The Roxy Regional School of the Arts gave us 11 actors to do our three skits in the cave with Brendan Cataldo as their director. The Roxy Theatre also gave us a delightful gatekeeper.

The 2009 Haunting History Tour Actors

Swan Lake Golf Course allowed us to use their parking lot for overflow parking.

Volunteers stand ready to serve refreshing drinks

Over 40 volunteers poured and stirred complimentary cups of hot chocolate, put up and took down the tiki torches that lined the lake, sold glow necklaces and tickets, took us into the cave to see the skits and manned the parking lot. The volunteers were a happy bunch, their enthusiasm catchy.

Haunting History is a fundraiser by the non-profit group, Friends of Dunbar Cave. Monies raised are used to help preserve and protect the park and educate the public.

• The Friends Group was able to talk APSU’s Clean Cut Productions into producing an Introductory Film that explains the history of Dunbar Cave.
• The Friends group filmed interviews of local residents who have stories to tell about the Good Ole Days at Dunbar Cave.
• The Friends group designed, bought and installed a monitor in the lobby that shows films to the public especially the one made by Clean Cut Productions.
• The Friends group runs Trees to Trails, Cooling at the Cave and Spring Fling each year. These events are free to the public.
• The Friends group bought interpretive signage for the park and will continue to do so.
• The Friends group pushes for an Interpretive Center at Dunbar Cave. They’ve used the money they have raised as an incentive for the State to also support that effort.

The 40+ Haunting History volunteers were an impressive bunch. They came willing to do whatever was needed and also to have a good time. They did both. This event has side benefits, like making everyone fall in love with the cave and the Friends of Dunbar Cave group. Several people became members during the event.

The Skits

The first skit

I received a lot of positive feedback about the skits from the public and the volunteers. I was thrilled to overhear a man quote the first skit about bats to his wife and talk about how many mosquitoes bats eat. They both agreed that they should build a bat house to try and attract bats to their property.

The first skit was meant to dispel fears about bats and replace them with true information. At the end of the skit the actors showed the audience that a live bat was hanging on the ceiling. It was with excitement and awe that people looked at it, not with horror and fear.

An Eastern Pipistrel Bat

The second skit

The second skit, Haunting Memories, was created from what certain people had to say about the good ole days at Dunbar Cave. Woman 1 represents Marguerite Rubel and Mary McDaniel. Woman 2 is Rachel Tate and Jacquie Miles. Man 1 is Jimmy Dunn and Ronnie Hunter. Man 2 is Zoot Parker who was known as the best dancer in Clarksville. While talking to the actors I was able to fill them in on who they were representing.

The third skit

Skit three, Haunting Questions, is about the Native Americans who made the art on the walls in Dunbar Cave. Information about the topic was gathered on visits to Indian Mound sites, like Pinson Mounds in West Tennessee and from books purchased there.

Many people come out of the event smiling and saying, “Wow, I learned a lot!” They seemed pleasantly surprised by that, maybe because they were older by far than the children doing the skits.

The Roxy actors were great. I watched them rehearse and was totally impressed. Then, of course, they just kept getting better. A week before the event we took them and the director into the cave to see how the “stages” looked. After that we were treated to a bit of a tour by Michael Fulbright who works at the Park. The kids were thrilled and learned a lot about the cave.

One of the many tour groups heading to the cave

Sponsors

The Friends of Dunbar Cave wish to give special thanks to these sponsors:

Some of the many young people who enjoyed their haunting tour of Dunbar Cave

• The Roxy Regional School of the Arts. With a more than busy (as usual) schedule, John McDonald gave us wonderful actors and director.
• Bill Larson of Clarksville Online gave us free advertisement and negotiated the using of the Swan Lake Golf Course for overflow parking. He also brought the actors and early volunteers a lovely dinner on Saturday and ran activities in the cave during the walk-through and the event. Thanks to Bill also for pictures of the actors.
• Thanks for the cooking of that Saturday dinner goes out to Mr. and Mrs. William Keen.
• Thanks to Mr. Jeff Vaughn the City’s Golf Pro and manager of Swan Lake Golf Course for the use of their parking lot.
• Thanks to David Shelton, Christine Piesyk, Turner McCullough Jr., Gabe Redel, and Curtis Davis; for dinner Friday, and their help manning the tables on both nights.
• Thanks to Jack and Suva Bastin for all their hard work and help.
• Thanks to Tennessee Trails making Haunting History their event also.
• Thanks for donations from Batteries Plus, Lowes, Rural King and Krogers.
• Thanks for their invaluable help in promoting the event: WJZM 1400 AM Radio, Clarksville Online, the Leaf Chronicle and Clarksville Family Magazine.

