It’s hot in Iraq this time of year.
There are more than 130,000 U.S. troops stationed in the desert nation this Memorial Day Weekend.
They will celebrate with services today, speeches tomorrow, but many will mark the American holiday by doing what they have been doing for the last three years, going door-todoor, helping the people of Iraq, rebuilding infrastructure and training
Iraq’s citizenry to care for themselves.
The nation’s prime minister said this week that the country will be ready to defend itself from internal threats by the year 2007.
We can only hope that means some of those 130,000 U.S. troops will be coming home soon.
It’s hard to know for sure how many of those are from Miami County or even from Ohio. The military doesn’t give very detailed information about who is serving where at any moment in time. Most families don’t really even know where exactly their soldiers are serving.
Three or four times a week, I have a chance to visit with a soldier’s family member as they update me on what is happening with their son or daughter.
Many are in Iraq, some in Europe, many more are stateside training.
We publish the information on the Hometown Heroes page about once a week in the Troy Daily News.
Most of the news is good, thank God above. I never served in the military.
At 18 I registered for the draft as required by law, but of course the Cold War wasn’t a time of active recruitment.
I do know several people who have served, some work on our staff here at the Troy Daily News.
Anthony Weber, photo chief, is an Army veteran, and Ken Bowen, circulation director – the guy who makes sure this paper is delivered – is a veteran.
Both served their time and now are home and living their lives. I’m thankful for their service to my country.
During spring break, I had a chance to visit with one of my uncles.
Richard, my dad’s youngest brother, is starting to get up there in age now, but he remembers vividly the time he served his country. As a young helicopter pilot, he flew evacuation missions into the jungles of Vietnam.
Many wounded soldiers were carried out under the blades of his HH- 3E Jolly Green Giant.
“You can land about anywhere in those,” he told me. “But it’s a lot more difficult when the enemy is firing up at you from the forest.”
I can only imagine.
Further back, my mom’s dad fought in the trenches of Belgium and France during World War I. My great-great grandfather served with the Union Army in the Civil War. He was wounded in battle, taken prisoner in Georgia and later released back to his home in southern Ohio.
His grandfather fought for American freedom during the Revolutionary War. My oldest son, finishing is junior year in high school, has been heavily recruited by every branch of the military.
It worries me some what he may be thinking. Although I would be very proud to have a son serving in the military, to be honest, I hope he chooses a different career path.
It’s hot in Troy this time of year.
As you read this, I may very well be cooking hamburgers and hotdogs in Troy’s Community Park.
I imagine most of you will be doing something similar. In fact most of the country is celebrating this extended weekend with picnics and family vacations.
But as you enjoy yourself this weekend, take just a minute to appreciate those young men and women celebrating this holiday far from home.
Take a minute to think about how your life has been touched by a soldier – family member or not.
On Monday, I hope you’ll make it out to Troy’s Memorial Day parade. It begins at 9:15 a.m. and travels through the Public Square west to Adams Street, where it ends at Riverside Cemetery with a short service.
David Kennard is the executive editor and publisher of the Troy Daily News. You can send him e-mail at editorial@tdnpublishing.com.
Sunday, May 28, 2006
Friday, May 26, 2006
Monday, May 15, 2006
May 14, 2006 -- Mom’s adventurous spirit was an inspiration
My mother grew up in a small wheat farming town in the middle of nowhere Kansas.
Her father was a World War I veteran and fought in the trenches of Germany and Belgium. He later came home and began working as an electrician, installing electric lights in most of the homes around the prairie farming community of Delphos, Kansas.
My mother’s mother was a vegetable gardener who grew more in her quarter-acre garden than you can find in the Meijer produce section.
Although my mother grew up as a country girl in a small town — with a town square complete with a statue of Abraham Lincoln and a gas co-op — she wasn’t afraid to look out at the big wonderful world beyond the banks of the muddy Solomon River and the grain elevators that marked the edge of paradise.
After high school she became a Jayhawk at the University of Kansas, where she got her teaching degree — her ticket out.
She left the rolling plains of the Midwest for the Navajo Indian reservations of New Mexico. She taught school to the young Shiprock Navajo children, most of whom either walked to school across the desert country or arrived in the back of old pickup trucks.
A few years later she fell in love with a handsome young electrical engineer who worked wherever his company sent him to build missile silos for the U.S. government during the early stages of the Cold War.
