SOLON & BEYOND, Week of August 17, 2017

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Marilyn Rogers-Bull & Percyby Marilyn Rogers-Bull & Percy
grams29@tds.net
Solon, Maine 04979

Good morning, dear friends. Don’t worry, be happy!

Was very pleased this morning when I turned my computer on and discovered the August letter from the New Hope Church, my many thanks for that.

There was a great turnout for the benefit supper for Zack Corson, which was held at Solon Elementary School. Zack has been struggling for years with kidney disease and related complications. Nearly $5,000 was raised that evening.

Since their last letter, several in the shelter have been saved, which Pastor Tim said, “This is what it’s all about!”

The property in Windham that was offered for use as a women’s shelter is on track. The parties involved have gotten together and are making arrangements to set up and use the property as a shelter to be patterned after the one in Solon.

In May, Pat and Tim were able to take their first real vacation in a very long time. The church had taken a collection and had purchased a gift certificate to a B-B in Bar Harbor right close to the waterfront. They spent a few days in early May there and had a wonderful time exploring the beautiful area and just plain relaxing.

Because of a grant given to the church for staffing, they are pleased to announce the addition of a new position at the shelter and the hiring of a wonderful lady from their volunteer pool to fill that position.

They have also added two new members to the shelter board; Brent Small, who is an associate pastor at Faith Evangelical Free Church, in Waterville, and Charlie Pratt, a member of New Hope who has been greatly involved with the shelter from its beginning.

On July 30 the New Hope Church was blessed to have Temple Veil in concert.

They have started a landscaping project around the shelter and have set out some shrubs and plants. Again, my many thanks for sharing your news with us.

Had been dreading last weekend for a month or more, but as usual, I shouldn’t have worried! Lief and my family were each having a reunion on the same weekend, his was on his mother’s side was to be held in Massachusetts and mine was to be held up at Dave and Pete’s camp at Flagstaff as always, on the second weekend in August. Lief and I had talked it over and agreed that we should each go to our own family reunion. Both Lief’s father and his mother had come from very large families. His mother’s family had come over from Norway and settled in several states in the U.S. so there were family members who came from shore to shore at his reunion, he thought there were around 200 people at the Massachusetts reunion. Feel really bad that I missed meeting all of them, but I haven’t yet figured out how to be in two places at once!

There were 29 of us at the Rogers reunion up in God’s Country where peace is beyond understanding. This was to be more special than usual if possible, Jeremy and his family were to travel from North Dakota for the reunion, and hadn’t seen them for several years.

As always, Peter and Sherry brought up their portable breakfast wagon and served everybody delicious breakfasts. Dave had built another bunk house, and there are five bedrooms, a spill over room, a screen porch and a tenting place for sleeping. Dave had set up his smoker for delicious ribs, Pete had cooked a huge pot of chili and everyone attending had brought lots of food, so we enjoyed feasting. Again, Mark and Karen had come up with designing another game which everyone always looks forward to. There were four different groups competing, and I happened to pick the winning team and we all received a medal.

There was so much laughter and love shared on this special wonderful weekend, but several people commented on how much they missed Lief, as did I.

The days at camp were beautiful skies of blue and so Percy’s memoir this week is entitled, Master Artist; “God paints countless pictures For his children to behold, From the lovely sunrise To the sunset tinged with gold. He made this earth His canvas While the brush is His great hand; With true and glorious colors Every landscape He has planned. The artist can but copy From God’s own masterpiece … He paints the perfect pictures, His glories never cease.” (words by Lois Anne Williams.)

SCORES & OUTDOORS: An unexpected late night concert

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Roland D. HalleeSCORES & OUTDOORS

by Roland D. Hallee

Last Thursday night my wife woke me from a sound sleep to listen to something outside our camp. Well, being somewhat groggy, I didn’t hear anything, and went back to sleep. It wasn’t long afterwards that she woke me again.

“Can’t you hear that?” she inquired sounding a little frustrated – You see, my wife tells me I’m going deaf.

I sat up, and listened attentively. “OK, I hear it, it’s a Barred Owl,” I told her.

She persisted. “Listen carefully.”

