Pazdziernik Archive

The hug seen ‘round the world

[Archive June 23, 2006]

I'm sure you’ve most likely heard of the story of the midshipman who hugged President Bush this past Monday during commencement exercises at the United States Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, New York. Well, it turns out that Gabriel Whitney, 25, is a local celebrity™. That’s right, he is from Nashua, New Hampshire!

Gabe Whitney had carved his niche at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy long before “The Hug.”

For one thing, the Nashua resident had notched the most demerits in academy history for offenses ranging from skipping classes to going AWOL from the Kings Point, N.Y., campus.

“Why not?” Whitney, 25, said when asked if he was proud of the accomplishment.

“I don’t need grades to measure my life story.”

Whitney, a 6-foot-7-inch, 260-pound power forward, also scored more than 1,100 points, 13th most in school history, leading the basketball team to three Skyline Conference championships and a Division III Sweet 16 appearance.
….

But you have to know Whitney, a good-natured bear of a young man, and his six-year struggle to make it to commencement, to understand that all this, even the presidential hug, is secondary to getting his diploma.

In fact, the hug Whitney gave President Bush wasn’t the one that meant the most to him or his family at the ceremony. It was the hug he gave Vice Admiral Joseph D. Stewart, the academy superintendent, and a man who believed in him when so many others didn’t through Whitney’s years of academic struggles.

“The admiral has been such a gracious presence in Gabe’s life,” said his mother, Quincy Whitney.

“He was in Gabe’s corner, and that’s the reason why he graduated,” he said.

Stewart referred to Whitney’s long journey to graduation before President Bush’s keynote address.

The mention of Whitney’s name brought warm cheers from the 202 graduating midshipmen, and from the strong contingency of Whitney’s family and friends on hand.

Members of the Whitney family wore T-shirts designed by Gabe’s sister, Meranne. The front of the shirts read: 4,872 demerits (“painful”); four and a half years on academic restriction (“wounding”); two visits to the committee that weighs student expulsions (“agonizing”); two reprieves from the admiral (“necessary”); and six years of school with only an undergraduate degree to show for it (“humbling”).

The back of the shirt read, “Passing all licensing exams, first try: Priceless.”

“They really made light of – I don’t know what you’d call it – I wouldn’t call it accolades,” Whitney said of the T-shirts.

But Whitney knows a lot of people were pulling for him, and he said he appreciates all the support he received.

As for the hug itself: Whitney said he did it out of exuberance and because President Bush raised his arms first, which the midshipmen said he took as an invitation.

A White House spokesman later released a statement that President Bush thought the bear hug was “funny.”

“A bear hug is the only kind of hug I know how to give,” Whitney said. “I don’t know how to give a cheesy little hug.”

“Plus, if anyone in the world could use a hug, I’m sure the president could.” (City resident shares academic accomplishment with world By Patrick Meighan, Nashua Telegraph, June 23,2006)

It’ looks like Whitney struggled with lack of maturity and perhaps “distractions” to take his education at the Merchant Marine Academy as seriously as he should have. However, he expressed that his graduation diploma after six years was a real achievement. At 25, he may consider himself “just a kid” as I know many others in his age range do.

Next Monday Gabriel Whitney is scheduled to be on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Photo: Charles Dharapah/Associated Press
Tags: President Bush, Gabriel Whitney

Bluebird Boxes

[Archive April 13, 2006]

This week I read a most dis-ediying letter to the editor of the Nashua Telegraph (April 10th). It presents a “case study” in rash judgment, “class warfare” and personal vilification. Just as in blogland, facts, right reason, and politeness can be tossed aside, so it can also be with “letters to the editor”.

The letter is typical of small town harangues. (Small town harangues, at least in New Hampshire, seem to always focus on either taxes or zoning board issues.) It is also typical of the “get off my land” –type of folks who from all impressions want nothing to do with people. (Idyllic small towns are not free from people who hate people.) Hollis, New Hampshire —I know pretty well since I worked there for a number of years — is the next town to the west of the City of Nashua. Both are Massachusetts border towns. Here's the letter that caught my attention:

Well, the raping and pillaging of the last open land on Ridge Road in Hollis has begun. The new and yet unclaimed McMansions, or starter castles if you wish, are soon to rise in our midst.