Volunteers who helped on this event

Actors:

• Scene 1 – Haunting Facts:Becca Winters, Patrick Long, Hallie Sampson, Tim O. Smith
• Scene 2 – Haunting Memories: Kayla Coleman, Jacob Ritchart, Emily Ritchart, Autumn Crafton, Jaymin Burr
• Scene 3 – Haunting Questions: Frances Dennis, Christian Boyd

Contributers and Volunteers:

Volunteers Kim Chandler and Blayne Clements on Friday night

Barbara Wilbur, Jim Hancock, Richard Gildrie, Meredith Gildrie, Jack Bastin, Suva Bastin, John Sneed, David Boen, Randall Boen, Bill Larson, Kitty Madden, Beverly Fisher, Paul Schwab, Merri Hinton, Bob Lyon, Carol Sequra, Kyle Sequra, Christine Pieysk, Kelly LaPlante, Bobby LaPlante, David Shelton, Curtis Davis, Turner McCullough, Mike Vogt, Kathy Vogt, Kim Chandler, Blayne Clements, Stephen Walker, J.B., Brooklyn Lyle, Dan Racklin, Marilyn Racklin, Beth Racklin, Jill Eichhorn, Barry Kitterman, Hannah Kitterman, Lee Gray, Gabriel Redel, Bryan Valentin, Kathryn Myracle, Matthew Fowler, Beth Robinson, Faith Robinson, Katherine Kolodzie, Gloria Miliken, Elaine Foust, Carl J. Powell, Mr. and Mrs. William Keen

We wish to give a special thanks to the Dunbar Cave Park Staff! Amy Wallace, Adam Neblett, Robert Wells, Teresa Campbell, Michael Fulbright and Blaine Hargis

Park Interpreter Amy Wallace with some of the many pumpkins carved by Suva Bastin and herself

Photo Gallery

[Show as slideshow]

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Beth Britton with her daughter, "Elle-girl"

Beth Britton, a columnist for Clarksville Online,  has been asked to write a weekly column for the new site, Christian HomeKeeper Network.

“This website is a great place for women to go and be encouraged and to get to know other women with similar interests. I am excited to be joining with the other excellent writers in contributing to this site.”

– Beth Britton

In additions to her periodic essay on our site, you can read Beth’s  weekly postings at my personal on site blog http://christianhomekeeper.org/ravens-nest/

Christian HomeKeeping Network is a Christian blog for women that includes articles about cooking, crafts, child-rearing, books and faith. It has an extensive list of contributing writers

As always, you can still keep up with her own personal life and the goings-on of our family at my blog below.

Stop by for a visit at Beth’s personal blog, www.myredriverhome.blogspot.com

Beth’s work has appeared in Discover Clarksville and Discover Paris TN.  She  also writes for Clarksville Family. Beth is married to David Britton, a historian and park ranger at Port Royal State park, and is the mother of Elle-girl, the subject of many of her essays.  She is expecting her second child.

FreeThinker founder Debbie Boen created this striking Obama signs for the Nov. 4 election.

As I was driving to the Icehouse café on Tuesday night, NPR (National Public Radio) said something about declaring Obama and I didn’t get what had happened.  I walked into the cafe and everyone was watching the big screen TV.  There was a screaming crowd on the TV set.  The scream of happiness from the TV crowd of thousands didn’t stop and seemed to shake the earth.  I swear I could feel the vibration of it come from the earth into my body.  Miranda Herrick ran up to me and said, “Did you hear what just happened?  Obama is declared a winner!  Why are we NOT screaming?  Why are we NOT screaming?”  and with that we both started screaming and again and again.

Hugs.  Screaming.  Jumping up and down.  Tears.  Stacy Smith Segovia took a picture of me being excited.  I realized that this was personal history:  me feeling truly excited.

Gikuyu and I talked.  I forgot how to feel exhilaration, I said.  It’s so unfamiliar.  Brandt Hardin sat down with tears in his eyes.  Each of them had a respect for me and the work I had been doing for several years.  Miranda had given me the place to hold the first meeting of the Freethinkers (for peace and civil liberties).  Gikuyu and Brandt put together the Tour of Wurdz and used it to give people their voices of dissent.  Brandt’s political art show Tuesday night at the Icehouse was made on the pages of the tiny Bill of Rights that I had given him.  (do go see it!)

Last night seemed like a first time I had dared to feel.  For the last four to six years my life has been riding on a horrible dread that I had to push down in order to function.  The happiness I felt had been forced.  I hadn’t been all the way HERE.  Finding humor had to be rediscovered.  Finding the good in things had become a destiny for personal health and for the health of the community.  Being a part of Clarksville Online had become a most valuable and commendable asset to our community in that line.