I showed up a few years later and lived in Wyoming, California, North Dakota, Arizona and finally Colorado, where Dad finally found a job building skyscrapers and public utility plants.
Mom, of course, came along for the ride, never working again after those few years of teaching Navajo children.
She taught me how to love the Denver Broncos even before the John Elway years — you know, the bad years.
She was a stay-at-home mom during the rise of the women’s liberation movement. I was 8 and loved flying kites, finding frogs and turtles and watching Saturday morning cartoons.
When I was 10 I convinced her to let me have a paper route. Most of the time until I was big enough to load up the 60 or so papers on my bike, she’d drive me around the neighborhood in our old brown Rambler.
We’d take that old Rambler on family vacations back to Kansas to see grandma, work in the garden and dig thistles out of grandma’s pasture land that she leased to a neighbor to run cattle on.
Forty acres of virgin Kansas prairie holds lots of thistles. It was usually a two-day job to cover all the ups, downs and cow ponds.
We’d take meat sandwiches, cantaloupe and a jug of ice water for a picnic in the tall grass and shade of the cottonwood trees.
The mosquitoes were always bad in August, but mom and grandma would work up a smudge fire to keep them away while we rested under the blue sky. We’d head back in the late afternoon and I’d help grandma snap beans or read old Pogo comic books that she kept in an upstairs cedar chest.
Grandma didn’t own a TV, so we’d entertain ourselves by playing outside games or chasing fireflies.
Grandma’s gone now, but mom’s still around. I don’t talk to her as much as I probably should. She sends letters and I enjoy reading them, but I don’t write back nearly as much as I should.
When I do, I try to tell her thank you for taking care of me and raising me right.
She taught me a lot of things, but mostly I think she taught me to enjoy life and find adventure wherever I am, even if it is in a small town somewhere in the Midwest.
David Kennard is the executive editor and publisher of the Troy Daily News. You can contact him at 440-5228 or send e-mail to editorial@tdnpublishing.com.
Her father was a World War I veteran and fought in the trenches of Germany and Belgium. He later came home and began working as an electrician, installing electric lights in most of the homes around the prairie farming community of Delphos, Kansas.
My mother’s mother was a vegetable gardener who grew more in her quarter-acre garden than you can find in the Meijer produce section.
Although my mother grew up as a country girl in a small town — with a town square complete with a statue of Abraham Lincoln and a gas co-op — she wasn’t afraid to look out at the big wonderful world beyond the banks of the muddy Solomon River and the grain elevators that marked the edge of paradise.
After high school she became a Jayhawk at the University of Kansas, where she got her teaching degree — her ticket out.
She left the rolling plains of the Midwest for the Navajo Indian reservations of New Mexico. She taught school to the young Shiprock Navajo children, most of whom either walked to school across the desert country or arrived in the back of old pickup trucks.
A few years later she fell in love with a handsome young electrical engineer who worked wherever his company sent him to build missile silos for the U.S. government during the early stages of the Cold War.
I showed up a few years later and lived in Wyoming, California, North Dakota, Arizona and finally Colorado, where Dad finally found a job building skyscrapers and public utility plants.
Mom, of course, came along for the ride, never working again after those few years of teaching Navajo children.
She taught me how to love the Denver Broncos even before the John Elway years — you know, the bad years.
She was a stay-at-home mom during the rise of the women’s liberation movement. I was 8 and loved flying kites, finding frogs and turtles and watching Saturday morning cartoons.
When I was 10 I convinced her to let me have a paper route. Most of the time until I was big enough to load up the 60 or so papers on my bike, she’d drive me around the neighborhood in our old brown Rambler.
We’d take that old Rambler on family vacations back to Kansas to see grandma, work in the garden and dig thistles out of grandma’s pasture land that she leased to a neighbor to run cattle on.
Forty acres of virgin Kansas prairie holds lots of thistles. It was usually a two-day job to cover all the ups, downs and cow ponds.
We’d take meat sandwiches, cantaloupe and a jug of ice water for a picnic in the tall grass and shade of the cottonwood trees.
The mosquitoes were always bad in August, but mom and grandma would work up a smudge fire to keep them away while we rested under the blue sky. We’d head back in the late afternoon and I’d help grandma snap beans or read old Pogo comic books that she kept in an upstairs cedar chest.
Grandma didn’t own a TV, so we’d entertain ourselves by playing outside games or chasing fireflies.
