The Farmette Report

2005 Antietam luminary display scheduled for December 3rd

Speaking of Google searches, the Farmette Report is starting to get some hits from folks who are looking for information on the annual Memorial Illumination at Antietam National Battlefield. Barring seriously inclement weather, the Illumination is always  scheduled for the first Saturday in December. According to my calendar and the National Park Service, that means this year's display will be held on Saturday, December 3rd. Go here for more information about the luminary display, or click here for last year's blog post about how gut-wrenching it is to view 23,000 luminaries, knowing that each candle represents a human life, the dead, the missing and the wounded from the bloodiest single day of fighting in the Civil War.

If you've never gone to the Memorial Illumination, it's well worth the visit. A couple of hints if you decide to make the trip: 1) take a bathroom break before you get into the line of cars waiting to get into the park - the wait and the slow five miles through the park can take up to two hours; and 2) bring a little cash for the small "suggested donation" at the park entrance.

B-R-R! It's cold outside!

My mother used to tell me that her mother, when faced with a cold Ozark morning, liked to say "B-R-R! It's cold outside!" Instead of saying brrrr, she used to spell it out: Bee. Are. Are. What a hoot. Let the tradition live on, cuz baby, don't you know it...B-R-R, it's cold outside! Happy Solstice, everyone!

Christmas is days away and I'm way overdue with posting pics of decorations. Heck, I'm way overdue posting about Thanksgiving! But I'll give it some real effort when I have some time at the end of the week. Promise.

Meanwhile, please enjoy this photo of my favorite local outdoor holiday display. It was late on a gray afternoon when I snapped it, but it's still a vivid image, the old buggy and the flying reindeer. It puts me in mind of something my nephew David said when he and his family were visiting over Christmas two years ago. He said, "Aunt Janis, your house is spooky!"

I want David to like my home, so I was pretty taken aback by his statement. Imagine my laugh of relief when he next said, "Yeah, it's creepy in a cool way. I love it!"

Me, too, Dave. Me, too.

Sharpsburg in the news

The sleepy little town of Sharpsburg, Maryland, made news headlines today, but not for anything worth bragging home about. Seems our claim to fame and distinction has to do with some very special smallmouth bass found in the Potomac River near Sharpsburg, male bass that have been discovered to have a talent not usually associated with their sex. These guys are growing eggs - or, to use the scientific parlance, they are intersexed.

More, from the Associated Press article linked above:

Authorities say the problems are likely related to a class of pollutants called endocrine disruptors, which short-circuit animals' natural systems of hormone chemical messages.

... Endocrine disruptors comprise a vast universe of pollutants capable of driving a hormone system haywire. Some are hormones themselves — such as human estrogen from women taking birth-control pills or animal hormones washed downstream with manure — that can pass through sewage plants untouched.

...Many scientists are concerned that people, as well as other animals, might be affected. "It's not good news that there's something that feminizes male fish in your water," said Gina Solomon, a senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

But the Environmental Protection Agency has not set standards for many of these pollutants. Because of this, many drinking-water plants make no special efforts to remove them.

That's because the EPA doesn't exist to protect the environment from the many depredations that we visit upon it. "It's not good news that there's something that feminizes male fish in your water"  - that must be the understatement of the week! And the thing is, this problem isn't new to Potomac River tributaries. Last year scientists observed the same symptoms about 170 miles upstream from this latest finding, which since it is only 60 miles from Washington, DC, is sure to garner a lot more interest:

The Potomac River is the main source of drinking water for the Washington metropolitan area and many upstream communities. It provides about 75 percent of the water supply to the 3.6 million residents of Washington and its Maryland and Virginia suburbs.

Remember: we all live downstream from someone....

Antietam luminary display set for this Saturday, December 4

Because of this post describing our visit last year to the Annual Memorial Illumination at Antietam, the Farmette Report is getting a ton of Google hits on "Antietam luminaries 2004" and related variations. With so many folks looking for information, I thought it might be a good idea to post a quick blurb on the event which is always scheduled for the first Saturday in December.