Maybe instead of getting all worked up, I should have chosen to be “dumb and happy,” as my father-in-law likes to say.  But when those planes flew into the towers my husband and I thought, “Oh no.  What is he (Bush) going to use this to do?”

When my daughter got married, I was happy for her but secretly hoping that she would not bring children into this future.  When we celebrated holidays, it was a forced happiness for me.  I can’t say everything was phony because some of my richest experiences were about the dissention we were able to cause and the celebrations we had despite oppression.  I’m going to say that the bad things this country has been doing is yet to be exposed.  The stuff we already know is nothing compared to what is hidden.  We were lucky to have had the torture and such exposed.  It always interests me how bad it had gotten and how many still did nothing and how many still supported it.  How low does it have to get to really shock some into action?

Candlelight Vigil at the Eternal Flame

Knowledge is power although we each had to struggle with our own feelings of dread related to it and how much action we could take in the face of that dread.  Most of us are bound to not go down being stupid.  The events the Freethinkers did run, vigils and protests, had a double purpose of dissension and also of moving our bodies.  Taking one step, one honk, one appearance to a function that puts motion into the body again.  Move.  Despite.  Opposition.  We made ourselves find a forced feeling of safety when we felt threatened to shut up.  It was too much like the Nazi’s and I think you know that.  Having our neighbors threaten us.  Having our neighbors dehumanize us for disagreeing.  Having no media.

Our country had taken a wrong path at the crossroads.  Like someone who chooses crime as a path, if you go down the wrong path too long it can become impossible to turn back.  You get caught, get thrown in jail.  Your bad record gets created and the hole gets deeper and harder to climb out of.  This wrong path could have been continued but instead we, as a country, chose to turn around and go back.  Go back to the crossroads and chose a different path.  A path of decency instead of war and bullying.  Maybe it was necessary to experience the wrong path for awhile.  How many thousands died because of it.  It was a scary wrong path.  Like the other wrong paths we try not to think about:  the genocides of Native Americans, of women during the witch trials, the Jews, the Crusades and so many more.

So thanks to America for not being happy in lower states of fear and bullyness.  You demand better.  Several of the folks who got the tally at different Clarksville voting precincts found that Obama lost to McCain by only a few votes.  I’m sure he did really well in Nashville.  That is success!

Last night I was very happy to be with others who saw Michael Moore in Nashville just before the election of 2004.  We’ve all had this core feeling of dissent since that event.  The Michael Moore fireball really woke me up to what action is possible.  After the election of 2004 several of us put together the Clarksville Freethinkers for Peace and Civil Liberties.  I gave workshops on understanding apathy and moving through the emotions up to positive anger.  I bought mini Bill of Rights books to hand out.  Mary Alice and I started a newsletter.  We held meetings at the library.  Held weekly vigils in public square about the war for a year.  Joined in MoveOn efforts.  Several people wrote letters to the editor of the Leaf (Chronicle).  Joined Gathering to Save our Democracy in their attempts to get verifiable elections in Tenn.  Went to Democrat meetings.  Went to war protests in Nashville. Went to civil rights meetings.  Made signs.  Made art.  Sat at the parks with statistics of the war signs.  Turned our backs on the Bush motorcade when it passed through Kentucky.  Did this when the Democrat Party and most of the country acted frozen.

Some of the many others who inspired me were:

• My grandfather and the one time I heard him tell a friend how Hitler destroyed his opposition.  Grandpa loved this country more than anyone I know and he showed me that I still had the power and necessity to do something now, before it’s too late.
  

  Boen lights a candle at the Eternal Flame

• Bernie Ellis and Gathering to Save our Democracy for speaking the truth and doing something about election fraud.  By the next major election, Tennessee will have verifiable voting machines.
• Cindy Sheehan, a warrior just like us, who was determined to bring Bush down and did it when she broke through the main stream media wall.
• Chris Lugo who put together and reported on peaceful dissention to the war.
• Christine Pieysk who turned a breeze into a flurry of powerful action and words.
• Bill Larson who created ClarksvilleOnLine; what a gift to our city and to our voices!
• Civil Liberty leaders Terry and Wanda McMoore.
• Turner McCullough.  David Shelton.  Blayne Clement and Kim.  Tom Payne.  Beth and Faith Robinson.  Jill Eichhorn.
• Sarah of Boulder.  David Boen.  Randall Boen.  Alma Sanford.  Miyo and Jordi Kachi.  Nancy and Daren.  Gerry Gilman (go, go, go!).  Deborah Bowles.  Kitty.  Beverly.  Barry, Ted and Hannah Kitterman.  Tracy Diven.  Leslie Pierce. Gregg Schlanger (creator of the Eternal Flame monument, “Pillar of Clouds, Pillar of Fire”).
• MoveOn.org who united this country.
• The web which did the real reporting. So many others!

