A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day....12-18-02

Billie, Molly Pitcher, daisyscarlett

[LadyX]

Thank you, Dubya, for providing the link to the effort of this remarkable young woman!
Gladly signed the petition, and encourage all to do so as well.

[RadioAstronomer]

I love Wyoming. :-) I grew up in Casper and graduated from the same high school as Vice President Dick Cheney. :-)

Thanks for the ping.

[Diver Dave]

Well Miss Daisy, I'm late, but I made it back and read through the whole thread.

What a great collection of Places of the Heart this has been. I've laughed and cried along with everyone.

There have been some graphics graphics, but there have been some beautiful pictures painted with the words of so many. I feel like I've traveled through the entire United States once again with the contributions today.

Thank you everyone for making this a very special day.

[jwfiv]

Thanks, Miss Daisy...it's been a good day, hope you rest well...sweet dreams to you.

[Diver Dave]

Today's stories take me back to the time when I was 5 years old. We lived in Spokane, WA. Right in the middle of the residential area where we lived was a place called the Garland Business district which was about 4 blocks from our house. There was a drug store, grocery, appliance, Dutch Boy paint store, a couple of taverns and a "dime store" along with a few other business.

The dime store would always have a Santa sitting in a large chair near one of the front windows and all of us kids from the neighborhood would go to the dime store to tell Santa what we wanted for Christmas.

In the evenings, after the dime store closed, Santa would go outside and climb on a float that was built by the Garland merchants and travel through the neighborhoods.

The float had a sleigh for Santa and three reindeer pulling the sleigh. The sleigh and reindeer were outline in neon lights and flood lights shined on the sleigh. Music was playing through the loudspeakers and Santa had a microphone and you could hear him hollering "HO HO HO, Merry Christmas for blocks. When he passed by our house, we would run out to the street and run beside him 'til he reached the corner. Little kids, big kids, Moms and Dads came outdoors in the cold to greet Santa.

The idea and concept went over so well, the city fire dept. had a sleigh built and every year through the time we left Spokane in '87, Santa has traveled every street in Spokane spreading the message of Merry Christmas to All and to all a good night. I imagine that it is still an annual event during the month of December.

[Diver Dave]

One more story about the "Dime Store."

When my brother and I were 5 years old, we were each given a dollar to go do our Christmas shopping at the dime store.

I got a present for each of my 3 sisters, my brother, Mom and Dad, Gramma and Grampa and 2 aunts.

The only present I remember is the one I got for Mom. It was a small figurine of a little boy dressed in blue with a lamb. I don't remember if it was coincidence or not, but Don got Mom the very same figurine.

Those figurines adorned Mom's knick-knack shelf until she gave it back to me a couple of years ago. It now sits on the knick-knack shelf of our house as does the other one at Don's house.

[daisyscarlett]

Good night Molly Pitcher. Thanks to your help today, Billie got her baking done, I finished wrapping gifts and shopped for holiday groceries and Lori and Dansy got to rest up and try to shake the "bug" they have.

It was a great thread, albeit a two hanky one...

DaisyScarlett

[daisyscarlett]

Gosh Dave, what a neat thing in Spokane...Santa riding in a sleigh...Love it...have never really seen a real sleigh with a real Santa in it before.

My town had four dimestores-Grant's, Woolworth's, Kresge's and one other whose name I forgot. We used to go to "town" and shop in the dimestores too. But there were perverts around then, too. I remember once, I was about 6 or 7, really young, (we were probably with an older sibling) my friend and I were looking at toys and a man in a raincoat came up to us and flashed us. Well, we had no idea what that was all about but we did have enough sense to go tell the salesclerk that "that man over there does not have any clothes on under his coat". And guess what, the clerk did not believe us and chastised us for "making up stories about that nice man".

And what a neat twins story of you and Don buying your Mom the same figurine...Thanks for sharing...as always...

[daisyscarlett]

THE KING IS BACK..THREAD FOR THURSDAY IS HERE..

[MistyCA]

Hey! Where have you been????? :)

[MistyCA]

thanks for the ping, DD. I haven't had the chance to read the entire thread, but I plan to. What I did read so far was very heartwarming. Thanks, Billie. Thanks, Daisy. You get many kudos and a few feathers in your cap for this one. :)

[Pippin]

Good Morning, HOTD!

Thanks for the picture! :6)

Have you seen the Two Towers yet?

[Pippin]

You have mail! :^)

[Pippin]

Good Morning, Lonestar!

I know what you are feeling at Christmas time as well as other times. My dad injured his head severely in the late 80's and ever since he has displayed symptons of Altzheimers, a condition foreign in his family, but since he as the doctors discribed "bruised his brian" he now has the same problems with being confused and lost. and short term memory was the first to go. He too, don't understand that it is Christmas, he's that confused!

May God bless you and your mother and my father this Christmas season and all through the year!

[lodwick]

Thanks for the petition link.

[lonestar]

Merry Christmas to you and yours.

[FreeTheHostages]

At a convenient place (yesterday's threads), I note I haven't yet received the Clinton Legacy Cookbooks, but according to another thread here they were mailed out Monday. So I should receive them, as the mail's now going here in DC, today or tomorrow. I've got envelopes addressed to each of you all ready to go and I'm going to put them right back out in the mail to you Priority Mail. My theory is that doing this will give these books a good chance of arriving by Christmas Eve. It will be close.

That's just the update. I already mailed to people who won calendars (Pippin) or the Cheney book (SweetLiberty) Saturday, and Pippin (who lives in nearby Maryland) received it in the mail Wednesday. So at the rate mail is moving around here, worst case scenario is the book will arrive just a little after Christmas.

[FreeTheHostages]

Are you really a RadioAstronomer? That would be SO COOL.

[GailA]

That is excellent news. I like getting presents in the mail.

[jwfiv]

Hi, FTH, thanks for the update re: the cookbook.

Looking forward to it, like waiting for that Red Ryder BB-gun to arrive in the mail.

Wishing you the best of days, FRiend.