HISTOrY

Historical echoes

Random Thoughts

Phil Blackwell

Phil Blackwell is sports editor at Eagle News. He can be reached at pblackwell@ eaglenewsonline.com.

Three nights of last week was spent enduring a painful but necessary lesson.

Airing on PBS, The U.S. and the Holocaust took us back to one of humankind’s most awful episodes – namely, the murder of millions of people solely because of who they were and how they worshiped.

Filmmakers Ken Burns, Lynn Novick and Sarah Botstein were not interested in simply retelling the events from 1933 to 1945 that provoked a world war and brought us sick terms such as genocide.

Instead, they provoke us to see this tragedy as something we, as Americans, may not have prevented, but at least could have done a little bit more, that even a few more families saved would certainly have justified the effort.

Even more important, the film does what all good documentaries should, and is a hallmark of the incredible work Burns has done for more than four decades on subjects large and small.

In short, they provide a mirror of ourselves, and it isn’t always pretty.

Nothing in history just happens. Events of the past are always connected to what took place before and always shape where we are now, in ways both healthy and otherwise.

Such was true of the rise of the Nazis, which required a combination of Germany getting punished for its role in World War I and a calamitous worldwide economic depression that led nations to seek drastic solutions.

America was fortunate in that the convulsions led to Franklin D. Roosevelt and a political upheaval that didn’t make things much, much worse, even if it took another world war to get everyone back to work.

Germany went in another direction. But even if the

Years Ago in History

By CinDy Bell ToBey

95 years ago – sept. 27, 1927

Next Wednesday is the day set for the second great County Day to be held in Madison County – a day set apart by the combined Madison County organizations to celebrate the development of Madison County and to discuss the problems that are of interest to the people. The first County Day, held in the Court House at Wampsville three years ago, was a huge success. This year the sessions of County Day will be held in Madison Hall at Morrisville. It is planned to have all the activities of the county during the next year summed up by D. D. Norton, chairman of the board of supervisors. A chance will be given for questions and free discussion. On the other hand, many more speakers of prominence will be heard. Never before in the history of Madison County have so many been gathered together at one time and for one occasion. There are coming from New York City, from Albany, and from other counties to present methods and ideals that may help in the solution of our problems.

75 years ago – sept. 25, 1947

Mrs. L. H. Whitehead returned to her home in Maplewood, N. J. last week after a visit to her parents, Mr. and Mrs. H. G. Hawthorne. While here Mrs. Whitehead made a study of wild flowers in the vicinity of DeRuyter. During the months of July and August she was able to identify 91 specimens. Among the easiest wild flowers to identify were, of course, Devil’s Paint Brush, Hawkweed, Cinquefoil, Wood Sorrels, Vervail, Blue Vetch, Elecampane, Healall, Speedwell, Yarrow and St. John’s Wort. One specimen only of two flowers was found. One was the Ragged Fringed Orchid, a yellowish-green inconspicuous relative of the showy orchid. This specimen was found on Crumb Hill. The other was Closed Gentian, whose closed blue flowers never open. This specimen was brought from the woods by Miss Grace Wheat and is now growing in her garden.

55 years ago – sept. 27, 1967

Moving the swamp at the north end of Cazenovia Lake would be a good way to save the lake from being overgrown by weeds. Far from being the brainstorm of a barroom wit, eradicating the swamp’s influence on weed growth was recommended last week at a meeting held to discuss the lake’s future. The recommendation was made by the guest speaker at the meeting, Dr. Daniel F. Jackson of the school of civil engineering at Syracuse University, an expert on fresh water. Attending were village and town officials, and private citizens interested in the welfare of the lake. The meeting was called by Bernard T. Brown, Jr., town supervisor, due to growing concern over the accelerating weed growth in the lake which led to an inspection of the lake’s condition by Dr. Jackson last month.

35 years ago – sept. 30, 1987

Cazenovia’s scarecrows, that will line Albany St. throughout October, are planned to attract, rather than frighten away, both local residents and visitors to the plentiful attractions Cazenovia offers. The Retail Committee of the Assn. of Cazenovia Businesses is encouraging its members and all local residents to participate in the effort to dress the village for autumn and share a good time in the process. The theme of the activity is “Storybook Scarecrows” and the committee hopes to involve as many people as possible in creating and displaying an assortment of those characters, that need not be of the traditional sort but of a happy fanciful nature based on storybook persona. mere idea of someone like Hitler is beyond repulsive, as The U.S. and the Holocaust showed, we were in no position to lecture anyone about our democratic purity.