Others who inspired life:  Annette Cunningham, UU Clarksville, APSU, ARTZ and Gabriele and Bob Wardeiner, Tom Thayer and John McDonald of the Roxy Regional Theatre, Downtown Artist’s Co-op, NYC, Silke’s, The Looking Glass, Tandoor, Suva and Jack Bastin.

I feel like I have awoke from a nightmare.  Am I all the way awake yet?  Will I remember just how bad it got?  Will I learn?

Before the next step I feel the need to really, really celebrate.

This is not an ending but a (difficult) climbing out of the hole and creating a new beginning.  Time to put on a different pair of shoes.

Again I thank Clarksville Online for being 3 steps ahead in that game.

Thanks to you for being on (this mailing list).  In connection there is definite power.

Our most memorable, binding event happened when we heard that President Bush was landing at Fort Campbell in Tennessee, the home of the 101st Airborne, to travel to Hopkinsville, Kentucky, where he would talk to people (Republican supporters only) about his desire to seriously change social security. We tried without success to get onto the audience list, but Christine found out the exact line of travel that the Bush motorcade was going to take. We spent a day looking for places to ‘greet’ the motorcade. We made a list of possible places to stand, but when the day came for the presidential visit, the police tailed us, and kicked us out of all but one.

Though the cops told us we were not permitted to stand within 1,000 feet of the road, we did find one place to stand. A home with an empty roadside building had plenty frontage, We knocked on the homeowners’ door, and they turned out to be anti-Bush.  With police and federal agents watching our every move (some supporting us too), and a news reporter wanting to get us on film, we stood on private property about 15 feet from the highway in the pouring rain, waiting for the motorcade. We wrote our slogans on the backs of our shirts after police told us our signs could not be used (they were “weapons”). The most emotional thing I ever did was to turn my back on the motorcade as it drove by. Even the planet obliged us with an eerie silence and a pause in the constant rain. Cops (including the Feds) were positioned all around our small group of 12 (mostly women and children) and the reporter filmed us. We were the voice of dissent. It was the first time I ever made such a powerful statement.

This event was topped only by the protest, a vigil we [at left, the author (r) and Christine] staged across from Fort Campbell and the 101st Airborne, where Christine’s huge, hand-sewn IMPEACH BUSH sign hung over the Patriot’s Park sign. Our rally grew as others joined us from this town and Nashville and with Honk for Peace signs, we heard a constant honking. Code Pink, en route from Atlanta to Chicago, stopped to join us, taking a “break” from their travel across the US. We would never expect everyone to agree with our protest, but we expect that everyone agree with our right to peaceful protest. A photo of the sign (below) was posted online with Freeway Blogger.

Bill Larson joined our group in writing letters to the editor in protest of the uninformed and ill-tempered public that mainstream media had carefully created. He later created the ClarksvilleOnLine web site to give our voices a neutral platform to speak from. Our agreed on purpose was to acknowledge the creative and good things that happen around us, to use our freedom of speech and right to dissent, and to report the news that mainstream media was ignoring.

As the site grew, Christine took on the editor position for the all volunteer ClarksvilleOnLine. For me, writing meant agonizing; it took me all morning to write one paragraph, one whole day or more to write a story. This stopped being a burden, because I could count on Christine to polish up my stories. She makes me look good and ClarksvilleOnLine look good.

Christine (at left, speaking at a a vigil with daughter Kelly) is a very wise person, with wisdom drawn from her life endeavors. Hardships in life did not cause her to lose her energy to make things happen for herself and others. I’ve never seen anyone handle crisis so well. When her house burned down, she cried, and then she started making lists of what she could do in the face of overwhelming odds. By moving one foot after the other, she created her life again. She helps others do the same. She cares so much about her town, people and country. If she could, she would volunteer at every social function there is and go to every bit of live theatre. She is an incredible reporter and writer. She loves to contribute, enjoy life and laugh, and she’s a sucker for stray animals.

