Pledge of Allegiance

September 28, 2008

Pledge of Allegiance Banner

Pledge of Allegiance Banner

The Pledge of Allegiance has been modified several times since it was first written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy. The short and to the point pledge was designed to be delivered in less than 15 seconds. Bellamy hoped it would help Americans display solidarity and national pride. President Benjamin Harrison agreed and after a proclamation was first recited in public schools on October 12, 1892.

Historical Wording:

Original 1892 wording:
I pledge allegiance to my flag and the republic for which it stands: one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

First Revision 1892 – 1923
I pledge allegiance to my flag and to the republic for which it stands: one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all.
Note the addition of the word “to” before the republic.

Second Revision 1923 – 1924
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States and to the republic for which it stands: one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all.
Note the removal of the word “my” prior to flag, replaced with “the” and the addition of “of the United States” after the word flag.

Third Revision 1924 – 1954
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands: one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all.
Note the additional words “of America” after United States.

Current Version 1954 – Present
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands: one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Note the additional words “under God” after one nation.

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Posted by Lexi the Vexillologist

Gold Star Mothers Day

September 20, 2008
Gold Star Service Banner

Gold Star Service Banner

Grace Seibold lost her son in WWI and organized a group of mothers who were going through the same grief which was named the American Gold Star Mothers, Inc. This name came from the custom of families of servicemen hanging a banner called a Service Flag in the window of their homes. The Service Flag had a star for each family member in the military. Families hung a blue star on the Service Flag for those that were living and a gold star in honor of the deceased veteran. On May 28, 1918, President Wilson approved that American women should wear a black band on the left arm and a yellow star on the band for each member of the family who had died while serving in the military.

Congress approved on June 23, 1936 that the last Sunday in September be designated as Gold Star Mother’s Day due to the “American Gold Star Mothers suffering supreme sacrifice in the loss of their sons and daughters in World Wars” as it is said in the Public Resolution 123.

Membership today is open to any American woman whose son or daughter has died in the line of duty while in the US Armed Forces. Stepmothers and adoptive mothers are eligible for membership too. Husbands and childrenla of American Gold Star Mothers can become Associate Members who do not vote or pay dues.

The Gold Star Mothers provide emotional support for each other and they have a huge sense of patriotism. They have always been involved in a lot of volunteer work and continue to do so.

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Are you ready for some football?

September 17, 2008

footballLike, total sensory overload! Holy smokes!!! The NCAA football season has begun; I can’t believe it’s already here, but it’s great. Where I live in North Carolina – the best place there is – there are so many schools to follow. And they’re all playing so well right now! It makes me so proud to see that, not only are the teams doing so well, but that all the fans are really getting in to it. Rabid, in fact! There’s so much excitement, it’s in Technicolor!

College football is so huge, I can’t even keep my head straight sometimes. I don’t even know how anyone can keep all of them straight. There’s like 1,200 or so schools in the NCAA. How can you figure out who’s really deserving of a top 25 ranking, let alone a #1 or #2 spot? OY! That’s making me dizzy… I need to stop thinking so hard! HAHA!!

The league is important though. They used to play college sports without a sanctioned league, and that created all kinds of problems. The problems got to be so big – things like injuries and disagreements over rules – that they reached up all the way to the President of the United States!

In 1906 Teddy Roosevelt saw, firsthand, the problems with college athletics when his son was hurt playing football at school. From that experience he got the big schools together and made changes to create the governing body, the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States. Today it’s the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA, and most often pronounced “N-C-Double-A”). Aint it amazing the things you learn from paying attention in American History?!?!

So… I love the sport, but my favorite part is tailgating before the games. Even driving to the stadium is always an adventure… First off, I get up real early and go outside to get the car all decked out with my teams NCAA sports flags. If I’m gonna stand in the parking lot for a couple hours before the game, I’m making sure everyone knows who I’m rooting for! LOL! I clip on my NCAA teams car flags to the windows, and fix my magnets to the doors. It’s awesome when everyone beeps their horns on the way to the stadium, throwing a thumbs-up my way.

When we get to the lot, I get the big NCAA team flag and drape it over the car. Yeah, I know, right?! But tailgating is some serious business! After that, we get out the big stuff! The grill and the event tent I had custom made with the team colors are tailgating staples. You can’t eat hot dogs without a grill (mmmmm…. hot dogs!), and you can’t put out your serving tables unless you have an event tent. That’s not reeeeally a rule, but that’s how I like it!

