Goodfellows continue Santa's Christmas spirit
12/3/2007
Messenger-Inquirer
Goodfellows coverage at the Messenger-Inquirer years ago was handled by the "Santa Claus Editor."
Some families experiencing hard times probably wonder if Santa will remember them this year. The Goodfellows Club does its best to perpetuate the spirit of the jolly ole elf so no child will be forgotten this special season.
Below is a reprint of the beloved "Is There a Santa Claus?" editorial from the New York Sun of Sept. 21, 1897:
"Dear Editor: I am eight years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, 'If you see it in The Sun it's so.' Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?
Virginia O'Hanlon
"Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except what they see.
"They think that nothing can be which is not comprehended by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole truth.
"Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to our life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! How dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childish faith then, no poetry, no romance, to make tolerable this existence. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.
"Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's not proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.
"You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only fancy, poetry, love, romance can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory behind. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.
"No Santa Claus! Thank God he lives and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood."
To join the Goodfellows Club, mail or bring your donation to Goodfellows Club, Messenger-Inquirer, 1401 Frederica St., Owensboro, Ky. 42301.
Today's Roll Call
Previously reported... $23,086.05
Bill and Christine Speciale... $100
Anonymous... $100
Anna Maynard... $25
Kearns Maynard... $25
Jack Gordon... $25
In loving memory of Moses, Francis, and Vicki Towery by Jack and Jenny Towery and Christa Sowders... $20
Total as of Dec. 3... $23,381.05