Here she is being interviewed by her own Goddard college.

http://storiesfromgoddard.podbean.com/2008/02/26/stories-from-goddard-episode-1/

]]> http://www.clarksvilleonline.com/2008/04/20/col-editor-interviewed-by-goddard-college/feed/ 1 http://www.clarksvilleonline.com/2008/03/25/vigil-on-march-24th/ http://www.clarksvilleonline.com/2008/03/25/vigil-on-march-24th/#comments Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:00:03 +0000 Debbie Boen http://www.clarksvilleonline.com/2008/03/25/vigil-on-march-24th/ A group of eleven gathered on Monday at Public Square to light candles, view the statistics of war, read poetry, hear a song, sing a song, and acknowledge the 4,000 US military dead in Iraq.

We who gathered this time are all disconnected from the war, in the way that we are not relatives of anyone enlisted. But we know co-workers, students, clients, neighbors and acquaintances who are connected with the military. We are surrounded by military.

David and I read Christine Piesyk’s recently published poem, Songs, written for vigil we held 1,000 soldier fatalities ago. The pain of picking up all the pieces of war from Vietnam to Iraq, is potent angst; something that you never want to have to do again. It is unfair for wars to take our best, chop them up and dump them back on our society, often as shells of their former selves, haunted by the war they waged in the name of duty. We who oppose the war have good reason to do so.

There is no good bomb. There is no good war, said my Grandmother, who survived WWI as a child in Germany. We who gather are in between, in between the “nothing is going on” stance of the media, and the overwhelming way the war rages on. In attendance this time were all middle class white Americans with one veteran. Three of our group were under 18. On this occasion, all of us except the vet, are Unitarian Universalists (UU’s).

In 2004 when we held a vigil once a week, people drove by who applauded us while other people cussed us out. I used to think about those who cussed us out: “Someday you’ll be cussing us out for not doing more, for not stopping this war.” The complainers will always be just the complainers, never bridging the connection to action because they come from a victim space. I have more respect for the group who counter-demonstrated our vigil once, thinking we were dangerous. I applaud their ability to take action and they treated us with respect.

Almost every time we did a vigil, most of us really didn’t want to go. I would get stomach aches. I put this one off until the last minute because I didn’t want to face it. But we understand that it is the doing of something that matters. When overwhelmed, doing something, some little thing, is to feel some sense of power left, and it puts out the message that there is another voice.

What is sad is that we, a group of eleven opposers of war, are the only ones holding a ceremony about this tragedy. A lot of us feel that the sense of helplessness about the war overwhelms our sense of purpose. But all of us agree that even when we don’t want to go, but do go, we always get something out of it, which seems selfish.

Marilyn sang a Girl Scouts’ song to us that girl scouts were not allowed to sing during time of war.  When one candle grows dim, may the candle of another light the way. We gather strength by the action of doing something. We face the reality of this war, there is no rah, rah, involved, and facing that is a most overwhelming process. We do not choose to feel depressed about it all the time. But it is appropriate to feel sad about this, Barry says.

The eternal flame is downtown’s only acknowledgment to the current war. Yesterday the flame atop the eternal flame was not lit, an insult to all veterans. Today it is lit. We would like to think ClarksvilleOnLine’s complaints and our vigil had something to do with getting the flame lit again. The war is to the point where the army base is like an invisible sucking hole. It’s grown more invisible, more obviously gapping. No one speaks about the obvious war. Wives “keep it together” somehow for the kids.

Our “volunteer” army of today is mostly married men and women with children, whereas in Vietnam they were mostly single, often draftees. Jill said whether we choose to think about the war or not, it is our problem. The soldiers who come back and try to fit in to our society will affect all of us, and their problems will be our problems.

A few of us still feel angst about the idea that others will view us as not supporting the troops in doing this kind of vigil for them. They still feel the division that permeates the “support the troops” crowd who originally meant that they support the war and the winning of it.

The division of people’s thinking, liberal and conservative, is something we have pushed the edge of since starting this movement. Conservatives calling us liberals had the upper bullying hand in this area, although it’s conservative to not want to go to war. It used to be Christian conservative. Don’t ask a conservative to say they were wrong about the war.

If we started with the purpose of driving that wrongness home we are beyond that. We are tired of being “right” and we want this injury to stop. We realize that the division between us was skillfully permeated by the media and our own government.

For us it’s always been about challenging the division, saying that there are other thoughts rather than Fox News propaganda/bullying agenda “so called” news. We are all in this together. We believe in the same things, unless you really want Armageddon — I don’t believe in that. Our basic heart beat is one of decency.

Take courage friends,The way is often hard, the path is never clear,And the stakes are very high.Take courage.For deep down, there is another truth:You are not alone. ~Wyne B. Arnason, UU closing words

 Bill Larson Photos

The Clarksville Public Library will be the setting for a free screening of the film UNCOUNTED on Saturday, February 2, at 3 p.m. in the large conference room. UNCOUNTED was produced and directed by Nashville’s own David Earnhardt, and made its world premiere in that city last November to a standing room only crowd.

