AMERICAN PATRIOT
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FEBRUARY 16, 2011
GEORGE WASHINGTON RIDE 2 RECOVERY READY, SET, RECOVER
MIRACLE ON ICE
AMERICAN PATRIOT RIDE 2 RECOVERY READY, SET, RECOVER
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6 PEARY’S QUEST FOR THE NORTH POLE
8 GATEWAY ARCH SYMBOL OF WESTWARD EXPANSION
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ALMOST PRESIDENT SAMUEL J. TILDEN EXCLUSIVE DISCOUNT REMINDER
AMERICAN PATRIOT
SESAME STREET AND ITS LEGACY
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK
THIS WEEK IN AMERICAN HISTORY
RIDE 2 RECOVERY READY, SET, RECOVER
When veterans return from war, Ride 2 Recovery is ready to offer support and assistance. In cooperation with the Military and Veterans Administration Volunteer Service Office, Ride 2 Recovery, an organization founded by former professional cyclist John Worden, helps wounded veterans regain their pride and strength. The focus is on cycling because almost all patients can participate.
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As an organization, Ride 2 Recovery raises funds
have lost limbs, but thanks to Ride 2 Recovery,
to support Spinning Recovery Labs and outdoor
they are able to ride specialized bikes. Soldiers
cycling programs across the U.S. In areas in
are also provided with safety information, sem-
which Ride 2 Recovery programs are planned,
inars, and training guides to make their ride
volunteer riders cycle alongside wounded warriors.
safer and more enjoyable.
The trips are often grueling multi-day events during which a rider will cycle 350 to 450 miles.
The California Challenge is the most publicized
Physically and mentally challenging, the program
of the varied events. Bikers travel down Highway
has helped hundreds of veterans on their way
1 from San Francisco to West Los Angeles. It’s
to recovery, stressing a sense of accomplishment
a 450 mile ride with tough hills, but scenic
as well as the importance of physical activity.
views and good friends riding alongside to make it a memorable experience.
Ride 2 Recovery provides all the equipment including the bikes, jerseys, helmets, and shorts. In addition, the organization customizes bikes to ensure that all participants can get involved. Many of the soldiers participating in the events
CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO CLIP FROM THE CALIFORNIA CHALLENGE CLICK HERE TO SEE HOW YOU CAN GET INVOLVED
AMERICAN PATRIOT 5
PEARY’S QUEST FOR THE NORTH POLE
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During the early years of the twentieth century, the conquest of the North and South poles were the object of fantasy and competition. Teams from Russia, Europe and the U.S. vied to be first. The man who accomplished it? American Robert E. Peary. Peary was born in Pennsylvania in 1856, moved to Maine after the death of his father in 1859, and graduated from Bowdoin College in 1877. He passed the civil engineering examinations of the U.S. Navy and was commissioned in 1881. Soon, he became interested in the Arctic, making a brief trip to Greenland. In 1891, he was ready to make a significant Arctic Expedition, bringing along his wife and five others, including Matthew Henson, Peary’s assistant in all his subsequent Arctic expeditions, and Frederick A. Cook, the party’s surgeon. The trip was a scientific and public relations success: he made the 1,300-mile trip to Greenland and discovered new lands. Building on his celebrity, he organized another Greenland expedition, which lasted two years and was marked by the discovery of three huge meteorites. At this point, Peary’s quest turned to the North Pole. Several attempts ended in failure, though he got as close as 175 miles away in one try, and he lost eight toes to amputation in another. In July 1908, Peary embarked on one last attempt with the support of, among others, the National Geographic Society and Teddy Roosevelt. Brilliantly and meticulously planned — he was accompanied by his best trained team ever including 24 men, 19 sleds and 133 dogs — he tasted victory along with Henson as they reached the North Pole on April 6, 1909.
The triumph was dampened by a competing claim that his old colleague, Frederick Cook, had reached the poll first. After a long and bitter public controversy, Peary’s claims were validated and recognized by Congress and the major geographic societies of the world. He was feted as a great hero until the day he died. Ironically, in 1989, the National Geographic Society reexamined the records made by Peary and Henson and concluded that their calculations were incorrect — leaving them slightly short of the pole. SEE A MUSEUM EXHIBIT OF PEARY AND HIS EXPEDITIONS
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The most dangerous animals in the forest don’t live there.
