Icicles To Historical Events

While the eastern front of America has been feeling a chilly cold front pass through there this week, here in southwest Colorado we have been having above normal, dry weather of 40F as the snow on the rooftops have been forming icicles that grow with each melting.

Lots of things have been happening as we turn the corner of another weekend in January, 2009. One of those happenings is the Obama Express Journey from Philadelphia, PA to Washington DC.

As to the historical journey we have been experiencing this weekend, I have been wishing that I could be there on the mall in DC to be a part of this historical event and journey culminating, January 20, 2009, as America's 44th president and vice-president are sworn in amongst millions who have journeyed to the capitol to witness history in person.

Alas... I tune my computer to CNN.com LIVE -- catching glimpses of those who made the journey.

What does this historical moment mean to you? Good or Bad ... We want to hear from you!
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Renewing America's Promise

What does this historical inauguration of the 44th USA President mean to you? How has this historical election and inauguration affected you? What do you expect from this 44th President?

This weekend is being celebrated as many Americans and the World make their journey to Washington, DC to be a part of history and to ride the train of change with the "Obama Express."

The 44th President is not taking that journey alone. We are ALL taking that journey with him.

Some of us take that journey through the television and computer news.

There are some days that I wish that I lived in the Virginia's where most of my ancestors settled. Where our Nation's history began. I wish I were there NOW! ... On the Mall of DC!

As to the journey of change, I know there will be ups and downs in that journey. There is hard work ahead for all us. AND ... Each of us needs to do their part in restoring, renewing America's Promise.

This is only the beginning of our journey of change!

We are not so naive -- we understand that one person can not do it alone. It will be hard work from all of us working together to regain the respect, trust that America and ALL deserve around the World. It will take us ALL coming together in America's melting pot to renew, review our history and continue what our patriots began 233 years ago (1776).

We know there may be missteps and mistakes. The path to freedom -- regaining respect, trust and perfection will be a hard road for us all. It is those missteps and mistakes that we learn from on this journey of Life and Change.

As Americans ... We are a people of common hopes, dreams and differences! We should not let anyone squash those hopes and dreams. We should respect the differences between us all.

I look back to my ancestors and find that I am a product of Dutch, Welsh, English, Scottish, German and Austria-Hungary (Bohemian). Who is out there to say that there might be some Native American blood in there somewhere! So ... my ancestors were apart of that melting pot of Americans.

I am remembering back to 1988 & 1990, when "Do-Right Dynamite Dorthy (McGill), ran for office in Northwest Oklahoma for State Representative with the slogan, "Together we can do it!" Twenty years later we have noticed others have taken up that grass roots movement with a slogan of their own, such as, "Yes we can! -- Yes We did!" ... Restoring our hopes and dreams along the way.

Let us all remember ... We are a people with common hopes, dreams and differences. We ALL deserve respect for our differences and beliefs. Let us squash the angry, hatred and fear and replenish the hopes and dreams of ALL Americans!

It is time for ALL to come together -- to restore those hopes, dreams, respect and trust that we all deserve and need. This is a land of promise for ALL Americans! We are all descendants of the melting pot in America.
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I Have A Dream

Martin Luther King, Jr. brought all races together to stand up as equals. People should not be separated by their race, and it does not matter what you look like or where you come from. At the end of the day, we all have each other.

Dr. King's I Have a Dream speech should forever be remembered and passed along in our history and legacy. Not just for the Blacks, but for ALL of US around the world.

Martin Luther King's appearance was the last of the event and the closing speech that was carried live on major television networks. It was on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, that Martin Luther King, Jr. evoked the name of Lincoln in his "I Have a Dream" speech, which is credited with mobilizing supporters of desegregation and prompted the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The next year, King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Here is a portion of that I Have A Dream speech:

".....I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

"I have a dream today..... I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

"This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

"This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

"And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

"Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

"Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!

"But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

"Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

"Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

"And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!" -- information from American Rhetoric: Martin Luther King, Jr. - I Have a Dream. Read the biography of Martin Luther King.
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Kiamichi Country of Oklahoma

Submitted by Homer Hawkins -- "Kiamichi Country is a wilderness area saturated with hardwoods and pine, blue-smoke mountains, clear lakes, outlaw caves, and waterfalls. It is an exciting place to be, kind of like a roller coaster with pit-stops where you can get out to meet the most fascinating people you ever saw.