Click here to view the embedded video.

UNCOUNTED is an explosive documentary that shows how the election fraud that changed the outcome of the 2004 election led to even greater fraud in 2006 – and now looms as an unbridled threat to the outcome of the 2008 election.

“The notion of stolen elections is something we assign to Third World countries but not this beacon of freedom and democracy that we like to view ourselves as.” ~Bernie Ellis, Election integrity activist

Three million votes lost nationwide, these are just a sampling of the issues that unfold in Earnhardt’s stunning documentary UNCOUNTED:

Exit Poll Discrepancies in 2004

“Nearly all the experts are in agreement that the exit polls could not have been so far off that they gave such distorted results. It’s far more rational that the voting process was compromised.” ~Rep. John Conyers, Chair, House Judiciary Committee

“Jim Crow” Voter Suppression in the 21st Century

“The targeting of people of color is very political and very computerized.”~Harvey Wasserman, journalist & author

Undervoting

“When you see 42%, 70% and 80% undervotes in a precinct in this election, you know that’s not real. There’s something desperately not right.”~Marybeth Kuznik, Pennsylvania poll worker Electronic Voting

“With all these [electronic] machines, you can alter the outcome of a national election in a way that is just unprecedented in terms of its reach and the power to really play around.”~Andrew Gumbel, Journalist & author, “Steal This Vote”

This event is sponsored by Amanda Whitley, as a “concerned citizen”, with assistance from Clarksville Online volunteers.

The MLK holiday for some was just a day-off, but for members of the NAACP, it was a day-on. By this I mean a day set aside to pay homage to a man who made a tremendous difference in the way we live today. Believe it or not, there were some who chose simply to forget the contributions he made to freedom irregardless of race, creed or national origin.

We, the NAACP, chose to devote quality time to keep the dream alive by attending religious services, preparing and presenting workshops and marching. Although the march was symbolic, it had its relevance to society as we know it today.

As some of us reflect back to the days of the 60’s, we know the meaning behind the marches and the songs we sung. During that period, each song carried a distinct meaning and each step symbolized moving just a little closer to realizing the goal of equality; equality in education, economics, politics, as well as social recognitions.

We have not made it to the mountaintop yet, but we still strive. We strive to be the best citizens, best employees, best neighbors and best friends to members of our community. We strive to make sure our children get the best possible education, healthcare, and are equipped to assimilate into the spheres of adulthood. We strive to live our life in a way that serves as an icon to our peers as well as our subordinates. We strive to hold those accountable who are elected to represent our best interest.

The holiday has ended but our commitment to fight the fight of justice for all continues. It continues because we still have flaws in our fabrics. The fabric of democracy is going through a process of renewal. If she is to successfully complete that cycle, each of us have a role to play in mending it. As we look forward to the rest of 2008, let us focus on the greatness of the deeds done by Dr. King. His sacrifice, commitment and willingness to go to jail to help right the wrongs that were being inflicted upon the poor.

We are a great nation, great state, great city and most of all a great people. May God truly bless America in 2008.

Jimmie Garland, Sr.

Editor’s Note: Jimmie Garland is a contributor for Clarksville Online.

The staff and writers at

Clarksville Online

wish all our readers the happiest of holidays

as you celebrate the spirit of Christmas.

These changes were required in every state for the 2006 federal election. Millions of tax dollars were allocated and dispersed to the states to upgrade and buy new equipment that would incorporate these requirements.

Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) voting machines are touch screen machines with no paper ballot. In Tennessee manufacturers of electronic voting systems including Diebold (a Diebold Voting Machine is shown above right), ES&S, Hart, and Microvote, eagerly marketed their Direct Recording Electronic machines to county election officials, although most of these manufacturers also produce optical scan voting systems. Optical scan systems are less costly, more efficient, and most importantly use paper ballots, marked by each voter, then optically scanned to record and count the vote.

Problems with DREs

DREs are essentially notebook computers programmed to display ballot images, record and count voter choices, and store this information on removable memory cards. Like any computer, the DREs can get a virus, be incorrectly programmed, or malfunction, either through innocent mishap or malicious intent. It is important to remember that when problems occur with the DREs, there is no independent record of each vote, so no meaningful recount or audit is possible.

Thousands of problems with electronic voting systems have arisen in dozens of states, including votes “flipped”, votes not counted, and malfunctioning memory cards. While most problems have been machine malfunctions from programming errors or poll worker inexperience, some less savory problems have occurred, including in 2006 in Memphis, where evidence revealed tampering had occurred in the central vote tabulator. It is clear that DREs are vulnerable to errors, malfunctions and tampering. As a result, it’s impossible to safeguard votes on such equipment.

