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Goodbye, oldfriend
By Steve Tefft A
She
looked at me with
those same deep, lov-
ing eyes.The eyes never
changed, not in 13-plus
years.They always emitted
constant love ... sometimes
mischief, other times some
guilt. But always love. She
gave me one last, playful
poke with her paw, whose
claws were now cracked and
worn because the legs above
them hadn't worked correctly
for so long.Then the beauti-
ful eyes closed, and she was
gone.
They say losing a family dog
is like losing a family mem-
ber. In some ways, it's worse.
Sammie gave us unconditional
love that wouldn't be deterred
or diminished. Such a pure,
simple quality is hard to find
in a human.
Our decision was made
more difficult by the burden
of, in effect, playing God;
deciding when Sammie's
time was over. Many a night
I prayed that she would pass
quietly in her sleep. But
through research and experi-
ence I learned that rarely hap-
pens. A dog's will to live often
overrides simple anatomy and
physics, if only for a while.
Then there is this. Sam-
mie's passing represents a
psychological touchstone, the
end of a significant part of our
lives. Our daughter Carly was
7 when we got Sammie.They
grew up together-Sammie
from irrepressible puppyhood
to somewhat calmer adult-
hood, Carly from a gangly
child into a beautiful, talented
woman.There's not been a
single day since June 2001
when at least one-Sammie or
Carly-has not been with us.
Not until now. Carly is away
at school, and Sammie has
crossed the Rainbow Bridge.
The emptiness is canyon-
esque; deep, cold and scary.
I still catch myself doing
Sammie "things"; looking for
her where her bed used to
sit by the fireplace, taking an
extra wide step to avoid the
food and water dishes that are
no longer there by the back
door, watching where I step
in the back yard, waiting for
the barking to start after the
doorbell rings.
We may get another dog,
perhaps as soon as the spring
(although the topic is a diffi-
cult one to consider rationally
right now).The new dog will
be adorable , infuriating, irre-
sistible, incorrigible, endear-
ing, loyal and vital to our
family. It will drive us crazy
at times, but it will give us
unquestioning, unconditional
love, because that's what dogs
do. It will be everything fami-
lies dream their pets will be.
But it won't be Sammie. No
pet could. She was, and is,
irreplaceable.
Goodbye, Sammie. I've
never had a better friend. I
only hope we made you half
as happy as you made us. See
you again someday.
EARLY FILES Selected by John Watters
BARNSTABLE PATRIOT FILES/NICKERSON ARCHIVES
MSPCA CANDLELIGHT VIGIL - Friends of the MSPCA gathered to light candles,
sing carols and promote kindness to all mankind on Dec. 21, 1994, on the town
green in Hyannis.
1844
Hathaway Farm For Sale - Will be
sold (without reserve) at Public Auction
-A low single DWELLING HOUSE, for-
merly owned and occupied by Mr.James
Hathaway,situated about one mileto the
south of the Barnstable Court House -
together with about fifty acres of LAND,
more or less, under and adjoining the
same. Further particulars made known
on application to Isaiah or Matthias
Hinckley.
1864
Serious apprehensions are enter-
tained for the safety of the bark Made-
lia, of Boston commanded by Capt. John
Payne,of Chatham. She was bound from
Hong Kongfor San Francisco, and at the
present writing has been out one hun-
dred and seventy-five days—forty days
being the average time occupied in mak-
ing the passage. A son of Ziba Nicker-
son, Esq., of Chatham is third mate, and
the captain has his wife, oldest daughter
and a son with him.The greatest solici-
tudeis felt by the relatives and friends of
those on board and it is fervently hoped
that the noble bark, which was on her
first voyage, will have safely arrived at
her destined or some other port.
1894
At 3:30 on Christmas afternoon the
Unitarian Church was a joyous scene
with many happy faces, as nearly every
child in the old "East Parish" together
with their parents, relatives and friends
were present to enjoy the occasion.The
Church was very finely decorated with
evergreens, which through the untir-
ing zeal of the Pastor, and the aid of the
young and old men and maidens of the
village were secured and arranged for
that purpose.
1904
Centerville's Howard Hall was the
scene of a joyous Christmas Day fes-
tive.Two tastily decorated trees occu-
pied the conspicuous places on the plat-
form. Although men cannot gather figs
from thistles, once a year oranges are
gathered from white pine.After a short
period of waiting, Santa arrived with a
well-filled basket, and passed slowly
down the aisles, stopping here and there
to shake hands with the delighted chil-
dren.
