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CHRISTMAS IS A TIME FOR GIVING.
The Great Depression began in 1929 when, over a period of ten weeks, stocks on the New York Stock Exchange lost 50 percent of their value. As stocks continued to fall during the early 1930s, businesses failed throughout the country, and unemployment rose dramatically.
Tremonton was not immune to the ravages of the depression. Farm prices were so low that many farmers went bankrupt, taking its toll on many of the valley’s families. By 1932, one of every four workers nationwide was unemployed. Banks failed and life savings were lost, leaving many Americans destitute. With no job and no savings, thousands of Americans lost their homes. Hundreds of thousands of the unemployed roamed the country on foot and in boxcars in futile search of jobs.
Many of the unemployed passed through Tremonton in search of work and soon the roads became full of transients. Many of them stopped by the old Midland Hotel looking for work, a bed, a handout, anything.
My grandfather and grandmother, David and Hilda Holmgren owned the hotel and would almost always provide them with a bed at the hotel, a job on their farm and a hot meal. Enough to get them back on their feet, at least temporarily.
I, as well as perhaps you (unless you lived through it), probably don’t realize just how hard life was during the depression.
So, during this Christmas Season, I hope we can focus our time and energy on helping others who are having difficulty. It can be someone who is lonely, who comes to your church alone, or a neighbor who has no one around to help him or her during this holiday season.
Perhaps you can drop in at the Senior Center and have lunch and get to know some really great people or generously donate to Tremonton’s food pantry.
Someone once said he couldn’t think of what to give for Christmas.
The next day in the mail he received an anonymous list which read:
To your enemy, forgiveness,
To your opponent, tolerance,
To your friend, your heart,
To all men charity,
for the hands that help are holier than lips that pray,
To every child, a good example,
And to yourself—respect.
So, during this season of hope, forgiveness, and goodwill to others; I hope we smile more freely, watch out for our neighbor a little closer, and be a little more cheerful when helping others. If you can do just one thing for someone else during this season, it will make a difference. Remember that it all starts with us.
All of us at Tremonton City want to wish you much joy during this most wonderful time of the year.
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