John McDonald (l) and Tom Thayer in front of the Roxy Regional Theatre

The Roxy Regional Theatre’s 26th Season will enrich all the senses!

Although the 2008-09 season opens September 19, the annual gala is slated from September 20. The first play to hit the stage: The Robber Bridegroom, book and Lyrics by Alfred Uhry, music by Robert Waldman, adapted from the novella by Eudora Welty.

One of the only genuine bluegrass scores ever heard in a Broadway musical, this unusual tale of the Natchez Trace has a distinctive sound all its own. The Robber Bridegroom is the story of the courting of Rosamund, the only daughter of the richest planter in the country, by Jamie Lockhart, a rascally robber of the woods. The proceedings go awry, thanks to an unconventional case of double-mistaken identity. Throw in an evil stepmother intent on Rosamund’s demise, her pea-brained henchman and a hostile talking head-in-a-trunk, and you have the recipe for a rollicking country romp. Play dates are September 19, through October11.Then, for one week only, the Roxy presents The Last Five Years, words and music by Jason Robert Brown. It’s a contemporary song-cycle musical that ingeniously chronicles the five year life of a marriage, from meeting to break-up… or from break-up to meeting, depending on how you look at it. The Last Five Years is an intensely personal look at the relationship between a writer and an actress told from both points of view. The Last Five Years manages to reinvent the familiar musical formula and offers up one of the brightest, freshest scores of the new century. Roxy fans have one only to see The Last Five Years, which will be staged October 15-18.

The C.S. Lewis classic, 2pm October, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, dramatized by le Clanche de Rand, is the heroic tale of love, faith, courage and giving: the life and death struggle for control of Narnia and the grandeur of the triumph of good over evil has enthralled audiences of all ages. This innovative treatment features two actors and is available for touring to all groups. It runs October 4 and 11.

Arthur Miller’s The Crucible continues the season. A compelling drama of paranoia and superstition, The Crucible is set in 1692, in a small American town, a group of mischievous girls are caught dancing in the woods, while conjuring spirits. To escape punishment they accuse others of witchcraft. Husbands, wives, sons, daughters, neighbors and friends are forced to sentence the accused or risk being accused themselves. This magnificent work continues to resonate and is as relevant today as when it was first produced. The show runs October 25 through November 15.

On October 31, at 6 p.m., it’s a halloween mixes of sci-fi horror and history in the recreation of H.G. Wells classic radio play, The War of the Worlds, in its “Other Place” theater, upstairs at the Roxy. An example of mass hysteria, this staged reading of the infamous Mercury Theatre 1938 radio broadcast is one of the earliest and best-known depictions of an alien invasion of Earth and caused public outcry as many listeners believed that an actual Martian invasion was in progress.

An older classic emerges in time for the holidays; an adaptation for the stage by Artistic Director John McDonald of the Charles Dickens favorite, A Christmas Carol. This rollicking holiday morsel will sweeten your taste buds and warm even the hardest of hearts. Ebenezer Scrooge meets the spirits of Christmas while rediscovering its true meaning. A Christmas Carol runs November 28 through December 20.

In January, 2009, Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues makes it annual appearance in The Other Space. Spread the word! They’re back for the seventh year! This touching, often hilarious series of monologues about women and performed by women has played to packed houses around the country. It runs January 9-31.

A midwinter delight for children of all ages is the Roxy rendition of Pinnochio, adapted by John McDonald from the story by Carlo Collodi. Geppetto carves a puppet named Pinocchio! However, he must earn the right to be a real boy by proving that he is brave, truthful, and unselfish. Joining the Cat and the Fox on a hilarious journey, learning life lessons along the way, he risks his own life to save Geppetto, who has been swallowed by a whale! Three matinees performances, Janury 17, 24, 31.

Music returns with Altar Boyz, book by Kevin Del Aguila, music and lyrics by Gary Adler and Michael Patrick Walker. Altar Boyz is a foot-stomping, rafter-raising, musical comedy about a fictitious Christian boy-band on the last night of their national “Raise the Praise” tour. The Boyz are five all-singing, all-dancing heartthrobs from Ohio: Matthew, Mark, Luke, Juan and Abraham. As they perform their signature hits such as “Rhythm In Me,” “The Calling,” and “I Believe,” the Boyz question their loyalty to each other and ask whether or not faith is really holding them together. They finally deliver a message of unity, that “there is no star as bright as its constellation, no harmony in a single voice.” This production runs February 6 -28.

Drama steps on stage in March in the form of William Shakespeare’s classic, MacBeth. An anatomy of the relationship between ambition and corruption, Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s most bloody and fear-filled tragedies. Often regarded as archetypal, the play tells of the dangers of the lust for power and the betrayal of friends. Based loosely on the historical account of King Macbeth of Scotland many superstitions are centered on the belief the play is “cursed”, referring to it instead as “The Scottish play”. The show runs March 6-14.

The world premiere of All Quiet On The Western Front, adapted for the stage by John McDonald from the novel by Erich Maria Remarque, gives us the story of a young soldier facing profound disillusionment in the soul-destroying horror of World War I. First published in German in 1929, it sold 2.5 million copies in twenty-five languages in its first eighteen months in print. In 1930 the book was turned into an Oscar-winning movie of the same name. Now in these uncertain times of war All Quiet on the Western Front will speak to a new generation from the stage. This show plays from March 20-28.

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s hit musical, CATS, based on Old Possum’s Book Of Practical Cats and the poetry of T.S. Elliot, tells the story, in song and dance, of the annual gathering of Jellicle cats at which time one special cat is selected to ascend to the Heaviside layer. A true musical theatre phenomenon, featuring the classic “Memory,” CATS opened in London on May 11, 1981 and ran for a record-setting 21 years and was nearly matched on Broadway where it ran for just over 18 years.This musical runs April 10 through May 2.

The second children’s production, Honk!, based on the Ugly Duckling by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, is the story of Ugly, whose odd, gawky looks instantly incite prejudice from his family and neighbors. Separated from the farm and pursued by a hungry Cat, Ugly must find his way home. Along his rollicking and harrowing journey he not only discovers his true beauty and glorious destiny, but also finds love and acceptance in all its forms. Witty and hilarious, but also deeply moving, Honk!(s) charm, humor and message of tolerance is perfect for a family audience … and every audience. This one runs May 9,16,23.

Disney’s Cinderella Jr. blends timeless fairy tale with the magic of Disney in this adaptation of the treasured animated film. Poor Cinderella is endlessly mistreated by her wicked stepmother and stepsisters, and denied a chance to go to the Royal Ball. With a little help from her mice friends, and a lot of help from her Fairy Godmother, Cinderella goes to the ball, meets the Prince, and falls in love! With a beautiful score including “A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes” and the classic “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo,” this musical will charm its way into your heart, and remind you that dreams really can come true. this production is presented by The Roxy Regional School of the Arts. Book adapted by Marcy Heisler; lyrics by Al Hoffman, Jerry Livingston and Mack David; music adapted and arranged by Bryan Louiselle; music by Al Hoffman, Jerry Livingston and Mack David. The fairy tales plays May 26 through June 13.