ONLY YOU CAN PR E VE N T W I L D FIRE S. w w w. s m o k e y b e a r. c o m
GATEWAY ARCH SYMBOL OF WESTWARD EXPANSION
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The Gateway to the West also known as the St. Louis’ Gateway Arch was designed by Eero Saarinen. The tallest monument in North America, the Arch stands at 630 feet tall, spans 630 feet of width, and cost $13 million to build. It was created on the bank of the Mississippi
attractions: visitors can also ride an old
to help memorialize Thomas Jefferson and
fashioned riverboat, rent bikes, or explore
as a symbol of the westward expansion of
the Museum of Westward Expansion.
the U.S. It has also evolved into a symbol of St. Louis. Interestingly, Saarinen, who won
As with so many cities, the neighborhoods
a very competitive national competition,
that connect the Arch to downtown St. Louis
never saw his vision completed, having died
have deteriorated in recent years. Now, a
during the long period of construction.
new urban planning and architecture competition is taking place “to reinvigorate the
Completed in 1965 and dedicate in 1968,
area around the Gateway Arch and connect
the Gateway Arch design has two bases that
it to downtown St. Louis, the Mississippi
are equilateral triangles. The sweeping design
River and the Illinois bank.” The competition,
is in the style of expressionist modern art.
a public-private project of the CityArchRiver
Made of stainless steel structure, it is designed
2015 Foundation in collaboration with the
to sway in winds over 20 mph. Visitors enter
National Park Service, was won by MVVA, a
from an underground visitors enter are al-
multidisciplinary team that will develop a plan.
lowed to visit the top of the Arch on a viewing area that can hold up to 160 people with
Another date looms large. The competition
16 windows on each side. Trams have been
envisions completion of the project by Oct.
operating for over 30 years and have taken
28, 2015 — the 50th anniversary of the
over one million visitors annually up to the
Gateway Arch's completion.
top of the Arch. There, a visitor can see up to 30 miles on a clear day; even from the platform you can see Illinois and the Mississippi River, which flows by at a leisurely three miles per hour. The waterfront on which Gateway Arch is built has many other
PLAN A VISIT TO GATEWAY ARCH RIVERFRONT AN EXHIBIT OF EERO SAARINEN’S GREATEST BUILDINGS
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ALMOST PRESIDENT SAMUEL J. TILDEN
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In the most controversial presidential election of the nineteenth century, Samuel J. Tilden lost to Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876. The election was analogous to the presidential election of 2000, when George Bush defeated Al Gore. Like Gore, Tilden won the popular vote, but the American political system awards the presidency to the candidate who wins the Electoral College. Like the election of 2000, the results of 1876 remain to this day a matter of dispute and controversy. Tilden grew up in New Lebanon NY. He was a skilled corporate lawyer for most of his life until the candidacy. Throughout the Civil War, he supported the Union and President Lincoln. A long time Democrat Party activist and an avid reformer, Tilden worked on taking down Tammany Hall, and the dishonest political machine that controlled New York City and State. Tilden served briefly and successfully as New York governor, and then was nominated for President at the Democratic convention of 1876. In the fall election against Hayes, it was estimated that Tilden won 51% of the popular vote while Hayes only had 48%, but when the Republican Party challenged the validity of several states’ votes, cases of fraud and intimidation by local Southern Democrats were discovered in South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana. Recounts showed the popular vote count closer and Hayes winning by one electoral vote. Democrats urged Tilden to fight the questionable challenges, but he refused. A 15-member Congressional Commission was set up to determine whether the votes were valid; it voted 8-7 along party lines to give the election to Hayes. Some have argued that the real reason the Democrats agreed to Hayes’ election was that it was part of a compromise: if the Democrats
went along with Hayes, he would remove all the post-Civil War troops from the South, something the Democrats desperately wanted. Tilden’s health suffered after the election, and he quietly retired to his estate near Yonkers NY. He died a bachelor in 1886 leaving most of his $7 million to the public. Approximately $4 million went to eventually partially funding the New York Public Library and his home was turned into the National Arts Club. AMERICAN PATRIOT 11
