America's Freedom Festival at Provo

An open letter to theAmerica's Freedom Festival at Provo executive Board:

I attended today's parade, as I have for the past 20 years. I am always amazed at the number of people in attendance. I am also always impressed with the amount of work that is put into the planning and co-ordinating and pulling off such a celebration as the Freedom Festival.

Every year I am excited to attend the parade. I anticipate the moment the colors of my country's flag come into view. And each and every year I am overcome with emotion when I see that standard flying in the breeze. The red, white and blue bring tears to my eyes and I am grateful for those, (such as my 2 Marine sons who just came home from Iraq), willing to pay the price and sacrifice for me to remain free and able to display with pride those colors of our flag.

I also wait in anticipation to see who has the honor of carrying those colors, that ensign, that standard of liberty and freedom. And I am always excited for them that they got that honor. How thrilled they must be to be able to bear the colors the entire parade route and remind those in attendance that we are celebrating life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Imagine my disappointment this morning when there was no color guard, no standard bearer, in fact, no standard at all.

Again I was overcome with emotion, but this time it was saddness that there was no symbol of our freedom to honor and salute. There was also sadness that no one else around me seemed to realize that there had been no flag. How can they be so unaware when this very day was set aside to remember our freedoms and those that paid for it.

The next emotion I felt was betrayal. How could you, as the parade organizers, overlook this most important part of our Freedom Festival. Yes, I know there are a lot of things to do, a lot of entries to sort through and line up and make sure the marching bands are not next to the horses but still spaced just right and the floats are not bunched and so many things that I do not even know need done. But this should have been the first parade entry secured before any other was accepted and place. How dare you take my flag from me.

The final emotion I felt was anger. It is these very small things that have allowed so many of our freedoms to be stripped from us. We no longer require our students to stand for the pledge every day. Our citizens no longer know the words to our national anthem nor do they know and understand the actions that were behind the writing of that poem. Nor do they know and understand the basics of our flag act and the proper way to display and honor our flag. And your behavior in not having a color guard is another step down the path of citizens that do not seem to care. If we as citizens do not wake up and make our voices heard, it will not be long before the display of our standard of liberty and freedom will not just be an overlooked or forgotten thing, but a forbidden thing.

I do not know why there was no color guard to begin today's grand parade. It may have been deliberate or it may be an oversight, overlooked in the myriad of other tasks needed to be done to move the festival along in the wonderful manner that you do each and every year. However, I would like to register my complaint that there was no color guard this year and I am hurt, saddened, betrayed and angry.

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Indeed.

From sea to shining sea

Up at the crack of dawn, head to the high school to load the marching band. We usually have 5-6 parents to march the parade route with the band and keep them supplied with water. 4 miles in 90+ weather is a loooong way. This year we had 1 dad. 1. I had no idea how we were going to do it with 1 dad and the band and color guard directors.

We got to the parade staging area for marching bands. Someone made the parking lot smaller in the past year. And they were still trying to cram all of the marching bands and their various busses and support vehicles in a parking lot 1/4 the size it was before. Um? problem anyone?

How about when we were in the median of the road waiting our turn to squeeze in and the policeman stopped traffic both ways and then directed the bus coming out of the parking lot to go around us into the opposite lane (headed the wrong direction) and then back behind us into the proper lane? And the reason it was a problem? Either the bus driver was new or not watching, but I was scrambling my feet onto the seat so the fender wouldn't crush me when she hit the suburban.

How she missed us, I have no idea, but if you had put a piece of paper between us and the bus it would have yellow scrapes on one side and silver on the other. After she cleared us the policeman looked at the kid's dad and said, "Wow, just wow". Brandi, in the back seat said, "That was scary" and I just sat in the passenger seat trying to breath again.

We did have a couple more parents meet us at the staging area to walk with the band, so there were enough to keep the band hydrated.

Here are a few pictures from the morning of the 4th.

Oh, Say can you see?

Brandi watching the rest of the parade from the top of the suburban
while we load the band trailer after the parade

Brandi and I waiting for the parade to start.

We got rained on for about 15-20 minutes at the beginning,

then it cleared up and was nice the rest of the morning.

(Brandi has a sour candy in her mouth- I guess they were really

sour by the faces she was making)

Ethan getting parade ready

Jacob
Pre-parade staging field

See those clouds? Don't be fooled.