Whether it was the constant presence of hate groups and nativism or the virulent anti-immigrant policies our government introduced as a reaction to mass waves of immigration in the late 19th and early 20th century, the leaders of the Third Reich had ample inspiration for their sick ideology.

What was more, they knew that, for all of our talk about America as a welcoming place for immigrants, we were in no position to truly help the millions of Jews targeted from the moment Hitler took power.

The film, throughout its length, tries hard not to blame any single person for this country’s long, tragic indifference to the horrors, but that it was a societal fail

Sure, FDR was in position to do more to lift immigration quotas. But it wasn’t popular among the public, the Depression was still raging in the 1930s and then, when the United States did enter the war, its aim was military victory against the Axis, not a humanitarian effort.

Not only does the film lay out, in excruciating and awful detail, what happened to millions of innocent people, it frames that story in a larger narrative that stretches to the present day.

Images of the church in Charleston and the synagogue in Pittsburgh where mass murders full of hatred took place, the march in Charlottesville and, yes, the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol all serve as stark reminders of what happens when hate and prejudice manifests into deadly action.

Mark Twain (subject of another wonderful Burns film) was the one who offered that history doesn’t repeat but that it can rhyme.

Well, recent years have provided far too many rhymes and reminders of what we wished were buried echoes of a shameful past.

Worse yet, a whole bunch of so-called “leaders” are determined to keep students from learning the full, sometimes uncomfortable truth about our collective history. Better that they advance their careers, and consolidate their power, than have anyone grow through knowledge and wisdom.

What are they afraid of? Well, exactly what The U.S. and the Holocaust shows us – a story of a people condemned to extinction that, despite the best efforts of monsters, did not go away, but rather lived, and survived to tell their terrible tale and warn us that it could happen again.

May their light, and the eternal light of millions of souls, continue to show us toward a better way.

Is there a link between golf and life?

ose that don’t play golf would probably say it is silly to even think about any kind of link between golf and life. ere are those who have played the game who feel the same way but they are probably the ones who experienced disappointment and frustration to a degree that caused them to quit the game and have nothing good to say about it.

Someone once described the game this way, “It is as perfect a window into the constitution of a person and the challenges of life as one can nd”. Gardner Dickinson, a PGA Tour player from 1956-1971 had this to say about the game, “ ey say golf is like life, don’t believe them. Golf is more complicated than that”.

Now that the golf season is 3/4 over, you have certainly gained another year of experience and knowledge to be able to answer yes, no or maybe to the title of this article. If your answer is yes, congratulations, and join the club. If your answer is still no, not a problem. Hopefully, some day when you least expect it, you will become one of us.. If your answer is maybe, perhaps what some famous people have to say might turn you to the “good” side of the force.

“What other people nd in poetry or art museums, I nd in the ight of a good drive”…Arnold Palmer

“Golf is a game that is played on a ve inch course- the distance between your ears”…Bobby Jones

“ ey call it golf because all of the other four letter words were taken”:… Raymond Floyd

“ e only time my prayers are never answered is on the golf course”…Billy Graham

“If you wish to hide your character, do not play golf”…Percey Boomer

“Golf can be described as an endless series of tragedies obscured by the occasional miracle “… Author Unknown “Golf is a matter of con dence. If you think you can’t do it, there is no chance you will”…Henry Cotton

“Sport is a wonderful metaphor for life. Of all the sports that I played-skiing, baseball, shing-there is no greater example than golf because you’re playing against yourself and nature”…Robert Redford

“Success in golf depends less on strength of body than upon strength of mind and character “… Arnold Palmer

“To be consistently e ective, you must put a certain distance between yourself and what happens to you on a golf course. is is not indi erence, it’s detachment “…Sam Snead

“Golf tips are like aspirin. One may do you good, but if you swallow the whole bottle, you will be lucky to survive”… Harvey Penick

“Do your best, one shot at a time and then move on. Remember that golf is just a game”…Nancy Lopez

“One of the most satisfying things about golf is how it re ects the cycle of life. No matter what you shoot - the next day you have to go back to the rst tee and begin all over again and make yourself into something “…Peter Jacobsen

Change you mind yet?

Perry Noun is the former executive director of the Northeastern NY PGA as well as a competitive amateur golfer and winner of the New York State Super Senior Amateur Championship. Perry Noun can be heard on “Tee Time With The Pronoun” on... News Radio 570 WSYR and 106.9FM.

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