The Andrews Brothers, a new play by Roger Bean Mistaken identities, madcap comedy and the greatest music of the 1940’s fill this hilarious new musical. Three soldiers find themselves giving the performance of a lifetime when a certain singing trio of siblings fail to arrive at the USO gig. “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy”, ”Slow Boat to China”, “Shoo Shoo Boy”, “Stuff Like That There”, and “Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree” are but a few of the favorites in this valentine to the heroes of World War II. It runs June 12-27.

Walt Disney’s Mulan, Jr., travel back to the legendary, story-telling days of ancient China with this action-packed stage adaptation of Disney’s Mulan. The Huns have invaded, and it is up to the misfit Mulan and her mischievous sidekick Mushu to save the Emperor! Including favorites like “Reflection,” “Honor to Us All,” “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” as well as new songs that will get your audience up on its feet, Mulan JR. is a heartwarming celebration of culture, honor and a fighting spirit. (Presented by The Roxy School of the Arts) It runs June 19-July 3. Based on the 1998 Disney film MULAN and the story FA MULAN by Robert D. San Souci.

Once again the Roxy will end its season with a blockbuster musical, RENT!. Jonathan Larson’s rock musical is the joyous, breathtaking and inspiring story of a group of New York City East Village artists struggling to find their voices and find love in today’s tough times. Based on Giacomo Puccini’s classic 1896 opera, La Boheme, Rent broaches controversial themes like homelessness, AIDS and drug addiction with compassion, and thrills audiences of all ages with its moving tale of hopes and dreams. The show runs July 10 through August 22. RENT! Book, music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson.

For ticket information and reservations, call the Roxy box office at 931-645-7699 or visit the box office on Franklin Street from 9-12 a.m.  Musicals are $20.00 adults, $15.00 13 and under. Plays are $15.00 adults, $10.00 13 and under. Jr. Musicals  and Other Space tickets are $10.

The tenth such system, Josephine, is on the map with three months left to go in the hurricane season.

As southern states and many islands learned in a painful lesson last week, a storm doesn’t have to hit hurricane strength to do its damage. tropical Storm Fay broke all records with four separate landfalls in Florida, dumping double-digit rain across the region, flooding, well, just about everything. As if storm surge isn’t enough, Fay’s copious rains brought alligators and snakes out of their normal habitat to ride the rainfall torrents all over the state. Fay was barely a blip on yesterday’s radar when along came Gustav, three years almost to the day after Katrina.

Big, burly Gustav was a nasty chunk of tropical weather, claiming lives and destroying property across the Caribbean and Cuba before taking aim at the Louisiana shoreline and New Orleans. The largest evacuation in history carried millions from the Big easy and its surrounding parishes; watching a Cat 3 or 4 storm approaching scared the daylights out of everybody, and the evacuation, an exhaustive process, was also a success. At the eleventh hour, New Orleans escaped the brunt of catastrophe as the storm — as tropical systems do — diminishes a bit and squiggled a tad more to the west. Not having a replay of Katrina’s 2005 devastation may make some people less apt to listen and leave should another such potential crisis emerge.

But that’s not all folks! The NOAA maps show a series of storms just lining up to take aim at the islands, Cuba and the southern mainland and gulf shore. Hanna was wiggled a bit but now seems to be tracking parallel to the still draining Florida Coast with a potential landfall in Georgia or its South Carolina Border by the weekend. A week after than Ike should be flexing its muscles in our direction, follow in a bout a week by Josephine.

I’ve never seen the kinds of imagines I’m seeing now on the NOAA site; the red, greens and yellows of wind outflow overlapping each other. It’s reminiscent of riding in the wind of a tractor-trailer on the highway. They’re just pulling and pushing each other along. Or so it seems on the maps.

We are all grateful that another Katrina catastrophe was averted, and we regret the devastation that Fay and Gustav have wreaked for hundreds and hundreds of miles. We are glad, though, that people listened and left. We hope that should another such storm take aim, they will not be complacent; they will up and leave. One Katrina, one Fay, one Gustav, was enough.

Mayor Piper wields the scissors, cutting the red ribbon to officially open the rebuilt "Strawberry Alley"

The project has tied up traffic, rerouted buses, and clogged streets for several months during the redesign, which included new, wider sidewalks with brick pavers, new plantings, a vintage style clock, and angled parking. The original lighting plan, which was overkill and required the wearing of sunglasses at night when it was first lit, was tampered down, with a number of the new lighting fixtures removes at the 11th hour and re-installed on a section of North Second Street. It was a wise decision, and did a lot to balance the appearance of the street. The much-discussed $100,000 custom  fountain is scheduled to be installed in November, in time for the holiday season.

Strawberry Alley is the westerly portion of the former Legion Street. Officials took the portion of Legion Street from City Hall to North Second Street, renaming it after the wife of former Clarksville Mayor James Elder, whose strawberry patch at that location was paved over as the city expanded.

In her honor, the street has its new name, which is proclaimed on attractive signs attached to each of the vintage double lantern fixture that now light the road.

WVVR FM radio and the APSU POM’s dance team were on hand, along with the band Bump City on the main stage.

Jim Durrett of the mayor’s office described the rebuilding of the street as “part of a vision” for downtown. Durrett noted that during the excavation a wall and an old building were found. Mayor Johnny Piper thanked City Councilors and the builders of the project for “a job well done” and cited the importance of creating an attractive downtown as part of the tools to market the city to new business, industry and tourism.

A wreath was laid at the site to honor the veterans, who still have a a portion of Legion Street named in their honor.

With Strawberry Alley closed to traffic, creating a pedestrian mall, local businesses set tables and chairs outside, serving customers who enjoyed the event in a refershingly cool breeze.

A costumed renactor recreated the role of Mrs. Elder, circulating through the crown with two baskets of icy cold fresh strawberries. A multi-tiered chocolate fountain spilled dark chocolate over skewered strawberries, and free strawberry sodas were served as well.

If there remains a criticism, it is that even with all the new angle parking created on Strawberry Alley, only one spot, in the middle of the new parking spaces, is designated for handicapped access. There are none on neighboring Franklin Street.

We offer you a view of the Strawberry Alley festivities:

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The Harvest - 40x30 oil on canvas by Lessie V. Dixon, Gallatin, TN

The Downtown Artists Co-op (DAC) will host the opening reception and awards presentation for their 2008 Regional Juried Art Exposition  (RJAE) during the First Thursday Artwalk on September 4, 5:00 – 8:00 p.m.  The reception will be at the DAC gallery on 96 Franklin Street and the public is invited to attend.

DAC’s JRAE is one of the largest and highest quality art expositions they have ever conducted.  Announcements were sent in June to every artist organization in Tennessee and Kentucky within 100-miles of Clarksville.

Applications started pouring in throughout July and when the cutoff date rolled around on August 6, DAC had received 183 entries.  There were entries from Paducah and Hopkinsville KY, to Nashville, Gallatin, Hendersonville, Franklin, Murfreesboro, TN, and almost every town and settlement in between in both Kentucky and Tennessee.

Victoria Boone, director of the Leu Art  Gallery at Belmont University judged all of these pieces for acceptance and for awards.  Ms. Boone holds a Masters Degree in Museum Administration from the University of Oklahoma and a Bachelors of Fine Arts from the University of Alabama.

One wall of the Downtown Artists Co-0p gallery at 96 Franklin St.

Boone worked for the Tennessee Arts Commission as Director of Visual Arts, Crafts and Photography from 1984 – 1997.  Among her many honors and accomplishments she has been curator for over 165 exhibitions including local, national and international events.  She also teaches a senior exhibits course which examines business practices for artists.

Customs House with Flowers, Polaroid Transfer 40x40 by Beverly Parker, Clarksville, TN

By the time the dust had settled Boone had narrowed the field to 93 pieces which had been accepted to hang in the exhibit.  She then went back through the pieces and declined two or three more and accepted a couple which had initially been declined.  All the works were good and there were no easy decisions.

Finally, Boone went back through the gallery and started selecting pieces which would receive awards.  The entire jurying process took a full day with only one short break for a working lunch.

A recent USA Today headline proclaimed “Rising prices hammer seniors on fixed income.” Food and medication goes out of reach for some. These are troublesome times, too, for parents, single or married, for grandparents and all adults.

It is formidable for us to think about the future when the financial skies are dark, because we have a problematical, hard to solve, financial quandary. Even though it takes a Herculean effort we still need to be  proactive and have a financial in place to implement in the better days. Being optimistic is permitted, even in these times of uncertainty. With the arrival of 2008, my investments in mutual funds declined in value. Since the onset of 2008, my rate of interest in the money market has declined to the level of 2.4%. As to interest on a savings account — that’s not worth printing.

As a minister in northwest Missouri, I’ll always remember the investment advice given to me by Wilbur, a Presbyterian who owned a portion of businesses in this town of 6,000 population. When talking about his grocery store, he said, “Pastor, over the years, as a pig farmer, I’ve discovered to make money is to buy when others are selling their stock.” What my friendly Presbyterian meant was to get into investing when prices are low or declining.

This is a time to invest, or to at least make plans to invest. For your long-term plans, think about what are called “faith based funds.”

In the early years of the 21st century, investment dollars are hard at work doing a lot more than making money. They are supporting conservation measures, fueling humane labor practices, and rewarding companies for shunning groups with ties to abortion service providers.

Religious mutual funds are burgeoning. Religious mutual funds are popular with the public and one way for an investor to express their conviction on social issues. Many investors are motivated by the opportunity to be socially responsible as well as to make a significant return in dividends.

The Amana Income Fund, an Islamic fund that avoids gambling, tobacco and meat-producing stocks, outperformed 180 funds in its equity-income stock between 2004-2007. Investors have lined up to join in this Islamic fund.

Faith-based funds are opportunities for investors with a passion for putting faith into action. The United Methodists have and outstanding investment plan for their pastors and employees. Since its inception, the Methodists have appreciated the link between ethics and investing. Rev. John Wesley, founder of the Methodists, dictated to his supporters “gain all we can without hurting our neighbor.” That ethic has inspired his spiritual descendants to shun investments in alcohol, tobacco and weapons manufacturing.

Socially responsible investing is growing by leaps and bounds. It has morphed into a $2 trillion mainstream industry.

There are precautions to observe before rushing into a broker or to the computer to invest in faith-based funds.

• Research the 10-year track record of the fund. This is a tool for measuring past success.
• Visit www.socialfunds.com for a free 20 page “Investing in Socially Responsible Mutual Funds.”
• As well as their success on dividends, be sensitive to their mission statement.

If contemplating such an investment, another step is to ask yourself the following question:

• What are my financial goals?
• What would I like my investment to support in terms of social or environmental practices?
• Do I care about whether my fund managers are working from a particular faith tradition?

In my investment plan I use First Command brokers in Clarksville. I recommend brokers, unless you have an elementary understanding of mutual funds. My investments for the future are already set or I would explore in depth Faith-based mutual funds as an investment.  I believe this bad, sad economy will eventually be history. prepare now for a prosperous future. It may take two or three but the good times will return.

Now is the time to reserarch investing.

New election. New candidates.

Same black box voting, same electronic morass masquerading as a true vote in the 2004 presidential election in many parts of the country. In what is a growing nationwide trend, Clarksville will be returning to paper ballets, according to the city’s Election Commission, but it won’t happen in time for the November 2008 Presidential election. It could have, but apparently the impetus for change, for truth in voting, was not strong enough in Montgomery County or in the state to get this job done pre-November 2008, even though the discussion of this change began in earnest last January.

Here is a clip from the film UNCOUNTED: the New Math of American Elections, by Nashville’sown David Earnhardt.

National Hurricane Center map shows the projected path of Gustav, which is expected to be a Cat 3 or higher storm when it makes landfall. In its path, New orleans, which is already preparing to evacuate parts of the city.

Last week hurricane-savvy Floridians learned the kind of devastation a tropical storm, albeit a persistent one, can do. Fay ambled leisurely across the state with three landfalls and rain measured by the foot. Now tropical storm Gustav, currently cruising the shores of Cuba, is poised to hit the warm Gulf of Mexico waters and exploded into a Category 3, possible a Cat 4, storm before it rocks the coastline of east Texas or Louisiana.

Today is the 3rd anniversary of Katrina and its first levee breach. Louisiana  officials, fearing a repeat performance,  have already pre-declared a state of emergency for Louisiana and have 750 buses on tap to evacuate at least 30,000 people from the most vulnerable areas. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has faith in the levee repairs and rebuilding. But the fact is that New Orleans is a below sea level basin and is especially vulnerable to anything at or over a Cat 3 storm, especially if Gustave gets lazy and decides to hang around a bit. That’s what Fay did to Florida last week. Louisiana has activated 5,000 National Troops to deal with preparation for the storm and to do whatever needs to be done in its wake next week.

Texas followed suit with a disaster status for its eastern coast, and Mississippi, which will be on the stronger easterly side of the storm, has declared a state of emergency. All this nearly four days before the storm breaks over land. Offshore oil rigs are running with minimal crews and may be fully evacuated as the storm develops. The oil market is reacting to the potential disruption of the Gulf oil flow with a rise in crude oil prices.

The eye of the storm will pass west of New Orleans, but close enough to New Orleans that it will be a true test of just how well rebuilt levees and canals will do with that treacherous eastern edge of a storm.

New Orleans may be closing its floodgates at Lake Ponchatrain Saturday, putting a halt to Union Pacific and other rail traffic.  Union Pacific is the largest railroad in America, is routing trains through Memphis TN and St. Louis MO.

National Hurricane Center 5-day projection of wind from the Gulf storm, Gustav (left), and the Atlantic storm, Hanna

Complicating this picture is a second tropical depression, Hanna, churning up and gaining strength in the Atlantic. Hanna is nearing hurricane strength, and the five day cone puts it on an easterly track with a bend toward the Carribead Island by Monday.

National Hurricane Center five-day wind charts show Hanna’s winds overlapping Gustav’s by Monday, which could make from some interesting weather across Florida as the outer bands of these potentially giant storms collide.

Tennesseans need to be aware of Gustav’s approach, since hurricane winds and residual rain could drift up in the aftermath of a Louisiana landfall. We need rain; we probably don’t need a Fay-like deluge from a slow-moving or stalled storm.

