The_Rambler_1953-11-24

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THE RAMBLER
LONG ISLAND AGRICULTURAL AND TECHNICAL INSTITUTE
FARMINGDALE, L. L, N. Y.
Vol. XXIV, No. 3 November 24, 1953
1621 BE THANKFUL - 1953
This is the season for Thanks-giving.
Unless we think about it,
it may be only a vacuous holiday—
a respite from work or school.
While these same thoughts might
thread through our minds at any
time, the whirl of our lives leaves
us, little time for thoughtful
Thanksgiving.
Why should I be thankful? Sure,
somebody's forefathers (probably
not mine) known as the Pilgrims
managed to avoid death and star-vation
— at least some of them
did — and set aside a day of wor-ship
and thanksgiving. What is
that to me? Perhaps nothing when
one considers the number of par-allel
situations in history. But
let ua see.
If we could use this Day, which
is still dedicated, to review the
things for which we should be
thankful and crystallize and rein-force
our ideals which will gov-ern
our actions for the coming
year, we could consider Thanks-giving
Day well spent and our-selves
worthy.
We live- in homes which have, so
far, escaped the devastation and
destruction of total war. Few coun-tries
can say the same. We have
enough golden stars and empty
sleeves to serve as a reminder of
war. But we do not have shatter-ed
homes, factories and streets,
or farm and timber lands desolat-ed
by war.
We can be thankful for, and help
support those forces that arc com-bating
greed, waste, carelessness
and ignorance which cause our
dust bowls and forest fires.
Wa can be thankful for, and
help support those forces which
uphold the dignity of hard work.
No country such as ours can be
built, or continue to exist, without
a willingness on the part of its
people to work their share to earn
their share. A non-productive per-son
is an economic parasite. Near-ly
everyone, however handicapped
he may be, may make some con-tribution
to society.
Above all, we can be thankful
for the moral fibre of our people
that will fight against corruption,
lack of integrity in business, and
the person looking for the shady,
quick-and-easy dollar.
WHAT THANKSGIVING MEANS
TO ME
by Jacqueline Maxwell
We have in our country the great-est
opportunity for all in educa-tion,
in employment, and in re-ligious
tolerance. Our people have
the highest standard of living of
any large nation. We eat better,
dress better, travel more, have
more conveniences, more labor
saving devices, work fewer hours,
have better health, better educa-tion
and more recreational oppor-tunities
han most of the rest of
the world. Lot us also have the
greatest appreciation and give the
greatest thanks.
We do not have equality. We
never shall. Fortune and misfor-tune
are fickle. We have our
grasshoppers and our ants — our
workers and our drones. But we
come closer than any other people
to equality of opportunity. Let us
be thankful. Perhaps this oppor-tunity
is not an inalienable right
as our Declaration of Independ-ence
declares. It should be earned
and it must be defended or it
will be taken away. It can be tak-en
away very quickly by corrup-tion
in government, selfish pres-sure
groups, unscrupulous labor or-ganizations,
racketeers, five per-centers,
tax dodgers, all of those
persons who tend to break down
the integrity of the people and
who, if sufficient in numbers, cast
an aura of acceptability over dis-honesty.
These people can take it
away. Follow the pattern of the
fall of any great nation in history.
Every one of these people is tak-ing
away from you your heritage
and your earnings. A few drops of
stain will color a great deal of
water and a few germs if not con-trolled
will destroy a whole people
So can lack of integrity destroy
a nation.
Let us pray on this Thanksgiv-ing
Day for strength for ourselves
and those people who are striving
to maintain the integrity and pros-perity
of our country.
David W. Allee,
Assistant Director
by Ann Brown
The first thing that comes to
my mind is the traditional dinner
followed by an exciting football
game. Giving the subject more
serious thought, though, I realize
that it's time to give thanks to
God for helping us through our
struggles, for the many freedoms
and privileges we now take for
granted.
Thanksgiving means the time of
year when Indian summer ends and
expectations of the glistening white
snow of winter rise. Of course.
Thanksgiving wouldn't be Thanks-giving
without a big" twenty pound
turkey, chestnut stuffing, turnips,
peas, potatoes, cranberry sauce,
apple cider (hard) and that lus-cious
perennial, pumpkin pie with
whipped cream.
But, have you ever stopped to
think how other living creatures
celebrate Thanksgiving? Take a
walk on Thanksgiving afternoon
and see. If you are all weight-conscious,
you'll want to walk off
that turkey dinner! The first thing
you may see is a squirrel perched
up in the crotch of a birch, en-tirely
engrossed in his own dinner
of nuts and winter berries. If we
could only get close enough to see
his face we would see an expres-sion
of complete satisfaction for
such a simple meal. Next, you
may see a blue jay, dressed very
gaily in his suit of blue and white.
His stomach is filled with acorns.
So filled that I think he will burst.
So ends a iittle trip into the
woodland to see how our little
friends enjoyed their Thanksgiving.
If only we could be satisfied with
the simple things in life, wouldn't
it be a happier world to live in?
This is what Thanksgiving means
to me.
by Pat Archdeacon
Thanksgiving means spicy smells
from the kitchen, relatives and
friends sharing good food together.
Pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce, and
turkey, accompanied by groans of
"Oh, am I full."
But along with this sweet glow,
there's an even nicer one, a warm
glow of thankfulness and love for
one another.