Flay Day - June 14

Today is Flay Day and we put our flag out early this morning while it was still foggy. We have been flying a flag on special occasions for as long as I can remember.


I always enjoy seeing the large US flags flying on tall flagpoles when we travel places. Especially if the wind is blowing, making flag furl in the breeze. It bothers me when people leave tattered and torn flags hanging. Before he died, our neighbor used to call and tell people when they needed to replace their flag.


You only have to leave the US and travel to other parts of the world, and come home and see our flag displayed to make your heart swell with pride.


As a member of the Daughters or the American Revolution, we take great pride in promoting "fly your flag". We say the Pledge of Allegiance at our meetings and sing the Star Spangled Banner. I belong to some other civic groups and we too always say the pledge. I hope we never stop doing that.


I remember when Alaska and Hawaii were added as states and 2 more stars were added to the American flag in 1960. We had a flag with 48 stars for a long time.


Today we are saddened with the death of a great newsman, Tim Russert, who died from a heart attack yesterday while at work. I think it is very fitting that his home town of Buffalo, NY has their flags flying at half-staff. Recently our young friend David Bannister, who was a city councilman, died suddenly, and the city honored him by flying the flag at half mast.


God Bless America!

Our family's Boy Scout experiences

When we heard on the news today about a tornado hitting a boy scout camp in Iowa, so many memories of our sons Ronnie and Bill and their scout camping experiences came to mind. I'm sure there were many that they didn't tell us about in fear that we'd never let them go again!

One of the first is when Ronnie went on a camping trip to N. GA when we lived in Atlanta in the 1960's. He was with an advance group that went ahead to the mountains to prepare for a troop week-end camping trip. Soon after they arrived it started getting dark and started snowing. It was almost a blizzard. They packed snow around the base of the cabin to keep out the wind. They had enough food to last for awhile and I don't remember if they had any heat. All I remember about the trip was being so concerned about if they were keeping warm. Of course, the trip was called off and the other campers remained at home. It was a couple of days before the snow melted enough for them to get down off the mountain and come back home.

Bill Gilmer

We went through the Cub Scout, Webelos, and then the scout ladder all the way to Eagle with Ronnie and Bill. James was in boy scouts at his sheltered workshop in NC for a short time. He definitely did not like going camping after one experience where it rained and they were in tents and he got wet. That was enough for him.


Bill and Ronnie both spent summers working at Camp Dierks in SE Oklahoma when they were in high school. Bill started out working in the dining room. I remember that one summer Ronnie taught Archery. Most of all I think they enjoyed swimming and canoeing in the cold lake. What I remember about Camp Dierks was the big bags of very dirty clothing, esp. towels, they brought home occasionally to wash. They weren't paid very much but loved working there, meeting new friends, the good food, and learning a lot about the outdoors.

Ron hiking at Philmont 

Perhaps the most memorable time for us was when Ronnie went with a friend Doug to Philmont Boy Scout Ranch in New Mexico one summer. He started cutting grass for friends and neighbors early in the spring to earn enough money for his trip. He and Doug went by charter bus with scouts all over East Texas.

We had traveled out west with the boys the summer before and had some idea of what the area looked like; lots of big mountains once you get out of the desert area going north. I remember that some of the mountains had snow on top all year long.

While Ronnie was away and Bill was working at Camp Dierks, Jim and I agreed to work at a camp for mentally handicapped kids which our son James attended. The camp was held at a Girl Scout camp just a few miles from Paris, TX where we lived. It was really isolated and we didn't have cell phones, TV, etc. to get any news during the week. One day Jim went back into town and went by our home and the phone was ringing. The Paris News reporter had been trying to reach us to see if we had heard from Ronnie and we told him where he was. They had seen an AP news release about a scout who had died and they suspected bubonic plague and all the campers were quarantined until they could find out what caused the scout's death. As I said, there wasn't any way we could get info except that the scout was not from Texas and we than assumed Ronnie was ok. He was on a trail in the mountains and they let them move to an area with a cabin and pack mules to ride. Food was dropped to the campsites while they waited out the medical report. Ronnie showed us his pictures of the "Bear bag" and how the bear got to their food one night and pulled it down from the tree. The bear bag photo here was from Google.

We were anxious to get back home to listen for any news from Ronnie, and we finally heard that his group was fine and would be coming home the following week. It was decided the boy died from a complication he had before coming to camp, with a chest infection, etc. The high altitude was too much probably.