Grandma’s gone now, but mom’s still around. I don’t talk to her as much as I probably should. She sends letters and I enjoy reading them, but I don’t write back nearly as much as I should.
When I do, I try to tell her thank you for taking care of me and raising me right.
She taught me a lot of things, but mostly I think she taught me to enjoy life and find adventure wherever I am, even if it is in a small town somewhere in the Midwest.
David Kennard is the executive editor and publisher of the Troy Daily News. You can contact him at 440-5228 or send e-mail to editorial@tdnpublishing.com.
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Monday, May 8, 2006
Sunday, April 2, 2006
April 2, 2006 -- Scientists prove they know little about prayer
It’s now a scientific fact that prayer has no benefit.
You may have seen the news story the other day that told of the most scientific study ever conducted on the matter of prayer.
Groups of god-fearing people were asked to pray for various sick people and then scientists watched to see what happened.
In one case, a majority of sick people actually got worse. The sickly people in the other groups showed no benefit from those soliciting the heavens for their speedy recovery.
The conclusion is that God does not answer prayer. When I was shopping for cars a year or so ago I spoke to a bunch of car dealers. I visited the local lots, Erwin, Arbogast, Troy Ford, even talked to some folks outside the area.
The Dodge dealer told me that Chevies and Fords were no good.
The Chevy folks told me not to waste my time on Fords or Dodges.
What I learned is that despite what the Ford man may have thought, he was not an expert on Chevies.
When I finally did settle on a car, I discovered the best source was not the guy down the street peddling his own brand.
Without trying to sound too much like a Sunday school teacher, I’ll say that scientists will never be able to prove the existence of God.
Nor should they, although I do give them credit for spending our tax dollars on the subject.
There is a little thing called faith that plays into the whole talking to God thing. Offering prayers and monitoring the results really is the opposite of that.
I consider myself a church-going man. I’m there almost every Sunday, singing the hymns, shaking the hands, straightening my son’s tie and tucking in his shirt.
I’ve even been known to offer prayers once in a while.
By no means would I consider myself an expert on the subject of prayer. And I’ve certainly never put it to a scientific test. I know enough about the man upstairs not to test him. You may remember what happened to the king of Egypt when he tried that.
The lesson there was to be careful what you ask for. Moses let him have it.
My feeling is most people pray pretty often, and I don’t mean, “Please God, don’t let my boss find out,” or “Holy (expletive deleted), now what I am I going to do?” The most effective prayers are offered not out of desperation, rather they are offered with foresight and hope.
For instance, how do you feel when your son or daughter comes to you and says something like, “Uh Dad, I’m really sorry, but I have to tell you something.” My guess is, God feels the same way. “Oh man, here it comes.
What’ll it be this time: pillar of salt?, belly of a fish? Plagues and locusts, I haven’t tried that in a while?” I’m also pretty sure that God’s looking at a much bigger picture than we are. A few prayers offered in a scientific study may look good in headlines and a handful of scientific journals, but I’m sure it counts little in the book of eternal salvation.
I did, however, happen to do a little research on the subject of prayer. I found a pretty good quote by American Cardinal Francis Spellman. He said, “Pray as if everything depended upon God and work as if everything depended upon man.” A few quick links on the Internet also will yield a number of results about prayer.
In fact, you can find the “Praying to God doesn’t work” story online.
Below the story you can find the related stories: “The hardcore ‘Penthouse,’ yours for $100m,” “U.S.
Mint forks out $9 million over sexual harassment of staff,” and “One man and his bestseller: the dog that ate America.” God’s in good company. It’s no wonder he’s put us all on call waiting.
David Kennard is the executive editor and publisher of the Troy Daily News. You can send him email at kennard@tdn publishing.com.
You may have seen the news story the other day that told of the most scientific study ever conducted on the matter of prayer.
Groups of god-fearing people were asked to pray for various sick people and then scientists watched to see what happened.
In one case, a majority of sick people actually got worse. The sickly people in the other groups showed no benefit from those soliciting the heavens for their speedy recovery.
The conclusion is that God does not answer prayer. When I was shopping for cars a year or so ago I spoke to a bunch of car dealers. I visited the local lots, Erwin, Arbogast, Troy Ford, even talked to some folks outside the area.
The Dodge dealer told me that Chevies and Fords were no good.