On Saturday evening, December 4, 2004, Antietam National Battlefield, in cooperation with the American Business Women’s Association, will host the Sixteenth Annual Antietam National Battlefield Memorial Illumination in honor of those soldiers who fell during the Battle of Antietam. The park will display 23,000 candles, one for each soldier killed, wounded or missing in the 1862 battle. The driving tour through the park is approximately 5 miles long. In the event of poor weather, the Illumination will be rescheduled for Saturday, December 11, 2004. The Illumination opens to the public at 6:00 p.m. For more information about this event, contact the park at (301) 432-5124 or view the website at http://www.nps.gov/anti/Luminary.htm.

The National Park Service site mentions that the viewing starts at 6:00 p.m., that waits can be as long as two hours - and there are no bathrooms along the route. It does not mention that there is a suggested contribution at the entrance. I don't remember how much it was (five bucks?), but recall that it seemed a nominal amount.

The Annual Illumination is definitely worth a visit, particularly if you've never seen it before. It is a firm reminder of the magnitude of the consequences of war, something more people could stand to think about in these days of too-easy killing.

They're baaack...

Or, rather, they're still here. The Klan, that is. As in the Ku Klux Klan.

According to the latest in our local paper, the Herald-Mail:

Klan members planning more local activity

On the heels of a Ku Klux Klan march two weeks ago in Sharpsburg that drew as many police as bystanders, Klan members are planning more local activity, the leader of an interstate Klan organization based in Sharpsburg said Thursday.

Klan members today will drop off literature and applications to join the Klan in Sharpsburg, said Gordan Young, imperial wizard of the World Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.

Young said he has been discussing with other groups plans to hold another rally in Maryland before the end of the year, either in Allegany County or in Washington County.

[...]

Young said his organization has operatives in 15 states, including Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Virginia. In Maryland, he said his organization claims between 100 and 200 members, but he declined to say specifically how many there are.

Young's group is one of about 158 separate Klan organizations, according the Web site of the Southern Poverty Law Center, a Montgomery, Ala.-based group that monitors hate groups.

According to the SPLC, the Klan is historically linked with racially fueled violence targeting blacks, Jews, immigrants and homosexuals.

Young said his group no longer promotes violence.

No, they don't promote violence (riiight) - just hate and intolerance for you to do with what you will.

Peace and Unity in Sharpsburg

I'm late with the update on last week's much-dreaded, if much-anticipated, Ku Klux Klan rally in Sharpsburg, Maryland. I did not attend the rally myself, opting instead for the Peace & Unity Gathering that took place at Antietam National Battlefield, however, according to Gregory T. Simmons of the Herald-Mail:

SHARPSBURG - Fewer than a dozen people marched in support of the Ku Klux Klan on Saturday in Sharpsburg, although the group was flanked by dozens of police and media representatives as the parade worked its way through town.

Just after 1 p.m., two Klansmen in white hoods and robes carrying the KKK's flag and the Confederate Flag were followed by the rest of the parade group.

A group of skinheads gathered nearby at one corner of Main and Hall streets, while about 100 bystanders watched at the other corners of the intersection.

According to the article quoted above, many of the bystanders came to protest the rally, not support it. The march's organizer, KKK Imperial Grand Racist and Hate-Monger Gordon Young had been anticipating 100 marchers in the event. In a classic case of re-casting the enemy, Young said:

...he believed it was "Jew-run government" that is the "new enemy" and was controlling their march Saturday.

Young also said it is Jews who were allowing immigration of Mexicans and who were giving "free rides" to blacks.

Come for the gay-bashing, stay for the Jew-baiting, then move on to the out-and-out racism that's served the Klan so well in the past, eh? No surprises there.

A friend tells me that the "new" Klan is not violent as they were in days of yore. To the contrary, the friend explained, nowadays they are supposedly run like a lobbying organization (except, when's the last time a lobbying organization had a parade that looked like this?) - a lobbying organization that seeks to protect "white rights." And to that I say: oh, for pity's sake, give me a break! Since when do the "rights" of white people need special protection? I'm a professional in human resources management with over 15 years of experience. I also happen to be white. Let me tell you, every employer I've ever had has, at one time or another, asked me to illegally discriminate on the basis of race, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, pregnancy, disability, religion - even matriculation. I'm talking blatant discrimination, though some were more blatant than others. Most of the time, I was able to successfully (and always happily) convince my employer to not let such factors wrongly influence employment decisions. At other times, I discreetly moved on to another job. Not once have I ever been asked to discriminate against a white person. Not once.