Ronnie and Bill both earned their Eagle Scout rank and I'm sure they remember a lot of good scout experiences. Their dad accompanied them on some of their camping trips but didn't volunteer too often. He said it was hard work! Besides, he didn't like sleeping outdoors and all the bugs, etc.

Memorial to the Confederate Dead at Elba United Methodist Church

                                             "The Confederate Dead" inscribed near bottom of window. 


Every Sunday I sit next to this beautiful stained glass window at Elba United Methodist Church. The windows are beautiful, especially on bright sunny days. Most of the windows have names of the donor families except for two.


I learned why these two windows are memorials to "The Confederate Dead".
Stained glass windows were added to the church when the present church was built in 1911.
Two of the large stained glass windows were installed as the Coffee County Memorial to Confederate Soldiers from Coffee Coffee. Mrs. Cordelia Lee Costello was in charge of the memorial fund to erect a monument on the courthouse square in Elba, but post-war poverty was so devasting until this was impossible. Since the church was under construction, Mrs. Costello got permission from the congregation and the contributors to use the funds to help buy the windows.


Mrs. Costello's husband, Pierre Darcy Costello, was born in Limrock, Ireland. He immigrated to Elba and married Cordelia Lee. He served as Probate Judge of Coffee County (1856-1862). He went to war and served until his death on Jan 4, 1863 in the Battle of Murphreesboro, TN and is buried on the battlefield. There is a large monument for him at Shiloh cemetery near Elba.
The Costello's had several children but all died before reaching maturity. His wife and children are all buried at Shiloh Cemetery. Mrs. Costello lived for a long time after her husband was killed.


I found this information in the Coffee County Heritage Book and it was submitted by Marion Brunson, member of Elba UMC.


I wonder if there are any other stained glass windows dedicated to the Confederate Dead.


I once took some lessons to learn to make stained glass. After making two panels for our front door in NC, I retired from doing this craft. I learned enough to really appreciate the work involved.

A New Musical Experience

Yesterday, Sat. May 31, 2008, I went to my first Sacred Harp singing at Shady Grove Primitive Baptist Church. My cousin Linda had invited us several times and since this one was at a country church near us, we decided to go see what it was all about. We arrived around 11 a.m. and had a hard time getting James to go inside. He wasn't sure about what was taking place inside when he heard the "unusual" singing taking place. He was ready to come home after lunch. Go to this site and click it on to experience the "sound" of sacred harp: http://www.awakemysoul.com/


The singing started at 10 a.m. and lasted until 3 p.m. They stopped for a delicious covered dish lunch at noon. As soon as they finished lunch, they headed back inside the church and started singing again, with gusto!


I went online to read about Sacred Harp music so I would have some idea of what we were going to hear. It was beautiful harmony. At first I didn't have any idea what they were saying. I asked someone for a songbook so I could follow along. At first they were just singing the shaped notes and then they would start singing words. Sometimes, when I knew the songs, I would sing along.


Copied from Google: Sacred Harp uses printed shapes to help untrained singers read the music. A triangle represents fa, a circle for sol, a square for la and a diamond for mi. There is no musical accompaniment -- "harp" refers to the most-used tune book, "The Sacred Harp," first published in 1844.

Also unique is the way singers are organized -- in an open square, with tenors, bass, alto and treble voices each taking a side. Singers take turns leading the group and beat their hands to keep time.
The result is a loud, clear, almost astringent sound that some describe as ancient, others like a human bagpipe or organ. Singers usually perform a song using its notes before singing the lyrics. And everyone is expected to participate -- there is no division between a choir and audience.
You have to participate in singing to really enjoy and appreciate sacred harp music. Most of the singers were older people with a few younger family members learning the art of singing the shaped notes. Many were there because their parents and grandparents enjoyed Sacred Harp music and they passed this legacy on to their children. I'm afraid my children and grandchildren will never experience Sacred Harp music from Jim or me. Jim loves singing in our church choir and "high" music (not gospel) and I can't carry a tune in a bucket! But I love listening to all types of music, especially when it's a tune or song I know.


The recent movie "Cold Mountain" featured some Sacred harp singers from Alabama. Click on this site: http://www.amazon.com/Cold-Mountain-Various-Artists/dp/B0000E1WL4
then on the left side of the page, click "Play samples". When the list of songs is shown, click on #9 and then #19 and listen to the Sacred Harp selections from the movie Cold Mountain.