Waiting in the wings, deep in the Atlantic waters, are two more areas  “of interest” that meteorologists are keeping an eye on.

While skeptics say Gustav isn’t even a hurricane yet, state and federal officials, having already watched Fay wreak havoc, are willing to look ahead with a conservative eye and prefer to err on the side of caution. No one wants a repeat of the Katrina tragedy.

“Yes we can.” Yes we can.” The mantra of the Obama for President campaign.

Cheers, applause as the audience begins its standing ovation for Sen. Barack Obama's DNC Convention Speech

Montgomery County Democratic Headquarters rang out with cheers and applause Thursday night as a full house watched Sen. Barack Obama address the nation and lay out the issues facing America today. Invesco Stadium in Denver was tightly packed with an estimated 4,000 Democratic National Convention delegates and another 80,000 every day Americans eager to watch as a new page in American history was written.

At MCDP, Obama supporters gathered for a group photo with the sign calling for "Change,", an action being carried out across the country

In 1860, the Civil War erupted over slavery; it was a time when African Americans were regarded as property rather than human beings with spirit, soul and intelligence. In 1960, the heat of integration and desegregation was raging, culminating a few years later with Martin Luther King’s immortal “I Have A Dream” speech.  Civil rights. Tonight, some forty-plus years after King, three generations of my family in three different locations watched as a new page in American history was written with the acceptance speech of Senator Obama, now standing on the threshold of the U.S. presidency. Obama, though he refers to history in this speech, ingored the lines of race, wealth, education and other common denominators to see himself and all of the people surrounding him as “Americans.” Plain and simple.

First came a rousing series of speeches by both the famous and previously unknown “average American” speakers, including a middle aged worker named Barney Smith, an ordinary citizen whose job was outsourced overseas. Smith stole the pre-show with a one liner on the economy that called for the United States to “help Barney Smith, not Smith Barney.” It was a night of one liners and sound bites, with many destined for repeated play.

Al Gore delivered a solid show of support for Obama and the senator’s proposed policies and positions on and for America.  Vice-Presidential nominee Joe Biden gave an equally powerful statement targeting the issues Americans care about and the issues that matter most in the coming election. Sustainability. Economy. Education. Health care. taxes. War. But it was Obama’s night, and he delivered.

The speech was, in a word, astounding. It resonated with the live audience, and with the people packed shoulder to shoulder in a  rapidly shrinking room on Madison Street. “O-Ba-Ma.” “O-Ba-Ma” they chanted in unison with the televised crowds. “We want change.” “We want change.” Obama delivered, both the ideal and the platform to build it on. He admitted though, that the ideal was not his but was in fact the Constitution and the freedoms upon which America was built, and which have been “sacrificed” under the Bush/Cheney administration.

“Tonight, I say to the people of America, to Democrats and Republicans and independents across this great land — enough! This moment — this election — is our chance to keep, in the 21st century, the American promise alive. Because next week, in Minnesota, the same party that brought you two terms of George Bush and Dick Cheney will ask this country for a third. And we are here because we love this country too much to let the next four years look just like the last eight. On November 4, we must stand up and say: “Eight is enough.”" – Barack Obama

He held listeners in the palm of his hand, mesmerizing them with the amazing simplicity of simply doing what is right and respecting the rights and laws this country was founded on. He brought the campaign platform home, addressing issues of sustainable energy, affordable education, civil liberties, fair taxation, global policy and social issues that included a new emphasis on family responsibilities. To illustrate the points that affect the millions of middle and lower income Americans, he ventured through areas of his own life story, his grandparents decision to prioritize education, his grandmother’s death, to cost of education, the need to raise standards of learning to be competitive in the 21st century… it was a message his supporters have waited to hear.

“In the face of that young student who sleeps just three hours before working the night shift, I think about my mom, who raised my sister and me on her own while she worked and earned her degree; who once turned to food stamps but was still able to send us to the best schools in the country with the help of student loans and scholarships.” — Barack Obama

He also challenged parents to vest themselves in the children, to “turn off the TV,” and, referring to issues of juvenile delinquency and youth crime, urged absent fathers (and all parents) to take responsibility for their children and become part of the rearing of their children.

“John McCain doesn’t get it,” Obama said. “Now is not the time for small plans. We need world class education.”

Obama paid tribute to former President and Mrs. Clinton, and to the late President Kennedy. In fact, for those of us who remember that Kennedy era and “Camelot,” this was amazingly familiar. Not the background of wealth, but the commitment in terms of social, individual and government responsibilities. His speech could easily be described as powerful, on point, compassionate, ambitious, and aimed at healing and rebuilding the things that have gone wrong in the past eight years under President Bush.

“Our government should work for us, not against us. It should help us, not hurt us. It should ensure opportunity not just for those with the most money and influence, but for every American who’s willing to work.” — Barack Obama

Obama advocated a tax system that would reward companies for keeping their offices, warehouses and factories in the United States and make it less economically feasible to move business overseas.

Obama received kudos locally for his statements about the need to sustain and support our troops at home and abroad, and to not send them in harm’s way based on lies and inaccuracies.

“For while Sen. McCain was turning his sights to Iraq just days after 9/11, I stood up and opposed this war, knowing that it would distract us from the real threats that we face. When John McCain said we could just “muddle through” in Afghanistan, I argued for more resources and more troops to finish the fight against the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11, and made clear that we must take out Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants if we have them in our sights. You know, John McCain likes to say that he’ll follow bin Laden to the Gates of Hell — but he won’t even go to the cave where he lives.” — Barack Obama

The cheering crowd spread out to the horizon of the stadium, reminiscent of Obama’s Oregon speech that packed a field with 75,000 people. It was also reminiscent of the era of John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and the Civil Rights/Vietnam protests of forty years ago. It has been that long since I have seen such passion, or seen so many respond to it.

Before Obama took center stage at 9:14 p.m. CST Thursday night, the crowd at MCDP chatted among themselves, discussing campaign events and browsing an array of food brought in for the occasion. But as the hands of the clock ticked toward “the moment” this gathering of old, young, black, white, the well-to-do and the average or low income Clarksvillians, an infant cuddled by her mom, young boys with red and blue balloons, circled their chairs to watch, listen and cheer for a candidate who comes from the people and created a strategy that works for the people.

Today, the real campaign begins.

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All Photos by Bill Larson

The complete text of Obama’s speech:

Barack Obama: To Chairman Dean and my great friend Dick Durbin; and to all my fellow citizens of this great nation.

With profound gratitude and great humility, I accept your nomination for presidency of the United States.

Let me express my thanks to the historic slate of candidates who accompanied me on this journey, and especially the one who traveled the farthest — a champion for working Americans and an inspiration to my daughters and yours — Hillary Rodham Clinton. To President Bill Clinton, who made last night the case for change as only he can make it; to Ted Kennedy, who embodies the spirit of service; and to the next vice president of the United States, Joe Biden, I thank you. I am grateful to finish this journey with one of the finest statesmen of our time, a man at ease with everyone from world leaders to the conductors on the Amtrak train he still takes home every night.

To the love of my life, our next first lady, Michelle Obama, and to Malia and Sasha — I love you so much, and I’m so proud of you.