What I then heard made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. It was at least two, maybe three, barred owls caterwauling to each other. This was at about 11 p.m. I had heard Barred Owls behind camp a thousand times, but never anything like this. It was almost as intriguing as listening to loons calling to each other.

The “who cooks for you, who cooks for you all” call was unmistakable. But, I think it was a strange time of year for them to engage in this activity. This is usually done during the spring courtship, when one will vocalize to its mate, and vice versa. There were times when it was so loud and sustained, it almost sounded like a barking dog.

These calls are most heard at night or in twilight, and especially during the breeding season. However, calls can be heard year round since these birds do not migrate. They are very territorial, and will chase away intruders with loud hoots. These vocalizations become more frequent during the mating season, where female birds make invitation calls to mate with males.

Scientists, however, have debated that the calls of Barred Owls are much more diverse than we think. The research indicates that more needs to be known about the Barred Owls before they can deduce more about its behaviors in and out of the breeding season. Owls in general can be a difficult species of bird to study since they are mainly nocturnal and are not incredibly active until the breeding season.

Barred Owls, Strix varia, are easiest to find when they are active at night, but they are easier to hear than to see. From a distance, their calls can sound like a barking dog. They prefer mature forests, and their main diet is small mammals, reptiles and amphibians.

Since the 1960s, Barred Owls have expanded their range to the Pacific Coast where they are considered invasive. That is because it is believed they are partly to blame for the recent decline of the northern Spotted Owl, which is native to British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and California. When Barred Owls and Spotted Owls occupy the same space, the Barred Owl is more aggressive and will out-compete the Spotted Owl. Barred Owls have even been known to kill Spotted Owls. Interbreeding is also suspected.

In 2007, White House officials announced a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposal to shoot Barred Owls in order to reduce the threat to the Spotted Owls. If implemented, it was estimated 2,150 to 2,850 Barred Owls should be taken over a five to 10 year period. It is feared that increased populations of Barred Owls could eventually render the Spotted Owl extinct. Environmentalists fear increased blame on Barred Owls for declining Spotted Owl numbers will result in less attention being paid to territorial protections and resumption of logging in protected Spotted Owl habitat.

According to the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Office, the experiment is ongoing and results are still being studied.

An adult Barred Owl can be anywhere from 16 – 25 inches long and weigh 1.1 to 2.3 pounds, with a wingspan of 38-49 inches. The Barred Owl is the only true owl of the eastern United States which has brown eyes. All others have yellow eyes.

The upper parts are a gray/brown, the underparts are light with markings. The chest is barred horizontally while the belly is striped vertically. The legs and feet are covered with feathers to the talons, and the head is round with no ear tufts.

Even though they are primarily nocturnal, they generally hunt near dawn or dusk, swooping down from a high perch, to take their prey.

Dogs must choose and want to give us attention and focus

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TRAINING YOUR PERFORMANCE DOG

by Carolyn Fuhrer

Focus, Attention, Engagement, Cooperation. Focus. Attention. Engagement. Cooperation. We hear these words all the time, but what does it all mean? How do we obtain it and how do we keep it?

In the beginning stages of training, we use food or toys first as lures and eventually as rewards to pay our dogs for performing certain tasks. This approach works very well with most dogs. Problems arise if you want to progress beyond the venues where you can use food as a lure or carry food with you and reward with it. If your performance is based upon your dog believing that food is present and will be forthcoming for certain behaviors, you will be limited as to how much you can achieve.

Dogs must choose and want to give us attention and focus and be willing to join us and cooperate with us because it is a good deal and an enjoyable experience.

Focus and attention to you can be enhanced in every day life with your dog. Every time your dog looks at you or chooses to engage with you, acknowledge their attention and enjoy them. Work on building your relationship with your dog wanting to give you attention, not your pursuing the dog to get their attention.

Consider whether your dog is stressed, anxious or fearful of the environment or is the stress coming from you? Or perhaps some of each. Is the environment overwhelming to your dog because your dog is extremely curious and has not developed the ability to concentrate on a single task but just flits from one environmental distraction to another. Your dog’s breed and temperament will influence whether they are stressed or wary of the environment or want to engage with every smell, sight or noise they encounter. Some dogs are more introverts where others are extroverts. You need to understand and work with the dog you have.

Some dogs need quite a bit of emotional support, whereas others are quite independent. You need to understand your dog’s emotional make up when you plan a training session.

Sometimes your dog’s inability to focus has nothing to do with the dog or environment. It has to do with poor training. Poor training and lack of clarity in training will cause a dog to be confused, anxious, frustrated or just shut down or leave.

Training, when done correctly, should strengthen your relationship and training should be an enjoyable, rewarding session for both dog and handler. The dog understands you will be fair and clear in your teaching and therefore will be willing to try and solve problems and enjoy putting forth effort. The handler in turn will be patient, fair and supportive of the dog’s efforts. The more you build your relationship, the more your dog will focus on the tasks and engage with you because work is fun for both of you!

Remember, every time you set up a training session, go to a class, a show and go or a trial, you set an emotional tone for the event. If these experiences are not pleasant and confidence-building for your dog and enhancing to your overall relationship, you will be undermining the foundation of trust you need to have with your dog. No amount of food can substitute for poor training.

Carolyn Fuhrer has earned over 90 AKC titles with her Golden Retrievers, including 2 Champion Tracker titles. Carolyn is the owner of North Star Dog Training School in Somerville, Maine. She has been teaching people to understand their dogs for over 25 years. You can contact her with questions, suggestions and ideas for her column by e-mailing carolyn@dogsatnorthstar.com.

IF WALLS COULD TALK, Week of August 10, 2017

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Katie Ouilette Wallsby Katie Ouilette

WALLS, this just has to be ‘summer celebration time’ throughout Maine! Faithful readers, you surely have had a lot of reading to do with The Town Line and every newspaper telling about a celebration for something in towns throughout our grand state of Maine.

Yes, thanks, too, to our television stations telling us about each one at some time of the day. Certainly, we can begin with Portland and the Tall Sails Regatta. You know. WALLS, that it was also identified as a ‘learning experience. So Portland can be praised for teaching, as well.

Driving to Central Maine, one could also learn at Skowhegan’s Kneading Conference. That event surely has grown from its start at the parking lot of Federated Church on The Island. Now, the Kneading Conference has its new locale at the Skowhegan Fairgrounds. Yes, WALLS, the, now, Tewksbury Hall, behind the Federated Church, welcomed folks to the pancake breakfast, which was held at that hall on August 5. Now, WALLS, add to all that daytime and evening chicken events hosted by Skowhegan Lions, the widely anticipated lobster dinner by Skowhegan Rotarians, the bed races, animal zoo, bands playing, and Sally’s School of Dance performing, plus the long-awaited parade. Then there was a golf tournament at Lakewood Golf Course.

Oh, WALLS, surely there is much more activity for all ages on the River Fest program that everyone received by way of Skowhegan Area Chamber of Commerce.

But, maybe you who are on the road north, will soon find that Aroostook County is about to celebrate the Maine Potato Festival. Whatever your time or calendar allow, The Town Line says “ENJOY”!

Yes, WALLS, you are so right. Our summer seems to have been short, but certainly, not so short that planning has taken place since last year’s events. Do you faithful readers know how much planning goes into these events? You, WALLS, know very well how many of us have said that, as long as I am ‘fine’ from the shoulders up, I will be o.k., and I still say it. Oh, there’s no question that Lyme Disease has taken its toll, and certainly I’ve visited Skowhegan’s Redington-Fairview General Hospital a couple times, but I can still hear, think right, and talk! Oh, well, I may not play the game, but I can ride in the golf cart and see Lew’s golf ball……and he sure can hit it a long way!

Hmmm, not bad for two old duffers at 90 and 87 years young, respectively! Yup, Skowhegan State Fair will begin and we’ll see you there!

SCORES & OUTDOORS: Farm raised salmon: Real or Imposters?

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Roland D. HalleeSCORES & OUTDOORS

by Roland D. Hallee

Last week we discussed the plight of the Atlantic salmon and the efforts underway to restore this majestic fish, in its natural form, which had seen declining numbers. One of the reasons cited was the new threat from competitive farmed fish.