They dumped water on us for 15 minutes about half an hour after this picture.

Whitney's family went to DC this past week to visit their son that is doing an internship there. They said that the 4th in DC is better than anywhere they have ever been for that celebration. I was thinking- President Obama's daughter, Malia, was born on the 4th of July. She just turned 11. How awesome is that to celebrate your birthday, not only in the nation's capitol, but in the White House? And she gets to do it 3 more times. Lucky her.

I would like to celebrate the 4th in DC sometime. And while that would make a great Where in the World destination, it isn't one of this month's destinations.

The last Where in the World location was indeed, Philadelphia. David wrote a wonderful piece on those men that sacraficed their all to grant us our independence and freedom.

On a side note, I was teaching the 15-17 year olds in Sunday School yesterday. we were discussing Learning through study and faith. I wrote on the chalk board the following: 2+2=? E=mc2 When in the course of human events....

Then I asked the students who could read what was on the board- not will you read but can you read it? Of course they all could. Then I asked them if they knew what it meant or what it was. They all knew the math equation, most of them knew the equation meant energy=mass x the speed of light squared- whatever that means (their words) But only 2 of the 16 knew where the quote came from! I was flabbergasted. I told them to go home and read it. And then read it again.

Today's installment of Where in the World? begins with Spectacular Jousting at Linlithgow Palace, then we can go see Stirling Castle, or Castle Tioram, or Edinburgh Castle. Or we could witness the Clash of the Centuries: The magnificent setting of Caerlaverock Castle provides a great backdrop for a celebration of two thousand years of (this country's) rich history.

Re-enactors from all over _______ will depict Romans, Vikings, Medieval ____, Redcoats and Covenanters right through to the fighting troops of the 20th century in a packed programme of events and activities.

This country is where golf originated. Did you know that the name golf stands for Gentelmen Only Ladies Forbidden? Really.

My children's great great grandfather McGregor was a doctor there before immigrating to America.

My friend Lindsey is living there for a while. I wish I could go for a visit.

And this band was the first in the parade on Saturday. I am including it because 1) it is a hint and 2) Trevor used to play drum in this band

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Indeed.

I love a parade

I love parades. My favorite part is the marching band. Well, my favorite part is when the flag goes by but then I love the marching bands. Even the most horrible song sounds amazing played by a good marching band.

I have been a band mom since the day Donovan started Marching band the summer between his eigth and ninth grade years. This is my 8th year as a band mom, and I love it. Every summer I look at the sousaphones and remember how small Donovan was and how neither he nor I could lift it into the back of the suburban. By the end of Oct. that year we had both added some muscles and he had added some heigth.

The next year we started pulling the band trailer to parades and competitions. We have pulled the trailer to almost every parade and competition since then.

Trevor joined the band and he also played sousaphone. Then Matthew joined, but he played trumpet. He chose not to be in the band this year, his senior year. He wants his senior year to be a take a break year. Last year Ethan joined the band and he also chose to play sousaphone. The band director and I figured it out once, if Jacob and Brandi also do marching band, by the time Brandi graduates I will have been a band mom for 17 straight years! He said he would retire when my kids are through. I have been band parent president twice and probably will be a couple more times. Somehow last year I became the official photographer and filmer? videographer? of the band. Photos are ok because I can get Jess to fix them in photoshop, but the video software that came with my camera doesn't allow me to put the videos on DVDs so that you can watch them on a DVD player. Any suggestions?

Here are some photos from today's parade. They got uploaded out of order, but I have too much left to do today- laundry, baths, Brandi's hair, chaperone the stake dance- to take the time to rearrange them.

Eric Rushton on Trumpet. What a showoff. Silly boy.

The band getting ready to warm up

The end of the parade route which is a whole whopping 4 blocks!

Color Guard.

I am so glad that they got rid of those stupid velvet dresses they used to wear for parades. Can you say heat stroke?

We were all so excited when the band had enough money to purchase a mace for each of our drum majors

Brandi was playing around with my camera. I hadn't posted a picture of my new haircut, so here you go. It needs a trim, though

Plumes waiting for a hat
Ethan before the parade
Ethan's sousaphone. These sousaphones were old when Donovan played on them. We finally got enough money to purchase new ones. Not a moment too soon, I would say, as the sousaphone that is not put together yet? It is held together in spots by duct tape!!

Drum line

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Indeed.