SESAME STREET AND ITS LEGACY
“Sunny day, sweeping those clouds away!” Sesame Street, America’s longest running children’s television series, pioneered educational television when it began in 1969. Sesame Street’s objective started and has continued to be to teach children rudimentary skills by holding their captive attention. With fun characters like Grover, Snuffleupagus, and Oscar the Grouch as well as human characters like Susan and Gordon, kids have learned their ABC’s and counting, of course, and also how to deal with emotions, feelings, sharing and other people. Founded by Joan Ganz Cooney and Ralph Rogers, the show tries to incorporate interesting images, action, and humor to engage toddler and pre-school age kids. To that end, the writers designed the show in short skits over the hour-long episode. When the series originated, the writers made a conscious decision to base the show in an inner city setting, often on the steps of a brownstone. In this way, they hoped to encourage inner-city audiences for the show who were considered in great need of some early childhood education. Diversity was also a central point for reaching a large audience. With the concept of family unity in mind, the writers strove to create a show that parents and children could watch and enjoy together. The show has been entertaining and educating young people for four decades now, and estimated 77 million Americans so far have seen it at one time or another. Sesame Street has been graced with 118 Emmy’s. To recognize its accomplishments, First Lady Michelle Obama appeared on the 40 year
anniversary episode. She taught the basics of growing a fruit and vegetable garden and the benefits of eating healthily. She is fourth First Lady to visit the show: Barbara Bush, Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush have been there as well. Always innovating, new additions in the 40th season include a new block format, new show open and a new nature curriculum. While some have questioned the lasting benefits Sesame Street’s teaching, few have challenged its intentions, execution and thoughtfulness in mixing education for kids with just enough entertainment to make it all work. LAURA BUSH READS A BOOK TO BIG BIRD AND FRIENDS AMERICAN PATRIOT 13
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Washington is beyond question one of the greatest men in history, one of the noblest men who ever lived. He is a towering figure in the establishment of the United States and he did more than any other man to create and preserve the Republic. Here was a man whose very strength resided in his austere sobriety, who in his own person demonstrated this soundness of America. He was a good man, not a demigod; he was an honest administrator, not a brilliant statesman; he was a military man, but never a militarist. He was touchingly proud of America, proud that it was his country that was given the historic chance of becoming a model of religious as well as political freedom. In a letter to the Hebrew Congregation of Newport, Rhode Island, whose service he once attended, he stressed that in America freedom of religious worship was one of the "inherent natural rights," where government "gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance." Washington was an exceptional man; with reason he became so merged with America that his is the most prominent name in the land.”
— WENDELL GARRETT IN “GEORGE WASHINGTON, MAN OR MYTH,” AN APPROPRIATE QUOTE TO CELEBRATE THE MAN, ALONG WITH ABRAHAM LINCOLN, FOR WHOM THIS WEEK’S PRESIDENTS DAY HOLIDAY IS CELEBRATED.
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THIS WEEK IN
AMERICAN HISTORY
1980. The U.S. Hockey Olympic “Miracle On Ice” took place this week in 1980. In a dramatic upset, the underdog U.S. hockey team made up of college kids defeated the Soviet gold-medal winning team before a frenzied crowd in Lake Placid NY. The Soviets were four-time gold winners and were virtually professionals, but fell to a hard skating American team by 4-3. Two days later, the Americans defeated Finland 4-2 to clinch the hockey gold. In the U.S.-Soviet game, the Soviets scored first, but the first period ended 2-2. In the second period, the Soviets dominated and led 3-2. But the third and final period was the Americans, with littleregarded captain Mike Eruzione scoring the game-winner with 10 minutes to go. Perhaps more importantly, the “Miracle on Ice” was more that a game: to many Americans, it was an ideological victory in the Cold War and an emotional lift for a country that was in a bit of a malaise. The victory is captured in the 2004 film, Miracle, starring Kurt Russell.
WATCH A LONG LOST ORIGINAL VIDEO OF THE GAME HIGHLIGHTS AMERICAN PATRIOT 15
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