84-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, Decembers, 2003 On Being a Farm Wife (and other hazard Joyce Bupp Shiny and colorful is the stack of fat advertising inserts that ar rive daily. Buy, buy, buy! Spend, spend, spend! Lavish consumerism and bois terous use of your credit card will assure you of a festive holiday season, a spirit of good will, glori ous happiness and a feeling of good cheer. Yeah, right. Bah. And, hum bug. Even if we subscribed to that mass marketing mentality, exces sive drought, followed by exces sive rain, blended with a state of farming economics dragged down extremely low, for extreme ly long, assured that most of us here on the farm couldn’t “spend, spend, spend” even if it was our heart’s greatest desire. At our household, and those of many other folks we know, it isn’t. And, it never was. Increasingly commercialized holiday hype leaves me more frustrated every vear. Shopping last week for some routine items just a few davs prior to the grand rollout of the season was both en lightening and amusing. Some of the items being run on sales seemed priced higher than at other times of the year. Buy, buy, buy! Spend, spend, spend! Move over Scrooge. Bah and humbug. SHIRTS , OR SWEATSHIRTS Shirts • 100% Cotton Denim Long Sleeve • Embroidery Blue & Black • Lancaster Farming Logo • Button-Down Collar • Left Shirt Pocket • Stone Bleach Blue $2O - Small, Medium, Large $22.50 - X Large Plus $4.50 Shipping & Handling Costs Q 9 Phone 717-721-4416 Or Mail Your Order To: Lancaster Farming RO. box 609LFS 1 East Main St., Ephrata, PA 17522 Or Stop @ Office - 1 East Main St., Ephrata, PA Saves Shipping Cost! Don’t you feel guilty for not helping to boost the national economy, those of you (and I) who refuse to drop one penny for cheaply made, overpriced, hot, trendy, over-hyped junk and shoddy, flimsy toys. Or those re quiring a truckload of batteries. Are we showing our age here? Does anyone remember folks out at the crack of dawn pounding on mall doors to push and shove for a Cabbage Patch doll? We love Christmas music here and few pieces are more beautiful than many of the traditional car ols. Many of the new, contempo rary pieces are especially haunt ing, even more special because of the limited time in which we nor mally enjoy them. But being serenaded by “Gramdma Got Run Over By A Reindeer” while milking on Thanksgiving Day evening was just waaayyyy too early for such musical entertainment. Even if I do giggle every time 1 hear it. Hey, even Scrooge is allowed a little cockeyed humor. There really are very simple, beautiful and meaningful ways to still celebrate the season. And they don’t take batteries. Fresh, sharp-scented real pine trees, wonderfully fragrant. Glowing candles, dancing in the dark. Little kids bright, innocent eyes as they wait to chat with Santa. Red-ribboned wreaths be decking doorways. Cookies bak ing in the oven. / Sweatshirts • 90% cotton - dark Blue with embroidery With Lancaster Farming Logo $25 - Medium, Large $27.50 - X Large Tons of folks who share the spirit spending hours, days, weeks, to create displays of light and color, from main highways and to tiny back roads. Shoppers who drop their change into the kettles manned by bell-ringers, or share with others in a myriad of other ways. Everyone who helps in some way to boost the spirits of our military men and women serving around the world. Despite the fistfuls of advertis- ing inserts, endless media com mercials, high-tech electronic gadgetry and eager-beaver music programmers, we still fall back on the simplest of things to share at the holidays with our beloved little folks. Art supplies, like bright colored paper, markers, paints, or a brand new, great smelling, large-sized box of cray ons. Individual rolls of clear tape. Gel pens, glitter pens, name pens, glue pens, even glitzy pencils are all fun and useful. Books are unbeatable. Stickers are always welcomed. Last year, I discovered a grandson decorating his wall with colorful Christmas stickers which just happened to be his mom’s unused 37-cent holiday postage stamps. And rare are the kids who won’t enjoy owning their own personal flashlight. Preferably, the no-batterv-needed kind. No glossy ad inserts aie needed for finding any of the above. However, we have discovered one redeeming factor of those heavy stacks of holiday advertising, though. Our heifers are extra well-bed- ded with newsprint. ■Hi?** gCHRISTMAS & TOOL SALE December 1 Through December 24 Contractors, Farmers and Home Owners Get Up To 20% Discount Off Of Our Regular Prices. All Wedding Gifts Get 10% Discount On Less than $200.00 Worth All Other Farm Hardware Tools, Toys. Cookware, Wagons, All Gifts, Dog Kennels, Hot Beds, Water Bowls, All Plumbing Parts, Tobacco Twine and Paper «" ck N„ws4B9°Vt VALLEY ROAD SPEEDER WAGONS " / * f i E f* -'j •Will Ship U.P.S Anywhere In The U.S. (Except Model 1300) - You Pay Shipping In Advance Or We Will Bill. jfc Valley Hardware — |? Express Wagons - Hardware - Martin Senour Paint - Kendall Motor Oils A? j 4 958 Vintage Road, Christiana, PA 17509 Special Hours: December 1-24: Mon., Wed., Thurs. 6:30 AM-4:00 PM, Sat. 6:30 AM-3:00 PM tp Tues. & Fri. 6:30 AM-7:00 PM, Dec. 24 closing at 3:00 PM jA Society To Sponsor Visit To Mifflinburg ‘Christkindl Market 9 LANCASTER (Lancaster Co.) For their annual Christmas trip, the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society is sponsoring a visit to the Mifflinburg “Christkindl Market,” Saturday, Dec. 13. The trip which includes round-trip transportation to Mif flinburg In Snyder County, all admissions, and the evening meal will cost $82.50 per person for members, $92.50 for non-mem bers, and $76 per person for groups of six or more. The motor coach will leave the Historical Society at 8 a.m. and return about 7 p.m. The evening meal will be served at Camp He bron on the way home. National Death Rate Figures Creep Upward UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre Co.) Work fatalities in agricul ture increased two percent in 2002, while the all-industry aver age declined by three percent according to the National Safety Council. Agriculture ranked sec ond behind the mining/quarrying industry with 21 deaths per 100,000 workers, or approxi mately 730 deaths. The Council also reported that tractor inci dents remain the number one cause of death in agriculture. A majority of the fatalities are caused by trac tors overturning without rollover protection and a seat belt. $200.00 Get 10% Discount Plus A Free Pocket Knife $350.00 Get 15% Discount Plus A Free Water Pitcher $1,000.00 Get 20% Discount Plus A Free Vice Grip mm-* IMjir StUHMUk ' MODEL 350-* j 10” Air Tires, 20"x40" Bed $157 With Racks The Society reports that its Christmas trip typically fills up early and early registration is suggested for this year’s excur sion to Mifflinburg. Local churches, organizations, schools, and residents participate in this traditional, annual festive time, preparing over 60 huts filled with treats, gifts, and crafts for the shoppers who stroll along Market Street. For more information, contact Brinton L. Rutherford, Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society, 2215 Millstream Road, Lancas ter, PA 17602; day phone (717) 393-9745, evening (717) 464-4183; email; brutherford lmhs.org. Other tractor-related fatalities result from victims being run over by tractors, highway colli sions betwen tractors and other vehicles, and fires during equip ment refueling. Farm-related fatalities in Pennsylvania were at an all-time low in 2002, so perhaps the state is bucking the national trend. Avanti Garelli X-treme Wheeler Dirt Bike MODEL 1300-* Small 13 X4B MODEL 175-* w/Racks $193 l6 x 36" ,„ , 61 7Q Bed $97 w/Racks w/o Racks ql/O
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers