Merry Christmas

Here wishing each and every one a very Merry Christmas.



Prayers also go out for a prosperous New Year.



Thank you for visiting the "Soapbox". I look forward to continuing it's publication.

A Better Christmas from The Redmen

Twenty-two years ago it came to the attention of the Redmen Lodge in Fruitland Md. that there were 4 local families in need of help for Christmas. They answered the call and it became a tradition to reach out to families in need every year since. This year the Lodge was able to assist more than 90 families with food and toys to make Christmas a reality for them.




Here Don & Dot Braithwaite of the Redmens Lodge along with many other members gathered this Sunday to wrap the toys that were to be delivered on Christmas Eve. As the toys were
wrapped and sorted for the families they
were bagged, tagged and stored in an adjacent room to the Lodge hall. I didn't get an exact count on toys but as you can see there were plenty to be delivered on Christmas Eve.

As some of the members wrapped toys other worked to fill boxes with food. Here Tony Johnson works with the dry goods that had been collected. Boxed foods like cereals, Macaroni & Cheese, loaves of bread and the like were boxed and labeled for each family. Perishable items such as milk, eggs, & meats were kept in the coolers until the morning of December 24 and were placed with each box for delivery at that time

Many members of the Lodge donated their

time and vehicles to make the deliveries

as well as members of the Eastern Shore Chapter

of the Antique Truck Club of America. Much of the food was donated and purchased from the Fruitland Food Lion store. Many of the canned goods were collected by students at the Wicomico County Applied Technology Center on College ave here in Salisbury. The Redmen also received some private donations for this annual project and money donated by the Shuffleboard League and Dart League at the Lodge was also earmarked for the the Christmas delivery.

Seen at right is Mrs. Pat Stevenson, the coordinator for the project. Pat has been with this event since it's inception 22 years ago and ensures that all runs as smoothly as possible on Delivery Day.

Thanks to the Lodge and it's members more than 90 families have a Christmas this year they may not have had otherwise. Thank you Redmen Tribe #149 and Pocahontas Council # 61.

UPDATE: I was also asked to include that in addition to this program the Redmen also donated $2000.00 to the Bless Our Children Campaign @ WBOC-TV

Farewell to a Best Friend

On Wednesday morning, December 17th Ahrens, one of my two Dalmatians, did not seem to feel well. As the day wore on changes in her actions were very evident and the color completely left her beautiful eyes. We knew she had some cataracts in one eye but this was different because both eyes took on a grey filmy color and by late afternoon she was completely blind. I don't remember her drinking any water that day and she reluctantly took a " K-9 kookie" when it was offered. As the day wore on she became more distressed and actually got lost in the house a couple of times. Only when you touched her was she aware of your presence and then the greeting was a very weak tail wag.

The other Dalmatian, "Christie" sensed a problem as well and stayed pretty clear of Ahrens all day. Early that evening my wife took her to the Vet and the feeling was she had one or more strokes and that was what had created the blindness. Both of the Dalmatians lost their hearing about a year ago and this blindness for Ahrens now just reduced her the quality of life tremendously. It was also not know when a fatal stroke may occur but we were assured the chances of anything getting better was non-existent. With that the decision was made to do the humane thing.

Today I carried her remains to the Holloway's Funeral home for cremation and I have to say the folks there are just wonderful. She was treated with the same respect as any member of the family would have been.

We have yet to decide what to do with the ashes because we need to talk to our son since she was as much his dog as anyone's. He's the one that picked her the day we got her and she shared a special bond with him.

Ahrens is 13 1/2 year old, which is about the average for a Dalmatian, and she has had a good life here with us.

R.I.P. my sweet Ahrens. We shall miss you.

Something Cool that Xerox is Doing

Click on the title of this post and you will taken to: http://www.letssaythanks.com/ . There you can pick out a thank you card and Xerox will print it and it will be sent to a soldier that is currently serving in Iraq .

You can't pick out who gets it, but you can personalize it with your message and your hometown. It will then be sent to some member of the armed services.

How AMAZING it would be if we could get everyone we know to send one!!! This is a great site. Please send a card or even more than one. It is FREE and it only takes a second. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the soldiers received a bunch of these? Whether you are for or against the war, our guys and gals over there need to know we are behind them...

December 7, 1941. Lest we Forget

I thought I had this post ready to go automatically for this morning but either I didn't get the direction right or there was a glitch.

Today is Pearl Harbor Day. The Japanese attack on this day in 1941 catapulted the U.S. into the Pacific theater of war which did not end until the dropping of two atomic bombs on the Japanese homeland some 4 years later. Most of Americas fleet was lost or severely damaged on this Sunday morning. Some of the greatest Battleships in history were lost and essentially born on this day as America went on the fast track to rebuild the fleet. Fewer and fewer people are alive today that remember the attack and fewer still are those that lived through it as it played out.

May we never forget.

May we never forget.

Fairmont VFC Turkey Shoot

Due to the rainy weather last week-end the Turkey Shoot for the Fairmount Vol. Fire Company has been re-scheduled for Sunday December 7th at 1:00 pm.

I apologize for not posting this earlier.

Little Known U.S. Naval History

The U.S.S. Constitution (Old Ironsides), as a combat vessel, carried 48,600 gallons of fresh water for her crew of 475 officers and men. This was sufficient to last six months of sustained operations at sea. She carried no evaporators (i.e. fresh water distillers).
However, let it be noted that according to her ship's log, "On July 27, 1798, the U.S.S. Constitution
Constitution sailed from Boston with a full complement of 475 officers and men, 48,600 gallons of fresh water, 7,400 cannon shot, 11,600 pounds of black powder and 79,400 gallons of rum." Her mission: "To destroy and harass English shipping."Making Jamaica on 6 October, she took on 826 pounds of flour and 68,300 gallons of rum. Then she headed for the Azores , arriving there 12 November. She provisioned with 550 pounds of beef and 64,300 gallons of Portuguese wine. On 18 November, she set sail for England. In the ensuing days she defeated five British men-of-war and captured and scuttled 12 English merchant ships, salvaging only the rum aboard;By 26 January, her powder and shot were exhausted. Nevertheless, although unarmed, she made a night raid up the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. Her landing party captured a whisky distillery and transferred 40,000 gallons of single malt Scotch aboard by dawn. Then she headed home. The U.S.S. Constitution arrived in Boston on 20 February, 1799, with no cannon shot, no food , no powder, no rum, no wine, no whisky, and 38,600 gallons of water.
GO NAVY!!!

A New Christmas Poem

(I believe this has been around before, but it's worth a repeat)


TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, HE LIVED ALL ALONE, IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE MADE OF PLASTER AND STONE.

I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE, AND TO SEE JUST WHO IN THIS HOME DID LIVE.

I LOOKED ALL ABOUT, A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE, NO TINSEL, NO PRESENTS, NOT EVEN A TREE.

NO STOCKING BY MANTLE, JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND, ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES OF FAR DISTANT LANDS.

WITH MEDALS AND BADGES, AWARDS OF ALL KINDS, A SOBER THOUGHT CAME THROUGH MY MIND.

FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT, IT WAS DARK AND DREARY, I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER, ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY.

THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING, SILENT, ALONE, CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME.

THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE, THE ROOM IN SUCH DISORDER, NOT HOW I PICTURED A UNITED STATES SOLDIER.

WAS THIS THE HERO OF WHOM I'D JUST READ? CURLED UP ON A PONCHO, THE FLOOR FOR A BED?

I REALIZED THE FAMILIES THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT, OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT.

SOON ROUND THE WORLD, THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY, AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY.

THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR, BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS, LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE.

I COULDN'T HELP WONDER HOW MANY LAY ALONE, ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME.

THE VERY THOUGHT BROUGHT A TEAR TO MY EYE, I DROPPED TO MY KNEES AND STARTED TO CRY.

THE SOLDIER AWAKENED AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE, 'SANTA DON'T CRY, THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE;

I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM, I DON'T ASK FOR MORE, MY LIFE IS MY GOD, MY! COUNTRY, MY CORPS.'

THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP, I COULDN'T CONTROL IT, I CONTINUED TO WEEP.

I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS, SO SILENT AND STILL AND WE BOTH SHIVERED FROM THE COLD NIGHT'S CHILL.

I DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE ON THAT COLD, DARK, NIGHT, THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOR SO WILLING TO FIGHT.

THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER, WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE, WHISPERED, 'CARRY ON SANTA, IT'S CHRISTMAS DAY, ALL IS SECURE.'

ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH, AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT. 'MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND,! AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT.'

This poem was written by a Marine.

The following is his request. I think it is reasonable.....

PLEASE. Would you do me the kind favor of sending this to as many people as you can? Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to our U.S. service men and women for our being able to celebrate these festivities. Let's try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make people stop and think of our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed themselves for us. Please, do your small part to plant this small seed.

FREEDOM IS NOT FREE GOD BLESS AMERICA