Four years ago, I stood before you and told you my story — of the brief union between a young man from Kenya and a young woman from Kansas who weren’t well off or well-known, but shared a belief that in America, their son could achieve whatever he put his mind to.

It is that promise that has always set this country apart — that through hard work and sacrifice, each of us can pursue our individual dreams but still come together as one American family, to ensure that the next generation can pursue their dreams as well.

That’s why I stand here tonight. Because for 232 years, at each moment when that promise was in jeopardy, ordinary men and women — students and soldiers, farmers and teachers, nurses and janitors — found the courage to keep it alive.

We meet at one of those defining moments — a moment when our nation is at war, our economy is in turmoil, and the American promise has been threatened once more.

Tonight, more Americans are out of work and more are working harder for less. More of you have lost your homes and even more are watching your home values plummet. More of you have cars you can’t afford to drive, credit card bills you can’t afford to pay, and tuition that’s beyond your reach.

These challenges are not all of government’s making. But the failure to respond is a direct result of a broken politics in Washington and the failed policies of George W. Bush.

America, we are better than these last eight years. We are a better country than this.

This country is more decent than one where a woman in Ohio, on the brink of retirement, finds herself one illness away from disaster after a lifetime of hard work.

We’re a better country than one where a man in Indiana has to pack up the equipment he’s worked on for 20 years and watch it shipped off to China, and then chokes up as he explains how he felt like a failure when he went home to tell his family the news.

We are more compassionate than a government that lets veterans sleep on our streets and families slide into poverty; that sits on its hands while a major American city drowns before our eyes.

Tonight, I say to the people of America, to Democrats and Republicans and independents across this great land — enough! This moment — this election — is our chance to keep, in the 21st century, the American promise alive. Because next week, in Minnesota, the same party that brought you two terms of George Bush and Dick Cheney will ask this country for a third. And we are here because we love this country too much to let the next four years look just like the last eight. On November 4, we must stand up and say: “Eight is enough.”

Now let there be no doubt. The Republican nominee, John McCain, has worn the uniform of our country with bravery and distinction, and for that we owe him our gratitude and our respect. And next week, we’ll also hear about those occasions when he’s broken with his party as evidence that he can deliver the change that we need.

But the record’s clear: John McCain has voted with George Bush 90 percent of the time. Sen. McCain likes to talk about judgment, but really, what does it say about your judgment when you think George Bush has been right more than 90 percent of the time? I don’t know about you, but I’m not ready to take a 10 percent chance on change.

The truth is, on issue after issue that would make a difference in your lives — on health care and education and the economy — Sen. McCain has been anything but independent. He said that our economy has made “great progress” under this president. He said that the fundamentals of the economy are strong. And when one of his chief advisers — the man who wrote his economic plan — was talking about the anxieties that Americans are feeling, he said that we were just suffering from a “mental recession,” and that we’ve become, and I quote, “a nation of whiners.”

A nation of whiners? Tell that to the proud autoworkers at a Michigan plant who, after they found out it was closing, kept showing up every day and working as hard as ever, because they knew there were people who counted on the brakes that they made. Tell that to the military families who shoulder their burdens silently as they watch their loved ones leave for their third or fourth or fifth tour of duty. These are not whiners. They work hard and they give back and they keep going without complaint. These are the Americans I know.

Now, I don’t believe that Sen. McCain doesn’t care what’s going on in the lives of Americans. I just think he doesn’t know. Why else would he define middle-class as someone making under $5 million a year? How else could he propose hundreds of billions in tax breaks for big corporations and oil companies but not one penny of tax relief to more than 100 million Americans? How else could he offer a health care plan that would actually tax people’s benefits, or an education plan that would do nothing to help families pay for college, or a plan that would privatize Social Security and gamble your retirement?

It’s not because John McCain doesn’t care. It’s because John McCain doesn’t get it.

For over two decades, he’s subscribed to that old, discredited Republican philosophy — give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else. In Washington, they call this the Ownership Society, but what it really means is that you’re on your own. Out of work? Tough luck. You’re on your own. No health care? The market will fix it. You’re on your own. Born into poverty? Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps — even if you don’t have boots. You are on your own.

Well it’s time for them to own their failure. It’s time for us to change America. And that’s why I’m running for president of the United States.

You see, we Democrats have a very different measure of what constitutes progress in this country.

We measure progress by how many people can find a job that pays the mortgage; whether you can put a little extra money away at the end of each month so you can someday watch your child receive her college diploma. We measure progress in the 23 million new jobs that were created when Bill Clinton was president — when the average American family saw its income go up $7,500 instead of go down $2,000 like it has under George Bush.

We measure the strength of our economy not by the number of billionaires we have or the profits of the Fortune 500, but by whether someone with a good idea can take a risk and start a new business, or whether the waitress who lives on tips can take a day off and look after a sick kid without losing her job — an economy that honors the dignity of work.

The fundamentals we use to measure economic strength are whether we are living up to that fundamental promise that has made this country great — a promise that is the only reason I am standing here tonight.

Because in the faces of those young veterans who come back from Iraq and Afghanistan, I see my grandfather, who signed up after Pearl Harbor, marched in Patton’s Army, and was rewarded by a grateful nation with the chance to go to college on the GI Bill.

In the face of that young student who sleeps just three hours before working the night shift, I think about my mom, who raised my sister and me on her own while she worked and earned her degree; who once turned to food stamps but was still able to send us to the best schools in the country with the help of student loans and scholarships.

When I listen to another worker tell me that his factory has shut down, I remember all those men and women on the South Side of Chicago I stood by and fought for two decades ago after the local steel plant closed.

And when I hear a woman talk about the difficulties of starting her own business or making her way in the world, I think about my grandmother, who worked her way up from the secretarial pool to middle-management, despite years of being passed over for promotions because she was a woman. She’s the one who taught me about hard work. She’s the one who put off buying a new car or a new dress for herself so that I could have a better life. She poured everything she had into me. And although she can no longer travel, I know that she’s watching tonight, and that tonight is her night as well.

Now, I don’t know what kind of lives John McCain thinks that celebrities lead, but this has been mine. These are my heroes. Theirs are the stories that shaped my life. And it is on behalf of them that I intend to win this election and keep our promise alive as president of the United States.

What is that American promise?

It’s a promise that says each of us has the freedom to make of our own lives what we will, but that we also have the obligation to treat each other with dignity and respect.

It’s a promise that says the market should reward drive and innovation and generate growth, but that businesses should live up to their responsibilities to create American jobs, to look out for American workers, and play by the rules of the road.

Ours is a promise that says government cannot solve all our problems, but what it should do is that which we cannot do for ourselves — protect us from harm and provide every child a decent education; keep our water clean and our toys safe; invest in new schools and new roads and science and technology.

Our government should work for us, not against us. It should help us, not hurt us. It should ensure opportunity not just for those with the most money and influence, but for every American who’s willing to work.

That’s the promise of America — the idea that we are responsible for ourselves, but that we also rise or fall as one nation; the fundamental belief that I am my brother’s keeper; I am my sister’s keeper.

That’s the promise we need to keep. That’s the change we need right now. So let me spell out exactly what that change would mean if I am president.

