Thanks for Bon Bon Shower

Gift to French kids from Morganville.

Feves, France, Nov. 20 - The children of this little village in Lorraine cried Saturday, but their tears were tears of joy and thanksgiving.

The skies had rained bon bons - gift of the children of the tiny town of Morganville, Kan. Feves has a population of less than 200, while Morganville is listed with a population of 243 souls.

The gift of the children of Morganville, sent to the children there so that they, too, might learn the meaning of the American holiday, was made possible by Homer Christianson, an elderly cripple known to the kids of the Kansas community as �the pop corn man,� and one of the Constellation Comets of Air France, the French National Airline, sped the candy to France in time for Thanksgiving.

The �popcorn man,� as much a fixture in Morganville as Young�s caf� or the wheat fields that stretch in all directions, was on hand the day the little Kansas town �adopted� Feves, which is near Metz.

MORGANVILLE didn't merely announce that it wanted to help the tiny Lorraine village of Feves. It shouted the fact across the whole State of Kansas with a pageant, an orchestra, a horse named Charlemagne, an ice cream social, and posters from the French National Tourist Agency in the windows of its business houses. Telegrams arrived from French Ambassador Bonnet and the Ruegg girls baked more cookies than Morganville had ever seen.

The other day, Operation Democracy, Inc., the New York organization that helps towns �adopt� communities abroad, received a letter signed by the kids of Morganville. It reads:

�On the day of our pageant, Homer Christianson, who sells us popcorn at five cents a bag, made $15. He gave it to us to buy candy for the children of Feves. Will you please ask them to write him letters which will cheer him up. He is crippled.�

Homer doesn't know it yet, but a candy company stretched the $15 a little and there is a lot more candy going to Feves than he ever dreamed of. Also, it's going by Air France instead of by boat. In a few days, the kids in Feves will be writing letters - between bon bons and tears - to Morganville�s popcorn man.

The children of Morganville who made the candy contributions wrote a little letter and signed their names by grades. It reads:

�We have heard that Homer Christianson, a crippled than who makes his living selling us popcorn at five cents a sack, wants to make you a gift of candy. He has given all the money he made at our fete. We are very happy that he is doing this for us and hope some of you will cheer him with letters. We will list ourselves for you according to our school grades.

First grade - Dolores Gelino, Charlotte Wolf, Vernon Carlson, Marie Carlson.

Second grade - Michael Silver, John Griffith, Johanna Griffith, Elizabeth Gunther, Margaretta Flinner, Arlene Sump.

Third grade - Delbert Schoenning, Billie Walters, Billie Ray Griffith, Jimmy Dawson, Bruce Hanson, Virginia Enquist, Constance Fross.

Fourth grade - Terry Cookson, Merle Nanniga, Charlotte Lewis, Sharon Woelhof.

Fifth grade - Lon Silver. Rita Trudell, Jim Young, Jean Dawson, Janice Canfield, Lee Young, Gary Oetinger, Jay Mellies, Duane Mellies, Bobby Atkinson.

Sixth grade - Susan Young, Mavis Allen.