Enhance a Neighborhood

When I designed and set up a unique mailbox in front of my home, I never expected it to appear in the local news.  I only hoped my neighbors would like it.  After completing my mailbox project, the news and response from neighbors and friends were totally positive.  I was encouraged to answer questions about how I created it, and how others could get a mailbox with their own one-of-a-kind design.  So I decided to share the idea on my blog and Facebook to see if interested people would give me feedback about the product. (I call this my R & D phase -- research & development.)

The survey would have questions like: Would you be interested in purchasing a custom mailbox to add curb appeal and enhance your neighborhood?  (Yes, No, or Maybe.)  Have you seen anything like this before?  Do you have any suggestions for designing or marketing this product?

Potential buyers could go to Facebook or my blog at CreativityWithEducation.blogspot.com to see pictures, a brief description, and a link to another site with details for purchasing and designing a mailbox.

Marketing of this product would largely depend on survey results.  If there is enough interest in this product, I will advertise accordingly on the Internet and other media.

Please post a comment if you like, and include your ZIP Code or state.  The feedback will be greatly appreciated.  Thank you!

George & Friends Around 1950

My Elementary School

In 1929, Norwood Elementary School was built in Pine City, which is located in St. Petersburg, Florida.  Back then, Pine City was mostly a rural community of early pioneers.  The neighborhood back then consisted mostly of lumbermen, sawmill workers, fishermen, and a few pioneer families that settled in the area.  I grew up about four blocks from Norwood Elementary School, and I went to kindergarten there in 1944.

I remember several things about some of the kids that went to Norwood.  As I grew older, I began to realize how poor the surrounding area was back then.  For example, no one thought much about it if a kid came to school barefoot or with a bowl haircut.  Kids brought their lunch to school in a brown paper bag, or walked home for lunch as I did many times.  Because so many other kids in the neighborhood seemed to be a lot worse off than our family, I didn't realize at the time how poor my family was.  Anyway, some of my favorite teachers of all time worked at Norwood Elementary School for most of their teaching career.  Later on in life when I was in college majoring in Elementary Education, I went back to Norwood Elementary School and personally thanked many of my old teachers for all they had done for me, and for putting up with all of my foolishness and shenanigans.

Stories about George as Told by Butch

We all played with each other in the neighborhood and saw each other in Sunday school at Norwood Baptist Church where we all attended a Sunbeam class – a form of Bible school training for young children.  When I was in the fourth grade at Norwood, George was in the third grade.  I remember George was a good athlete and one of the toughest kids in school.  He would fight anybody at the drop of a hat, including sixth-graders.  Anyway, George always seemed to have a chip on his shoulder about something.  

A good friend of George was Bruce.  He was in the same grade as George and lived one house next door to him on the same side of the street.  Bruce would tell me some funny stories about George on what he did in the classroom.  Bruce said that George was always known as the class clown.  He would always do something disruptive to make someone laugh at him if he couldn’t do something on the chalkboard just right.  When George was being tested on the chalkboard for his multiplication tables, he would always write some of his numerals backwards or upside down.  I noticed on some of his spelling papers he would write some of the letters backwards.  George was not a very good reader, and he avoided spelling contests.  Bruce said whenever they had a spelling bee with the boys against the girls on different sides of the classroom, George was always one of the first to misspell a word and had to go back to his seat.  Even though George was not a very good student in the classroom, he was smart enough in sports and in subjects he liked.  He could recite all kinds of poetry and knew all about insects, snakes, birds, and flowers.  George also seemed to have a problem with names.  He could not remember the last names of some friends in his classroom.  This was always a problem for him at Valentine’s Day or whenever he tried to introduce them to someone.