The Chevy folks told me not to waste my time on Fords or Dodges.
What I learned is that despite what the Ford man may have thought, he was not an expert on Chevies.
When I finally did settle on a car, I discovered the best source was not the guy down the street peddling his own brand.
Without trying to sound too much like a Sunday school teacher, I’ll say that scientists will never be able to prove the existence of God.
Nor should they, although I do give them credit for spending our tax dollars on the subject.
There is a little thing called faith that plays into the whole talking to God thing. Offering prayers and monitoring the results really is the opposite of that.
I consider myself a church-going man. I’m there almost every Sunday, singing the hymns, shaking the hands, straightening my son’s tie and tucking in his shirt.
I’ve even been known to offer prayers once in a while.
By no means would I consider myself an expert on the subject of prayer. And I’ve certainly never put it to a scientific test. I know enough about the man upstairs not to test him. You may remember what happened to the king of Egypt when he tried that.
The lesson there was to be careful what you ask for. Moses let him have it.
My feeling is most people pray pretty often, and I don’t mean, “Please God, don’t let my boss find out,” or “Holy (expletive deleted), now what I am I going to do?” The most effective prayers are offered not out of desperation, rather they are offered with foresight and hope.
For instance, how do you feel when your son or daughter comes to you and says something like, “Uh Dad, I’m really sorry, but I have to tell you something.” My guess is, God feels the same way. “Oh man, here it comes.
What’ll it be this time: pillar of salt?, belly of a fish? Plagues and locusts, I haven’t tried that in a while?” I’m also pretty sure that God’s looking at a much bigger picture than we are. A few prayers offered in a scientific study may look good in headlines and a handful of scientific journals, but I’m sure it counts little in the book of eternal salvation.
I did, however, happen to do a little research on the subject of prayer. I found a pretty good quote by American Cardinal Francis Spellman. He said, “Pray as if everything depended upon God and work as if everything depended upon man.” A few quick links on the Internet also will yield a number of results about prayer.
In fact, you can find the “Praying to God doesn’t work” story online.
Below the story you can find the related stories: “The hardcore ‘Penthouse,’ yours for $100m,” “U.S.
Mint forks out $9 million over sexual harassment of staff,” and “One man and his bestseller: the dog that ate America.” God’s in good company. It’s no wonder he’s put us all on call waiting.
David Kennard is the executive editor and publisher of the Troy Daily News. You can send him email at kennard@tdn publishing.com.
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Feb. 12, 2006 -- Love of cars and racing begins early for boys and dads
It’s Pinewood Derby season.
To Cub Scouts that’s the equivalent of the Daytona 500.
I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know much about racing or cars in general, but I do enjoy helping kids build Pinewood Derby Cars.
I suppose I first felt the racing bug when I was about 8 years old.
We had just moved to town and I joined a Cub Scout group that met near the elementary school once a week.
Back in those days it was still OK for a third-grader to walk to school.
I’d walk three or four blocks, then a bunch of us would walk another mile or so to Mrs.
Williams’ home for the Cub Scout meeting.
Then I’d walk home.
As I remember it seemed like I did a lot of walking back then.
I’m sure it wasn’t because gas was expensive or anything like that.
In fact, I remember my dad complaining when it went above 50 cents per gallon.
“That old Rambler is getting too expensive to drive,” he’d say.
Dad was the kind of guy who bought new cars, took care of them and drove them until they finally died.
I remember him one time complaining that the only new car he could find for under $3,000 was a Chevy Vega.
He complained a lot about cars, now that I think about it.
But we kept that old brown twotone Rambler until it was replaced by a new Ford Country Squire wagon.
Man alive was it sweet.
Power windows, air conditioning, fold-down rear bed that turned into additional seating, and FM radio.
I’d help Dad change the oil and put air in the tires and stuff like that.
It was pretty cool to lift up that giant hood.
A little guy like me could practically sit inside that humungous engine compartment.
The Country Squire met its demise quite a few years later when some dumb teenage kid — me — wrecked it into some bushes off an icy road.
I screwed up the linkage and it was going to cost, like, $1,500 to repair.
Dad sold it to a friend from work for $1.
The Vega had quite a different end.
Dad drove it to work and back every day, but stopped on his way home for something or another — probably at the hardware store.
He was always stopping at the hardware store.
We had more sink washers and mismatched screw drivers than probably even the store itself.