"In the high country winters can suddenly bring heavy snow. Off the beaten paths things haven't changed much since Jesse James, the Daltons, Belle Starr and others, found this scrambled-egg area such a convenient retreat. This country bills itself as the land where Oklahoma's day begins because it is a tad farther east than the other countries.

"Kiamichi is kind of square except for a handle reaching down from Green Country? There are scenic roads almost all the way around the edges of that square. From the Fort Smith, Arkansas, area you can catch State Highway 9 for a leisurely drive across the top of Kiamichi country, through Keota which started in 1903 as a tent town-trading post. Some say the name comes from the Indian word "Keota" meaning "fire gone out" but the fire is still there, burning as school spirit. After passing throughStigler to Eufaula Lake.

"Highway 9 connects with U.S 69 heading south right along Arrowhead State Park. A tad more than half of this 102,000 acre lake resort is in Green Countrybut Kiamichi Country has the best part. You'll connect with U.S. 75 which comes down from Indianola just after you pass McAlester in Pittsburg County between the shores of Eufaula Lake and the foothills of the Pine and Jackfork Mountains."
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R. S. Smedley of Ashley, OK

submitted by Maxine Lund -- "My great-grandfather was Richard S. Smedley. He was a missionary for the Christian church. I have been trying for some time to find a list of churches that he organized and helped to establish. I was wondering where you got your information (I found this on your okie legacy blog: Ashley, OK - R. S. Smedley) and if there was any other information available. I know that he also established a church at Cleo Springs, Oklahoma and one at Laverne , Oklahoma. I have visited both of those churches. Can you tell me if there are any buildings left at Ashley, Oklahoma? Is there anyone there that I could contact who might have more information?"
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NWOSU's Fall Honor Roll List

Submitted by Michael E. Wagner -- "Look at who made the news at Northwestern ... Under Post-Graduate Presidential Honor Roll! Northwestern Oklahoma State University Anounces Fall Honor Rolls, January 14, 2009. I received, my certificate and pin for the National Scholars Honor Society for 2008-2009. It was waiting on my doorstep."
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This Land Is Your Land

Words and music by Woody Guthrie
Chorus:
This land is your land, this land is my land
From California, to the New York Island
From the redwood forest, to the gulf stream waters
This land was made for you and me

As I was walking a ribbon of highway
I saw above me an endless skyway
I saw below me a golden valley
This land was made for you and me

Chorus
I've roamed and rambled and I've followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts
And all around me a voice was sounding
This land was made for you and me

Chorus
The sun comes shining as I was strolling
The wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling
The fog was lifting a voice come chanting
This land was made for you and me

Chorus
As I was walkin' - I saw a sign there
And that sign said - no tress passin'
But on the other side .... it didn't say nothin!
Now that side was made for you and me!

Chorus
In the squares of the city - In the shadow of the steeple
Near the relief office - I see my people
And some are grumblin' and some are wonderin'
If this land's still made for you and me.
Chorus (2x) View/Write Comments (count 1)   |   Receive updates (1 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

America the Beautiful

America the Beautiful -- Words by Katharine Lee Bates, Melody by Samuel Ward, MIDI sequencing provided by Melody Lane.

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
Whose stern impassioned stress
A thoroughfare of freedom beat
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!

O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife.
Who more than self their country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness
And every gain divine!

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for halcyon skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the enameled plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till souls wax fair as earth and air
And music-hearted sea!

O beautiful for pilgrims feet,
Whose stem impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till paths be wrought through
wilds of thought
By pilgrim foot and knee!

O beautiful for glory-tale
Of liberating strife
When once and twice,
for man's avail
Men lavished precious life!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till selfish gain no longer stain
The banner of the free!

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till nobler men keep once again
Thy whiter jubilee!
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Swiss TV Reporter In Freedom, OK

As I was reading the weekly newspaper (The Freedom Call) of Northwest Oklahoma this week, I see that a Swiss television reporter was in Freedom, Oklahoma this week.

Arthur Honegger, a televsion reporter with the company of Schweizer-Fernzeher, Switzerland. This company is the equivalent to the national public television.

Honegger went to Woodward, Oklahoma and on the last leg of his journey ended up in Freedom, OK, USA. While he was in Freedom, Oklahoma, he gathered local history and took a tour of the museum.

It was the name FREEDOM that directed Honegger to this northwest area. He said, "He couldn’t think of any place better to get the information he was after than in the middle of the United States and in a town called Freedom."
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