1914
Richard Nichols, son of Wendell L.
Nichols came to Barnstable Village
Christmas night for a short pleasure
trip. Notwithstanding the ice, he was
determined to go out in the harbor on
a gunningtrip. He started in the morn-
ing and as late in the afternoon he had
not returned friends started out to look
binup.About five o'clock he was found \
in his boat near what is known as Sand
Island. It was quite evident his boat had
been capsized as it was half full of water
and Nichols gun, oars and coat were
missing. He was not in robust health
and it is thought the exertion of righting
the boat coupled with the exposure was
more than he could stand.YoungNichols
was sophomore at Harvard.
1924
The members of the Hyannis post
office force are to be congratulated on
the splendid way they handled the vast
amount of Christmas mail this year.
With the aid of the new electric cancel-
ling machine which Postmaster Cole-
man has had installed they cancelled
over 7500 pieces of first-class mail in
one day.Richard Soule did most of that
work alone.
1934
If you have never seen a hungry child
made happy by eating a big meajtVith
the prospect of getting more or as much
as he wished you should have been at
either the Mayflower or the Purity res-
taurants Christmas day and seen the
way 500 youngsters disposed of the free
dinner given them by the proprietors
of those two Hyannis restaurants. The
children were remarkably well behaved.
Most of them were clean and neatly
dressed. Their clothes might not have
been the best obtainable but they were
neat and bore evidence that their moth-
ers at least appreciated the fact that the
children were on their good behavior
and must look accordingly.
1954
Specifications of the proposed new
consolidated elementary school for
Barnstable-West Barnstable were dis-
closed. Architect Richard S. Gallagher
of Barnstable showed plans showing
a L-shaped structure with pitched roof
and solid brick walls which would con-
tain 12 classrooms two each for the finft,
six-grades), plus a kindergarten,"cafeto-
rium,"recreation room, health suite, stor-
age facilities and basement boiler room.
Capacity for the building would be 325
students with expected enrollment of
250 at the time of the anticipated open-
ing in September 1956.
1964
Dickens Christmas Carol, with music
by Larry Lippard will be the Comedy
Club's December workshop. The first
step forward into the world of the"Musi-
cal" will be yet another innovation for
the club. And while its only instrumen-
tal accompaniment will be a piano, a tal-
ented cast of singing and acting enthu-
siasts will be playing the merry Dickens
with Christmas on theVillage Hall stage.
The thoroughl y Christmassy cast is
David Laning as Scrooge, his nephew
will be played by Duncan Inches and
Marley will be played by Bob Watters.
The three ghosts will be Carrol Angell,
Don Kunze and Bob Scott.
1974
Last year at this time 3800 Cape Cod-
ders collected unemployment benefits ,
but this year that figure is up sharply to
5200. Massachusetts Employment Secu-
rity Hyannis Claims Office Manager
Duane Harnois told the Patriot that the
"best estimate"for Cape Cod unemploy-
ment now stands at about 11 percent
with further increases anticipated in the
corningweeks.
1984
If you're a resident, you'll be buying
three-year beach stickers next year.
They'll serve both dump and beach and
they'll still cost $10.
1994
Well the votes cast in Nov. has made
it easier for eager shoppers and shop-
a-holics to hit the stores now open on
Sundays, and legal holidays such as
Memorial Day, July Fourth and Labor
Day, retailers are still not allowed to
be open on Sunday Dec. 25, Christmas.
The sale of alcoholic beverages is still
restricted.
2004
Town officials were racing against
the clock to complete a critical dredg-
ing project in Barnstable Harbor. The
waterway on the north side of town is
already known for its steep tide changes
that can make navigating in and out of
the area tricky at best. Adding to that
challenge in recent years is ongoing
shoaling, making it even more difficult
for commercial and pleasure boaters.
At low tide, the commercial and whale
watching vessels are finding Barnstable
Harbor impassable.
)
Balanced playing
field still needed
When I saw the sign car-
ried by Scott McLane of
Marstons Mills in the news-
paper recentl y, declaring
he is a racist, in support of
Barnstable County Human
Rights Coordinator Elenita
Muniz , I questioned the
statement made by Elenita
Muniz that "all whites are
racist."
Would white doctors
without borders doing good
work in parts of Africa
be considered as racists?
