Little Egypt Heritage Articles Stories of Southern Illinois (c) Bill Oliver 11 July 2004 Vol 3 Issue: #26 ISBN: pending Osiyo, Good Evening Ladies and Gentlemen of Little Egypt, It is the post-Fourth of July season. Last week I made mentioned of the Spirit Riders. Leading up to the celebration of this Nation's birthday, more than a thousand bikers escorted the traveling Viet Nam Memorial to a local shopping center. Some veterans finally got their "parade". The speeches and promises were grand and glorious, as usual, and they will be filed until next year. The fireworks were magnanimous. Along with the traditional displays, there were more colors and new formations -- five pointed stars, gyroscope shapes, and "smilely" faces. Another example of promises being "filed": In our country if you have been convicted of a felony, you lose your right to vote. However, when clemency has been granted your voting rights are returned to you. I read this week that about 2100 ex-cons who have been given clemency are on a list of ineligible to vote in Florida. [Note: since writing this, Florida has corrected the situation.] This is a wide beautiful country. Like everything, it changes, but it is still beautiful. At Mount Rushmore, one now walks up, then between columns until you reach an amphitheater before you can see the faces. You can still follow a path to view just the faces within natural "surroundings". Remember when the left lane of a super highway was for "passing" a slower vehical? Or, folk always pushed their grocery carts on the right side of the aisle? Do you remember "fender skirts" on cars? I chanced to read some of Tom Dodge's material from his essay "Tom Dodge Talks About Texas". Tom Dodge is "the sage of Midlothian". In this one he talked about "steering knobs", "curb feelers" and "Continental kits". He talked about the change in terms, such as "parking brake" from "emergency brake". And, I was agreeing ... there was a bit more excitement in the term "emergency brake". Do you remember what the "foot feed" is? [Well, not me ... I'm much too young!] If you are familiar with these terms you are probably more than looking forward to MediCare. In fact you probably were born before or at least during the "Great Depression". Those were the days when things, such as men's suits could be "store bought" but there were still tailors employed to make any alterations so that you got a "good" fit. Today it's all "off the rack". Plus, I remember "clerks" ... today, if I do find one outside the "customer service" desk which guards the entrance s/he's on a phone discussing something. Speaking of clerks, has anyone "counted" your change to you lately? The first phone I remember was in my Grandmother's home. We were late comers because the phone number had four digits [3686]. By the time WWII was in progress the number had increased by two [Adams 3686], but they were letters which stood in place of numbers. By the time I entered college they had added another digit. And, of course, today there are ten numbers for local calls. As I was growing up my horizons had to expand. I thought "coast to coast" was more than a "body" could comprehend. Today "worldwide" is minute when placed beside the new pictures of Saturn and those gorgeous rings. When I was quite young, many men would get up early every day and gathered at factories and business' hoping to be picked for a job that day. [In Detroit, there is a story that said that "ditch diggers" got a day's job if they caught one of the shovels that were thrown out into the crowd.] Those were the days that I learned that it was not what one knew but whom one knew that paid off. My Father always seemed to know someone who gave him work. During those years, a new President of the USA took office and this country entered into an era of "alphabet soup" ... errr ... New Deal[s]. It was called alphabet soup because everything was characterized by beginning letters. Most everyone is familiar with "WPA" [Works Progress Administration]. Many of the buildings at my hometown zoo were built as WPA projects. When he took office in 1933, President F.D.R. hastily initiated program after program to create jobs, thus giving relief to our citizens and stimulating economic recovery in this country. There was the FDIC, the FERA, the NIRA, etc. The FERA, Federal Emergency Relief Administration, was led by Harry Hopkins, a former social worker. his agency sent funds to depleting local relief agencies. Within two hours, $5 million were given out. Mr. Hopkins believed that men should be put to work and not be given charity. However, the ones I want to describe tonight are the WPA, the CCC, the CWA, the PWA, the TVA and the FSA. The Tennessee Valley Administration, or TVA, helped farmers and created jobs in one of America's least modernized areas. By reactivating a hydroelectric power plant it provided cheap electric power, flood control, and recreational opportunities to the entire Tennessee River valley. The FSA, Farm Security Administration, loaned more than $1 billion to farmers and set up camps for migrant workers. This was a figure larger than any individual was worth ... a number almost larger than comprehension. The most familiar program was the WPA, the Works Progress Administration. This agency provided work for 8 million Americans. The WPA constructed or repaired schools, hospitals, airfields, zoos and more. The CCC, the Civilian Conservation Corps was an environmental program which put 2.5 million unmarried men to work maintaining and restoring forests, beaches, and parks. Workers earned only $1 a day but received free board and job training. From 1934 to 1937, this program funded similar programs for 8,500 women. The CWA, the Civilian Works Administration, was the public work program that gave the unemployed jobs building or repairing roads, parks, airports, and such. The PWA, the Public Works Administration was the agency which did gigantic projects such as the Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River. Nothing, but nothing, stays the same and like the old News Reels "Time Marches On". But ... I just love to take trips down "memory lane". They remind me of all the good times that I have had stomping on grass rather than pushing it up. I suggest that you pass some of your memories along to your young generations. e-la-di-e-das-di ha-wi nv-wa-do-hi-ya nv-wa-to-hi-ya-da. (May you walk in peace and harmony) Wado, Bill -=- PostScript: = = = = http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/SOIL http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/ILMASSAC http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ne/state/BillsArticles/LittleEgypt/intro.html