Anyway, as Dad tells it he parked on the street next to the curb on a windy day when the limb from a giant old maple came crashing down on the car.
The insurance company said it didn’t cover acts of God.
So the Vega was replaced by a shiny new Ford Fairmont.
Dads and cars seem to go together.
That’s probably a chauvinistic thing to say, but some gender roles are pretty long lasting, I suppose.
When I brought that first Pinewood Derby car home, Dad said he’d help me with it.
Between the two of us we came up with a pretty strange looking car.
I didn’t have a pocketknife, so the whole thing was done with a steak knife I smuggled from the kitchen drawer.
Dad showed me how to wrap a piece of sandpaper around a block of wood to make it easier to take out the big scratches.
We drilled out the bottom, poured in some lead that we melted in a tuna can on the Coleman camp stove, then took the tiny car down to the post office to have it weighed.
After a week of tinkering with it, we had it to the regulation weight and ready to race.
It took first place and I took home a new pocketknife, and whole lot of respect for my dad.
He’s not driving anymore, but I heard my Mom bought a new car not too long ago after the last one finally gave out.
With four kids of my own, I’ve had pine shavings on my garage floor and old tuna cans sitting on my work bench for years.
My youngest joined Cubs this year, so it looks like I’ve got only a few more derby years left.
See you at the races.
David Kennard is the executive editor and publisher of the Troy Daily News. You can call him at 440-5228 or send him e-mail at kennard@tdnpublishing.com.
You can watch a Pinewood Derby race at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Miami Valley Centre Mall in Piqua.
To Cub Scouts that’s the equivalent of the Daytona 500.
I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know much about racing or cars in general, but I do enjoy helping kids build Pinewood Derby Cars.
I suppose I first felt the racing bug when I was about 8 years old.
We had just moved to town and I joined a Cub Scout group that met near the elementary school once a week.
Back in those days it was still OK for a third-grader to walk to school.
I’d walk three or four blocks, then a bunch of us would walk another mile or so to Mrs.
Williams’ home for the Cub Scout meeting.
Then I’d walk home.
As I remember it seemed like I did a lot of walking back then.
I’m sure it wasn’t because gas was expensive or anything like that.
In fact, I remember my dad complaining when it went above 50 cents per gallon.
“That old Rambler is getting too expensive to drive,” he’d say.
Dad was the kind of guy who bought new cars, took care of them and drove them until they finally died.
I remember him one time complaining that the only new car he could find for under $3,000 was a Chevy Vega.
He complained a lot about cars, now that I think about it.
But we kept that old brown twotone Rambler until it was replaced by a new Ford Country Squire wagon.
Man alive was it sweet.
Power windows, air conditioning, fold-down rear bed that turned into additional seating, and FM radio.
I’d help Dad change the oil and put air in the tires and stuff like that.
It was pretty cool to lift up that giant hood.
A little guy like me could practically sit inside that humungous engine compartment.
The Country Squire met its demise quite a few years later when some dumb teenage kid — me — wrecked it into some bushes off an icy road.
I screwed up the linkage and it was going to cost, like, $1,500 to repair.
Dad sold it to a friend from work for $1.
The Vega had quite a different end.
Dad drove it to work and back every day, but stopped on his way home for something or another — probably at the hardware store.
He was always stopping at the hardware store.
We had more sink washers and mismatched screw drivers than probably even the store itself.
Anyway, as Dad tells it he parked on the street next to the curb on a windy day when the limb from a giant old maple came crashing down on the car.
The insurance company said it didn’t cover acts of God.
So the Vega was replaced by a shiny new Ford Fairmont.
Dads and cars seem to go together.
That’s probably a chauvinistic thing to say, but some gender roles are pretty long lasting, I suppose.
When I brought that first Pinewood Derby car home, Dad said he’d help me with it.
Between the two of us we came up with a pretty strange looking car.
I didn’t have a pocketknife, so the whole thing was done with a steak knife I smuggled from the kitchen drawer.
Dad showed me how to wrap a piece of sandpaper around a block of wood to make it easier to take out the big scratches.
We drilled out the bottom, poured in some lead that we melted in a tuna can on the Coleman camp stove, then took the tiny car down to the post office to have it weighed.
After a week of tinkering with it, we had it to the regulation weight and ready to race.
It took first place and I took home a new pocketknife, and whole lot of respect for my dad.