In early 2005, I organized Save Our Democracy, a grassroots group that has continuously learned about voting issues and equipment. In 2006 SOD formed a coalition with Common Cause TN. The group’s members have also worked with county and state election commissions, legislators, the state coordinator of elections and other citizen groups to encourage county commissions to purchase optical scan voting systems, NOT DRE’s.

Finally in 2006, 93 of the 95 Tennessee counties chose DRE systems. Only Pickett county bought an optical scan system, while Hamilton County converted to optical scan voting nine years ago.

The current reality in the US and Tennessee

In 35 states, all votes are cast on voter verifiable paper ballots. Only five states still use DREs exclusively. Tennessee lags behind, with only two counties safeguarding their elections. We must have legislation that mandates paper ballots.

What’s the answer? The simple fix is making sure all voters vote on electronic voting systems that start with a paper ballot that they mark. Throw out the DREs and replace them with optical scan voting systems. Election officials will tell us there is not time to switch to optical scan machines before the November 2008 election. In 2006,however, the counties ordered and installed completely new equipment in seven months, so there is time to make the change to optical scan systems by November.

What’s happening in the Tennessee Legislature?

In 2005, Rep. Susan Lynn and Sen. Bill Bryson introduced the first bill to mandate paper ballots. In the 2006 legislative session, we worked closely with Rep. Gary Moore and Senator Joe Haynes to craft a comprehensive bill, The Voter Confidence Act that would mandate paper ballots, post election audits, and high level security for the voting systems. After the 2006 election, legislators began to appreciate the problems with the DREs: 12 bills were introduced in 2007 that would increase voter security. All of these bills, including The Voter Confidence Act SB 1363 HB 1256, are currently being reviewed by a joint Senate-House Study Committee that will report its recommendations to the General Assembly by Feb. 2008. The next meeting will be Dec. 18.

A second examination revealing the flaws and dangers of electronic voting issues is also underway. The TN Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations -TACIR – is conducting a sweeping examination of voting and election issues. Their two interim reports, written by the staff and issued in June and September, 2007, urge the state to move to optical scan voting systems as soon as possible.

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Reprinted from Gathering to Save Our Democracy (11.12.07)

This “action kit” will get you started (or moving faster) to register your concerns with our state leaders.

Here are three things YOU CAN DO NOW to help up ramp up the discussion for voter-verified paper ballots and mandatory random audits here in Tennessee. Now here are three things you can do to help us gain serious momentum:

Action Task 1. Contact the members of the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (TACIR).(They meet on December 12, so please contact them right away.) Tell them that you want them to endorse the TACIR staff report, “Trust But Verify”. You also recommend to the legislature that we move rapidly away from paperless touch-screen voting in Tennessee and toward optical scan voting systems that start and end with a voter-completed paper ballot. You also endorse the need for mandatory random audits of those paper ballots to ensure that the opscan systems also count our votes completely and accurately. Here is a sample letter:

Dear TACIR Commissioners,

I am writing to thank you, through your participation in TACIR, for your serious review and assessment of the threats, costs and other issues that paperless touch-screen voting has presented to maintaining the integrity of our elections here in Tennessee. You have heard much testimony and would doubtless hear more if there were time available for citizens to do so once again. However, the time for a decision is now upon us and we hope that TACIR will accomplish the following on December 12:

1. Accept and endorse the TACIR staff report, “Trust But Verify”, as an excellent summary of the many compelling reasons why we must act to restore integrity to our voting process.
2. Act as the influential body that you are to recommend that the Tennessee legislature consider, debate and adopt (as soon as possible) legislation which will support and assist the orderly adoption of voting systems that use or produce voter-verified paper ballots in Tennessee, to be counted on more secure and verifiable voting equipment (specifically, optical scan or similar voting systems) than we have recently installed.
3. Recommend that the state of Tennessee assist counties in the transformation to more secure and verifiable voting systems as soon as possible by working to provide both state funds, redirected HAVA funds (of which we still have between $15-20 million) and other means to reduce the economic impact of these state-mandated efforts to restore integrity in our voting process might have on those county governments.
4. Encourage the Legislative Study Committee assigned to review the Tennessee Voter Confidence Act (HB 1256, Moore; SB 1363, Haynes) on December 18 to recommend that this legislation go forward as quickly as possible and that it be considered, debated and adopted by the full Legislature when it re-convenes in January.

Once again, thank you for the time and attention you have given to the issue of election integrity — and specifically more verifiable voting systems — through your work on the TACIR Board. We sincerely hope that you will support some affirming action by TACIR at the December 12 meeting that will hasten needed election reform in our state.