Change means a tax code that doesn’t reward the lobbyists who wrote it, but the American workers and small businesses who deserve it.

You know, unlike John McCain, I will stop giving tax breaks to corporations that ship jobs overseas, and I will start giving them to companies that create good jobs right here in America.

I’ll eliminate capital gains taxes for the small businesses and the start-ups that will create the high-wage, high-tech jobs of tomorrow.

I will, listen now, cut taxes — cut taxes — for 95 percent of all working families. Because in an economy like this, the last thing we should do is raise taxes on the middle-class.

And for the sake of our economy, our security and the future of our planet, I will set a clear goal as president: In 10 years, we will finally end our dependence on oil from the Middle East. We will do this.

Washington’s been talking about our oil addiction for the last 30 years, and by the way John McCain’s been there for 26 of them. And in that time, he’s said no to higher fuel-efficiency standards for cars, no to investments in renewable energy, no to renewable fuels. And today, we import triple the amount of oil that we had as the day that Sen. McCain took office.

Now is the time to end this addiction, and to understand that drilling is a stop-gap measure, not a long-term solution. Not even close.

As president, I will tap our natural gas reserves, invest in clean coal technology, and find ways to safely harness nuclear power. I’ll help our auto companies re-tool, so that the fuel-efficient cars of the future are built right here in America. I’ll make it easier for the American people to afford these new cars. And I’ll invest $150 billion over the next decade in affordable, renewable sources of energy — wind power and solar power and the next generation of biofuels; an investment that will lead to new industries and 5 million new jobs that pay well and can’t be outsourced.

America, now is not the time for small plans.

Now is the time to finally meet our moral obligation to provide every child a world-class education, because it will take nothing less to compete in the global economy. You know, Michelle and I are only here tonight because we were given a chance at an education. And I will not settle for an America where some kids don’t have that chance. I’ll invest in early childhood education. I’ll recruit an army of new teachers, and pay them higher salaries and give them more support. And in exchange, I’ll ask for higher standards and more accountability. And we will keep our promise to every young American — if you commit to serving your community or our country, we will make sure you can afford a college education.

Now is the time to finally keep the promise of affordable, accessible health care for every single American. If you have health care, my plan will lower your premiums. If you don’t, you’ll be able to get the same kind of coverage that members of Congress give themselves. And as someone who watched my mother argue with insurance companies while she lay in bed dying of cancer, I will make certain those companies stop discriminating against those who are sick and need care the most.

Now is the time to help families with paid sick days and better family leave, because nobody in America should have to choose between keeping their job and caring for a sick child or ailing parent.

Now is the time to change our bankruptcy laws, so that your pensions are protected ahead of CEO bonuses; and the time to protect Social Security for future generations.

And now is the time to keep the promise of equal pay for an equal day’s work, because I want my daughters to have the exact same opportunities as your sons.

Now, many of these plans will cost money, which is why I’ve laid out how I’ll pay for every dime — by closing corporate loopholes and tax havens that don’t help America grow. But I will also go through the federal budget, line by line, eliminating programs that no longer work and making the ones we do need work better and cost less — because we cannot meet 21st century challenges with a 20th century bureaucracy.

And Democrats, we must also admit that fulfilling America’s promise will require more than just money. It will require a renewed sense of responsibility from each of us to recover what John F. Kennedy called our “intellectual and moral strength.” Yes, government must lead on energy independence, but each of us must do our part to make our homes and businesses more efficient. Yes, we must provide more ladders to success for young men who fall into lives of crime and despair. But we must also admit that programs alone can’t replace parents; that government can’t turn off the television and make a child do her homework; that fathers must take more responsibility to provide love and guidance to their children.

Individual responsibility and mutual responsibility — that’s the essence of America’s promise.

And just as we keepour promise to the next generation here at home, so must we keep America’s promise abroad. If John McCain wants to have a debate about who has the temperament, and judgment, to serve as the next commander in chief, that’s a debate I’m ready to have.

For while Sen. McCain was turning his sights to Iraq just days after 9/11, I stood up and opposed this war, knowing that it would distract us from the real threats that we face. When John McCain said we could just “muddle through” in Afghanistan, I argued for more resources and more troops to finish the fight against the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11, and made clear that we must take out Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants if we have them in our sights. You know, John McCain likes to say that he’ll follow bin Laden to the Gates of Hell — but he won’t even go to the cave where he lives.

And today, as my call for a time frame to remove our troops from Iraq has been echoed by the Iraqi government and even the Bush administration, even after we learned that Iraq has $79 billion in surplus while we are wallowing in deficits, John McCain stands alone in his stubborn refusal to end a misguided war.

That’s not the judgment we need. That won’t keep America safe. We need a president who can face the threats of the future, not keep grasping at the ideas of the past.

You don’t defeat a terrorist network that operates in 80 countries by occupying Iraq. You don’t protect Israel and deter Iran just by talking tough in Washington. You can’t truly stand up for Georgia when you’ve strained our oldest alliances. If John McCain wants to follow George Bush with more tough talk and bad strategy, that is his choice — but that is not the change that America needs.

We are the party of Roosevelt. We are the party of Kennedy. So don’t tell me that Democrats won’t defend this country. Don’t tell me that Democrats won’t keep us safe. The Bush-McCain foreign policy has squandered the legacy that generations of Americans — Democrats and Republicans — have built, and we are here to restore that legacy.

As commander in chief, I will never hesitate to defend this nation, but I will only send our troops into harm’s way with a clear mission and a sacred commitment to give them the equipment they need in battle and the care and benefits they deserve when they come home.

I will end this war in Iraq responsibly, and finish the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. I will rebuild our military to meet future conflicts. But I will also renew the tough, direct diplomacy that can prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and curb Russian aggression. I will build new partnerships to defeat the threats of the 21st century: terrorism and nuclear proliferation; poverty and genocide; climate change and disease. And I will restore our moral standing, so that America is once again that last, best hope for all who are called to the cause of freedom, who long for lives of peace, and who yearn for a better future.

These are the policies I will pursue. And in the weeks ahead, I look forward to debating them with John McCain.

But what I will not do is suggest that the senator takes his positions for political purposes. Because one of the things that we have to change in our politics is the idea that people cannot disagree without challenging each other’s character and each other’s patriotism.

The times are too serious, the stakes are too high for this same partisan playbook. So let us agree that patriotism has no party. I love this country, and so do you, and so does John McCain. The men and women who serve in our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and independents, but they have fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag. They have not served a Red America or a Blue America — they have served the United States of America.

So I’ve got news for you, John McCain. We all put our country first.

America, our work will not be easy. The challenges we face require tough choices, and Democrats as well as Republicans will need to cast off the worn-out ideas and politics of the past. For part of what has been lost these past eight years can’t just be measured by lost wages or bigger trade deficits. What has also been lost is our sense of common purpose. That’s what we have to restore.

We may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country. The reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than they are for those plagued by gang-violence in Cleveland, but don’t tell me we can’t uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals. I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in the hospital and to live lives free of discrimination. You know, passions may fly on immigration, but I don’t know anyone who benefits when a mother is separated from her infant child or an employer undercuts American wages by hiring illegal workers. But this, too, is part of America’s promise — the promise of a democracy where we can find the strength and grace to bridge divides and unite in common effort.