He’s not driving anymore, but I heard my Mom bought a new car not too long ago after the last one finally gave out.
With four kids of my own, I’ve had pine shavings on my garage floor and old tuna cans sitting on my work bench for years.
My youngest joined Cubs this year, so it looks like I’ve got only a few more derby years left.
See you at the races.
David Kennard is the executive editor and publisher of the Troy Daily News. You can call him at 440-5228 or send him e-mail at kennard@tdnpublishing.com.
You can watch a Pinewood Derby race at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Miami Valley Centre Mall in Piqua.
Sunday, January 29, 2006
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Jan. 22, 2006 -- A community should be built on trust and friendship
There used to be a day when we knew our neighbors.
Maybe we had them over for barbecues, entertained their children or yelled at their dogs.
Our kids played army and hide-andseek and built tree forts from leftover lumber scavenged from dumpsters and freight yards.
The neighborhood was allowed to come into the backyard and jump on the trampoline.
We borrowed cups of sugar and tree trimmers.
The tomatoes from our gardens became salsa for the widow lady at church.
Our favorite lasagna recipe came from our buddy’s mother-in-law.
And it was always the best, maybe because we knew it had history and we knew where it came from.
Those days are gone.
We are no longer allowed to know what our neighbors are doing.
It’s none of our business.
We stay inside and watch movies on DVD.
The game we used to watch in our friends’ basement is now recorded on TiVo so we can stay at home and send e-mail and text messages on the computer.
Our children walk around with hand-held games.
Cell phones are banned at school.
MP3 players have to be locked up when we go to the club.
The other day, as I was coming out of the movie theater with my wife, I saw two young people, obviously on a date.
Each was talking on a cell phone — probably to somebody else, although it wouldn’t surprise me if they were talking to each other.
When I was a kid, only rich people had a “private” telephone line.
The rest of us shared a party line, sometimes with as many as six other homes.
If we wanted to make a call, we always had to wait.
And usually we listened in.
It was just kind of an accepted fact that whatever you said on the phone was probably going to be heard by somebody you probably didn’t know.
Successful communities, communities just like Troy, Ohio, U.S.A., or anywhere else in this great country, are built on friendship and trust.
It takes a lot of other things as well, but friendship and trust are the key ingredients to making a community work.
I enjoy walking into Marsh and having people say hello to me.
I enjoy watching an out-of-focus movie at the Mayflower and chatting to other people in the theater while it gets fixed.
It’s enjoyable to chat with the guy at the hardware store or the waitress at Frisch’s or the mailman when he comes by in the afternoon.
There seems to a movement to withdraw from the people we love and trust, our neighbors and friends.
I understand that in this world of changing technologies, wireless communication, Internet banking and electronic identification that we should be concerned about our security.
Identity theft is a real problem, but it’s a product of a community that doesn’t know each other.
Are we concerned that Big Brother is watching over us because we are doing something wrong? I’m not suggesting we turn our lives over to the G-men or compromise any rights, but for heaven’s sake, let’s stop the paranoia.
It’s no way to live.
Sure, we all have things we need to hide and keep secure.
But we cannot live in a community where trust and friendship are no longer important.
I hear nothing but complaints from people who are angry that an Internet company wants to know the details of our lives, that the government is spying on us, that our privacy has been invaded — then I see people who stand in the checkout lane with a cell phone and argue with their wife for all to hear.
We celebrate when the FBI or CIA discovers a terrorist plot, but we complain that they’re listening in on our conversations.
Guess what, that’s what we asked our government to do, that’s what they’ve always done.
It’s the job of our elected officials and the agencies they set up to keep us safe and moving forward.
When a police officer drives by, do you feel like he’s watching you or do you wave and say hello? Let’s not go overboard with this right-to-privacy dogma or pretty soon we’ll find ourselves alone, wondering who’s watching us.
David Kennard is the publisher and editor of the Troy Daily News. You can send him e-mail at Kennard@tdnpublishing.com.
Maybe we had them over for barbecues, entertained their children or yelled at their dogs.
Our kids played army and hide-andseek and built tree forts from leftover lumber scavenged from dumpsters and freight yards.
The neighborhood was allowed to come into the backyard and jump on the trampoline.
We borrowed cups of sugar and tree trimmers.
The tomatoes from our gardens became salsa for the widow lady at church.
Our favorite lasagna recipe came from our buddy’s mother-in-law.
