The World 12-06-17

Stringing Popcorn
By G. E. Shuman
When I was a child, a long time
ago in a galaxy far away, many
things were different than they
are today. That statement seems to go
without saying. The world has changed so
much since then. Traditions, celebrations,
and even seasonal decorations are not what
they once were. I’m not sure if such
changes are good, or bad (I will tell you
that I was not impressed with the first ‘predecorated’
Christmas tree I saw in a
store).
One thing that my family used to do
when I was a child, at this time of the year,
was to string popcorn to use as a garland
on our Christmas tree. I’m not certain if we
did this every year, but I do remember the
ritual taking place many times in the eighteen
Decembers of my youth. What would
happen is that my mom would pop a big
batch of popcorn on the stove, provide us
children with a needle and a lot of thread,
and we would proceed to spend that evening
watching whatever Christmas special
was on TV that night while assembling the
corn into long strands, to be placed on the tree as soon as we
were done. The challenge, at least for us younger children,
was to string at least a bit more popcorn than we ate, as we
watched Rudolph, Frosty, or Charlie Brown make their oncea-year
Christmas appearance on the big, old, wooden-boxed
television in our living room.
Yes, it would be an extreme understatement to say that
things have changed in our world, since that long-ago time.
This year, if you were to describe my Christmastime, you
would have to move not only past that child of the sixties but
to one whose Christmases now number in the sixties. You
would need to talk about the fact that not only have I grown
older, but that my children have also, and that my grandchildren
are in the process of doing so, too. The TVs that
Rudolph and Frosty still appear on have gone from being
clunky, blurry, heavy things which took up a good amount of
space in our living rooms, to inch-thick, huge and brilliant
devices we take for granted as they hang on our walls.
There is no longer anyone in our home who believes in
Santa, or who is interested in many of the traditions of that
jolly old elf, or of our family. This year, Lorna and I decided
The Importance of Young People Making Wise Choices
and The Dangers of Substance Abuse
Pat McDonald and Ben Kinsley
are co-hosts of the show,
“Vote for Vermont.” Joining
them on a recent show was Darryl
Rodgers, a teen motivational speaker
and author. Darryl became a
motivational speaker when his son
Chase Rodgers, died when his car,
driven by a girl who was unlicensed
and had used marijuana left the highway and hit a tree at 60
mph. The young lady did not die in the accident but survived
to subsequently commit suicide.
Darryl talked about his background which included being a
corporate pilot, serving as a medic in the Army National
Guard and being a co-pilot gunner on an Apache helicopter.
He is a successful businessman, has run an outdoor summer
camp for boys and worked with ‘at-risk’ boys through a nonprofit
program he started and is an avid hunter. Darryl said
he was caught off guard by his son’s drug abuse. No one in
his family had substance issues and he had never encountered
it before.
When asked about his son, Darryl said he was generous and
had a great sense of humor and was very popular among his
peers. He was competitive and agile and a force to be reckoned
with on the football field. His number was 34 and his
nickname was ‘speedy’. After his death, Darryl created a
website in honor of Chase. It’s called Speedy34.com.
Chase’s story is not unique. Darryl talks about peer pressure
as the change agent in Chase’s life. Chase went to college
and became involved with drugs and alcohol, with marijuana
being his drug of choice. Darryl and his wife began noticing
a personality change. Chase’s grades fell and eventually he
was kicked out of college. Through an intervention with his
family, Chase attended rehab and then a half-way house. He
got a job and was doing better but then subtle changes started
to happen. Chase came to Darryl and admitted that he was
hanging out with the wrong group again and wanted to move
back to Florida where he went to rehab. The day he was supposed
to say good-by to his Mom and Dad is the day they got
Max’s View continued from previous page
aggressive onslaught of Stalinist Communism. What the US
did, however, was actively betray Moscow’s trust during its
hour of weakness.
During the 90s, NATO began a belligerent advance right up
to Russia’s doorstep. Today, the US is officially obligated to
come to the defense of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania if
Russia attacks them. Do our leaders genuinely care about the
Estonians? Nah, they just want to antagonize Moscow.
Our leaders successfully ensured that the Russians continue
to fear and hate us. Bravo. For their next trick, they found a
way to have endless war in the Middle East.
In 1990, a US envoy told our old friend Saddam Hussein
that he could take over Kuwait without inference. When Iraq
invaded its neighbor, however, the Bush Administration
changed its mind.
Operation Desert Storm was a splendid military success.
But it had severe long-term consequences.
Osama Bin Laden had formerly viewed Communist Russia
• • •
• • •
to embrace that fact, as fighting it would be stupid and futile.
We still went out and bought a tree, but a much smaller one
than at any Christmas past, in an effort to simplify things, this
year. We, without the fanfare now relegated to seasonal
memories, set up the smaller tree in that familiar corner of the
living room.
My wife, the wise one in the family, suggested
that we use some of our older ornaments,
sort of making this tree a symbol of
memories. She then went to the attic and
located those things, and also the angel treetop
that her family had used on their trees
when she was growing up; indeed since she
was an infant. She brought that aging angel to
me, and I tried plugging it into an outlet. To
her and my astonishment, the 1950s era bulb
within it glowed as if it were brand new. We
immediately put that beautiful angel on the
tree.
