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Page A2 The Joan De Arc Crusader / Monday, April 14, 2008 Front Page A1 / Nostalgia A3 / Crossword A4
“Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.” – Voltaire
Brag we do not Whew, forty years already? Doesn’t seem possible. Okay, we did take a bit of a vacation there from 1970 to 1993. Is it our fault those weren’t particularly newsworthy years on Joan De Arc Avenue? Still in all, four decades is a notable milestone. We feel we have accomplished all that a journalistic institution could ever hope to achieve. Okay, we’re still waiting for that first Pulitzer. But hey, who could have guessed that we would outlive the Phoenix Gazette fer cryin’ out loud? Carl Bueker’s original suggestion for this newspaper’s motto was “Brag We Do Not,” an admirable and appropriately humble sentiment which later gave way to founder John Bueker’s roguish reformulation of another famous newspaper’s motto: “All the Fits That’s News to Print.” However, on this special day of recollection, we wish to reassert our original ethic of humility. On this, our 40th birthday, we feel very humbled indeed. Brag we do not. Except when it comes to one thing.
Our readers. You’re the best. Thanks for forty
great years, so far. We couldn't have done it without you.
It’s about time, Time
The Surrey Heights neighborhood recently hit the
media big time when it was featured in the February 4 edition of the iconic
American news magazine Time. We feel that national news coverage of our lovely neighborhood is long overdue! The Crusader encourages other major media outlets across the U.S. to now pay closer attention to the goings-on here in good old Surrey Heights. Our community has a rich history of almost 50 years, and a diverse and vibrant population. Are you listening, Newsweek? ________________________________________________________________
LETTERS
I really hope you goofs aren’t planning to make a big deal over your 40th anniversary coming up here. That would be really embarrassing for everybody.
Arthur Dogholler
The Crusader welcomes your letters at jdacrusader@aol.com ________________________________________________________________
Chuck’s
Corner Salad days Once again, the several weeks out of the year that Arizona dares to call “spring” have nearly passed, and the local populace is hunkering down in anticipation of another scorching summer. By “hunkering down” I mean of course “going back to Canada” or “scheduling a maintenance check on the A/C unit.” You see, we really don’t allow ourselves to suffer much around here, although our comfort may come at a much higher cost this year thanks to skyrocketing food, travel and energy costs. Our history of wastefulness is indeed coming back to haunt us. I read in the papers that desperate homeowners have taken to growing vegetables in their backyards to help make ends meet. Of course, I’ve nearly always grown my own tomatoes, peppers, etc., a practice going all the way back to those seminal years on the hallowed grounds of the homestead on Joan De Arc Avenue. Yes, Virginia, we did have a vegetable garden at 3219. I don’t remember exactly what year it was when I first worked to transform that out-of-the-way patch of Bermuda grass in the backyard, the one along the west facing wall of the house in that hidden appendage of property behind the century plants, into what I imagined could only become a lush garden busting with delicious and nutritious vegetables. One of my sisters made an unkind remark at the time (about my potential affiliation with the Future Farmers of America, as I recall), so that narrows it way down to anywhere between about 1956 and 2004. I’d guess it was probably my sophomore year in high school, perhaps in the spring of 1972. It was undoubtedly the lure of those perfect veggies pictured on the front of the 5-cent seed packets at the local drug store that had me turning shovels full of Surrey Heights soil over into neatly furrowed rows, with seeds of a dozen varieties of plants poked into the dusty dirt exactly as per the instructions on the little envelopes. The net results of my weeks of watering and battling with the ever invasive Bermuda grass? A handful of radishes, and some onions that were harvested much too soon. It wasn’t long before the grass regained its hold on my little plot, and all signs of my gardening efforts were thoroughly eradicated. I’ve since learned a few things about growing stuff in this high-degree-of-difficulty gardening state, but it still remains somewhat of a struggle. Newspapers and magazines today are filled with stories of nature’s dominance over man, and the frightening fragility of our food chain. Food doesn’t just appear on the shelves of the local market, as it turns out, and many parts of the world are one crop failure away from disaster. These are lessons that should be familiar to anyone who has ventured into their backyard with a shovel and a handful of seed packets. I suggest we all learn to enjoy radishes. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________JDA
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