I know there are those who dismiss such beliefs as happy talk. They claim that our insistence on something larger, something firmer and more honest in our public life is just a Trojan Horse for higher taxes and the abandonment of traditional values. And that’s to be expected. Because if you don’t have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare voters. If you don’t have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from.

You make a big election about small things.

And you know what — it’s worked before. Because it feeds into the cynicism we all have about government. When Washington doesn’t work, all its promises seem empty. If your hopes have been dashed again and again, then it’s best to stop hoping, and settle for what you already know.

I get it. I realize that I am not the likeliest candidate for this office. I don’t fit the typical pedigree, and I haven’t spent my career in the halls of Washington.

But I stand before you tonight because all across America something is stirring. What the naysayers don’t understand is that this election has never been about me. It’s about you. It’s about you.

For 18 long months, you have stood up, one by one, and said enough to the politics of the past. You understand that in this election, the greatest risk we can take is to try the same old politics with the same old players and expect a different result. You have shown what history teaches us — that at defining moments like this one, the change we need doesn’t come from Washington. Change comes to Washington. Change happens because the American people demand it — because they rise up and insist on new ideas and new leadership, a new politics for a new time.

America, this is one of those moments.

I believe that as hard as it will be, the change we need is coming. Because I’ve seen it. Because I’ve lived it. Because I’ve seen it in Illinois, when we provided health care to more children and moved more families from welfare to work. I’ve seen it in Washington, where we worked across party lines to open up government and hold lobbyists more accountable, to give better care for our veterans and keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of terrorist.

And I’ve seen it in this campaign. In the young people who voted for the first time, and the young at heart, those who got involved again after a very long time. In the Republicans who never thought they’d pick up a Democratic ballot, but did. I’ve seen it in the workers who would rather cut their hours back a day even though they can’t afford it than see their friends lose their jobs, in the soldiers who re-enlist after losing a limb, in the good neighbors who take a stranger in when a hurricane strikes and the floodwaters rise.

You know, this country of ours has more wealth than any nation, but that’s not what makes us rich. We have the most powerful military on Earth, but that’s not what makes us strong. Our universities and our culture are the envy of the world, but that’s not what keeps the world coming to our shores.

Instead, it is that American spirit — that American promise — that pushes us forward even when the path is uncertain; that binds us together in spite of our differences; that makes us fix our eye not on what is seen, but what is unseen, that better place around the bend.

That promise is our greatest inheritance. It’s a promise I make to my daughters when I tuck them in at night, and a promise that you make to yours — a promise that has led immigrants to cross oceans and pioneers to travel west; a promise that led workers to picket lines, and women to reach for the ballot.

And it is that promise that 45 years ago today, brought Americans from every corner of this land to stand together on a Mall in Washington, before Lincoln’s Memorial, and hear a young preacher from Georgia speak of his dream.

The men and women who gathered there could’ve heard many things. They could’ve heard words of anger and discord. They could’ve been told to succumb to the fear and frustration of so many dreams deferred.

But what the people heard instead — people of every creed and color, from every walk of life — is that in America, our destiny is inextricably linked. That together, our dreams can be one.

“We cannot walk alone,” the preacher cried. “And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back.”

America, we cannot turn back. Not with so much work to be done. Not with so many children to educate, and so many veterans to care for. Not with an economy to fix and cities to rebuild and farms to save. Not with so many families to protect and so many lives to mend. America, we cannot turn back. We cannot walk alone. At this moment, in this election, we must pledge once more to march into the future. Let us keep that promise — that American promise — and in the words of Scripture hold firmly, without wavering, to the hope that we confess.

Thank you, God Bless you, and God Bless the United States of America.

A buttery light tart filled with tomatoes, cheese and herbs. A light golden crepe folded around a filling of melted bittersweet chocolate and fresh homemade raspberry preserves. Crusty warm olive bread inviting buyers to break off a chunk and just eat. Jar upon jar of freshly made preserves (think strawberry, blueberry, red raspberry…). This is not your typical farmer’s market.

Every Friday afternoon in a field on a country road in Hardwick, Vermont, vendors arrive to set up their tents and tables for the afternoon’s sales. By 3 p.m., cars have filled the parking lot and spilled onto both sides of the road. This market more closely resembles a country fair.

The Hardwick Farmer’s Market, featuring local produce, products and services, has plenty to offer every taste. vendors market whatever fresh vegetables are ready for harvest : snap peas, lettuce, early corn, cucumbers, and tomatoes are just a few items to be found here (keep in mid that gardens are started much later and are subject to freeze much earlier this far in the Northeast).

A big, bold hand-painted roadside sign advertises the festive weekly sale which is the ultimate shopping delight for “locavores.” On this warm summer day, musicians kept up a lively country rhythm, providing entertainment and a respite for shoppers and their children.

My friend Robin and I and circled the sale area, beginning with a broad array of perennials, a severe temptation, given the massive landscaping job Robin is doing at her mountain home. Sold.

Vermont’s premier product, maple syrup, was showcased by Echo Hills Farm, which presented the delicate amber syrup in an assortment of sizes and unique containers, including glass “maple leaf” bottles. Sold.

A local baker was surrounded by a U-shaped table set-up, each surface covered with large wicker baskets full of fresh stone-oven baked bread in a wide variety of flavors. I bought a crusty loaf olive bread, of which only half made it home. At as much as $6.00 a loaf, it had to be good; in fact, it was mouthwatering great!

A local chef, dressed in baker’s cap and apron, offered the previously mentioned dessert crepe among the many delicacies she prepared for the day. We bought one, passing it back and forth between us since we had either my diabetes or our weight-watcher efforts in mind. Three bites each and the delicacy was gone. Shared, but gone. No, we didn’t save a bite for her teen-aged son.

Decisions, decisions...

Even holistic health practitioners join this festival, bringing a bit of alternative health care option to the table with a display of services and information available in the region. They are more than happy to discuss holistic health options and the value of complementary care.

This roadside gathering of laughing children, friends pausing to chat, and vendors discussing their products and recipes (many organic) gave a festive atmosphere to one of the finest outdoor markets I’ve visited. The Hardwick Farmer’s market is one of many such markets scattered about New England that have stepped beyond the ordinary to create a social occasion behind sale and service. Ultimately, though, the idea is to “Buy Local” and support the many farmers, gardeners, health practitioners and craftspeople who work in this Green Mountain region.

Vermont's finest: Maple syrup, courtesy of Echo Hill Farm

This photo of the new "Strawberry Alley" only hints at the true glaring brightness of the new lightning on this reconstructed downtown street.

The $1.2 million price tag in the contract for the Legion Street/Strawberry Alley work included $75,000 for a fountain, $27,000 short of this one-of-a-kind fountain’s actual cost. The difference in the fountain cost plus installation expenses will be made up from a $250,000 “contigency line item” in the contract with Roy T. Goodwin. The original designated maximum price allocated for the fountain has fallen by the wayside.

The Purchasing Department received bids ranging from $38,000 to 138,000, but the rejected all of those bids, noting none of the proposed fountains were “unique” enough for Clarksville. The chosen multi-tiered Bronze and marble fountain and its statuary will “appeal to children.”

