ineasttf Fannin; >4—Lai Old hands worked hurriedly for Christmas By Jerry Webb Uni verstiy of Delaware NEWARK, Del. - All day the old man worked in the unheated shop pounding and sawing the hard wood - shaping the metal parts and fastening it all together. He was in a hurry for there was so much to do and the days until Christmas so few. The old man was building a sled for his grandsons and he wanted it to be just right. And yet there was a deadline that must be met. So, in spite of the cold he labored on, planing the oak boards that would be the runners. Just the right curve and they must match. And it all must be done by hand for there was no electricty in that old shop. Only the lights from the big windows to see the close work. Wood joints had to be cut with hand tools and holes bored with a hand turned drill press. And there was always the need to hurry-something that just wasn’t in the old man’s nature. He was raised at a time when things moved a lot slower and hurrying was dif ficult for him. Tired old hands forced him to rest fre quently and standing on the cold cement floor made his legs hurt. Time was running out for the old man. Not just the days until Christmas, but his time on earth. He was past 70 and knew that the time for building sleds and telling stories and walking with his small grandsons down coun try roads would soon end. But this job he had to do-one final gesture in the truest spirit of Christmas to three Holiday can be MEDIA - Each year at this time, children receive a not so-subtle brainwashing from toymakers advertising on television. Children are likely to be watching television lavish ad vertisements that what their pre-Christmas appetite for dolls, race sets, and other expensive toys. According to experts, advertisers know what they’re doing. They have studied children and know the best way to create desire in a youngster. For instance, a few toys are advertized repeatedly, making the child feel he just can’t get along with them. If a child clamors for expensive toys he’s seen on television, parents should meet the problem head-on, and listen to what he wants. Then, the parent can check the toy himself, either in a catalog or a store, evaluating each toy ac cording to its safety, cost, and suitability for the child. If a toy doesn’t meet any of these requirements, then it’s best for one to sit down with the child and explain why he shouldn’t expect that par ticular item to be under the tree Christmas morning. Although this may be dif ficult, it’s better than allowing him to eagerly anticipate something he won’t get. Parents will find it TRY A CLASSIFIED Dtctmbtr 17, 1977 little boys who wouldn’t be getting much else and who would someday understand the significance of his effort. He had seen so many Christmases and he loved to sit by the fire and tell about them. Of his childhood days on a small farm before the turn of the century. The gifts, the big dinners, the sleigh' rides-things he remembered and told and retold with each Christmas season. The sled his grand father had built for the boys in his family was often men tioned. And how on the first snow, all of the boys in the neighborhood would gather at the top of a favorite hill for their winter adventures. Those sled rides were the fastest trips he made until he was a grown man and the automobile finally came to the little town with the unlikely name of Fair Play. He saw a lot of progress in his life-the automobile, steam engines, tractors, the combine, airplanes, radio, television. In fact, he lived to hear about the first man in space, although by then he didn’t understand or care. remembered the Christmases when he and his new bride made the long trip by horse and buggy to visit her family in the city. And he remembered their first Christmas on their own farm. That was the farm where his children grew up and where he now watched his grandchildren grow. Times had not always been good for the old man. There’d been periods of pro sperity when Christmas was a great occasion with parties and lights in all the trees in toy sells resisted easy to steer some children towards a gift already have on one’s list. Older children can be offered the alter native of saving his money to buy the toy. This tactic can help to teach him the value of money. Cjeloive - YOUR SOURCE FOR MORE PROFITABLE HOG SYSTEMS FARROWING GESTATION the large front yard. And there were also times of true poverty. His first married Christmas when they shared bran with the cow and cook ed one of the laying hens and served her with turnips because the meager potato crop was gone. He remembered Christmas after the banks failed during the Depression, the year his savings vanished. He remembered Christmases since then as the family struggled to keep ' itself going-to keep its pride and iimmtMWMMimtHwmaniawi I if % lacks I In I Kmumi Phone or Write Your Local Representative for Details; He vs your exclusive source for Cyclone Equipment. to have a merry Christinas even though there wasn’t much money. The Depression lasted a long time and no one felt it more than farmers'. Pro sperity didn't come to agriculture until many years later. Too late to help a pro ud old man. So he did what he could to make Christmas brighter. He built a sled with his own hands and with the skills ac cumulated over a lifetime of rural living. 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