A Cowboy Who Cares
     DR. JOHN W. BOETTJER, 32ø, KþCþCþHþ
 Managing Editor, THE SCOTTISH RITE JOURNAL
1733 Sixteenth Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20009-
3199

 At age 19 John Carpenter, while on his way to a baseball spring
training camp, was hit by a car.  His skull fractured, legs broken
in seven places and spine in two, he was in a full body cast for
months and could not walk without crutches for years.

 That experience determined his life.  He would do all he possibly
could to help others, especially the handicapped who could not walk
or speak.  His method?  The Heaven on Earth Ranch for Handicapped
Children 20 miles northwest of Los Angeles.

 Consisting of five acres, several weatherbeaten buildings, a
corral with 20 horses and mules, a blacksmith's shop, mess hall and
several deep pit barbecues, this "Old West" town has offered
horseback and wagon rides, picnics and outdoors activities, mock
gunfights and warm hospitality to over a half-million handicapped
children, entirely free of charge, since l940 when John began the
ranch out of his earnings as a movie cowboy during the day and
Hollywood restaurant car parking attendant at night.

  Today his efforts are well known.  Ronald Reagan, for example,
wrote on March 26, l990, to say, "Dear Johny, we Americans owe much
to you and the efforts of kindhearted citizens such as yourself.
Your enthusiasm and skill shared so generously with those less
fortunate clearly demonstrate the impact one dedicated
individual can make."

  Similar words of praise came from 50 Plus magazine in December
l980 when it elected John Carpenter to its annual list of "Top 25
Americans over 50."  Then Readers' Digest featured an article "John
Carpenter and His Miracle Ranch" in its August l982 issue.

 Similarly, the Los Angeles Shrine and Rainbow Girls have
contributed to the Heaven on Earth Ranch, personally pitching in on
special occasions, like Christmas and Thanksgiving, when the
Ranch is host to hundreds of children.

 And no wonder!  Take Randy Horton for example.  A victim of
cerebral palsy, he had little control of his motor functions and
could speak only a few words.  Sullen, crouched in a wheelchair,
Randy Horton first just watched others at the ranch.  He saw
spastic and blind children riding horses.  He saw children in
braces and wearing protective helmets take their first steps in
order to pet and feed ponies.  Finally, John hoisted Randy into a
seat for his first stagecoach ride, then onto a mule, side-saddle,
for a slow walk and, finally, John strapped Randy safely onto the
saddle of a well-trained horse for a slow circle of the corral.

  Initially, Randy was panicked, his face contorted in fear.  Soon,
however, he was smiling, trying to talk, and making good efforts to
sit upright and guide the horse.

  Randy is just one of John Carpenter's success stories. Liberated
from the confines of hospitals and nursing homes, handicapped or
retarded children at Heaven on Earth Ranch experience the feel,
sights, smells and tastes of outdoor life sometimes for the first
time.  "Kids respond to horses," John says. "First they relax and
enjoy themselves.  Then they determine to get into Western life.
We expose kids to things that are real--things that are not
plastic, concrete or computerized.  Its a whole new perspective and
experience for them. It gives them a positive mental attitude and
makes them want to overcome their handicaps.  And many do!"

 Movie actor, stuntman, humanitarian--John Carpenter truly lives
his motto, "The service we render to ourselves is really the rent
we pay for our room on this earth."