Such an operation exists in East Machias at the Peter Gray Hatchery. The hatchery has reported the highest smolt production in the East Machias River since the start of the Peter Gray Parr Project in 2012. This summer has seen similar weather conditions as last year, except that the days and evenings are cooler than normal for July. Despite the dry spell, the “little athletes” in the hatchery are doing well, according to the hatchery’s monthly newsletter.

So, that brings us to an article written by Kathleen McKeog­hain, of AlterNet. She claims, “Atlantic salmon, the native salmon that used to inhabit the northern Atlantic Ocean, rivers and seas, is a species now represented by an imposter: farmed salmon.”

She goes on to say that farmed salmon come from hatchery genetic stock and unlike its native ancesotrs, lacks wild genetic variation. The wild fish our ancestors ate is gone. What appears on our dinner plates is a substitute copy, a genetic dilution of a once mighty fish, the adaptive king of the sea, and a significant food for coastal humans since prehistoric times.

According to McKeoghain, the change in genetic stock has been happening for decades, as farmed salmon are released into native waters via restocking progrms (in an attempt to reduce the negative impacts of overfishing of wild salmon) and also unintentionally as a consequence of faulty containment in sea net-cages. The resulting “swamping out” effect — farmed in, wild out – along with several other insidious factors, has driven native salmon to effective extinction.

“When I began to research the scientific literature on native Atlantic salmon, I was stunned to discover that this species, Salmo salar, is essentially extinct,” continues McKeoghain. How can this be?

“The verified statistic is that 99.5 percent of all Atlantic salmon living today, whether farmed or fished from open ocean or rivers, is not what biologists call “wild type” and does not faithfully represent, in a genetic sense, the native fish that once broadly populated waters of our planet’s Holarctic zone, the ecological region that encompasses the majority of habitats found across the Earth’s northern continents.”

The fish we eat today is not the fish that fed our ancestors, or even the fish that fed our forbears of a century ago. Today’s salmon, because of the effects of a force called genetic erosion, is the diluted copy of a fish that once thrived on a wild genome, that tried and true set of original genes which, in the case of salmon, generated a fish capable of magnetic field navigation, survival in fresh and salt water and geochemical detection of spawning micro-habitats.

The earliest salmon came from a diverse group of ocean vertebrates known as the ray-finned fishes and was part of a broad divergence of ocean fishes that adapted over eons to the cold, northern waters of the upper northern hemisphere, around the Arctic Circle. Early Atlantic and Pacific salmonid ancestors branched into separate ocean groups of early species types about 600,000 years ago.

Salmon are anadromous, a migrant from fresh water to salty sea, a fish who returns to its birth river to spawn in the family niche for the next generation, for the continuation of each clan, the many clans for each population, and the many populations for each species.

According to Slow Food, an affiliation of the Lighthouse Foundation, “the stocks of wild Atlantic salmon have been reduced to dangerously low levels. Reasons are overfishing, pollution, environmental changes, aquaculture, habitat deterioration and disturbances of migration routes. In many regions, the species has disappeared completely. Even though wild Atlantic salmon stocks have been drastically depleted, farming represents a poor alternative, given the environmental havoc it causes. Farmed salmon should not be eaten frequently. Farmed salmon flesh contains significant amounts of pollutants.”

McKeoghain concludes by saying, “the salmon has taken a fatal series of genetic blows. Its ‘old growth forest’ was set on fire by a human feeding frenzy that began with overfishing and was fed by industrial aquaculture. The genetic erosion is shocking and steep. Today, 99.5 percent of all native Atlantic salmon has disappeared from the wild, forever.”

I’m Just Curious: Gardening tips

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by Debbie Walker

I suppose it’s a little late to be helpful with your gardening this year but hopefully you will cut this out and save it for the next growing season. (Don’t think too seriously.)

This info was printed in another Maine paper, their July/August issue. I cut this out of the paper and trashed the rest. Whoops. I am sorry (but I did add some stuff).

If there is a frost after March 15, it will not cause any damage to your garden (not sure what part of the country we are talking about!)