Thank you for your public service. Here’s hoping we can rescue our franchise and save our democracy here in Tennessee before it is too late.

(Your signature)

Here are all the available TACIR Commission emails we have. You can “cut-and-paste” this list of email addresses into your email address spot and email all of them at once. (It might be nice to “bcc” all of them so the email seems more individually directed.) :

• senator.rosalind..tn.us
• senator.james..tn.us
• senator.mark..tn.us
• senator.jim..tn.us
• rep.jason..tn.us
• rep.gary..tn.us
• rep.randy..tn.us
• rep.larry..tn.us
• senator.randy..tn.us
• rep.craig..tn.us
• john..us
• paula..us
• drew..us
• Rose..us

Action Task 2: Contact the members of the Legislative Study Committee who will review the Tennessee Voter Confidence Act on December 18. Ask them to support repairing our election process by requiring voter-verified paper ballots and mandatory random audits here in Tennessee as soon as possibly, preferably 2008. Here’s a sample letter I just sent:

Dear TN Voter Confidence Act Study Committee Members:

I am writing to thank you in advance for your serious review and assessment of the threats, costs and other issues that paperless touch-screen voting has presented to restoring the integrity of our elections here in Tennessee. We hope you will use the information you receive and review on December 18 to recommend immediate action to restore the integrity of our franchiase here in Tennessee. The time for a decision is now if we are to protect our votes before November, 2008. Please do the following things:

(copy itemized list from above letter)

Thank you for your public service. You can rescue our franchise. We can’t afford another insecure election.

(your signature)

————–
These are the Legislative Study Committee members for the Tennessee Voter Confidence Act. “Cut-and-paste” them into the address box of an email and write them all at once.

• rep.joe..tn.us
• rep.gary..tn.us
• rep.john..tn.us
• rep.jimmy..tn.us
• rep.joe..tn.us
• rep.larry..tn.us
• rep.susan..tn.us
• senator.joe..tn.us
• senator.roy..tn.us
• senator.mark..tn.us
• senator.tim..tn.us
• senator.jamie..tn.us

Action Task 3: Contact other Tennessee officials NOW to ask them to pay attention to this issue and to act themselves, if necessary, to insure that these reforms are enacted. Here’s a preliminary list of state officials that we should be contacting in some way. I hope each of you will email your thoughts directly to some or all of these officials. In addition, you might want to mail copies of UNCOUNTED or the postcards recommending that it be watched to these same offices. I think the post-cards in particular can generate attention to these issues within these state offices.

We are asking all of these officials to do the following:

1. To please give serious consideration to the number of threats which our elections face and to consider what they can do to restore election integrity in our state
2. To do whatever they can do in their official capacity to help us replace the current non-verifiable voting systems used in most Tennessee counties (touch-screen and push-button voting machines) with verifiable voting systems that incorporate paper ballots (for example, the optical scan voting systems)
3. To encourage others in positions of responsibility for our elections to expedite the changes necessary to make our elections more secure and verifiable before the November, 2008 elections or as soon as possible, by whatever means available.

Bottom line

It’s not too late to restore election integrity in Tennessee, but we must act NOW. We can’t afford another insecure election in our state. Not when the solution is achievable NOW.

Please consider emailing and/or writing these officials directly. If you would like some post-cards which use the UNCOUNTED poster as the front and allows you to write your own message on the back, get in touch with me and we’ll get some of those cards to you. You can email me or call 931/682-2864.

Governor’s Office

Governor Phil Bredesen: phil..us
First Lady Andrea Conte: andrea..us

Governor’s Office
TN State Capital
Nashville, TN 37243-0001

TN Attorney General

Robert E. Cooper, Jr.
P.O. Box 20207
Nashville, TN 37202-0207

Department of Finance & Administration

Commissioner Dave Goetz
312 8th Ave., North, 16th Floor
Nashville, TN 37243

Administration: J. Michael Morrow mike..us
Public Info: Lola Potter lola..us

Secretary of State

Riley Darnell: riley..us
312 8th Ave. North, 8th Floor
Nashville, TN 37243

Elections and State Election Commission

Brook Thompson: brook..us
312 8th Ave., North, 9th floor
Nashville, TN 37243

Department of Economic and Community Development

Commissioner Matt Kisber: matt..us
Asst. Commissioner Paula Davis: paula..us
312 8th Ave. North, 11th floor
Nashville, TN 37243

Department of Veterans Affairs

Commissioner John Keys TN..us
215 8th Ave. North
Nashville, TN 37243

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