SPRING 2016 37 Years FREE but not cheap True Love—Lois watching John as he performs his midday set for a small audience. Every now and then I catch her with her hands up in prayer position over her heart while watching him. Lois and John were a duo on stage for over 40 years before Lois’s sight started to fail her. My encounter with the two in Nashville was brief, but it definitely had an impact and showed me the meaning of true love. PANG TUBHIRUN, PANGTOGRAPHY 2 Issue 144 Vol. XXXVIII, No. 1 LIKE US ON Established May 1979 FACEBOOK! On the Web! PUBLISHER Contents www.shepherdstowngoodnewspaper.org Shepherdstown Ministerial Association SEE ARTWORKS IN COLOR! EXECUTIVE EDITOR Spring 2016 Randall W. Tremba EDITORS Stephen Altman Essays, Art & Poetry Mary Bell John Case 3 Fan Mail. By Randall Tremba Hannah Cohen Eleanor Johnson Hanold 12 ARTWORKS: Pang Tubhirun, Pangtography Sue Kennedy Mark Madison 14 POETRY Tucker Riggleman Wendy Mopsik 15 EARTHBEAT The Conservation Curmudgeon. By Mark Madison Claire Stuart Ed Zahniser PRE-PRODUCTION EDITOR People, Places & Things Libby Howard By Stephen Altman SENIOR DESIGNER 4 The Birdhouse Business. Melinda Schmitt 5 Judy Shepherd: You Help Where You Can. By Sue Kennedy DIGITAL IMAGE EDITOR 6 Flor’s Dream. By Isabella Snyder Ellen Smith 7 A Dream Rooted in Saigon, Realized in Shepherdstown. By Wendy Mopsik PHOTOGRAPHERS Jamie Lawrence 8 Blue Ridge Toy Company. By Claire Stuart Jessica Schmitt 9 John W. Aldis: In the Den of a Demon. By Zakee McGill TYPIST Kathy Reid 10 Meet Pastor Ginger! By Mary Bell COPY EDITORS 11 A Picture of Pang. By Hannah Cohen Rie Wilson Claire Stuart 16 Ralph Scorza: Discovery in the Other Direction. By Eleanor Johnson Hanold 17 New and Familiar Faces at WSHC Radio. By John Case PROOFREADERS Betty Lou Bryant 18 U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Museum and Archives. By Claire Stuart Carolina and Brent Ford Eleanor Johnson Hanold 20 Archive: Cherry Trees. By Virginia Provenzano Ed Zahniser DISTRIBUTION Lex Miller Faith, Hope & Charity TREASURER 21 Religious Communities Alex Shaw 22 Donors DESIGN & LAYOUT HBP, Inc. 23 Business & Service Directory Circulation: 13,000 copies printed Bulk mail (11,200) Cover Artist Shepherdstown all patrons (3,450) Kearneysville PO, RR 1-4 (3,000) Pang Tubhirun is a photographer and the owner of Pangtography, in Shepherdstown. She Shenandoah Jct (800) Harpers Ferry PO, RR 1,3 (2,250) specializes in capturing the beauty of human relationships and nature. For more information Bakerton (80) about her work, please visit www.pangtography.com Martinsburg RR 3 (620) Sharpsburg PO, RR 2 (1,060) Direct mail by request (1,000) Stacks: area restaurants, shops, and visitor centers Subscription Form (1,000) Address If you are not already receiving the GOOD NEWS PAPER, we will be happy to send it to you free of charge. Fill in GOOD NEWS PAPER, P.O. Box 1212 and mail this coupon. You may also request subscriptions on our website: shepherdstowngoodnewspaper.org. Shepherdstown, WV 25443 Telephone (304) 876-6466 • FAX (304) 876-2033 Name _____________________________________________________________________ Copyright 2016 Shepherdstown Ministerial Association, Inc. All rights revert to the author on publication. The Address _____________________________________________________________________ opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of the publishers. City/State _____________________________________________ ZIP _________________ On the Web! GOOD NEWS PAPER www.shepherdstowngoodnewspaper.org P.O. Box 1212 • Shepherdstown, WV 25443 SEE ARTWORKS IN COLOR! 3 Fan Mail Randall Tremba ast September I received an angry letter in response to my essay end: “Some foment fear and hate. Others promote hope and love. In fact, “Drug Alert: Pot, Porn, and Fox News” in which I denounced that sometimes I’m one sort; sometimes I’m another.” But many readers—blinded Lnews outlet for fear mongering. The writer said I was vicious, hateful, by anger over the “Pot, Porn, and Fox News” headline—never got to the rude, self-righteous, arrogant, divisive, conde- confession or simply missed it. scending, liberal, snide, sophomoric (that hurt!), As fate would have it, the day before that and a disgrace to the name of Christ. And that blistering letter arrived, I had been reading the was just the first page. Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh’s The letter was signed: Yours, in Christ. No The Guest House classic Being Peace, in which he says, “If we name. Nothing to identify the writer. Still, that align ourselves with one side or the other, we letter made my day. I love fan mail. This being human is a guest house. will lose our chance to work for peace.” And The writer sent a copy of that letter to Every morning a new arrival. then he says, “Be peace, don’t just talk about it.” every minister in town, just in case my col- Be peace before you try to make peace. leagues didn’t already know those things about A joy, a depression, a meanness, Breathe in peace; breathe out fear. Breathe in me. I don’t resent the criticism one bit. I only some momentary awareness comes love; breathe out hatred and bigotry. wish the writer had included contact informa- as an unexpected visitor. “If in our daily life we can smile, if we can tion, because I would like to respond to him or be peaceful and happy, not only we, but every- her as I did to the other dozen or so people who Welcome and entertain them all! one, will profit from it. This is the most basic called or emailed me with complaints, admoni- Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows, kind of peace work. Breathe in calm; breathe tions, and rebukes. out smiles.” who violently sweep your house I’d like to commend the writer for being The day before that letter arrived I was also empty of its furniture, so perceptive. I really and truly am vicious, reading this gospel story: Once upon a time the hateful, rude, self-righteous, arrogant, divisive, still, treat each guest honorably. disciples spoke sternly to those who tried to condescending, liberal, snide, sophomoric, and a He may be clearing you out bring children to Jesus. Jesus, just like us, had disgrace to the name of Christ. Not all the time, for some new delight. much more important things to do, or so the but certainly some of the time. And I suspect disciples thought. But Jesus said: Let the little that particular essay might have been one of The dark thought, the shame, the malice, children come to me; do not stop them. those times. meet them at the door laughing, Breathe in calm; breathe out smiles. I was hoping nobody would notice. But and invite them in. I’m guessing Jesus knew what the Buddha obviously some did, and they were kind enough knew. Breathe in calm and breathe out smiles. to let me know, in most cases because they Be grateful for whoever comes, I’m guessing Jesus was smiling when he blessed truly care about me and my reputation as a because each has been sent the little children. A scowling Jesus would have bridge builder. as a guide from beyond. sent the children flying. “Why must you take sides?” several asked. That little gospel episode isn’t just about I thanked each person for helping me see children. It’s a lesson in acceptance as taught in —Rumi things more clearly and helping me understand Being Peace. It’s about inviting that which can 13th-century Sufi Muslim Persian poet myself a little better. After all, there’s always be annoying, irritating, or interrupting of our more than one way to say something—some well-guarded lives. kinder than others. As the Buddhists put it, Be careful, say the Buddhists, about It’s OK to announce, but don’t denounce, for rejecting things you don’t like or don’t want in denouncing is a form of violence. Or, as the Apostle Paul put it, Speak the your life. Learn to accept and if possible embrace them. Embrace darkness, truth in love. embrace suffering, embrace criticism—and let it be. For darkness and suffer- In this case anger got the best of me. The relentless litany of woe and ing are our teachers, too. negativity on one particular news show over a six-month period enraged me. And so I thank my anonymous critic for bringing me back to my senses Sure, it’s OK to be angry. But it’s not OK for anger to get the best of us. and to deep breathing. Breathe in calm. Breathe out smiles. Just as I was finishing that essay, I realized my own hypocrisy and And so here’s a smile coming your way, my friend: Yours, in Christ. negativity. And so I inserted a parenthetical confession of sorts near the Which is to say, Yours, in Love. GOOD NEWS PAPER • SPRING 2016 4 The Birdhouse Business The Galliennes’ Creations Are Not Strictly for the Birds Stephen Altman ob Gallienne and his son Kyle make birdhouses. It was not exactly automatic. “We had the skills of bird species; start at the top with Bluebird-Eastern These are not ordinary birdhouses. One is a to make a birdhouse easy enough,” Bob says, “but we and Bluebird-Mountain and two pages later you’re at Breplica of the Shepherdstown Public Library, didn’t know the right way. That first birdhouse, it didn’t Pygmy Owl. Across the top, the headings read: House complete with that mysterious gazing eye. They’ve have anything it was supposed to have, and what it did Floor, House Depth, Hole above Floor, Minimum also made one that looks like a mansion and others have was the wrong size or in the wrong place.” Diameter of Hole, and Height above Ground.