The trees are gone and the stone wall is soon to go. The blue bird boxes put up by Henry Pineo over 30 years ago were taken away, even before the huge digging machines arrived. When we leave our driveway, instead of seeing the sun peeking through the trees we will just see the back of a large building.

We assume, because of the asking price for the land, ($1.3 million for four acres) and the profit to be made, that the new buyers will never become part of Hollis history or even part of Hollis current, as they will probably not be here often enough to get involved.

They will go off to their summer homes or their winter homes and not know anything about the blue bird boxes that used to be the only thing on the land.

Instead of one reasonably priced home on this beautiful open field, two buildings will be built, and instead of staying and raising a family for several generations the buyers will only come to visit. But I guess the profit made by everyone involved is too important. Those of us who chose this place to call home many years ago will now have to decide if we can afford the taxes and stay, or should we also go to the planning board, subdivide our land and profit from the sale.
-Diane M.
Hollis, New Hampshire

“Raping and pillaging”? Diane M. surely omitted the nuclear waste that the new owners would sure leave behind for others to clean up. But, hey only so much can go into a letter. The construction company responded with their own letter on April 12th. Maybe letters responding to “letters to the editor” were the pre-cursor of modern-day blogs?

I’d like to respond to Diane M. regarding development of land on Ridge Road in Hollis (April 10). I would like to set the record straight as I am being falsely vilified.

First: All the bluebird boxes are still there.

Second: The stonewall is intact, except for one driveway opening

Third: More trees than necessary had to be cut because neighbors complained about water going onto their land. Not true, unless water goes uphill.

I am required to put in three retention ponds. The one near Diane’s property line (driveway) is 30 feet by 75 feet. Her house sits more than 600 feet away. All trees in that area had to be cut. I worked with engineers to change the shape on order to preserver beautiful old hemlock and maple trees. I have flipped the house and drive to lessen the amount of fill needed due to the septic being on the high side because of the pond. I appreciate the beauty of the site and am working hard to make the house fir into the landscape.

Fourth: Henry Pineo’s daughter, Diane, sold the land in order to retire. It was offered to the town and it chose not to buy it. The neighbors did not buy it. Diane had a right to sell her land and was not obligated to keep it pristine solely for the neighbor’s continued enjoyment.

Fifth: I held off recording the subdivision for several months while we tried to market the land as one lot, without success.

Sixth: The sizes of the homes are in keeping with others in the neighborhood.

Seventh: It is grossly unfair to state that people who have nice homes in Hollis are transient and do not care about the town and community.

Does not the neighbors build their dream homes with barns, pastures, sheds and pools? Did no one cut a tree or change the topography?

My Relator, Janet Hicks, lives in the area. She remembers when the only thing on that end of ridge road was Lee Beers farm and the Ashcroft property. She was extremely distressed when houses popped up. She said it was like a fairyland there until the homes went up.

Things change and sometimes change is not welcomed. Does change make me a villain?

I am doing my best to build responsibly, keeping in mind the beauty of that site on a designated scenic road.

Is it unreasonable to ask that judgment be withheld until the project is complete?
-Judy G.
J/J Construction L.L.C.
Hollis, New Hampshire

“Grossly unfair” indeed! I'm happy that they responded in a charitable manner in addition to "setting the record straight." How would like to spend to spend good hard-earned, wisely-invested, or fortunately-inherited money on a "dream home" have Diane M. for a neighbor?

RUN-DMC’s “You talk Too Much” pretty much sum it all up:

Hey! You over there, I know about your kind
You're like the Independent Network News on Channel 9
Everywhere that you go, no matter where you at
I said you talk about this, and you talk about that
When the cat took your tongue, I say you took it right back
Your mouth is so big, one bite would kill a Big Mac

You talk too much You never shut up
I said you talk too much Homeboy you never shut up

You talk about people, you don't even know
And you talk about places, you NEVER go
You talk about your girl, from head to toe
I said your mouth's moving fast, and your brain's moving slow

Photo: “A male Eastern Bluebird”
Tags: New Hampshire, Hollis, Nashua Telegraph

Local run-a-ways

[Archive January 10, 2006]

Well, the “big local news” in Nashua, New Hampshire other than Mayor Bernie Streeter survived a citizen petition to oust him —a court ruled that the citizen petition was illegal — and Wal-Mart’s proposal for a new store on Amherst Street (rte 3, exit 8), is that two Alvirne High School (Hudson, NH) honor students have run away from home.

