Oakie's Heart To Heart

24 February 2001, Vol. III, Iss. 8

AmeriCorps*Vista...

They (VISTA) have come along way in 35 years!

It began as a dream President J. F. Kennedy left us in 1963... "To have a domestic volunteer program modeled after the Peace Corps."

For many of you, let your memories flow and take you back to the turbulent, independent times of the 1960s. Some good things did come out of that era of peace, love, war and search for independence.

It was in 1964 that President L. B. Johnson declared a "war on poverty" and signed the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 . This Act created Volunteers In Service To America (VISTA) and fulfilled President Kennedy's dream.

According to the VISTA history records, "The first VISTA members started in January 1965, and by the end of the year, more than 2,000 members were working in the Appalachian region, migrant worker camps in California, and poor neighborhoods in Hartford, Connecticut."

You can read more about AmeriCorps*Vista's history at their website.

Today the new AmeriCorps*Vista website has been updated. It includes a section for VISTA Alumni who served from 1965 to present and those who are thinking of becoming sponsors or members.

They are also looking for VISTA Alumni and their accounts while serving in the program since 1965 to present. Email the americorps org or visit the AmeriCorps*Vista website.

AmeriCorps now have an online web-based application for those interested in joining the AmeriCorps*VISTA or supporting a program in your community.

In 2000, VISTA marked its 35th year with 6,000 members serving. Members are continuing initiatives that were began in the late 1990s... to bridge the digital divide and promote welfare to work initiatives.

Did you know that.... According to a recent "Accomplishment Study" prepared by Westat, Inc. of Bethesda, Maryland, "For every dollar spent on an AmeriCorps*VISTA member, $3.33 is returned to the community in the form of financial and in-kind resources and local volunteer time."

Is there a non-profit organzation in your area that uses VISTA volunteers? If you would like to provide support to AmeriCorps*VISTA members please Email  AmeriCorps org .

[If you would (or NOT) like to see more of these kind of articles, please Email Linda  your suggestions.] 

Oakie's Column...

I woke up Friday, February 23, to a wet, spring-like, thunderstorm morning across the Oklahoma Heartlands.

They say we are to have a break in this wet stuff beginning Saturday sometime and continuing through Sunday.

I hope so!  Sunday is my birthday! I am taking a break this weekend to celebrate my 53rd Birthday (Feb. 25th) in Shawnee at a horse show/sell with some friends.

Monday, February 19, KWTV & other local TV stations broadcasted, the dedication of the Oklahoma City National  Memorial Center in the old Journal Record building. Here's another link to the OKC National Memorial Center.

I have not been through the museum yet, but I hear it is something else. Let us remember what anger, terrorism and hate produce.  Let us remember the lessons of the past! Let us restore hope, faith & trust and show what can happen when we come together in harmony for the good of all.

Later in this last week... I caught a quick, split-second glimpse of our oldest son (Michael ) and other AmeriCorp representatives when they visited NYC, February 22, Thursday.

You know the crowd that gathers outside on the NYC Today Show Plaza?  Mike and other AmeriCorps representatives were amongst the crowd early Thursday morning.

About 6:00am-7:00am, EST, the AmeriCorps group gathered with their long, yellow banner (www.americorp.org) to get a glimpse of Katie, Al and the other Today Show celebrities and give Al a jacket.

I need to find a way to get the VCR clips onto a Zip or CD disk and edit out the Commercials. Have I got anyone out there that can help me with this?

I am also in the process of learning "MS Access 97" (database program). I am dusting off my old family recipes and compiling them into a database to put in a cookbook at my OkieLegacy website .

Eventually, I would like to put them into a hardcopy cookbook in the near future. If you have any old, favorite recipes that you would like to share and that have a family history or story to go along with them... I would love to add it to the collection. I really love the old stories that go along with the recipes.

-- Linda - "Oakie"

Remember...

Pet Peeves...

Pet Peeves. What is a Pet Peeve? Why do they annoy us so much? What can we do to handle them?

Definition... Pet Peeves n. plural: things that annoy you, disturb you, aspects of human behavior and institutions that we think don't deserve to flourish.

I'm sure you all have some sort of "Pet Peeve" that ticks you off now and then. Have you found a way to get them under control?

I guess one of mine is "Telemarketers." You know... The ones that seem to not be able to take "NO" or "I'm NOT interested" for an answer.

Especially those "Telemarketers" that seem to call in the evenings as you sit down to a relaxing dinner at home.

I don't know if anyone has any solutions to Pet Peeves, but... If you do, send us your Pet Peeves and maybe we can compare notes and find possible solutions.

Mailbag & Links....

"This is a fair representation of a glorified doodle. I don't own a single one of these little critters. Sometimes I visit someone's home and see something that looks familiar, only to realize that I did the thing. Many portraits which I have done (in oils) I know I will never see again. " Ernest

Linda K McGill Wagner
c/o WWW Publishing Co

Thanks! You can also view The OkieLegacy online. Copyrighted © 2008 by WWWPubCo & OkieLegacy.  All Rights Reserved.