If there is a frost, when the wind is blowing from the south, it will destroy all of your plants in the garden. (Did you already know this?)

The worst day to plant is on the 31st of any month (especially Dec., Jan., March, so does that mean Feb. is good cause it doesn’t go to the 31st?).

You will experience a wonderful crop if you have early thunderstorms. (Does that include the winter thunderstorms?)

If a pregnant woman plants any type of plant it will grow well. (Is it a hormone thing?)

If you hear a turtledove coo on New Year’s Day, it is a prediction that all crops will be good for the coming year. (I guess for that to happen in Maine you would have to have the happy, contented bird in a cage inside! I don’t think it would coo very long outside!)

Planting seeds at noon means they will grow. (I doubt that one; it just means the person was lazy, not getting to the fields until noon!)

If you put fertilizer on the ground during the light of moon it will not decompose and will do no good. (It will decompose but in the dark you put it in the wrong place and just can’t find it!)

If you see a frost between the time of the new moon and the full moon, your plants will not have to worry about frostbite. (I don’t think the plants will worry about anything.)

Stretch a piece of yarn string over the rows of your plants in early spring. The frost will then collect on the yarn and not hurt your plants. (You might break a leg if you trip on all that string!)

Placing rusty nails or old irons around your plants will help them grow. (Oh sure, and if you step on the rusty nail it will really hurt!)

Okay, so this is all pretty ridiculous but I thought I would pass it along. Of course it was titled “Old Wives’ Tales for Gardening.” Geez, old wives get blamed for so much!

I am just curious what you remember as old wives tales. For comments and questions try dwdaffy@yahoo.com. Sub. line: Old Wives.’ Thanks for reading and don’t forget the online site, tell your friends and families about us.

P.S. I don’t know how you can take any of this serious if you take into consideration that this writer is planting a flowering weeds garden on purpose!

REVIEWS: Music: Robert Farnon, Thomas Tallis & Vinyl

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Peter CatesREVIEW POTPOURRI

by Peter Cates

Robert Farnon

Robert Farnon Concert
London, LPB 126, ten inch vinyl mono LP, recorded 1949.

Canadian-born, composer/conductor Robert Farnon (1917-2005) recorded numerous albums of the most imaginative mood music arrangements, a quality of work equalled, in my experience, only by Percy Faith, Paul Weston, Nelson Riddle, and Andre Kostelanetz. The above disc contains five of the man’s own compositions – Rudolf Friml’s classic Donkey Serenade, Vincent Youman’s captivating The Carioca and the Viennese operetta composer, Robert Stolz’s intriguing Persian Nocturne.

My special favorite here was Farnon’s wistful How Beautiful is Night; judging from the number of yts presenting this song, it seems to have been very popular. One of the posts is a 1971 rare 45 featuring Tony Bennett, with Farnon conducting, that is recommended listening.

My own copy of the record has the stamp of the long gone Waterville store, A.W. Larsen’s, where I bought a number of records as a beginning collector back in the early-to-mid ‘60s and remember the owner, Al Larsen, as a very nice and helpful gentleman.

Thomas Tallis

Lamentation of Jeremiah
William Byrd: Mass for 3 Voices; Pro Cantione Antiqua, conducted by Bruno Turner; Archiv 2533 113, 12-inch vinyl stereo LP, recorded 1972.

The Pro Cantione Antiqua is a vocal group consisting of nine men, ranging from bass to a very high countertenor. It was founded in 1968, specializing in 15th and 16th century music written for the male voice by English and European composers and have performed in concerts and on recordings umpteen times.

Both of the above works by Thomas Tallis (1505-1585) and his pupil/colleague William Byrd (1543-1623) are eloquent examples of what is known as Tudor church music, sung most movingly on this recording. Since the two men lived out most of their working lives under the Tudor monarchy, they experienced the ominously shifting winds of the Protestant Reformation and had to toe the line on English versus Latin texts – Henry VIII’s blood-laden move of spiritual obeisance from the Church of Rome to his own creation of the Church of England; and his own eldest daughter, Bloody Mary, with her terroristic return to Rome. Only with Elizabeth’s accession to the throne in 1558 and her granting of favor to Tallis, Byrd and other gifted composers were they able to breathe reasonably freely.

