Bluefield Daily Telegraph
BLUEFIELD —
Tis the season — and the Bluefield, Va., branch of the Tazewell County Library has some really good books available for all ages that are relative to the season.
The local library has recently acquired several interesting books including “The Candy Bombers,” by Andrew Cherny. While this particular book is not a Christmas story, it nevertheless is a story about kindness and giving. Three years after the end of World War II, the Soviet Union cut off all land and sea access to West Berlin. American diplomatic options to resolve the dilemma seemed hopeless. The story is steeped in international politics. It revolves around ordinary men who rose to the challenge and in the process became unlikely heroes.
The story then moves to the pilots that participated in the 1948-49 “Berlin Airlift” who became known as “The Candy Bombers.” Colonel Gail Halverson was the original “Candy Bomber.” Halverson, a transport plane pilot, would drop candy attached to parachutes for the children of Berlin. He started by giving treats to a few children watching the planes from outside Templehof Base. He promised the children he would drop more candy the next day. Planes were flying in an out of the base every 90 seconds and the children had no way of knowing which plane was his. Halverson promised to “wiggle” his wings which led to his famed German nickname “Oncle Wackenflugle or “Uncle Wiggly Wings.” Uncle Wiggly Wings did not set out to be a hero, he simply wanted to bring a smile to children’s faces and help them during their hardship.
Read all about it” at the library in Bluefield, Va. ... and of course there is “the rest of the story.”
On Dec. 20, 1948 “Operation Santa Claus,” a part of the Berlin Airlift, brought Christmas gifts to 10,000 Berlin children. The people of Berlin remain grateful and our friends to this day.
While Christmas stories fill the season with hope and love, there is always a story about the Grinch who stole Christmas. With Dominion Resources recent announcement that it is acquiring 100 percent ownership of a 2,600-acre tract of land on East River Mountain for the purpose of developing the proposed Bluestone River Wind Farm, the Grinch is back — at least in the opinion of area people who oppose the windmills for many reasons.
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Isn’t it rather ironic that APCO is lowering Virginia electric bills and raising West Virginia bills. If you ask why, I’m sure they will give you a good reason.
There is apparently “rhubarb” between Bluefield city leaders, the Alliance of the Arts, and the Alliance’s ancillary organization “The Summit Players.” The local theater group should be a source of entertainment for the community and fun for the performers. Some are forgetting that.
Where did the use of the word term “rhubarb” originate other than to denote a plant? Sources say that it is baseball slang that means “loud squabble on the field.” It is said to be of unknown origin, and to have been first used by broadcaster Garry Schumacher in 1938. Its source may have also originated with the word being repeated by stage actors to give the impression of hubbub or conversation.
The “gasoline Grinch” is also back. Fuel prices are skyrocketing with no end in sight. They are about 40 cents a gallon higher than at this time last year. Let’s see who’s to blame — the Chinese, the weak dollar, the Saudi Arabian oil officials? No, I think that it might be the manipulators and they are probably right here in the good old U.S.
There is a rumor that West Virginia Delegate-elect Marty Gearheart was spotted at the Bluefield, Va., library looking either for Frosty the Snowman or some grumpy old man to shovel the walks. Marty was apparently dressed way too dapper to fill in for either.
There you have it, a few comments on items of interest to the area. I hope that the songs of the season and the festive holiday lights bring you cheer. Family and friends are the important elements in life — enjoy them ... and I hope you have another blue sky day filled with “laughter through the happy valleys of my home among the hills.”
Wilson Butt, a resident of Bluefield, is a retired Department of Highways official.
