expect to match the
inimitable Redd Foxx in milking
heart disease for all its worth.
But I'll give it my best shot.
Foxx, master showman whose
Sanford and Son held down
prime time slots for five seasons,
was the lovable Fred Sanford.
The late comedian showed mil-
lions of men how to "dodge" work
and sticky situations by feign-
ing heart palpitations. He'd hold
his chest, roll his eyes skyward
and sputter that memorable line:
"I'm coming to join you, Eliza-
beth."
Almost 100 months have
passed since heart surgery fixed
me up. Since then, I've become a
dodger myself, working on the
"Sanford shuffle."
This scenario came to mind
the other day when my wife of 40
years dragged out the ladder for
the 40th season of Christmas
lighting. Before you ask, no, I
have never assisted in the
project. "Oh, he's toobusy," she'd
always say. Truth to tell, I can't
meet her standards.
During our dozen years at
Howard Payne University, she
was DETERMINED to have the
three-story, century-old presi-
dent's home awash in clear twin-
kling lights by Sunday following
Thanksgiving.
Realizing that students would
be back on campus only briefly
before heading back home for
Christmas, she wanted them to
"catch the spirit" early on.
About dusk, she'd reach from
a high rung of the ladder on the
third floor balcony to put the
star in place.
I was a "straw boss," pointing
out which of the thousands of
loops of light should be lowered
or raised.
If a TV football game beck-
oned, I'd leave the front door
open so I could hear a thud if the
ladder failed some 40 feet up.
My wife has safety measures
down pat. She knows that some
6,000 "alleged" decorators show
up in hospital emergency rooms
during the Christmas season.
These are the ones who fumble,
tumble or stumble, most with
reaches exceeding their grasps.
As life's shadows lengthen,
her annual decorating now is a
comparative "slam dunk" at our
ordinary one-story home.
Now, she strings just a few
hundred lights, and she's never
more than eight feet off the
ground.
I was supervising the project
a few days back when her cell
phone rang. Anticipating this
possibility, she reached for the
phone in her nail apron.
The caller yammered on, de-
termined to "spiel her to death"
with honey-sweet come-ons.
Brenda smiled when the lady
from the electric company called
us "preferred customers," and
spoke about our $100 "Christ-
mas present!"
"When should we expect the
check?" my wife questioned.
Turns out, that's not quite the
way it works. Seems that $25
would be knocked off the bill
each quarter. Hey, we'd also get
a reduced rate - provided we'd
made a two-year commitment to
the company.
Brenda thanked the caller,
but not for this "gift." Instead, it
was for providing the reason
she'd been looking for to justify
checking out other companies,
as others have suggested.
The lady then got an earful
from a woman who doesn't cot-
ton to having her decorating
chores interrupted. Brenda's
spiel included a reference to our
colorful Uncle Mort.
She told about Mort and Aunt
Maude living down in the thicket,
using more kerosene than elec-
tricity.
During a recent visit in our
home, the old couple was en-
raged by a newspaper headline
about quarterly energy company
profits in the billions of dollars.
Mort and Maude almost had
smothering spells.
"I haven't seen this many 'ze-
roes' since Maude spilled the
Cheerios," Mort fumed.
He went on that Americans
are feeling too many pinches in
too many places, and he figures
government "de-control" has
done nothing but "hurt the little
guy"
"Seems like the fuel compa-
nies we depend on to cool us,
heat us or transport us are in-
flating charges that just may
kill us," Mort said....
Over Christmas, we may drive
down to the thicket to tell Mort
and Maude how my wife handled
the lady calling from the light
company.
They'll congratulate her for
"telling it like it is."
Mort'll brag about how they're
better off without a phone. And
he'll joke about "Greeks bearing
gifts."
About that time, I'll hear
Brenda fake a cough - her signal
that it's time to go.
I'll glance at my watch, citing
our need to get back home before
dark.
My wife's always "antsy" when
darkness falls, 'cause often
there's a light strand out. I'll tell
her I've already done my part:
"The flashlight's in the top
drawer, and has new batteries
in it."
m a
DEC. 7 Elementary & jr. high UIL meet - Winters, 10:30 am
Lions Club - Icehouse, 12 noon
DEC. 8 Chamber meeting-Icehouse Restaurant, 12 noon
DEC. 9 AHS Winter Formal - Whitney Theater, 8 pm
DEC. 10 Christmas Basket wrapping party - Presbyterian
Church, 2 pm
Tour of Homes - 3-5:30 pm
DEC. 11 Commissioners court - Courthouse, 9 am
DEC. 12 ESL classes - Resource Center, 6-8 pm
AA & Al-Anon - Methodist Church, 7:30 pm
DEC. 14 School board - Supt/s office, 7 am
Commodities distribution cancelled
Christmas Basket sorting - Youth Center, 4-6 pm
DEC. 14,16 Albany Nativity - Aztec Theater, 7:30 pm
DEC. 15 Christmas Basket packing - Youth Center, 4-6 pm
Albany Chest contribution deadline, 5 pm
DEC. 16 Christmas Basket delivery - Youth Center, 8 am
DEC. 17 Band concert - AHS auditorium, 2 pm
DEC. 18 School board - Supt/s office, 7 pm
DEC. 20 City council - City Hall, 5 pm
Albany Chest meeting - AHS main hall, 5:15 pm
DEC. 28 Blood drive - First Baptist parking lot, 1 -6 pm
FIRST
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Lucas, Melinda L. The Albany News (Albany, Tex.), Vol. 131, No. 28, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 7, 2006, newspaper, December 7, 2006; Albany, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth413744/m1/4/: accessed July 10, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting The Old Jail Art Center.