An interesting postscript. The conductor Bruno Turner made millions in the wallpapering business after World War II due to the inevitable construction boom, courtesy of the German Luftwaffe.

Vinyl

The Wacky World of Record Collecting
produced by Allen Zweig; released 2000, approximately 2 hours.

Since I own a record collection consisting of over 50,000 items, I was definitely interested in viewing this documentary. I was especially hoping for collectors to share their own specific interest areas, state the specific qualities of a performer or genre that moved them and provide some interesting records to check out.

This would not be the case! Instead Zweig indulges one main obsession rooted in his own habits as a collector – why has he spent so much money, time and energy accumulating thousands of records instead of getting a life, so to speak. He talks about wanting to find a wife, get married and maybe at least having a daughter so he can put together a bicycle for her enjoyment. He is even honest enough to state that he would happily give up all of his records for a family.

Then he does a series of interviews with other collectors – a better term for most of them would be hoarders. One very seemingly calm individual speaks of his desire to own a record of every song written, regardless of language.

Another has gathered every different US release of all Elvis Presley recordings. Using the G.I. Blues album as an example- he would have bought the single 45s, 45 extended play albums (two songs per side), mono LP, stereo LP, four track tape, eight track tape, reel to reel tape, cassette, any anthology containing at least one song from the release, compact disc, video cassette of the movie, laser disc, DVD, Blue ray and any other edition with a different cover, liner notes and photographs. As for releases in foreign countries, he is practical with his money and wants to use common sense. Therefore it would have to contain, again, a different cover, notes, photos and mastering.

Still another hardly plays any records because he lacks the will to move from his chair. Finally, one individual decided one day to get rid of his collection but refused to sell or give it away because he was horrified at the thought of others hearing and owning his records. Instead, he personally threw every record into a dumpster. Afterwards, he felt more relaxed than he had in years.

I should state here that there are “normal’ individuals who have similarly-sized collections (Of course, I am not trying to imply anything with regard to myself – LOL!) .

All in all, the film was both interesting but at times perturbing, to put it politely!

Throwing in the towel as a PUL

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COMMUNITY COMMENTARY

by Richard Dillenbeck of China

Well, dear readers, it’s time to retire from PUL (Picking Up Litter). I’ve reached the reported retirement age for PUL.ers, I suppose they think we old people will get run over, creating more litter. Nineteen years is enough, maybe someone else can step forward.

I guess I should be glad to know the Bud Light guy(s) are still littering Lakeview Drive by tossing out emptied cans and disposing of evidence along the way. As a kid I sometimes used to walk home from basketball practice at Erskine and still remember the ‘singing’ telephone lines on cold nights and really never thought of litter because it simply wasn’t there.

When I counted over 700 pieces of litter along just two miles yesterday, it seemed to confirm what my son-in-law told me somewhat sarcastically when I started…“good luck.” It seems some of our otherwise thoughtful citizens simply enjoy littering and since they are the only ones who can change things, I also say…good luck. I note even the town office has deleted “PLEASE DON’T LITTER” from its digital signboard, I guess the writing is on the wall. I thank others who PUL. And to the majority of our citizens, enjoy the scenery while you can.

SOLON & BEYOND, Week of August 10, 2017

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Marilyn Rogers-Bull & Percyby Marilyn Rogers-Bull & Percy
grams29@tds.net
Solon, Maine 04979

Good morning, dear friends. Don’t worry, be happy!

The very first thing that I need to do this week is apologize to Dotty Dunphy for the wrong name under the group picture in last week’s paper, I am very sorry.

The next Embden Historical Society meeting is scheduled for Monday, August 14, at 7 p.m. at the Embden Town House. Jean Schipke will give a presentation along with slides on “My Memories of Devereux.” Refreshments will follow. All are welcome. My many thanks to you Carol for being so dedicated with sharing interesting news, keep up the good work.

Many of you have told me how much you enjoy the stories I sometimes write about living in Flagstaff before we were flooded out. This last weekend was our “Old Home Weekend” held at the little chapel in Eustis.