Over the last several months, Legion Street has been rebuilt, and now has wider bricked sidewalks, new landscaping, new street lighting and underground power lines the length of the street. The intent to refurbish the street is good; it fairs less well aesthetically.

The new lighting is the installation of double-lamp fixtures like the current lighting on Public Square. The double lamps line both sides of the street and are very closely spaced; to walk along the Strawberry Alley at night requires sunglasses to ease the glare. Planners used double lamp posts on both sides of the street when in fact a single lantern fixture on both sites would have sufficed. The clean line of Strawberry Alley is fragmented with the irregular placement of several of these lampposts, created a jarring, jumbled effect. Add to the mix an oversized vintage style clock that gets lost among the lamp posts.

Clarksville Online has learned that approximately ten of the new Strawberry Alley lamp posts that are “overkill” on that street may be moved to another street, but no discussion has been held on just who pays to correct that “error” in design judgment. May we assume that the “contigency” funds for this project, or an emergency “budget adjustment” will be used to correct this error in design?

The new look of the street itself is still mitigated by the deteriorating appearance of the existing buildings on this portion of the former Legion Street. Tangled wires, old electrical boxes, piping and older facades still line the street, which regardless of the new look is still a loading zone for businesses that, for customer service, open onto Franklin Street. Strawberry Alley is where many large trucks park to unload deliveries to local stores and restaurants.

The availability of handicapped parking spaces on Legion Street and Strawberry Alley also remains a question. At present, disabled patrons of Franklin and Legion Streets and Strawberry Alley have no designated parking except on the river side of City Hall. Handicapped placards can be used in any parking space, but without a designated space or two, most disabled drivers remain hard pressed to park to close to restaurants and stores they wish to use.

Composite photos of the Strawberry Alley project are just that: composite: the lighting fixtures and forthcoming fountain are not revealed, and one of the parked vehicles is shown angled the wrong way on what is now a now one way street. While a photo-shopped design plan for the street shows attractive refurbished architecture and signage, how that will achieved and at what cost to individual business owners is unclear. For a number of Franklin Street businesses, Strawberry Alley is their back door, their service entrance, their loading zone, not a user-friendly customer entrance.

Before I receive comments on what may seem to be my perpetual criticism of downtown projects, let me state (1) that I have studied urban planning and sustainable eco-friendly development for years.; (2) I have served on three “Future Search” commissions (the first for an APSU sized state college, the second for a private college, and the third for a major northeastern city) to determine their direction and strategic planning; and (3) I just plain love downtown districts and Main Street developments. A vibrant downtown is key issue in urban development. That said, I also expect to know the whole package at the beginning, ALL of the details, not just a selected few, not a piecemeal patch job of projects but an overall view.

Who is re-designing downtown? You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see, for example, that there were far too many lamp posts on Strawberry Alley. What other errors, large or small, may emerge? In addressing a project like this Legion Street/Strawberry Alley makeover, the city and the developers need to address more than the kind of sidewalks they are installing; they need to address everything on the street, out loud and up front to the taxpayers and business people who are footing the bill.

Redevelopment can recharge old business, attract new business, spur tourism and bolster the economy, but it should not be parceled out piecemeal with the tax paying public footing a vague, undefined spend-as-we-go bill. Redevelopment requires a site specific plan including cost and impact statements that affect every resident, business and property owner in the specified district. That specificity comes with its “i’s” dotted and “t’s” crossed. No one has said what will happen to the backs of the buildings that now look more shoddy and unkempt than before the street upgrade. How much of a bill will be dumped on individual property owners to upgrade in this lagging economy? Can the city use grant funds to mitigate that impact?

The Clarksville City Council with Mayor Piper discussing CPRC claims of city administration misdeeds

It is hoped that when the re-opening is held, city officials will announced some type of “Main Street” grant to assist assist existing businesses with facade improvements and new signage on the backs of their buildings. It is also hoped that city officials at this opening will announce in painstaking detail exactly what business interests and development plans are underway and on the drawing boards to follow this $1.2 million dollar Strawberry Alley redo. Who gets to keep their buildings and businesses, and who will be bought out or “eminent domain’ed” in the interest of “redevelopment?” True above board, community friendly development has no problem in either making or disclosing the “complete” plan for any redevelopment area, including potential buyouts of existing property and the disclosure of what said properties would then be used for. Facts, in writing, can help dispel skepticism and quell mistrust.

As for Strawberry Alley, here’s the history: In the 1920’s in Downtown Clarksville, the area from Public Square to Second Street known as Strawberry Alley was widened and extended to Third Street as well as renamed Legion Street in honor of World War I veterans. Strawberry Alley had been so named in honor of Mrs. Lucinda Elder, wife of Clarksville’s first Mayor James Elder, because the street was constructed across her strawberry patch. The Clarksville City Council approved by a majority vote in August to rename the portion of the road from Public Square to Second Street as Strawberry Alley to preserve the past, and the portion from Second Street to Third Street to remain named Legion Street to continue honoring World War I veterans.

The Grand Re-Opening Celebration includes a ceremony commemorating the re-designations of Legion Street and Strawberry Alley. The official ceremony will begin at 6 p.m. and includes a wreath laying to commemorate the designation of Legion Street as a tribute to World War I veterans. The ceremony will also focus on the past, present, and future of both Legion Street and Strawberry Alley. The celebration includes live performances by Bump City, outdoor dining with area restaurants, balloons, face painting, chocolate dipped strawberries, and more. This event is free and open to the public. For more information, please call 645-7444.

The Bush/Cheney team on the move(scene from I.O.U.S.A.)

Across the country today corporate media headlines screamed the news that “an agreement has been reached” that would pull troops out of Iraq’s major cities ten months from now, in June, 2009. Read the fine print. Scrutinize between the lines. If you think all our troops are destined to come home, think again.

Yes, the United States and Iraq have “tentatively” reached an agreement that would see American troops vacated Iraq’s major cities, but that leaves a lot of ground out of the pact. That’s when the terms “broader withdrawal” and the words “tentative” and “but” come into play.

Iraqi leaders have yet to put a final stamp of approval on the deal, and as for that 2011 withdrawal date, it’s “contigent” on the implementation of additional security and on the “political progress” achieved in Iraq. So, folks, don’t hold your breath. The door is still ajar and our soldiers will still be rotating in and out of Iraq.

This agreement only touches one stressor on our military forces; we cannot forget that the door is still wide open and growing in Afghanistan, which has increasingly been a bubbling hotbed for insurgencies and terrorism.

Subject to final approval by the top Iraqi leadership, the exit date for U.S. troops would be December 2011, although American negotiators (Bush and company) insist on linking that target to additional security and political progress.

Timing is everything. The possibility of removing our troops from the Middle East is the new American Dream, fueled (1) by the insane billions of dollars we are now, as a country, indebted for, and (2) by the unconscionable number of lives lost for a war built on politically expedient lies. The longer the war drags on, the lower President Bush’s rating dip, with the end result that he’s now being called “the worst president ever.”

Timing is everything. What better way to boost the image of the Republic Party than a pre-presid