After that, Lorna seemed to be fretting a bit
over what would be the perfect garland on
our new, ‘old fashioned’ Christmas tree. It
had to be ‘just right’. I didn’t know what she
wanted to do, and we actually went to several
stores, trying to find a beaded type of garland
she had remembered from the past, but we never located it.
We then checked the totes of ‘Christmas past’ in the attic, and
found nothing suitable there, either. Then, in probably the
only good Christmas idea I have ever had, I asked Lorna if she
had ever strung popcorn as a child, to put on a Christmas tree.
To my amazement, and partial delight, she said that she had
not. The fact that I wasn’t aware of this, in the life of my wife
of 44 years, was astounding. The idea that she agreed to string
some popcorn with me that evening was even more so.
So, that very night, I went to the store and got two boxes of
microwave popcorn, even as my dear wife located needles
and thread. When the corn was popped we turned on our
favorite shows, and then strung it into what turned out to be
the perfect garlands for our wonderful, old-fashioned
Christmas tree.
As you look forward to the coming holidays, you might
want to consider the idea of simplifying them and of using
just a few ideas from the past. Some of those things really are
worth doing again. I recently got to spend a cozy December
evening watching TV and stringing popcorn with my best
friend.
the devastating news from law
enforcement about the car accident.
To deal with his loss, Darryl
wrote a book about the life of
his son. The book is entitled, “A
Life Half Lived” which is a true
story of love, addition, tragedy
and hope. Darryl wrote the
book to provide the reader with
a glimpse inside the modern
drug culture and the consequences
that come with it. After
he wrote the book, Darryl
decided to share his story with
groups of young people which
resulted in his becoming a motivational
speaker. His mission in talking to teens is to educate
them on the dangers and consequences of substance abuse. He
wants teens to think about the power of choice, association,
love and intervention. Darryl strongly believes it is a matter
of life and death as we are in the middle of a state and national
epidemic and crisis.
Darryl was asked about the many educational white papers
that are included in his website and whether because of the
broad expanse of the topics he has written about, and whether
he was thinking of becoming a life coach for teens. Darryl
said he was certainly considering it. A life coach helps people
move forward and set personal and professional goals to give
them the life they want. He would hope to work with teens to
get them on their right path early on in life.
Note: Darryl provided many other insights in addition to
those mentioned here. If you would like to see the show,
please go to vote802.com for a complete listing of Vote For
Vermont shows or our YouTube channel.
The comments reflected in this article are opinions stated
by our guest. Any rebuttals are welcome and can be expressed
on the websites and face book pages for Vote For Vermont and
Campaign For Vermont.
and the decadent Saudi monarchy as the ultimate enemies of
Islam. After seeing thousands of US soldiers stationed in the
Holy Land, Al-Qaeda had a new #1 target: America.
To Oliver Stone, Bill Clinton was a neo-con wolf in sheep’s
clothing.
Under Clinton, our military became the ever-present
policemen wherever there were Muslims misbehaving or in
danger. US boots and bombs were active in Bosnia, Kosovo,
Somalia, and Iraq – often without the American people’s
knowledge.
Stone argues that when 9/11 sparked the War on Terror, it
wasn’t a real change; it was just a continuation of the Clinton
policy of multi-theater warfare in the Muslim World.
After the Cold War, the United States could have chosen
peace. Instead, it mapped out a path of perpetual conflict with
Russia and Islam.
Essentially, we are at War with Eurasia and Eastasia. And
the only winner is Big Brother.
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Final 2017 Construction Update
Montpelier Transportation Projects
Project Location: State Street, Main Street, and VT 12 – Elm Street
- Work to include milling, paving, manhole and drainage structure
adjustments and extensive sidewalk improvements. VT 12-Northfi eld Street
- new water, sewer, storm water improvements, sidewalks and a stabilized
road base.
November 30, 2017 – Work will not wrap up this week as previously
planned. There are a few remaining items, which are weather
dependent, that will be addressed before the projects close down for
the winter.
Elm Street: There is a guardrail anchor that needs to be installed on
the northern limit of the Elm Street project. Pike is coordinating with the
guardrail subcontractor to schedule the work within the next week or two.
This work is expected to take approximately half a day to complete.
Northfield Street: Line striping needs to be completed on Northfi eld
Street. Pike is also coordinating with the line striping subcontractor
to schedule the work as soon as possible. Completion of this work is
dependent upon favorable weather and availability. Dubois will also be
completing minor punch list items which will include backfi lling the new
sidewalk.
This will be the final construction update for 2017. Weekly
construction updates will resume in the spring of 2018 and continue
throughout the duration of the projects.
It is illegal in VT to use any handheld portable electronic devices while
driving. The law carries fines of up to $200 with points assessed if the
violation occurs in a work zone.
Contact Francine Perkins, Project Outreach Coordinator, FRP Enterprises,
LLC with any questions or concerns with regards to the project at 802-479-
6994. Construction updates will be posted on www.roadworkupdates.com ,
The City of Montpelier’s Front Porch Forum and Facebook Pages, Montpelier
Alive’s Facebook Page and Makeover Montpelier’s Facebook Page.
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