This is the short version of my remarks this morning at the Opening ceremonies for the 62nd St. John
Catholic Church Christmas Bazaar December 5, 2015 at 8:00 am
By Baltimore Sun writer Kevin E. Dayhoff, the former
mayor of Westminster from 2001-2005
This year the bazaar is open from 8:30 a.m. – 4:00
p.m.
43 Monroe Street, Westminster, MD 21157
Good morning. On behalf of Westminster’s past and present
elected officials, I would like to welcome you to the 62nd consecutive
St. John Christmas Bazaar.
For the past 12-years I have been a journalist at the
Baltimore Sun writing mostly history. At my age I am greatly amused that many
events that took place in my childhood are now studied as history by today’s
school children.
I look forward to the Christmas bazaar every year. When I
was very young, the bazaar was part of a family adventure during the Christmas
season.
During my high school years from 1969 through 1971, I often
attended Mass at St. John with a good friend. I recall when the last Mass was
held on February 4, 1968 at the church building on Main Street in town.
Last year when my wife Caroline and I were enjoying lunch at
the bazaar with Mary Mussari, I was pleased when John Bryan asked me to speak
at this year’s opening. Mr. Bryan told me that recently the ceremony has been
dedicated to our servicemen and women – - and that this year we are paying a
special recognition to Vietnam Vets.
It was just a few short weeks ago that our community came
together to observe Veterans Day. No community does it better than Carroll
County.
I served stateside in the United States Marine Corps Reserve
from 1971 to 1973. Although I was not deployed, it has remained a sobering
event in my life to have stepped-up the plate, despite a high draft number,
signed on the dotted line, and
volunteered to serve during the Vietnam War.
This year, schools set the example for all of Carroll County
by commemorating Veterans Day with many thoughtful, and well-planned services
and programs.
In recent years Veterans Day has turned more somber. In the past, much of the
community came together to celebrate
the end of World War One and World War Two, and the Korean War.
Much of the nation saw nothing to celebrate for decades
after the end of the Vietnam War. The war had dragged-on for over 19 years - for
what seemed an eternity.
After the United States ended its direct involvement in the
war on August 15, 1973, veterans were treated with scorn by the American left
that proudly heaped insult upon injury upon those who served during the war.
Thankfully, the current youngest generation has seen fit to
honor its veterans that have served proudly in the first and second Gulf Wars –
and they treat Vietnam veterans with great dignity and respect.
Over 2.7 million Americans served in the Vietnam War. The
average age was 19. Of that number, 300,000 were wounded in action, and 75,000
were disabled.
It has been estimated that almost 5 million military
personnel and civilians, from all sides, lost their life in the Vietnam War. Of
the 58,200 names listed on the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington DC, 1,046
are Marylanders who made the ultimate sacrifice.
Although many Vietnam era vets still harbor a deep-seated
resentment as to how we were treated, the manner in which we are treated by the
youngest generation brings tears to our eyes and has gone a long way to heal
the wounds of decades of being abused and ignored.
Today, we pay a special tribute to the eighteen fallen
heroes from Carroll County, whose faces are etched in the black granite
monument in the Vietnam Memorial Park on Willis Street that was dedicated on
May 28, 1990.
We hold dear in our hearts the eighteen names: Ronald Kenny;
Christopher Miller, Jr.; Carl Egolf; James Byers; Russell Amoss; Russell
Milberry; Everett Justice, Jr.; Michael Kidd; John Feezer; Sherman Flanagan,
Jr.; Muriel Groomes; Joseph Oreto; Frederick Magsamen; Franklin Underwood, Jr.;
James Zumbrun; Joseph Blickenstaff, Jr.; David Steger; and Herbert Mulkey, Jr.
The faces of the eighteen names on the monument are frozen
in time. Some we knew. Some we didn’t. But they were all someone’s son or
father or brother or uncle – or a cherished childhood friend. Their faces have
been silent for many years, but they all have a story to tell.
Today it is only right to recall the profound words from Ephesians,
“Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles
of the devil, and be armed with the power of the Spirit, so that we may
continue to make the Gospel understandable to those of us, who after many years,
still have unanswered questions…”
God Bless and Semper Fi to all our brothers and sisters in
uniform that served and died to protect our freedoms - and cannot attend the
bazaar. Thank you for having me speak with you today. It was an honor.
