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CARDIGAN CHRONICLE VOL. 15, NO. 7
CARDIGAN MOUNTAIN SCHOOL, CANAAN, N. H.
DECEMBER, 1965
SEA-SON'S GREETINGS And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. -St. Luke 2 :8
The Gift Of A Pauper
Carolers: Michael Garrison, Richard Perry, Christopher Zamore -
Photo by L arry 'McDonald, Va lley News
This is the time of year when the heart of man rises up with new hope, new inspiration, new faith, and love. This is the time of year when eternal light is acknowledged in the s•o ng of the carolers, the pealing of the bells, the exchange of love and good will. May this spirit ever remain with us all throughout each day of the year! 'May this s-pirit be the supreme expression of what abides forever in our hearts. The Chronicle staff wishes you - our parents, friends, alumni, benefactors, trustees and readers - a holiday filled with the freshness of new understanding and me aning. Paraphrasing the words of Charles Dickens' Tiny Tim, we say to you: "God bless you, everyone!"
It was dark and bitterly cold, yet the neon lights of the alley bars shone like diamonds off every falling snowflake. A deep grunt and a chorus of horse laughs choired ,together. A middle-aged Santa Claus with dangling beard and rumpled red suit came sliding out of the swinging doors, landing head first on a soot-covered snowbank littered with beer cans. He lay ·t here for a moment and then looked up and saw two small, naked, dirty legs with bare white feet. He raised his eyes and saw a little girl with the remains of a dress on her. Her hands were white with · cold and her grimy face surounded by frazzled hair added to the grotesqueness of the figure. She looked at him quizzically and then asked him why he was not with his reindeer. He sat up and pushed his beard into place. He noticed the sparkle in her eye and searched his · brain for an appropriate answer. He said he had been delivering packag.e s and had tripped and fallen. With growing excitment, she asked if she would get a present, too. The man sat · back and wondered what he could say this time. He said "Yes" and asked where she lived. Her head turned slowly and she looked up past the gar,b age cans and the black brick slum buildings and said she had no home. He asked her where her parents were and she replied she had none. He knew he had no present to give her for he himself was, a beggar and could only get occasional jobs. He reached a freezing hand into his (Continued on page 3)