The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
Greetings ta ever one in western Illinois and all readers of "The Quill."
So far this spring we've had plenty of rain and a goodly supply of wind. Some of the fields that were clean tilled blew so hard, visibility on the adjoin'n roads were difficult ta drive through.
Next to those dust blown fields were fields with chiseled corn stalks with lots of residue and little ta no wind erosion. It sure made a feller appreciate modern conservation methods of tillage and those fellers that practice it. They are conserve'n their farms for the next generation.
Last weekend there were lots of graduation exercises and celebrations for the graduates accomplished goals as well. Also last weekend, on Saturday, was "Armed Forces Day," ta commemorate and remember the men and women of our military and the rights they have won us. I'll pass along a lesson by Martha Cothren:
In September of 2005, on the first day of school, Martha Cothren, a History teacher at Robinson High School in Little Rock, did something not to be forgotten.
On the first day of school, with the permission of the school superintendent, the principal and the building supervisor, she removed all of the desks in her classroom. When the first period kids entered the room they discovered that there were no desks.
"Ms. Cothren, where are our desks?"
She replied, "You can't have a desk until you tell me how you earn the right to sit at a desk."
They thought, "well, maybe it's our grades." "No," she said.
"Maybe it's our behavior." She told them, "No, it's not even your behavior."
And so they came and went, the first period, second period, third period. Still no desks in the classroom.
Kids called their parents to tell them what was happening and by early afternoon television news crews had started gathering at the school to report about this crazy teacher who had taken all the desks out of her room.
The final period of the day came and as the puzzled students found seats on the floor of the desk-less classroom, Martha Cothren said, "Throughout the day no one has been able to tell me just what he or she has done to earn the right to sit at the desks that are ordinarily found in this classroom. Now I am going to tell you."
At this point, Martha Cothren went over to the door of her classroom and opened it. Twenty-seven (27) U. S. Veterans, all in uniform, walked into that classroom, each one carrying a school desk.
The Vets began placing the school desks in rows, and then they would walk over and, stand alongside the wall. By the time the last soldier had set the final desk in place those kids started to understand, perhaps for the first time in their lives, just how the right to sit at those desks had been earned.
Martha said, "You didn't earn the right to sit at these desks. These heroes did it for you. They placed the desks here for you. They went halfway around the world, giving up their education and interrupting their careers and families so you could have the freedom you have.
Now, it's up to you to sit in them. It is your responsibility to learn, to be good students, to be good citizens. They paid the price so that you could have the freedom to get an education. Don't ever forget it."
By the way, this is a true story. And this teacher was awarded the Veterans of Foreign Wars Teacher of the Year for the State of Arkansas in 2006. She is the daughter of a WWII POW.
There ya have it then, for Armed Forces Day. We should never forget that the freedoms we have in this great country were earned by our U.S. Veterans!
Recently in the news we learned of a doctor of Korean origination that was dragged off a United Airlines plane and injured. Later on a father, with his son, was intimidated and threatened on a Delta Airlines flight because he would not deplane. Well, they need ta learn a lesson from the "Selfless Irish":
The Irish never hesitate to come to the aid of their fellow man..air passengers, in this case!
Shortly after take-off on an outbound, evening Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Boston, the lead flight attendant nervously made the following painful announcement in her lovely Irish brogue:
"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm so very sorry, but it appears that there has been a terrible mix-up by our catering service. I don't know how this has happened, but we have 103 passengers on board, and unfortunately, we received only 40 dinner meals. I truly apologize for this mistake and inconvenience."
When the muttering of the passengers had died down, she continued, "Anyone who is kind enough to give up their meal so that someone else can eat, will receive free and unlimited drinks for the duration of our 6 hour flight."
Her next announcement came about 2 hours later:
"If anyone is hungry, we still have 40 dinners available."
There ya have it then, that's all I've got for this week's column. Next Monday is Memorial Day. Me and the boys are a wish'n youn's a good and safe three day weekend properly spent as it was intended.
Hope'n ta see ya in church this week.
Remember, wherever ya are, whatever ya be a do'n "BE A GOOD ONE!"
Keep on Smile'n
Catch ya later
Barnyard Bruke