Community alternatives to Klan rally

The community response to a planned Ku Klux Klan rally here in Sharpsburg is really encouraging. Yesterday's Herald-Mail reiterated what our community leaders have been saying about not confronting the Klan members directly, while still finding a way to provide a positive community message.

A local group has formed the Coalition for Tolerance and Unity and will sponsor or support two events for Saturday, August 28, the same day as the Klan rally. The first, at Antietam National Battlefield, will run from 11 a.m. to dusk and will feature eight live bands and several children's activities.

In Keedysville, there will be an all-day dance marathon with a $500 cash prize as part of the town's annual Ruritan Festival.

Both sound like fun and attending either would be a good way to show the Klan that while the Constitution guarantees their right to speak, it does not force anyone to listen.

Continue reading for more information about the Coalition for Tolerance and Unity and activities planned for August 28.

Klan rally update

So the grand imperial racist from our friendly local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan is apparently peeved that local officials will be using a fence and police to prevent rioting during the planned KKK rally here on August 28. But it seems it's not those specific safeguards that upset him so much the underlying perceived need for protection from protesters. The Klan-dude blames the town attorney for speaking to the press, presumably not only about the rally itself but also about requests from the "Kluxers" asking permisson to bring guns to the event, guns they promise won't be loaded. Riiiight. And exactly what is the point of waving around a bunch of unloaded guns?

If there's a speck of humor to be derived from these goings on (and there's definitely not much, nor should there be), it happened during an exchange at a town meeting when the Klan leader asked if a barrier could be set up to separate supporters from protesters. The town attorney pointed out that, since Klan supporters would be inside the fence, the fence would separate them from the protesters (and not the other way around).

Annual Ag Expo

We had a teeny little traffic jam here in Sharpsburg this evening. Seems that 6:30 or thereabouts was the required time for showing up at the local Agricultural Education Center for the next-to-the-last night of the annual Ag Expo. Cars and trucks were backed up for all of a quarter mile in both directions on Route 65 - waiting to make the turn into the AEC. And why the rush? Why, for the 7:00 start of the tractor and truck pull, of course!

The Ag Expo, as if you couldn't guess, is when kids from the local livestock and 4-H clubs show off their year's effort at raising livestock and producing all manner of handiwork. The whole thing lasts just over a week and each day is chock full of activity. I missed yesterday's selection of "little farmer" and "little farmerette" - the Ag Expo is all about the kids and all their hard work. It's exactly the sort of rural community event that I get very excited about, that is until rural fantasy collides with rural reality.

The KKK is coming to my community

[Originally posted in a separate thread in the Off-Topic forum on PocketLoft, dated 07-11-2004 06:49 AM. This relates to life on the Ol' Farmette, and in my community, so I wanted to repost it here. I know I said the previous article was the last from the archive, but this truly is it.]

The big news in my little community is that the Ku Klux Klan is planning to hold a rally here in late August - the 28th to be exact. They originally wanted to have a parade and rally here in June, but couldn't get the permits in time.

Under the First Amendment, the KKK has a right to assemble and speak. All they have to do is file an application if they want to use public ground for their assembly. They had asked to be able to close off our main street for a 'parade' then they were to assemble in the middle of 'downtown' which is in front of the library and town hall, as this village has fewer than 1,000 residents and there is no downtown as such. At least the zoning administrator had them revised that plan. They will instead be on a side street and at a small local park. Gordon Young, the so-called Imperial Wizard who is organizing this hate-fest, says he expects about 100 members/supporters to attend. Young lives in Hagerstown, a community of over 40,000 next door to Sharpsburg. I don't know why he feels the need to come to Sharpsburg, rather than rally on his home turf. Except maybe the Klan leadership thinks they can get more support here where there is less diversity, maybe some of my neighbors are KKK members and they are rallying where the membership is - something I don't really even want to contemplate...

A local church is holding a separate community event the same day as the rally to show people that our community does not share in the KKK's 'values.' I plan to be involved in that.

Here's a link to an article about this in our local paper.