++++++++++++
Dayhoff presentations, Dayhoff writing essays, Religion St
John Catholic Ch, Dayhoff writing essays Vietnam, Military Vietnam, Annual
Christmas, #KED, #partylikeajournalist,
Kevin Earl Dayhoff Art www.kevindayhoff.com: Travel, art,
artists, authors, books, newspapers, media, writers and writing, journalists
and journalism, reporters and reporting, music, culture, opera... Ad maiorem
Dei gloriam inque hominum salutem. “Deadline U.S.A.” 1952. Ed Hutcheson:
“That's the press, baby. The press! And there's nothing you can do about it. Nothing!”
- See more at: http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/#sthash.4HNLwtfd.dpuf
Kevin Earl Dayhoff Art www.kevindayhoff.com: Travel, art,
artists, authors, books, newspapers, media, writers and writing, journalists
and journalism, reporters and reporting, music, culture, opera... Ad maiorem
Dei gloriam inque hominum salutem. “Deadline U.S.A.” 1952. Ed Hutcheson:
“That's the press, baby. The press! And there's nothing you can do about it. Nothing!”
- See more at: http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/#sthash.4HNLwtfd.dpuf
“Hurt” performed by
Johnny Cash in 2002, and released on the album, “American IV: The Man Comes
Around,” just before Mr. Cash died September 12, 2003.
“But I remember
everything, [Chorus:] What have I become, My sweetest friend
Everyone I know goes
away, In the end …” “Hurt,” originally by “Nine Inch NILS,” in April 17, 1995…
“But I remember everything, [Chorus:] What have I become, My
sweetest friend
Everyone I know goes away, In the end …” “Hurt,” originally
by “Nine Inch NILS,” in April 17, 1995… “Hurt” performed by Johnny Cash in
2002, and released on the album, “American IV: The Man Comes Around,” just
before Mr. Cash died September 12, 2003.
August 31, 2015 / KED
Long before there was Trent Reznor and "Nine Inch Nails" or Robert Smith and “The Cure,” there was
Johnny Cash.
I just heard “Hurt” performed by Johnny Cash yesterday for
the first time in several years. I was at the Country Music Hall of Fame and
Museum in Nashville, Tenn.
It is haunting. Awesome performance by one of the premier
artists of the 20th Century. Dad introduced me to Johnny Cash in the late 1950s
on AM radio when I would ride along with him on his Watkins Vending route all
over Carroll County, Md.
According to the YouTube post: "This poignant
performance of Nine Inch Nail's, "Hurt" is almost haunting, as it was
recorded just prior to Cash's untimely death. Whether or not a Johnny Cash fan,
this performance is powerful and deep with emotion. Produced by Rick Rubin, The
Man Comes Around is the fourth and final Grammy Award-winning album Cash and
Rubin have collaborated on"
Find the Nine Inch Nails' version here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KR4DjYczINM
The Nine Inch Nails original is awesome.... I prefer the Johnny Cash version. Find
the NIN version here:
JOHNNY CASH LYRICS
"Hurt"
(Originally by Nine Inch Nails)
I hurt myself today
To see if I still feel
I focus on the pain
The only thing that's real
The needle tears a hole
The old familiar sting
Try to kill it all away
But I remember everything
[Chorus:]
What have I become
My sweetest friend
Everyone I know goes away
In the end
And you could have it all
My empire of dirt
I will let you down
I will make you hurt
I wear this crown of thorns
Upon my liar's chair
Full of broken thoughts
I cannot repair
Beneath the stains of time
The feelings disappear
You are someone else
I am still right here
[Chorus:]
What have I become
My sweetest friend
Everyone I know goes away
In the end
And you could have it all
My empire of dirt
I will let you down
I will make you hurt
If I could start again
A million miles away
I would keep myself
I would find a way
Speaking of “Nine Inch Nails,” of which I am, along with
Johnny Cash and “The Cure,” a devoted fan; one of my all-time favorite stories
of the days when I was an elected official was being interviewed by a Carroll
County Times reporter who had an attitude and tonality that indicated that she
clearly perceived me as a knuckle-dragging Neanderthal. An old sick, and
homeless lead character with no redemptive qualities from Ian Anderson’s Jethro
Tull’s concept album, the fourth album the band released in 1971, “AquaLung.”
At one point she asked me, “What was the last concert you
attended?” To which I responded that I was really a cyborg and that in order to
give me human-like qualities, I was programmed to be a Trent Reznor fan and I
went to see “Nine Inch Nails.” That I knew very little about electric sheep,
butterflies, or woodpeckers, but I got my instructions from a package of camel
cigarettes. I usually get all my frustrations out on people with my keyboard,
but that night, I got out all my frustrations in the mosh pit. She was quiet
for a while….
