12 SEP 07: CANDLES IN THE WIND

The torch was passed to me Tuesday night - and when I tried to use the other person's torch to light mine, both our torches went out. Six years after the September 11 attacks, the symbolism here was not good at all....

Your blog joined about 150 people at a candlelight vigil on the Columbus State University campus. A 15-minute program capped a day-long "Patriot Day" remembrance at the Cunningham Center for Leadership Development. So why didn't I see any current local leaders at the vigil, other than Police Chief Ricky Boren?

Tuesday marked the first time Columbus State University had staged a daylong Patriot Day remembrance event. It clearly showed the involvement of the Cunningham Center's Director, retired General Carmen Cavezza - right down to a flyover by a military helicopter. Too bad it happened during the vigil's "moment of silence."

The main speaker at the candlelight vigil was former Mayor Pro Tem Jack Rodgers. He read a list of "heroes" -- local law officers and Red Cross workers who went to New York or Washington for several weeks after the September 11 attacks. I'm still waiting for an award from the motel industry, for going ahead with my fall vacation in Panama City Beach that year.

Columbus Council was in session six years ago, when the World Trade Center and Pentagon came under attack. Former Councilor Jack Rodgers said his first thought when he heard the news was to pray. Most of Columbus seemed to agree with that - but church attendance returned to normal after a few weeks.

Jack Rodgers says on that Tuesday of terror in 2001, the attackers ruined "our picture-perfect country." Now hold on - picture-perfect?! I checked the archives, and the attacks occurred AFTER Chandra Levy disappeared in Washington.

Jack Rodgers noted President Bush was criticized in 2001, for not responding fast enough to the September 11 attacks. "But how was he supposed to react?" Rodgers asked the audience. Zell Miller could have answered that one - because he wanted to press the nuclear button and blow up Afghanistan.

The day of remembrance at Columbus State was promoted on several billboards around town, and the candlelight vigil began at 8:00 p.m. So the attendance of about 150 seemed disappointing to me. Maybe next year, the candle-lighting will be changed to a fireworks show.

I don't know how many people went inside the Cunningham Center during the day, to visit the displays there. I checked it around 7:30 - and was distracted immediately by a TV in the lobby. The trouble was, it didn't show the shocking "Patriot Day" events. It shocked me with a report that football's New England Patriots were caught cheating.

The Cunningham Center had a multimedia presentation to remind people about the events of September 11, 2001. The center of one room had a bent "I-beam" from the South Tower of the World Trade Center. It's amazing what this must have inspired in the last six years - such as the iPod, iTunes, iPhone....

Patriot Day was marked in a variety of other ways. Fort Benning hosted Georgia's "Freedom Walk," where about 350 people wandered around some grounds for as long as they wished. I could do this at Fort Benning any day of the year - but first I have to buy a set of golf clubs.

Alabama Governor Bob Riley watched dozens of new National Guard members enlist Tuesday. Then he declared Alabama is "the most patriotic state" in the country. It's certainly solidifying its label as a "red state" - and we can thank Coach Nick Saban for that....

E-MAIL UPDATE: Moving on to other topics, here's a reply to a short comment we posted Tuesday....

+ The Lee County Commission approved emergency money for several volunteer fire departments. It was either that, or order school board members to fight fires and justify those allegedly bloated salaries

I say "let 'em stop answering calls if they are suppose to be out of money"

clean house on all departments in the county..

jus maybe - that will give others a chance at doing it..

for Non-Profit organizations,, it seems they have the act of making threats.

Such kindhearted readers we have! We hope they have giant bottles of water stored in the garage, in case the fire crews take them up on their idea.

While we're there, an e-mailer's recent speculation became reality Tuesday. WRBL reported a Lee County commissioner was named the new Russell County engineer [4 Sep]. It looks like Governor Riley's crackdown on "double dipping" is melting like a double-dipped ice cream cone in August.

Now a quick check of other Tuesday topics in the news:

+ Columbus Mayor Jim Wetherington signed a new "sister city" covenant with Taichung City, Taiwan. Taichung City Mayor Jason Hu joined in the signing - and while I didn't see it, I hope the guest was allowed to make the initial remarks to Columbus Council. It would continue the great U.S. tradition of "Hu's on first."

(Mayor Jason Hu expressed hope that Taichung City's relationship with Columbus would be like "finding a long-lost brother." He might have a harder time finding a local Chinese restaurant with a Taiwanese name.)

+ A Manpower survey found Columbus could have the biggest job growth in Georgia as we approach the end of the year. Three in ten companies plan to add staff in the next three months, while no companies plan job cuts. So that store on Macon Road already selling Halloween items may add Christmas decorations in a couple of weeks.

+ Carver High School jumped to the number-one ranking, in the GHSA Class AAA football poll. When was the last time Carver had a top ranking like this? I mean, other than the highest number of students from housing projects?

+ The Columbus Catfish unplugged the West Virginia Power again, in the South Atlantic League finals. For the second night in a row, the score was 5-2. Now the series moves to potentially rainy Columbus - and the odds are 5-2 Golden Park will be fit for games before Sunday.

LAUGHLINE FLASHBACK: Tuesday night's candlelight vigil was planned much better than one we attended right after the terror attacks. We wrote about it in the LaughLine issue of 17 Sep 01:

An e-mail appeal urged people to step outside Friday evening with a candle, in a show of remembrance. One man in town arranged a last-minute candlelight vigil at that hour along the riverside -- but after welcoming everyone, he shut up and said nothing more. As the crowd stood around silently, we were thankful that man is not our President.

After a couple of minutes of silence, the vigil organizer left it to others in the crowd to do as they pleased. A few started singing patriotic songs we learned in our youth. But when others started singing the hymn "The Solid Rock," hardly anyone joined in. When it comes to "God and Country," most of this group put it the other way around.

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