04/20/11 - NNHS Newsletter

Hello Carol, Mon., Apr. 18, 2011 copies to the Wicke Boys, Tom Lawford & Karen Lansing

When my kids were young they both got Easter baskets. Although my son was six years older than his sister, he insisted on sticking to the tradition well up into his early teens. On Easter Eve the two baskets would be hauled out of storage and dressed up with the usual.

In the spring that my daughter turned 5, I was inspired to make some modifications. I got a bag of very large malted milk balls and sprinkled them amongst the jelly beans and chocolate figures.

Next morning, at opening time, I exclaimed, "Oh look, it was the big bunny that came."

Daughter made an awful face and pushed the basket away. She quietly stood by while her brother transferred all of her MMB's to his own basket. By sunset they were all gone.

I repeated the procedure next year. This time there was no complaint.

The achieving of maturity involves subtle steps.

Fred
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Fred W. Field
Fullerton, CA
fwfield@juno.com

The Covert Letter is pleased to publish a series of Holy Week daily reports from Jerusalem covering Jesus of Nazareth and his pilgrimage in concert with the Feast of Passover. Our special correspondent will have reports for you each day on the unfolding story. The first installment begins today.

This was inspired by a five-part series written in 1959 by Harry Covert ('57 - of MD) in The Times-Herald, Newport News, Virginia. Harry had the late Rev. Harry M. Covert Sr. (20 Sept 1908 - 04 Dec 1985) to verify the accuracy of his work. The editor is solely responsible for the accuracy of the reports. Illustrations are from The Rev. Mr. Covert’s collection of lantern slides shown on a circa 1900 Magic Lantern as part of his ministry.

Norman Covert

Thousands rally; Newcomer disrupts Temple bazaar

Jerusalem (April 18, Special to The Covert Letter) – Turmoil in the Middle East continued yesterday when huge crowds jammed the entrance to this ancient city. The main highway to the huge security gate was temporarily blocked by the impromptu procession that escorted a break-away rabbi and his personal “rock star” entourage into the city.

No life threatening injuries were reported among the crowd.

Crowds waving Palm fronds as Jesus of Nazareth enters Jerusalem. (Black Hawk Lantern Images)

Sources identify the man as Jesus of Nazareth, who had traveled by foot from Jericho to observe the Jewish Feast of Passover. They say he looked at the huge crowd, asked for a small donkey and forged ahead acknowledging the palm fronds waving in his honor.

There has been no indication that the Roman military government is a target of the crowd’s demonstrations. Soldiers said the crowd, despite its size, was well behaved, clamoring to see this new religious icon. No crowd size was estimated by the military police commander, who said it moved rapidly and caused only minor disruption to the normal flow of traffic.

A public affairs spokesman from the office of the military protectorate said, “We have raised the alert status a notch, but our troops are on normal duty status.

“When there is this much of a demonstration we must be ready. We activated a unit trained to assess public domain threats, but we do not expect them to do anything other than monitor events.”

The spokesman confirmed that military intelligence reports Jesus directed his followers to respect the government of Emperor Caesar Augustus in Judea.

The United Nations Security Council said it has no plans to discuss the incident. However, the Human Rights Council indicated it will look into charges that innocent Arab citizens may have suffered discrimination and ridicule by overzealous factions in the “mob.”

Sources report that Jesus was trained as a carpenter in Nazareth, but became a preaching sensation as a young man, attracting huge crowds in Galilee and Samaria.

Later in the day, Jesus was escorted to the Temple in a gesture intended to honor the upcoming Feast of Passover. However, shortly after his arrival, Jesus reportedly scattered merchandise, money and tables while proclaiming the synagogue was “his house and it should be a house of prayer,” not a big box store in the mall, a staffer added.

No charges were preferred after Jesus and his 12 aides departed. An unnamed source close to the Jewish council said plans have been discussed to involve the Roman government in prosecution “for cause” and that charges of heresy are possible.

A spokesman for the Chief Rabbi said the council is appalled that Jesus created the disturbance. Vendors have been selling a variety of religious implements and icons, advertising their “Passover Sales Bonanza.”

“It was our decision to allow the vendors in to sell their products, which are intended to enhance the families’ Passover Seder. Jesus has no standing in Temple business matters.”

Jewish leaders later discounted reports that Jesus had attended to several sick persons. They rejected reports that he cured blindness with a touch of his hand. Attempts to contact the former blind man were unsuccessful.

Other news dispatches indicate Jesus has attracted crowds in the thousands throughout the region and witnesses say he even walked on the Sea of Galilee during a violent storm. Reports that he is a living deity are included in dispatches from other areas, where rabid followers proclaim him the son of God.

# # #

...THOUGHT YOU MIGHT ENJOY THIS...

'Someone asked the other day, 'What was your favorite fast food when you were growing up?'

'We didn't have fast food when I was growing up,' I informed him.

'All the food was slow.'

'C'mon, seriously. Where did you eat?'

It was a place called,'at home, 'I explained.