I am going to print an old, yellowed clipping that I found among my treasured memories that a dear friend had written just before she moved at the fast approaching flooding of the town.

It is entitled, Flagstaff – My Home Town:

” ‘Twas just a sleepy little town in a valley,
The prettiest place that I know.
In summer ’twas covered with flowers,
In winter, with a blanket of snow.
Our store was all that it needed,
The houses were all on one street;
The school offered all you could ask for,
And a quaint church made it complete.
The lake was handy for fishing,
(On hot days the swimming was grand),
“Twas also a nice place for boating,
Or a picnic nearby on the sand.
In winter, the lake was for skating,
Or you could ski up on the hill while the wind blew the snow all around you and gave your nose quite a chill.
The forests were pleasant for hiking or for camping out in the fresh air;
In winter we used them for hunting,
With our pick from raccoon or bear.
Now all of this is over – The cheerfulness is gone.
Thye people are moving far away,
And the place seems quite forlorn.
The trees have been cut by the woodsmen,
The lake filled with birch-bark and wood,
At first we swam in the river,
Now that no longer is good.
The houses left empty by neighbors,
Have been filled with men I don’t know;
They have ripped out the walls and the finish,
Leaving enough to keep off the snow.
The church has been robbed of its windows,
They have found a new home above town.
Even the graveyard is empty –
The green grass is now dark and brown.
Yes, the town is almost deserted Of all the folks that I know,
And I myself will be going,
Perhaps before the snow.
Yes, this is my home and I love it!
It’s beauties will always be mine;
And ’twill linger on in my memory From now till the end of time.”

This was written by Avis Burbank.

This poem says it all and each year there are a few missing that gather at the little chapel, which looks much like the church that was in Flagstaff. The same beautiful colored windows, the old bell and at the service on Sunday, as always, tears nearly fell as I held the old Pilgrim Hymnal (copyright 1931) as in days gone by. My good friend and classmate, Isabelle Burbank Milbank, and I graduated in 1947 from the Flagstaff High School and she called us the ‘dinosaurs,’ (now I’ve been called a lot of names, but that was a new one!) But along with her husband, Floyd, I am sure we were the oldest people of only 18 in attendance. They had traveled from New York to take part in the Old Home Days.

Now for Percy’s memoir, he and I both loved the inspirational poetry of Helen Steiner Rice. “People everywhere in life from every walk and station, From every town and city and every state and nation Have given me so many things intangible and dear, I couldn’t count them all or even make them clear… I only know I owe so much to people everywhere And when I put my thoughts in verse it’s just a way to share The musings of a thankful heart, a heart much like your own, For nothing that I think or write is mine and mine alone… So if you found some beauty in any word or line, It’s just “Your Soul’s Reflection” in “Proximity with Mine.”

TECH TALK: How technology could save our Republic

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Gerry-mandering explained. (image credit: Washington Post)

ERIC’S TECH TALK

by Eric W. Austin
Computer Technical Advisor

Elbridge Gerry, second-term governor of Massachusetts, is about to do something that will make his name both legendary and despised in American partisan politics. It’s two months after Christmas, in a cold winter in the year 1812.

Typical of a politician, the next election is forefront in his mind. And Gerry has reason to worry.

Elections in those days were a yearly affair. Between 1800 – 1803 Gerry had lost four elections in a row to Federalist Caleb Strong. He didn’t dare run again until after Strong’s retirement in 1807. Three years later, though, Elbridge Gerry gathered his courage and tried again.

This time he won.

Gerry was a Democratic-Republican, but during his first term the Federalists had control of the Massachusetts legislature, and he gained a reputation for championing moderation and rational discourse.

However, in the next election cycle his party gained control of the Senate and things changed. Gerry became much more partisan, purging many of the Federalist appointees from the previous cycle and enacting so-called “reforms,” increasing the number of judicial appointments, which he then filled with Republican flunkies.

