Freedom

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. " Those 45 words in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution cover a great deal of territory. Yet, have we become so complacent in the freedoms guaranteed in those words that we assume they always will be there?

HAGERSTOWN -- One year younger than the nation it symbolizes, Old Glory celebrated its 233rd birthday Monday with a small gathering in University Plaza and a performance by a veteran of the event, 10-year-old Abigail Nigh. "She gets better every year," Hagerstown Mayor Robert E. Bruchey II said after Nigh sang Irving Berlin's "God Bless America" before a group of about 40 participants and spectators at the Flag Day ceremony. "I think it's four times," Abigail said when asked how many times she has performed at Flag Day. Nigh was one of two young singers at the ceremony.

All too often, we Americans enjoy our many freedoms without really thinking about our responsibilities as citizens. With Independence Day facing me again, I found myself wondering what our nation's founders and leaders would have said to me if we could have talked. I consulted Bartlett's Quotations online ( education.yahoo.com/reference/bartlett on the Web) when writing this column and imagined a meeting with these men. A rude awakening Watching TV late at night.

A video recounting the history of escaped slaves using the Underground Railroad in the South Mountain region was unveiled Friday to educators and other community members at a private showing at Caledonia State Park. The Franklin County Visitors Bureau and the South Mountain Partnership's 15-minute DVD, titled "Road to Freedom," was shown to school administrators, library directors and others at the ranger station in the park off Pa. 30 in Fayetteville, Pa. The video featured Thaddeus Stevens' blacksmith shop at Caledonia State Park, which has been designated as part of the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.

Bill Young’s deployment to Vietnam as a legal officer in 1967 has morphed into a calling to help the poor of Southeast Asia. As a member of the Global Community Service Foundation, Young of Hagerstown said he and his wife, Frances, have traveled numerous times to Myanmar and Vietnam to provide education and clean drinking water to the poorest of the poor. “We do humanitarian work there, and we do it at our own risk,” Young said. “I can’t wait to go back. The rewards are just unbelievable.” He said traveling to countries with oppressive governments and widespread poverty makes him appreciate the freedoms that Americans take for granted.

I thought I knew the definition of freedom pretty well. I've had some good history teachers and professors. I'm sure I've looked up freedom in the dictionary more than once. cont. from lifestyle On Feb. 24, freedom took on a whole new meaning for me, one I found through the Internet instead of a textbook or a classroom. I found it from a 17-year-old girl who was, fittingly enough, trying to do schoolwork. That particular Thursday had been a rather decent day. It was 70 degrees, and, in February, I won't complain about that kind of weather, even if I acted goofy around an attractive girl at HCC. But that's hardly a first.

A program about obtaining freedom from diabetes without medication will be at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 9, at Hagerstown Seventh-day Adventist Church, 11507 Robinwood Drive, east of Hagerstown. For more information, call 301-733-4411.

Next week is America's 236th birthday. It is time for cookouts, parades and fireworks. We will salute the red, white and blue here in “the land of the free and the home of the brave!” But do Americans really value freedom? Most of us give lip service to it. We say that we like our ability to choose what we want to buy, go where we want to go and do anything we want within reason. But I am convinced that most Americans today, despite our verbal professions, do not truly believe in freedom.  History would suggest that most people down through the ages have lived under social arrangements characterized by strong and pervasive governmental control over their lives with a corresponding loss of freedom.

As a kid, a few of my buddies and I would always pitch a few pennies or nickels up against the concrete wall of Jim Grim’s small country store in Dargan. The owner of the closest coin to the wall would win all the loot.   Summers were always special. In addition to those visits to Grim’s store, other activities might include  a baseball game on the school diamond, a walk through the woods to our favorite raspberry patch or even some local swimming at a nearby pond. In my youth, I never gave much thought to the rich history of freedom’s footsteps near that small town of Dargan.

A few raindrops and some chilly wind gusts weren't enough to keep area veterans and other patriots from coming out Sunday afternoon to celebrate Memorial Day in front of the Washington County Courthouse. "We must remember that freedom is the natural state of God's children," said Robert L. Everhart, Western Maryland district commander of the American Legion. But Master of Ceremonies Paul Pottenger of the Morris Frock Post 42 added the somber reminder that freedom is never free.