And it was always the best, maybe because we knew it had history and we knew where it came from.
Those days are gone.
We are no longer allowed to know what our neighbors are doing.
It’s none of our business.
We stay inside and watch movies on DVD.
The game we used to watch in our friends’ basement is now recorded on TiVo so we can stay at home and send e-mail and text messages on the computer.
Our children walk around with hand-held games.
Cell phones are banned at school.
MP3 players have to be locked up when we go to the club.
The other day, as I was coming out of the movie theater with my wife, I saw two young people, obviously on a date.
Each was talking on a cell phone — probably to somebody else, although it wouldn’t surprise me if they were talking to each other.
When I was a kid, only rich people had a “private” telephone line.
The rest of us shared a party line, sometimes with as many as six other homes.
If we wanted to make a call, we always had to wait.
And usually we listened in.
It was just kind of an accepted fact that whatever you said on the phone was probably going to be heard by somebody you probably didn’t know.
Successful communities, communities just like Troy, Ohio, U.S.A., or anywhere else in this great country, are built on friendship and trust.
It takes a lot of other things as well, but friendship and trust are the key ingredients to making a community work.
I enjoy walking into Marsh and having people say hello to me.
I enjoy watching an out-of-focus movie at the Mayflower and chatting to other people in the theater while it gets fixed.
It’s enjoyable to chat with the guy at the hardware store or the waitress at Frisch’s or the mailman when he comes by in the afternoon.
There seems to a movement to withdraw from the people we love and trust, our neighbors and friends.
I understand that in this world of changing technologies, wireless communication, Internet banking and electronic identification that we should be concerned about our security.
Identity theft is a real problem, but it’s a product of a community that doesn’t know each other.
Are we concerned that Big Brother is watching over us because we are doing something wrong? I’m not suggesting we turn our lives over to the G-men or compromise any rights, but for heaven’s sake, let’s stop the paranoia.
It’s no way to live.
Sure, we all have things we need to hide and keep secure.
But we cannot live in a community where trust and friendship are no longer important.
I hear nothing but complaints from people who are angry that an Internet company wants to know the details of our lives, that the government is spying on us, that our privacy has been invaded — then I see people who stand in the checkout lane with a cell phone and argue with their wife for all to hear.
We celebrate when the FBI or CIA discovers a terrorist plot, but we complain that they’re listening in on our conversations.
Guess what, that’s what we asked our government to do, that’s what they’ve always done.
It’s the job of our elected officials and the agencies they set up to keep us safe and moving forward.
When a police officer drives by, do you feel like he’s watching you or do you wave and say hello? Let’s not go overboard with this right-to-privacy dogma or pretty soon we’ll find ourselves alone, wondering who’s watching us.
David Kennard is the publisher and editor of the Troy Daily News. You can send him e-mail at Kennard@tdnpublishing.com.
Monday, December 26, 2005
Sunday, December 25, 2005
Dec. 25, 2005 -- Today is a day of tradition that began 2,000 years ago
The crowds of people were everywhere that busy day in Bethlehem.
Vendors shouted from the corner stores, selling wares and food items to the people making their way through the streets in the city of David.
A governmental order had been sent out for all the people to be counted to determine the tax for Caesar Augustus, the Roman Emperor.
The day was mild.
The sun was shining.
Flocks of sheep and goats grazed in the field around the city.
Mary and Joseph were recently married and were living in Galilee, where Joseph worked as a carpenter.
They were humble people who made their way to Bethlehem on a donkey, but the trip was slow going as Mary was about to deliver her first child.
A child she knew had a future that she had been told would change the world.
For now, though, she was as uncomfortable as any expectant mother.
Her husband, Joseph, had been patient during the trek, but was anxious to get into the city to find a room for the night.
There were no rooms to be found.
The tired couple finally found a place to rest in a small grotto, a barn of sorts.
Among the animals, they found a quiet place for the mother to deliver her child, by herself in a strange city with only her husband to help.
“And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger,” according to Luke in the New Testament.
Mary and Joseph stayed in Bethlehem for several days as they finished their business, but they soon found that the birth of the baby Jesus sparked great interest.
The Apostle Luke said, “there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
… (when) the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them.” “Fear not,” the angel said.
“I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.” Luke says “suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.’” Curious, the shepherds, who witnessed what could only be described as a miracle, went into the city to find the baby “lying in a manger.