Would grandparents that
have and love interracial
grandchildren view them-
selves as racists?
I believe Elenita Muniz
confused racist thinking
with raw fear.
In retrospect , it is my
opinion all whites are not
racists. I would say the
diversity seen in the pro-
tests around the country
show that America is still
in the process of striving
for a balanced play ing
field. When we all reach
that area together on a
balanced playing field , the
word"racist"will be a thing
of the past.
Alfred R.Waddell
Hyannis
LETTERS
Twowarsthathavelastedfar toolong
By Richard Elrick
As
the year 2014 comes
to a close, two wars
that America has been
fighting far too long
seem to be winding down.
No, I'm not referring to the
wars in Afghanistan or Iraq.
Yes, both those wars have
caused great financial and
human loss,with very little
if anything having been
gained. In the case of Iraq, no
national security threat ever
even existed.
No, the two other wars that
appear to be ending after
some 50-plus years of wasteful
and ineffective"combat,"with
millions of sacrificial casual-
ties, are the war against Cuba
and the U.S. drug war.
With President Obama's
recent announcement that the
United States and Cuba had
agreed to restore diplomatic
ties, the time is finally at hand
when relations with our near
southern neighbor can be nor-
malized. More than a decade
after the end of Cold War, and
a generation after the Cuban
missile crisis, Obama came to
the same conclusion as most
Americans:There simply is
no longer anyjustification to
isolate Cuba, and continue the
ineffective and harmful trade
embargo that has existed all
these years.
The time is long past for the
U.S. to engage the Cuban peo-
ple and their government with
trade, diplomacy and travel,
just as we do with China and
Saudi Arabia; countries with
policies far more repressive
and un-democratic than any-
thing currently practiced by
the Cuban government.
Frankly,in addition to being
unjustified by any national
security concerns, isolat-
ing Cuba and punishingthe
island's people with an eco-
nomic embargo just hasn't
been effective in achieving
any of its stated goals.As
is obvious to all but a few
Republicans and the anti-
Castro Cuban exiles of south
Florida, the Cuban Cold War
hasn't improved human rights
for Cubans, hasn't crippled the
Cuban economy and hasn't
caused the collapse of the
Castro regime.
Like the war against Cuba,
the American war on drugs,
especially the war against
marijuana, has also been a
complete and abject failure in
achieving its goals. Like our
failed Cuban policy, keeping
in place a failed drug policy
is just another example of the
kind of thinkingthat too often
characterizes government
actions:"Thepolicy isn't work-
ing, so let's do more of it."
Starting in earnest in June
1971 when President Richard
Nixon declared a"war on
drugs,"the war became as
much a war against the young
people of America as it was
against drugs.In the 1960s,
as drugs became symbols
of youthful rebellion, social
upheaval and political dissent,
the government halted scien-
tific research to evaluate their
medical safety and utility,and
the war was on.
Now more than 40 years
later, after spending more than
a $1 trillion while arresting
1.5 million Americans annu-
ally for drug possession, the
drug war is being seen (even
by many conservatives) as the
complete failure it is. Because
of the war on drugs, millions
of Americans (mostly minority
residents from the inner cities)
have criminal records caus-
ing them to be unable to find
employment or housing. And
what have we gained from
this war?The drug gangs still
exist, and illegal drugs are still
prevalent.
Finally the pendulum seems
to be shifting toward a more
sensible drug policy, at least as
it relates to marijuana use. In
the last several years, in state
after state, citizens are voting
not only to allow the use of
medicinal marijuana, but to
legalize and regulate the sale
and recreational use of the
drug as well.
Progress is inevitably slow,
but there is unprecedented
momentum, at least for the
moment, behind drug policy
reform and ending the Cuban
Cold War.Let's hope as 2014
leads into 2015, we can look
forward to a future where
drug policy and foreign rela-
tions are shaped by science
and the facts, rather than by
the kind political hysteria and
pandering that brought about
the wars against Cuba and
drugs.
Letters to
the editor
The Barnstable Patriot
welcomes letters to the
editor. Please keep them
brief and either type or
print them neatly. Include
name, address and tele-
phone number. Anony-
mous letters will not be
published, but names will
be withheldupon request.
We reservethe right to edit
all submissions.
THE BARNSTABLE PATRIOT
P.O. BOX 1208
HYANNIS, MA 02601
OR E-MAIL TO
ietters@bamstablepatriot.coni