The Spirit of '76

Retro TV Friday - Independence Day edition

At the time, Capital Cities-ABC owned Word, the label and church music publishing company that signed Sandi Patty (please note this is the correct spelling; a printer's mistake from the late 1970's on her debut was not corrected until 1993) and writer Claire Cloninger. (Mrs. Cloninger is still with Word, a Warner Music Group company; Mrs. Peslis now her her own label, Stylos, that is distributed by Warner Music Group and features two other artists -- Super Bowl XLI Champion Ben Utecht and Heather Payne.

Naturally, Capital Cities had to cross-promote the Centennial of the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Weekend (which they had exclusive rights) by having their artist do the National Anthem for the event. Here is Claire Cloninger's arrangement (and the "second verse" is written by her) of the National Anthem, as we celebrate the silver anniversary of a famous moment that launched Mrs. Peslis' career after having won five consecutive GMA Dove Awards for Female Vocalist of the Year (she would have a dynastic streak of 11 when it was snapped following her marital infidelity). ◙

Wish I'd Written That

I do believe you'd laid a curse on North America!
A curse that we here now rehearse in Philadelphia!
A second Flood, a simple famine,
Plagues of locusts everywhere,
Or a cataclysmic earthquake,
I'd accept with some despair.
But, no, you've sent us Congress -
Good God, Sir, was that fair?

John Adams (as written by Sherman Edwards), 1776

Happy Independence Day, everyone! ◙

Our Fourth of July

By Kristin

Over the past few months, I have been extremely patriotic. Some may say over-patriotic. I have been to the Historical Society, watched HBO’s John Adams and sang along with 1776: The Musical. There is a central theme that ran through all three of these events that made this past Fourth of July an particularly meaningful one. All three events, to a certain degree, revolved around the Declaration of Independence, the document written by Thomas Jefferson stating the Congresses’ grievances against King George and its reasons for separation. What was left such an impact on the presentation of the Declaration during all three activities was how powerful the document became when it was read aloud, a far cry from the dry, silent readings I remember from my school days. I am ashamed to admit that throughout my history studies, even through my college years, never had I listened to the Declaration in its entirety until recently.

I am fortunate to have some wonderful friends in working in wonderful jobs that allow for some wonderful experiences. A few month ago, the Minnesota Historical Society was home to one of the original printed copies of the Declaration of Independence. I was fortunate enough to be invited by a friend to a sneak peak at the event. There was no glamorous set up. No red carpet to the document. Only a single docent standing ready to answer any questions we had about anything remotely related to American History. Standing in front of the page was truly amazing. This printed copy, which looks strikingly different from the handwritten page many of us are used to seeing, looked only slightly warn, baring the familiar signatures of the Continental Congress, dominated by that of John Hancock. It was truly a unique experience to see one of the original copies. After studying the page for a few minutes, I ventured down to a lower level where there had been a few banners set up in honor of the visiting display. Near one of the tables, there was a small television playing a video featuring a large handful of rather famous Hollywood personalities reciting lines from the Declaration. Although the actors would have no problem making the readings seem larger than life, there was no need; they read the Declaration with out excess pomp relying on the words to convey the emotion. This was truly successful. I stood mesmerized by the words I was hearing, imaging the courage it had taken the writer, along with the signers, to support the words on the page.

Watching John Adams and 1776, were no less effective in their efforts to give the Declaration life. While neither recited the Declaration completely, what they did was to give a sense of urgency to its creation and support by the Congress. It is one thing to read in history books about the desperate times in the American Colonies in the 1770’s, but it is quite another to see them as though you have an exclusive CNN coverage of the rebellion against the British Empire. And, it is another thing entirely to see the debates and arguments being sung and danced out as sort of West Side Story for colonial times. While John Adams and 1776 each took a completely different approach to how they addressed the Declaration’s creation, both were able to illustrate the power of its words and what it truly meant to declare independence.

After hearing the Declaration of Independence I am reminded of why I study history. This document is not one that is to be read to oneself. In order to fully appreciate the weight and tone it must be read out loud. Most of the population in colonial America were illiterate, or had very low reading level. That is why it sounds so much more powerful being read aloud. I have challenged myself to read, out loud, the Declaration in preparation for next year’s celebration.

Peachtree vs Nathan's Famous

By Bobby

Sometimes you have to wonder what happens in the wild world of Independence Day events.

A crowd estimated at 40,000 attended Coney Island's legendary Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest XCIII to watch 20 gurgitators attempt to swallow as many frankfurters in their mouths in a span of ten minutes. A million more watched ESPN to hear Paul Page and Richard Shea call the action of this contest.

Meanwhile, in Atlanta, a few thousand people (including many on the side of the hospital) were on the side of the road in Buckhead and Midtown to watchover 55,000 (including myself for the first time) run from Lenox Square Mall to Ponce de Leon Avenue (instead of Piedmont Park because of drought conditions) in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race XXXIX. Part of the coverage was on the Fox affiliate (WAGA-5) in Atlanta but that was it. It was a day for 54,500 commoners and 500 elite athletes to run the biggest running event in the country.

I wonder which one was better off -- the 40,000 to watched 20 swallow as many frankfurters in ten minutes, or the 55,000 who ran past Cardiac Hill (yes, there is a hospital near that hill) and the Olympic Mile (much of the Peachtree course on Peachtree Avenue was used for the 1996 Olympic marathon; it can be traced on Thanksgiving during The Weather Channel Atlanta Marathon and Half Marathon, which retraces much of the Olympic course).

I must say as a five-time marathon finisher, and someone who has run two major 10K's in the Southeast (Cooper River Bridge Run, Mount Pleasant to Charleston, and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race) that the Peachtree was worth it. A family member told me she couldn't stand to have lunch after watching the hot eating contest on ESPN.

And oh, by the way: Bobby's time for the AJC Peachtree was 1:17:19, hand-timed because it is not scored legally. That time would easily be better than my first two Cooper River Bridge Runs in Charleston, also a 10K though flatter.

The Glorious Fourth

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

July 4, 1776