'Mom cooked every day and when Dad got home from work, we sat

down together at the dining room table, and if I didn't like what

she put on my plate I was allowed to sit there until I did like it.'

By this time, the kid was laughing so hard I was afraid he was going to

suffer serious internal damage, so I didn't tell him the part about

how I had to have permission to leave the table.

But here are some other things I would have told him about my childhood

if I figured his system could have handled it:

Some parents NEVER owned their own house, never wore Levis, never set foot on a golf course, never traveled out of the country or had a credit card.

In their later years they had something called a revolving charge card. The card was good only at Sears Roebuck. Or maybe it was Sears & Roebuck. either way, there is no Roebuck anymore. Maybe he died.

My parents never drove me to soccer practice. This was mostly because we never had heard of soccer. I had a bicycle that weighed probably 50 pounds, and only had one speed, (slow)

We didn't have a television in our house until I was 10. It was, of course, black and white, and the station went off the air at midnight, after playing the national anthem and a poem about God; it came back on the air at about 6 a.m. and there was usually a locally produced news and farm show on, featuring local people.

(I bought mine when I was 26 years old. A. or DOM G)

I was 6 before I tasted my first pizza, it was called 'pizza pie.'

When I bit into it, I burned the roof of my mouth and the cheese slid off, swung down, plastered itself against my chin and burned that, too. It's still the best pizza I ever had.

I never had a telephone in my room. The only phone in the house was in the living room and in some houses, it was on a party line. (In the kitchen!! A.)

Before you could dial, you had to listen and make sure some people you didn't know weren't already using the line.

Pizzas were not delivered to our home. But milk was.

All newspapers were delivered by boys and all boys delivered newspapers -- many brothers delivered a newspaper, six days a week. It cost 7 cents a paper, of which he got to keep 2 cents.
They had to get up at 6AM every morning.

On Saturday, he had to collect the 42 cents from his customers. His favorite customers were the ones who gave him 50 cents and told him to keep the change. His least favorite customers were the ones who seemed to never be home on collection day.

Movie stars kissed with their mouths shut. At least, they did in the movies. There were no movie ratings because all movies were responsibly produced for everyone to enjoy viewing, without profanity or violence or most anything offensive.

If you grew up in a generation before there was fast food, you may want to share some of these memories with your children or grandchildren.

Just don't blame me if they bust a gut laughing.

Growing up isn't what it used to be, is it?

MEMORIES from a friend:

My Dad is cleaning out my grandmother's house (she died in December) and he brought me an old Royal Crown Cola bottle. In the bottle top was the cap with a bunch of holes in it. I knew immediately what it was, but my daughter had no idea. She thought they had tried to make it a salt shaker or something. I knew it as the bottle that sat on the end of the ironing board to 'sprinkle' clothes with because we didn't have steam irons. Man, am I old.

How many do you remember? (all of them. A.)

Head lights dimmer switches on the floor.
Ignition switches on the dashboard.
Heaters mounted on the inside of the fire wall.
Real ice boxes.
Pant leg clips for bicycles without chain guards.
Soldering irons you heat on a gas burner.
Using hand signals for cars without turn signals.

Older Than Dirt Quiz:

Count all the ones that you remember, not the ones you were told about.

Ratings at the bottom.

1. Blackjack chewing gum
2.Wax Coke-shaped bottles with colored sugar water
3. Candy cigarettes
4. Soda pop machines that dispensed glass bottles
5. Coffee shops or diners with tableside juke boxes
6. Home milk delivery in glass bottles with cardboard stoppers
7. Party lines on the telephone
8 Newsreels before the movie
9. P.F. Flyers
10. Butch wax
11. TV test patterns that came on at night after the

last show and were there until TV shows started again in the morning.

(there were only 3 channels... [if you were fortunate])
12. Peashooters
13. Howdy Doody
14. 45 RPM records
15. S&H green stamps
16. Hi-fi's
17. Metal ice trays with lever (just threw some out last year. A.)
18. Mimeograph paper
19. Blue flashbulbs
20. Packards
21. Roller skate keys
22. Cork popguns
23. Drive-ins
24. Studebakers

25. Wash tub wringers
26. Gas coupons

27. Inner tubes

28. High top boots with a knife holder. Every boy came to elementary school each day with a pocket knife which they used to play games at recess and lunch time.

If you remembered 0-5 = You're still young,
If you remembered 6-10 = You are getting older,
If you remembered 11-15 = Don't tell your age,
If you remembered 16-25 = You're older than dirt!

I might be older than dirt but those memories are some of the best parts of my life.

Don't forget to pass this along!!
Especially to all your really OLD friends.

"Faith shines brightest when the night is the darkest.

Everything works out in the end.
if it hasn't worked out,
it's not the end."

In our family, we've never stopped filling our Easter baskets - for adults and children alike!

Easter Sunday, April 11, 1982	Easter Sunday, April 7, 1996	Easter Sunday, April 7, 1996	Easter Monday, April 9, 2007
		Dale (age 12) and Adrienne (age 8)