In a democracy, the first rule of power is to know when not to use it. The sad results produced by leaders lacking this restraint are written far and wide across the yellowed pages of world history. That's why we are greatly disturbed by news stories out of Washington involving two of the most powerful agencies in government, the Internal Revenue Service and the Justice Department. The IRS has confessed to singling out conservative groups for special scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status.

Freedom Valley Chorus of Chambersburg will compete Saturday at the Atlantic Bay-Mountain Region 19 Sweet Adelines International annual convention/competition at the Ocean City Convention Center in Ocean City, Md. Champions will advance to the international competition, where they will compete against regional champions from around the world. There will be a quartet contest today at 5 p.m. The winning quartet will compete at a future international competition. The chorus competition will be Saturday at 11 a.m. Twenty-four Region 19 choruses will compete for the regional chorus title and the opportunity to compete in the international contest in Baltimore in 2014.

The Freedom Valley Chorus of Sweet Adelines International will serve its second annual fundraising tea, “A Spoonful of Musical-i-TEA,” on Saturday, June, 8, at noon at St. Paul United Methodist Church at 750 Norland Ave. in Chambersburg. Guests will be treated to a full four-course afternoon tea served on antique china and sweet harmonies provided by the a capella chorus. There also will be a variety of baskets available by Chinese auction to add to the fundraising effort, according to a news release.

Unions are not to blame for economic problems To the editor: Some blame unions for what's wrong with America's economy. The facts don't support this. American workers are the backbone of our economy, and they work best when they have the freedom to unionize. Unions are good for America. Our economy remains the strongest in the world, even though we are still climbing out of the Great Recession of 2008. This was the worst recession in 80 years. American workers did not cause the recession.

Several folks have told me they liked some of the columns where I blended retrospective events with a current topic. I wrote three columns about the topic of leadership and used historical stories and events from the Civil War era to emphasis specific points.  My theme and topic in this column is patriotism and the love of freedom displayed by our forefathers and, more so, the price of that freedom paid by those early patriots. I fear that today, as Americans, we “… doth protest too much” about what we pay and are owed.

Democratic state Sen. Herb Snyder and his Republican opponent Jim Ruland have combined to spend more than $240,000 in their race for the 16th senatorial district seat in Jefferson County, according to campaign finance reports filed Friday. But the candidates' themselves have been not the only spenders in what appears to have become an increasingly expensive campaign, according to the state Secretary of State's office. Snyder, D-Jefferson/Berkeley, and fellow Democratic candidates Donn Marshall in Berkeley County and Del. Tiffany Lawrence, John Maxey and Stephen Skinner in Jefferson County, have been targeted by the Republican-run Eastern Panhandle Freedom Fund, which reported spending more than $27,000 Thursday, according to independent expenditure filings with the Secretary of State's office.

A free concert will be held Saturday, Nov. 10, at 2 p.m. at St. Paul United Methodist Church, 750 Norland Avenue, Chambersburg. The concert will be presented by Freedom Valley Chorus, a 25-member women's a capella chorus, singing four-part barbershop harmony. The group is a chapter of Sweet Adelines, International. The first part of the concert will be a musical skit titled “Chicks Gone A-Fowl,” and the second part titled “Indomitable Spirit” will feature patriotic and inspirational songs.

Sept. 13-16 Thursday, Sept. 13 10 a.m.-4 p.m. - Information Tent (Lower Town) 10 a.m.-12 p.m. - Battle of Maryland Heights Sesquicentennial Hike (Lower Town) 11-11:30 a.m. - “1862 Battle of Harpers Ferry” Ranger Talk (Lower Town) 1-1:30 p.m. - “1862 Battle of Harpers Ferry” Ranger Talk (Lower Town) 2-2:45 p.m. - “Defeat & Victory” Ranger Walk (Visitor Center) 3-5 p.m. - Battle of Maryland Heights Sesquicentennial Hike (Lower Town) 4-4:30 p.m. - “1862 Battle of Harpers Ferry” Ranger Talk (Lower Town)

Approximately 100 people participated in a fundraiser for the Wounded Warrior Project on Sunday that centered around a 75-mile ride to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C., organizer Chad Craig said. Forty motorcycles and a couple cars took part in the Ride for Recovery, which was sponsored byHarley-Davidsonof Williamsport, Cancun Cantina and 101.5 Bob Rocks, said Craig, who organized the event with his wife, Lisa. The ride began at theHarley-Davidsonshop, and participants were invited to Cancun Cantina for a party afterward, he said.