From the Citizen’s Voice, Wilkes-Barre,PA
By Tom Long
The 7-year-old darted back and forth across the room, from the Christmas tree to the Hanukkah table. Energetic Elijah Miller, constantly smiling under a mop of curly light brown hair, showed visitors the family’s presents, toys and decorations. more…
From the The Kansas City Star
C.W. GUSEWELLE
Alone and away from home that Christmas Eve of 1957, I learned a lesson about the unexpected decency one sometimes has the luck to meet.
What I discovered was that even in the angriest times, in places you expect will be unwelcoming, surprising kindness may seek you out.
I was a young man in Army service at Fort Bragg, in North Carolina, and had managed to hitch a ride home on holiday leave aboard a military transport plane bound for a reserve base just outside Kansas City.
The flight offered no amenities and no comfort, just canvas sling seats in the cargo hold. But the passage was free — a blessing on a soldier’s wage.
When we took off in late afternoon the Carolina weather was pleasant. But conditions worsened as evening came on, first with drizzle, then fog. The pilot had no choice but to make an unscheduled landing short of our destination.
“Where are we?” I asked the crew chief.
“Little Rock,” he said. And it was not good news.
Remember, if you can, the events of that autumn in that city. In September, Arkansas Gov. Orval Faubus defied the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision that three years earlier had mandated the integration of public schools. more…
From American Profile magazine
by Marta W. Aldrich
American Profile received more than 70 letters from readers this year describing the generous acts of friends, neighbors, family members and anonymous individuals who helped stranded motorists, collected money for charity and lent a helping hand to someone in need. Below are the stories of a few people whose thoughtful and selfless acts restore one’s faith in humanity. more…
From ABC Affiliate WBAY, Greenbay, WI
Investigators are now linking the man suspected in a string of school thefts to two more incidents in Manitowoc County.
He was caught on this security camera at Chapel Elementary in Green Bay, accompanied by a small child believed to be about four years old.
Police say he’s done the same thing at other schools in the Green Bay, Allouez, Fond du Lac, Wupun and Apleton areas.
He walks around looking for an empty classroom, then steals cash, credit cards and checkbooks out of teachers’ purses.
Now, the criminal actions of that man are bringing out the best in others.
Last Friday a teacher at St. Frances Cabrini Middle School in Manitowoc was robbed of $300.
School officials believe the money was taken by the same man that’s been stealing from other schools and churches in the area.
Jennifer Stenson, an eighth grader at St. Frances was so upset with what happened that she decided to do something about it and approached her homeroom teacher with her idea.
“She said that I could write up a letter to give to each of the 8th graders and their parents and I did that and I brought it to school on Monday morning and I showed it to her and then I went down and talked to Mr. Clark about it and he agreed as well so we sent it home.”
Jennifer’s letter home to eighth graders on Monday started a campaign throughout the entire school that raised $365 more than was originally taken from the teacher. more…
From the Sapulpa Daily Herald, OK
By Colleen Freyvogel
THE TRIBUNE-DEMOCRAT (Johnstown, Pa.)
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. —
After a fire damaged Ron Vizza’s barbershop in the city’s Hornerstown section last week, he found a temporary home in a neighboring beauty shop.
Though wigs, acrylic nails and gabbing girls are not usually a part of Vizza’s daily routine of buzz-cuts and short hair-dos, he said he enjoys the company.
Michele Baumbaugh, owner of the New You Boutique, said when she heard over a scanner that there was a fire she knew she wanted to do her part. Baumbaugh’s boutique is just steps away from Vizza’s shop, so she decided to invite him in for the holidays.
After putting up a sign to direct his customers to his temporary location, he set up shop at the beauty salon Wednesday. more…
From the Lansing State Journal, MI
After polling her fellow airline agents, Maria Rozell called what happened at her ticket counter one morning this week “the best Christmas story of our collective years of working for the airlines.”
That’s a lot of years. Rozell alone has 16. She’s a customer service agent for Northwest Airlines at Lansing’s Capital City Airport.
Rozell, who lives in Okemos, was at the boarding gate Monday morning for Flight 1692 to Detroit.
There was a problem with a ticket held by a woman who was on her way to Atlanta to visit her critically ill sister.
It seems that the buyer of the ticket – the husband of the sick woman – was not available to verify the credit card transaction. So, the woman had neither a ticket nor the means to buy one.
As Rozell was trying to figure out how to help the woman get to Atlanta, a well-dressed, executive type bellied up to the counter. He had missed his plane, he growled, after being pulled over for speeding on his way to the airport. more…
From the Sun-Sentinel, South Florida
By Stephen Deere
WEST PALM BEACH · The 23 children poured out of the minivans at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts on Thursday evening with expectant smiles. Some laughed. Some jumped up and down, as the flash of cameras illuminated their faces.
Herding them into line was Jack Hairston, also known as the Bike Man of West Palm Beach.
Last weekend Hairston gave away hundreds of bikes to the children of the city’s Guatemalan migrant workers. He heads Mayan Family Services, a migrant advocacy organization.
In return for all his community work, the Kravis Center gave Hairston 25 tickets to The Nutcracker and another 30 tickets to the New Year’s Eve show Broadway on Ice. more…
From the Metro West Daily News, MA
By Richard Lodge
It was a small thing for a guy in a big truck with a plow. Slam it into first gear, roar up the driveway, into reverse, back and forth a couple times and you’re done.
He didn’t have to do it, but the anonymous plow driver who scraped clean Frances Rose’s long driveway a week ago did more than clear away the snow. He wiped away the gloom she was feeling that she said had her wishing Christmas would hurry up and be over. more…
From Newsday, Long Island, NY
by JOYE BROWN
‘I need your help.’
That’s the way the e-mail started. There was no salutation, it just went straight to the point:
“Today I found a large sum of money on the street in a wallet that has no identification in it. I believe it might belong to a day laborer. There is a receipt from Western Union with what I think is an account number (looks like a Suffolk County telephone number). I’m not sure if Western Union can or would give me any information. And if I did get the name of the individual, what do I do if he doesn’t speak much English and I don’t speak any Spanish?
“I would like to see this money returned to its rightful owner before Christmas.
“Can you help me?” more…
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