Grilling up some hot dogs next to the tent, playing a game of washers, and enjoying the sea of people, all doing the same thing I’m doing. Rows and rows of cars with car flags, tents, and people grilling up all kinds of delicious food, all waiting to cheer on our team. There’s no better way to spend a Saturday in the fall. Unless of course your team plays a game on Thursday night! LOL!

Lexi

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Back from Beijing

September 3, 2008
The Birds Nest

The Birds Nest

Okay, so I made it back home from Beijing just in time for the Labor Day weekend festivities.  All I can say is AMEN for that!  I had a fabulous time in Beijing, but if I had to eat one more rice and noodle lunch… well… never mind that… but let’s just say that the family picnic on Labor Day was the perfect medicine for this particular homesick girl!!   I made so many friends from all over the world while cheering on Michael Phelps to Olympic history.  Awww, Michael Phelps… HA!  I still can’t believe he won so many medals.  I’m so happy for him, and for the USA.  We also won the gold medal again for basketball.  Coach K had those boys ready.  The Redeem Team certainly did not disappoint anyone time time around.  That relay race!  Holy smokes!  I can’t believe they missed the hand-off!  UGHH!!!  LOL!

Medals aside, I still am reminded of the spectacle of the whole thing that was the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.  The fact that for two weeks this year, nearly every country in the world gathered in one place with the best athletes they had to offer, and put on a show that I will remember forever.  The people I met who have become my new friends, wow, they were great.  I have so many pen pals now, my email is loaded every day with messages from Mexico, Italy, Jamaica, and yes, China of course!  :-)  I have to be sure and get everyone’s mailing addresses so I can send them a little USA / International Flag pin with my flag and their flag on it, and maybe a little USA flag for their room or something.  Hey, you know what they say, “start small.”  LOL!

Labor Day is always a tad bittersweet to me. Sure, it’s a national holiday, and a day off from work is awesome, but Labor Day is that flashing light, that division bell, that final signal that Summer is just about over. Parades, picnics, hot dogs! Those things are all wonderful and I love them (especially hot dogs!), but saying so long to Summer is always something that pulls at my heartstrings.

Labor Day isn’t even that old of a holiday. I mean, sure, it’s 126 years old this year, first celebrated in 1882 – which is pretty old – but that’s just a little more than half of the age of the USA. Definitely a lot older than you and me, that’s for sure! LOL! Actually, if you think about Memorial Day and Labor Day as the bookends of the Summer season, Labor Day is the older of the two. the big brother, if you will… Memorial Day wasn’t a holiday until 1911.

I suppose it’s not so bad, really. I think I’m just a bit sentimental… I think about when I was younger, in school, and how Labor Day meant that the new school year was starting soon. No more lazy summer days, goofing off, climbing trees, and riding my bike around the neighborhood (complete with tasseled fringe and bell on the handlebars). Now that I’m grown up and out of school, and have a horn on my car instead of a bell on the handlebars, I don’t have that sinking feeling anymore about Summer coming to a close. Now, I look forward to the beautiful colors of the Fall season, pulling out my NCAA flag and NFL football flag for my favorite teams, and the upcoming holiday season. Gosh, there’s so many, and I sure do love me some Halloween! I think I might dress up as Betsy Ross this year! HAHA!

So, yeah, our Labor Day picnic… the Fam’ totally decked out the holiday picnic with a USA patriotic motif.  They said they did it as a “welcome home” surprise for me cuz I was gone for two weeks, halfway across the planet, but they don’t fool me none.  My mom and dad, and my brothers, George and John, share the same affinity for the red, white, and blue, just like me.  Can you guess why my brothers are named George and John?  George Washington and John Adams!  The first two President’s of the USA!!!  Pretty corny, for sure.  I can only guess that I ended up as Lexi because they couldn’t come up with a female version of Thomas (which would be for Thomas Jefferson, our third President)!  Like I said, certainly corny, but not nearly as bad as the kids down the street who I rode with on the morning school bus while growing up.

OH!  Speaking of Presidents, I sooooo cannot wait!!  This is the first time that I’ll be privileged to vote in a Presidential Election.  And what an election year it’s turning out to be.  I’m still new to this whole thing, but what a way to get ushered in, don’t you think?  So many firsts in this year’s election, and it’s also MY first time voting.  Can’t be a coincidence!

Time to catch up on getting back on the right timezone. I’m still jet lagged but glad to be home.

Lexi

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