And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child,” according to Luke.
News of the birth soon spread throughout the area.
One family telling another until many people, even those in influential office, heard about the birth of the new king.
From that eventful day until today, the story of Christ’s birth in that crowded city, under the watch of simple animals, has been carried to people throughout the world.
From the time I was a child, Christmas was a day Dad didn’t have to work.
Together with my brother and sisters, we helped Mom in the kitchen.
We opened our gifts, took silly pictures and wondered why batteries were not included in all our electronic toys.
We knew Santa had been there because the cookies had bites out of them and the milk was gone.
Santa’s gifts were never wrapped and our stockings were always filled with strange things that could never have been purchased in local stores.
The TV stayed off until well into the afternoon and the house was filled with torn wrapping paper, plastic boxes, Styrofoam and the smell of ham.
It was a wonderful time.
It still is today as I enjoy the same Christmas traditions with my own family.
All across our county and even around the world, today is a day of tradition that began more than 2,000 years ago when a husband and wife gathered to wonder at the gift they received in the form of a tiny baby.
Today we celebrate Christ’s birth by gathering as friends and family, giving gifts to each other in the tradition of the season.
Whether you’re a Christian or non- Christian, an agnostic or atheist; whether you give tidings of Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays or Season’s Greetings; whether you sing hymns in church or watch football on TV on Sundays, today is a day to turn our focus on the spirit of the season.
Merry Christmas.
David Kennard is the editor and publisher of the Troy Daily News.
You can send him e-mail at Kennard@tdnpublishing.com.
Vendors shouted from the corner stores, selling wares and food items to the people making their way through the streets in the city of David.
A governmental order had been sent out for all the people to be counted to determine the tax for Caesar Augustus, the Roman Emperor.
The day was mild.
The sun was shining.
Flocks of sheep and goats grazed in the field around the city.
Mary and Joseph were recently married and were living in Galilee, where Joseph worked as a carpenter.
They were humble people who made their way to Bethlehem on a donkey, but the trip was slow going as Mary was about to deliver her first child.
A child she knew had a future that she had been told would change the world.
For now, though, she was as uncomfortable as any expectant mother.
Her husband, Joseph, had been patient during the trek, but was anxious to get into the city to find a room for the night.
There were no rooms to be found.
The tired couple finally found a place to rest in a small grotto, a barn of sorts.
Among the animals, they found a quiet place for the mother to deliver her child, by herself in a strange city with only her husband to help.
“And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger,” according to Luke in the New Testament.
Mary and Joseph stayed in Bethlehem for several days as they finished their business, but they soon found that the birth of the baby Jesus sparked great interest.
The Apostle Luke said, “there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
… (when) the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them.” “Fear not,” the angel said.
“I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.” Luke says “suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.’” Curious, the shepherds, who witnessed what could only be described as a miracle, went into the city to find the baby “lying in a manger.
And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child,” according to Luke.
News of the birth soon spread throughout the area.
One family telling another until many people, even those in influential office, heard about the birth of the new king.
From that eventful day until today, the story of Christ’s birth in that crowded city, under the watch of simple animals, has been carried to people throughout the world.
From the time I was a child, Christmas was a day Dad didn’t have to work.
Together with my brother and sisters, we helped Mom in the kitchen.
We opened our gifts, took silly pictures and wondered why batteries were not included in all our electronic toys.
We knew Santa had been there because the cookies had bites out of them and the milk was gone.
Santa’s gifts were never wrapped and our stockings were always filled with strange things that could never have been purchased in local stores.
The TV stayed off until well into the afternoon and the house was filled with torn wrapping paper, plastic boxes, Styrofoam and the smell of ham.
It was a wonderful time.
It still is today as I enjoy the same Christmas traditions with my own family.
All across our county and even around the world, today is a day of tradition that began more than 2,000 years ago when a husband and wife gathered to wonder at the gift they received in the form of a tiny baby.
Today we celebrate Christ’s birth by gathering as friends and family, giving gifts to each other in the tradition of the season.
Whether you’re a Christian or non- Christian, an agnostic or atheist; whether you give tidings of Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays or Season’s Greetings; whether you sing hymns in church or watch football on TV on Sundays, today is a day to turn our focus on the spirit of the season.
Merry Christmas.
David Kennard is the editor and publisher of the Troy Daily News.
You can send him e-mail at Kennard@tdnpublishing.com.
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