The irony of this is that Gerry had been a prominent figure in the U.S. Constitutional Convention in the summer of 1787, where he was a vocal advocate of small government and individual liberties. He even angrily quit the Massachusetts’ ratifying convention in 1788 after getting into a shouting match with convention chair, Francis Dana, primarily over the lack of a Bill of Rights. (The first 10 amendments later became the Bill of Rights.)

But none of this is what Elbridge Gerry is remembered for.

That came in the winter of 1812 when he signed into law a bill redrawing voting districts in such a way that it gave electoral advantage to his own Democratic-Republican party.

Political cartoon from the early 1800’s.

The move was highly successful from a political standpoint, but unpopular. In the next election, Gerry’s Democratic-Republican party won all but 11 seats in a State Senate that had – only the year before – been controlled by the Federalists. This, despite losing a majority of the seats in the House by a wide margin, and the governorship as well as: his old Federalist nemesis, Caleb Strong, came out of retirement to defeat him.

According to a legendary account from the period, someone posted a map of the newly-drawn districts on the wall in the offices of the Boston Gazette. One of the editors pointed to the district of Essex and remarked that its odd shape resembled a salamander. Another editor exclaimed, “A salamander? Call it a Gerry-mander!”

Thus the first “Gerry-mander” was born.

Today the process of redrawing district boundaries in such a way as to favor one party over another is referred to as “gerrymandering.”

It is mandated in the Constitution that states be divided into districts of equal population. So, every ten years when a census is taken, states redraw voting districts based on population changes. In many states, the party that controls the state legislature at the time also dictates this. Predictably, gerrymandering is most dominant in these states.

By strategically drawing the district lines to give the ruling party election-advantage, that party can maintain their legislative power even if the majority of the population moves away from them in the following years.

According to a 2014 study conducted by The Washington Post, Republicans are currently responsible for drawing eight out of ten of the most gerrymandered districts in the U.S. This has resulted in the Democrats being under-represented by about 18 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives “relative to their vote share in the 2012 election.”

The most gerrymandered districts in the United States. (image credit: Washington Post)

Maine is one of the few states that has given this decision to an independent, bipartisan commission instead. That commission then sends a proposal for approval to the state legislature. Of course, we have it a bit easier, with only two districts to worry about.

For much of the nation, gerrymandering is still one of the most prevalent and democratically destructive practices in politics today.

It’s also notoriously difficult to eradicate.

The problem is that someone has to decide on the districts. And everyone is biased.

Even in the few cases where legal action has been brought against an instance of partisan gerrymandering, how does one prove that bias in a court of law? The quandary is this: in order to prove a district was drawn with bias intent, one must first provide an example of how the district would look if drawn without bias. But since all districts are drawn by people, there is no such example to use.

Because of this difficulty, in 2004 the Supreme Court ruled that such a determination constitutes an “unanswerable question.”

But that may be about to change.

There is currently a major redistricting case before the Supreme Court. Professor Steve Vladeck, of Texas University’s School of Law, calls it “the biggest and most important election law case in decades.” It involves a gerrymandered district in Wisconsin.

The reason the courts are now taking these cases more seriously is because of recent advances in computer-powered analytics: technology may finally provide that elusive example of an unbiased district.

This week, August 7-11, a team of mathematicians at Tufts University is holding a conference on the “Geometry of Redistricting” to look at this very problem.

A number of mathematical algorithms have already been proposed to remove the human-factor from the process of redistricting.

Brian Olson, a software engineer from Massachusetts, has developed an algorithm which draws districts based on census blocks. His approach aims to make districts as compact as possible while maintaining neighborhood integrity.

The debate is still going on about which factors are most essential to a redistricting algorithm, but eventually one method will become standard and the days of gerrymandering will be over.

Poor Elbridge Gerry. After losing the Massachusetts governorship, he became vice president under James Madison and then died in office, becoming the only signer of the Declaration of Independence to be buried in America’s capital. But he’s mostly remembered for the despised political practice that bears his name. Hopefully, soon even that will be forgotten.

Good riddance Elbridge Gerry, I say. Good riddance, sir!

The difference a computer makes: The top image shows the districts of North Carolina as they are drawn today. The bottom image are districts drawn by an unbiased computer algorithm. Which looks more fair to you? (image credit: Washington Post)