Marc LeBourdais, 17, and Corwin “Corey” Laguex, 16, two juniors, skipped school and went to Rome last Thursday. They are certainly truant to say the least. They did call home Friday to say that they are okay and supposedly have checked their myspace internet site since leaving.

Of course, the police are looking for them. Their parents and family are distressed and worried. Meanwhile, their friends and classmates are cheering them on. They are sure to become “local legends” in the eyes of many.

Last month the story of a teenager who ran off to Baghdad, Iraq was in the news. My intent is not to be insensitive here (I do sure hope and pray that both boys are safe and will return home safely to Hudson, New Hampshire) but it is good to see children running away from home rather than their parents for a change. In the last 20-30 years it seems that parents are the ones who usually have run-a-way from their children and families with abandonment and no-fault divorce and the like.

Overly-structured lives, unbearable situations at home or simply a “new thrill” or desire for fame could have been the motivation for LeBourdais and Laguex. We’ll have to wait and see what they say when they return home. Please keep them and their families in your prayers.

Update January 11,2006: Their "sightseeing adventure" is over. The two ran out of money, were provided airline tickets at the U.S. Embassy, and flew to J.F.K. in New York today. I would be happy to see these two boys pay for their expenses with their own money and not have their parents or others bail them out.

Franklin Pierce Homestead

[Archive October 12, 2005]

This past August we had a chance to visit the Franklin Pierce (1804-1869) Homestead in Hillsboro, New Hampshire. Pierce was the 14th President of the United States (1853-1857). He was the only President from the Granite State to date. Franklin Pierce served in both the U.S. House and U.S. Senate. He was also a brigadier general in the Mexican-American War (1846-1848).

He was a one-term Democrat and supporter of the institution of slavery, although “personally opposed” (sound familiar?) via the rhetoric of “states’ rights.” He was unpopular even within his own party. So much so, that he was not nominated by his party for a second term. He is often described as the “forgotten president.”

His father Benjamin Pierce, a general in the American Revolutionary War and governor of New Hampshire (1827-28, 1829-30) built the Hillsboro home in 1804. Franklin was the seventh of nine children. This was basically his childhood home. It had several owners after the Pierce family lived there. It has been restored to an early period. It features some nice stenciling on the walls, which was supposedly “all the rage” of that time. Pierce doesn’t have a Presidential library because these began only last century, but some of his papers were on display.

It was a nice day trip overall. It was about 40 minutes from Concord. There was only a trickle of visitors when we visited. Nevertheless, we had a guided tour but could not take any photos inside the home. If you like history then this is a nice place to visit.

“The Pierce Manse”, his family home from 1842-1848, can also be visited in Concord, New Hampshire.

For more information on Franklin Pierce visit the site that celebrates his bicentennial birth (2004).

Photo: Franklin Pierce Homestead

Live Free or Die

[Archive July 6, 2005]

“Live free or die” is New Hampshire’s state motto. It currently appears most visibly on its vehicle registration plates. In 1971 it replaced “Scenic” on the state's license plates. In my estimation it is the best motto of any of the fifty states. (Arizona’s “Ditat Deus” (“God enriches”), Ohio’s “With God, all things are possible” and Maryland’s “Fatti maschi, parole femmine” (Italian) “Manly deeds, womanly words" are certainly runners up.) This motto comes from a toast written by General John Stark, a soldier from the Revolutionary War, on July 31, 1809. The full toast was:

"Live free or die: Death is not the worst of evils."

This same motto perhaps recalls Patrick Henry’s famous speech to the Virginia legislature on March 23, 1775: "Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!"

New Hampshire, “The Granite State”, is the 9th of the original 13 States of the Union. It ratified the Constitution on June 21, 1788.

State flower: purple lilac
State bird: purple finch
State tree: white birch

Photo: N.H. Conservation Plate