What can we do to help those in need?

“The beginning of the greatest political experiment in the interest of the masses of mankind ever undertaken in the history of the world.” That’s what former Freeman Courier publisher J.J. Mendel called the establishment of an independent America in 1776, in a writing published in the Freeman weekly in July of 1916.

I don’t recall when I first learned that the United States put American citizens of Japanese ancestry in internment camps during World War II. I know it wasn’t in grade school and I suspect it wasn’t taught in my high school American history class. Whether I learned of it in college or by reading on my own, I gained a profound education in 1971. That’s when I met Joe Yoshimura, a co-worker at Allen House – the shelter for children at which I worked in Cincinnati for two years. He became a friend.

When I can’t sleep at night I go outdoors and walk the grass (which is healthy). The night of June 21, (first day of summer) at 1:22 a.m., I decided to go out. As I opened the door words came from my mouth — “That is the same moon that shined for Moses!” What? Those were not my thoughts, words. It was a message from God. I was awe-struck, my inner-self trying to understand the words.

A short news item published in the Hutchinson Herald 120 years ago serves as a reminder of the well-known quote from philosopher George Santayana: “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

I recently enjoyed a visit to Freeman to see my family and at the request of my daughter, we toured the Freeman High School. Sophia, who will be entering her Sophomore year in a high school of nearly 1,900 students, was curious about her cousin Ella’s experience in a small-town school.

I would like to address the issue of the traffic on our local roads. I realize there is a lot of work being done on county roads and township roads and I know it’s overdue. I understand the increase of traffic on local and county roads. I wonder if there is not a way to get the word out about the time and use of the engine brake that seems to become a toy for some drivers, in empty trailers, the use of the engine brakes is unnecessary and with the illegal exhausts on most of those trucks it creates a menace.

We have been thrilled to welcome visitors to Heritage Hall Museum & Archives after the year-long lull resulting from Covid-19. In the past couple of weeks, we’ve had a steady stream of guests, with representation from Alabama to Arizona and many places in-between.

Dear editor, Thank you for the wonderful picture of Trey Maske with the channel catfish in last week’s Courier (5-Minute Interview; page 6A). I have clipped it so that I have a reminder of why Lyle thought it was so important that the Arboretum exists and that it have ponds for both nature and people to enjoy. 

Yes, it makes sense to hold off on a new wrestling facility and youth ballfields until more information can be obtained, but it also makes sense to wait given the change in leadership at Freeman Public that is now just weeks away.