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Page A2 The Joan De Arc Crusader / Monday, December 31, 2007 Front Page A1 / Nostalgia A3 / Crossword A4
“Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.” – Voltaire
A New Year’s resolution to preserve
our past As 2007 recedes into the rear view mirror of our lives, we might wish to pause for but a moment and reflect on what once was. Just this year, a number of storied structures in the Valley have been reduced to dust, including the fabled Chris-Town Theatres, the unique domed ASU Valley Bank building, and the legendary Tempe bar "Bandersnatch." These singular and novel structures that characterize our fair city, reflect its heritage, and set it apart from all other places, seem to be falling away at an alarming rate. The ultimate goal here appears to be a corporatized community that is indistinguishable from any other American town, featuring the identical selection of Wal-Marts, Targets, Best Buys, Mariotts, Starbucks and Denny's. This is needless to say quite regrettable. In fact, it’s unconscionable. Look at all the priceless Phoenix history that we have allowed to disappear in recent decades. Legend City and Alpine Valley Miniature Golf Course. One-of-a-kind restaurants like Green Gables, Copper Belle, The Islands and Alpine Village. Virtually all of the charming period piece shopping malls of the ‘60s and ‘70s. Awesome movie houses like the Bethany, the Palms, and the Cine Capri. Gone forever.
The once mellow and charmingly eclectic college
town known as Tempe has virtually vanished under the onslaught of glimmering
corporate cathedrals. Good heavens, they even closed down Minder Binders. Let us diligently resist this pernicious trend. Let us pledge to make known to our local officials that we value the Valley’s past as much as its future, and wish to see as much of it preserved as possible. Not a bad New Year’s resolution, that. ________________________________________________________________
LETTERS
Dear Editor: Thank you so much for the home delivery of the July 7 issue of the Crusader. Seeing that Barbie had won a Ladmo bag gives hope to all of us other Joan De Arc-ers that there is still hope to those who spent their childhood growing up in Surrey Heights. Patty Russell also recently attended a book signing event at Changing Hands bookstore in Tempe. Ladmo bags were awarded to a couple of individuals sitting in lucky seats. The first Ladmo bag went to some man who looked to be in his mid to late 40s. He modestly accepted the bag, acting like it was no big deal. There was still one more bag to be given. Patty's heart leapt a little as her row was called. Unfortunately, the 2nd bag went to another man about the same vintage. The first man turned and looked at the second and said, "It feels good, doesn't it?" Do you recall the first week of the Bueker move into Joan De Arc?? There was consternation among the neighbors when a For Rent sign appeared in one of the windows. There was a discussion about what type of people had moved into 3219. Could it be vagabonds, ne’er do wells or worst of all .... hippies? There was worry that rooms would be let to transients who would let the lawn go, have all-night parties and use black lights. Finally one of the more logical neighbors (probably Helen Mitchell) recalled there had been a sale on signs recently at TG & Y. It turned out Carl and Barbara were rather forward thinking parents who were willing to indulge the whims and creative expression of their children, in this case, that of their youngest son. Barbara was an artist, after all. We look forward to the next edition of the Crusader.
Konnie and Patty Russell 3230
The Crusader welcomes your letters at jdacrusader@aol.com ________________________________________________________________
It seems like 2007 lasted for weeks and weeks, didn’t it? Well now we’ve got 2008 bearing down on us like a Hall-of-Famer on steroids, and you know what that means; it’s time to start making up New Year’s resolutions that we have no intention of ever keeping. Since it’s not necessary to fulfill these promises, I’m vowing to win back the Razzys Cup from Jack Humphries. But more about that later. I’ve actually found it much more fun to make up resolutions for other people. For example, anyone who still smokes cigarettes really ought to quit. The best evidence for this isn’t lung cancer or heart disease, but the obvious fact that smoking kills off that part of your brain that makes you realize that it isn’t okay to flick that nasty cigarette butt wherever you want. I wish I had a nickel for every butt I’ve seen tossed casually out of a car window or found in my front yard. Not that I blame anyone for wanting to rid themselves of that saliva and tar-soaked little wad of cellulose, but mere seconds earlier they were sucking on the thing in rapturous nicotine-induced pleasure. Did you know it takes about ten years for those things to biodegrade? Here’s a little known fact: in the ‘50s they used to make cigarette butts out of asbestos. I guess it was a race to see which kind of cancer you’d get. At any rate, stop smoking, or at least stop sprinkling the planet with these disgusting little mementos of your filthy habit. And lose a few pounds while you’re at it. And carpool, why don’t you? Oh, and Happy New Year! So, what is the Razzys Cup? Well, back in the early ‘70s, I, my brother, dad and neighbor Jack had a standing “Horse” competition at the basketball goal outside our house. For some reason which escapes me now, our variation on the game was called “Razzys,” after the synthetic snack food manufactured at the time by Dolly Madison (come to think of it, my dad probably started the tradition in an attempt to use the extra letter to rescue a game he was losing).The winner each week got to keep the actual Razzys Cup, a clear styrene plastic disposable cup with “RAZZYS” typed out on a scrap of paper, which was in turn Scotch-taped to the cup. Actual value:1/20 of a cent. Prestige value: PRICELESS. So watch out, Jack. You’ve got to be in your seventies by now and I’ll kick your butt, and I don’t mean the cellulose kind. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________JDA
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