HIGH POINTS FROM EL CAMINO REAL
CHRIS DAVIS elcaminoreal@consolidated.net
Folks along El Camino Real are busy as they can be makingthe final plans and grocery lists for that very special Thanksgiving dinner. The people who aren't planning what to cook are busy planning how to get to someone's house that will cook. We have lots to be thankful for and if we aren't eating anything but sardines for Thanksgiving, we can still count ourselves as blessed. If you'll save my four bits' worth of news and read it right after you've filled up on turkey and all the trimmings, I promise that you can go to sleep with nothing on your mind.

We've got so much to be thankful for here in our little town that it is sometimes hard to remember it all. I'm going to make a stab at it and do the best I can. A whole lot of good stuff has happened since the last time we said thanks over the turkey.

The Alto Yellowjacket football team brought home a state championship trophy last year after Thanksgiving. Our little town cheered them on and traveled across the state to support our team. We were thankful for our win, but most of all we were thankful for their sportsmanship and the way they represented our town. We are thankful for the leadership and dedication of our coaching staff. The Alto Yellowjackets are heading into the playoffs again this weekend and our town will be loading up and moving out to follow and cheer them on. We will be extra thankful if we bring home back-toback state championships.

Paul and Laurie Gould are the proud parents of twins.

I'm not a superstitious person but I keep my eyes open for a good omen now and then. The offensive coordinator for the Alto Yellowjacket football team, Coach Paul Gould's wife Laurie, gave birth to twins on Nov.11. Bradlee Walter and Jenna Marie weighed over five pounds a piece. We have another girl to join

Julianna as a Yellowjacket cheerleader and a boy to join his dad on the football field. We are thankful for their safe arrival. Laurie has been a champ throughout her entire pregnancy, and I don't think she missed a football game all season. Even when she was really big, she kept on coming. The Gould family is at home and doing great. The coach has two babies the week before the playoffs in a battle for our second state championship in two years. If that isn't a good omen, then there is no such thing as a good omen, and all those little rabbits that have been giving up their feet have done it for naught. Congratulations to the Gould family on their new twins! We are thankful to have such a fine family living in our community and working with our kids.

Stephanie Garces should be thankful that she has a grandmother like Patsy, who never forgets her birthday. Stephanie will be turning 11 on Nov. 24. She is a special little girl that is growing up way too fast. Happy birthday, Stephanie!

We are especially thankful that our prayers were answered for little Hannah Collie, who was able to come home from the hospital with a brand new heart and a brand new baby brother. I am thankful that I live in a community that will come together and pray for a sick child. I'm sure that the Collie family would agree that even bologna sandwiches for Thanksgiving wouldn't diminish the two wonderful blessings they have to be thankful for this year.

If you are having to look for something to be thankful for then you obviously can't see the forest for the trees. We've got lots of churches in town with plenty of seats for everyone who wants to visit, and for that we are thankful. Some good folks have died in the past year in our little town, but we are thankful for all the memories we had with them while they were here. We still haven't won the battle for school prayer at football games, but aren't we thankful that the battle for prayer brings people together to stand up for their beliefs? We have to be especially thankful for our old people because they chose to stay here and make a life in this little town while others went away to make their fortune. They have the wisdom to shed light on what are old problems to them but new problems to us. They are the ones who draw sons and daughters back like a magnet in their later years to care for them, thus removing them from the stress of the city and slowing down their lifestyles. I guess the most important things we have to be thankful for are our children. They force us to be teachers and role models. They make us strive to give them the very best we have to offer. They make us think before we speak our dislikes or prejudices for fear that we might pollute their little minds. The children help keep the old ways alive as we try and share the happy memories of our childhood like hunting trips, visits to grandparents and family reunions. Bad things can and do happen, but there is always an outpouring of love to make bad things a little better. If we feel we aren't being treated fairly by our government all we have to do is mark a ballot with a pencil. I am thankful we don't have to have revolutions for change. We just have to vote. I am thankful for our families and for the love and support they provide. You don't have to look very far to find something to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. Just remember who to thank. Thanksgiving without thanks is just a turkey dinner.

We have a lot more than four bits' worth of stuff to be thankful for, but I've only got four bits' worth of room. I'll see ya next week! And remember, A man should never be ashamed to admit that he has been wrong, which is but saying that he is wiser today than he was yesterday.