“Sinking” by Robert Smith
"Sinking" “Head on the Door” 1985
I am slowing down
As the years go by
I am sinking
So I trick myself
Like everybody else
The secrets I hide
Twist me inside
They make me weaker
So I trick myself
Like everybody else
I crouch in fear and wait
I'll never feel again
If only I could remember
Anything at all
Music Cash Johnny, Music Country, Music, Music The Cure,
Music Nine Inch Nails, 5 easy, "Five Easy Pieces", #amwriting, #KED, US st TN, US st TN Nashville, US st TN Nashville
20150828_0902
Kevin Earl Dayhoff Art www.kevindayhoff.com: Travel, art,
artists, authors, books, newspapers, media, writers and writing, journalists
and journalism, reporters and reporting, music, culture, opera... Ad maiorem
Dei gloriam inque hominum salutem. “Deadline U.S.A.” 1952. Ed Hutcheson:
“That's the press, baby. The press! And there's nothing you can do about it. Nothing!”
- See more at: http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/#sthash.4HNLwtfd.dpuf
“But I remember everything, [Chorus:] What have I become, My
sweetest friend
Everyone I know goes away, In the end …”
August 31, 2015
Just heard this yesterday for the first time in several years. It is haunting. Awesome performance by one of the premier artists of the 20th Century. Dad introduced me to Johnny Cash in the late 1950s on AM radio when I would ride along with him on his Watkins Vending route all over Carroll County, Md.
According to the YouTube post: "This poignant performance of Nine Inch Nail's, "Hurt" is almost haunting, as it was recorded just prior to Cash's untimely death. Whether or not a Johnny Cash fan, this performance is powerful and deep with emotion. Produced by Rick Rubin, The Man Comes Around is the fourth and final Grammy Award-winning album Cash and Rubin have collaborated on"
Kevin Earl Dayhoff Art www.kevindayhoff.com: Travel, art,
artists, authors, books, newspapers, media, writers and writing, journalists
and journalism, reporters and reporting, music, culture, opera... Ad maiorem
Dei gloriam inque hominum salutem. “Deadline U.S.A.” 1952. Ed Hutcheson:
“That's the press, baby. The press! And there's nothing you can do about it. Nothing!”
- See more at: http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/#sthash.4HNLwtfd.dpuf
Kevin Earl Dayhoff Art www.kevindayhoff.com: Travel, art,
artists, authors, books, newspapers, media, writers and writing, journalists
and journalism, reporters and reporting, music, culture, opera... Ad maiorem
Dei gloriam inque hominum salutem. “Deadline U.S.A.” 1952. Ed Hutcheson:
“That's the press, baby. The press! And there's nothing you can do about it. Nothing!”
- See more at: http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/#sthash.4HNLwtfd.dpuf
“Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss
of enthusiasm,” Winston S. Churchill. Or perhaps a different perspective is
offered by Thomas A. Edison, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways
that won’t work.”
I have always thought that success is the art of failing
forward. I am not sure if that is really original, but that is how I have
always understood success since I was quite young and starting-out. I never let
not know what I was doing to stop me and I kept failing forward… To this very
day.
It seems that failure tends to be more public than success.
Or at least that’s what we perceive it to be. We fret it, we try to avoid it,
and we question ourselves every time we have unconventional ideas. But the
simple truth is – no great success was ever achieved without failure. It may be
one epic failure. Or a series of failures – such as Edison’s 10,000 attempts to
create a light bulb or Dyson’s 5,126 attempts to invent a bagless vacuum
cleaner. But, whether we like it or not, failure is a necessary stepping stone
to achieving our dreams.
Several months ago I gave a short, TED-style
talk on the topic. And today I wanted to share this collection of 30 quotes
that will hopefully inspire you to look at failure differently.
1. “Failure isn’t fatal, but failure to change might be” –
John Wooden
2. “Everything you want is on the other side of fear.” - Jack Canfield
Kevin Earl Dayhoff Art www.kevindayhoff.com: Travel, art,
artists, authors, books, newspapers, media, writers and writing, journalists
and journalism, reporters and reporting, music, culture, opera... Ad maiorem
Dei gloriam inque hominum salutem. “Deadline U.S.A.” 1952. Ed Hutcheson:
“That's the press, baby. The press! And there's nothing you can do about it. Nothing!”
- See more at: http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/#sthash.4HNLwtfd.dpuf
