Yes, parents 9 there is a By DIETER KRIEG SMOKETOWN, Pa. - If you don’t believe in Santa Claus, you’re in for a surprise if you ever try writing to him. Chances are excellent that you’ll receive a personal answer from the jolly old fellow. And he doesn’t just write to the children, he’ll write to grown-ups as well. Lancaster County farm equipment and implement dealers, their employees, wives, and guests met here at the Good’n Plenty Restaurant last Tuesday for their annual Christmas dinner, and - you guessed it - Santa himself was the guest speaker. He spoke for an hour and 15 minutes, which can be torture when some “ordinary people” take to the podium, but when Santa’s up there, you can White announces five timely ways to save thousands of dollars on your next machinery purchase. Pre-Season Allowance Make your best deal with your local White® dealer on a new White tractor, tractor tillage tool combination, planter or combine . . and we’ll send directly to you a check for $2OO to $1,850. White Bucks When you buy a new 4- wheel-dnve 4-150 or 4-180 Field Boss'"... White will allow you up to $3,000 toward the purchase price of a job-matched tillage tool or planter to go with it. Waiver of Finance Charges Buy now and White will waive fi nance charges until March 31, 1977, on all new White tractors, tillage equipment purchased with tractors and planters. Financing charges on combines will be waived until the first season of use Investment Credit On equipment purchased and de livered to you prior to January 1, 1977, the IRS-sponsored invest ment tax credit program allows m White Farm Equipment Company WHITE MOTOR CORPORATION Product must be delivered prior to December 30,1976 to qualify for Pre-Season Allowance and White Bucks programs Product delivery prior to December 31,1976 subject to available inventory. listen forever and enjoy it. His talk was so well received, the audience of 303 persons chuckled With laughter for much of the program, listened most attentively throughout, and gave a standing ovation at the end. Although Santa has been around for centuries, this particular one didn’t come unto the scene until 1950. And he doesn’t make his home at the North Pole (but don’t tell your children that). Instead, he lives in Hanover, Pa. The letter-answering Santa is Grover C Gouker, a former Hanover Post Office employee who is now associated with the Dale Carnegie School. Gouker told the .group that he was disturbed by all the letters to Santa which were simply - s. you to deduct up to 10% of the purchase price from your net in come tax. Ist Year Bonus Depreciation An additional 20% of the pur chase price of equipment pur chased and delivered before January 1,1977 can be deducted from your 1976 taxable income underthe IRS-sponsored Ist year bonus depreciation plan. Save up to $7,000 Here’s a golden opportunity to save thousands of dollars. If you were to take advantage of White’s exclusive Pre-Season Al lowance, White Bucks (both ex pire December 30, 1976) as well as our Waiver of Finance Charges and the IRS-sponsored Investment Tax Credit and Ist Year Bonus Depreciation plans ... you could save up to $7,000 on your next major machinery, pur chase. See us for the full details. We can work out a special deal for you now... before December 30, 1976. tossed into the wastecan. Consequently, he made arrangements to take possession of letters ad dressed to Santa and to answer each one. During his first Christmas season he received 289 letters. Today he averages more than 2400 per year from all over the country. Each receives a lenghthy personal answer on Santa’s very own stationary. It’s a monumental task, but Santa affirms he thoroughly enjoys >t. “I’ve been in terested in children for all of my life,” the middle-aged gentleman told the equip ment dealers. Gouker read samples of letters for much of the program - most of them being funny, but a few which expressed sadness. One was Santa from a girl with polio. She signed only her first name - no address, not even a post mark. But Gouker made every effort to reach her, and did. Her parents wrote later that she died happily because Santa had answered her letter. The 27-year career as a letter-writing Santa Claus has given Gouker a tremendous source of joy in spite of the occasional problems and extraordinary long hours he has to keep during this time of year. More than 2000 letters aren’t answered in one night, especially when form letters is something Santa vigorously opposes. Each must be kept personal. Gouker has had one family write to him for 21 con secutive years. The second generation of that clan has begun corresponding with him, and to these folks and many others, Santa is very real. Nearing the end of his remarks, Gouker said he will keep up his work for as long as he possibly can. “But if it, gets to the point where I have to resort to form letters, that’ll be the end of it,” said Santa Claus of Hanover, Pa. Then he parted with the words “Have a merry Christmas, everyone!” Lancaster Farming, Saturday, Pee. 11,1576 — Beef plan % 53»gSfcS5£Sa<iS» to be grilled 4 KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Leaders of the marketing sector of the cattle industry will gather here Dec. 17 to broaden their knowledge of the proposed beef market development plan and outline their role in sup porting the upcoming referendum. Approximately 50 marketing businessmen from across the country have been invited to discuss the proposed plan, by which cattlemen would assess themselves to fund greatly expanded beef research, promotion and education programs. The referendum on the plan is expected to be held next spring, and must be approved by two-thirds of the cattlemen votmg. The meeting has been called by three members of the Beef Development Task force. The BDT is the in dustry-wide group that sponsored the Beef Research and Information Act, signed by President Ford m May, which authorized the referendum. The meeting will begin at noon at the Marriott Hotel at Kansas City International Airport. Red meat HARRISBURG, Pa. - Red meat production in Penn sylvania during October totaled 91 million pounds, two per cent more than October 1975, according to the Crop Reporting Service. Hog slaughter at 259,000 head was up 35 per cent and calf slaughter at 40,500 head was up seven per cent from a year ago. However, cattle slaughter at 87,000 head was down eight per cent while sheep and lambs at 11,600 head were down nine per cent from October 1975. Nationally, commercial production of red meat totaled almost 3.5 billion pounds in October. This is five per cent more than a year ago. Cattle slaughter was down eight percent from a year earlier; calf slaughter was down 19 per cent; sheep and lambs were down 22 per cent. However, hog slaughter was up 28 per cent from October 1975. 85 up
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