Bruce always thought that George’s foster mother was a little rough on him.  George told me that whenever he said a cuss word, even if he didn’t know what the word meant, his foster mother would put hot peppers in his mouth.  Both of his foster parents would spank George and Harvey with a black motorcycle belt, but never Harry, who was always known as a mama’s boy.  George got in trouble in school for fighting and all sorts of misbehavior in the classroom, like talking too much or annoying other students.  Bruce said that, more than once, the teacher taped George’s mouth shut with Scotch tape and made him sit in front of the class next to the teacher’s desk.  

George also got into a lot of trouble around the neighborhood.  He would steal just about anything that wasn’t nailed down.  One day, so the story goes, George brought a toy home to play with from Robert house.  When questioned about the toy, George said that Robert had given it to him.  So his foster mother called Mrs. Strawn and asked her about the toy.  When the truth was revealed, George had to return the toy to Robert’s house, give it back to him, and apologize for taking it.  Bruce said that George was really embarrassed about what he had done.  Another time, George stole a model airplane from a neighbor’s garage across the street.  When his foster mother discovered him playing with the airplane, she asked George where the airplane came from.  George said a friend gave it to him.  Not believing George, his foster mother tricked him by saying that the man saw him steal the airplane.  “That’s funny,” said George, “nobody was home!”  Again George had to take the airplane back to the man and apologize to him for taking it.  He was always punished with a spanking and then sent to bed.

Stories about George as Told by Wayne

I was a classmate of George at Norwood Elementary School.  George was always getting in trouble for misbehaving in school.  I watched George get two spankings with a ping-pong paddle in one day by two different teachers.  Bruce, Boyce, George, and I would always get up in front of the class to sing a song as a group or as individuals.  We four were almost always picked by the teacher to play certain characters in a school play or talent contest.  George was captain of the sixth-grade patrols and I was his lieutenant.  Of course, the patrols were picked by the sixth-grade teachers.  When it came to sports, Norwood dominated other schools in competition. The boys’ team won trophies for the school in softball, football, and basketball; of course, George was a star in every game.

George’s other good friend was Bruce.  George and Bruce were more into outdoor activities like the movie character Daniel Boone.  They were always out in the woods building tree forts or bow hunting.  Both of them were a good shot with bow and arrow, and could hit a papaya growing on a tree from at least 30 yards away.  The two of them spent many hours together to practice throwing their hunting knives and hatchets into a large oak tree behind George’s house.  It was also almost impossible to beat either one in a game of splits or mumbley-peg.

Splits was a game that all the boys in the neighborhood played.  Both games involved the use of a small pocket knife.  In the game of splits, you faced your partner, feet together, about an arm’s length away from each other.  After you decided who went first, the object of the game was to stick the knife blade into the dirt no more than 12 inches away from your opponent’s shoe on either side of his feet.  To judge a qualifying stick in the dirt by the knife blade, you had to be able to get three fingers underneath the knife handle in case it stuck at low angle.  If it was a good stick, you had to move your foot to touch the knife blade.  The process was repeated until you could stretch no longer with your legs apart or had to lie down on your side to complete the stretch.  The further you had to stretch, the more difficult it was to make the knife stick into the ground at the proper distance from your opponent’s foot.  You won the game when your opponent could no longer touch the knife blade with any part of his body.

Stories about Bruce as Told by George

One day I was walking past Roger’s house, which was in my neighborhood next to a church I used to belong to.  The church had an airplane club for elementary children where they could make model airplanes.  The club was called Sky Pilots of America.  I remember when Bruce and I were building an airplane that we bought from the club.  In order to be a member of the Sky Pilots, each child was required to memorize and recite a number of verses from the Bible.  While we were at the meeting, we had a guest speaker from Japan.  I don’t remember his name, but I do remember he told the audience that he dropped the first bomb on Pearl Harbor!  Bruce and I and several other neighborhood children engaged in all kinds of activities ranging from sports to (later on) Boy Scouts.

Every year around Easter time, the new Duncan yo-yos showed up in all of the local stores.  The Duncan yo-yo was the Cadillac of its day when it came to yo-yo enthusiasts.  It had the prettiest colors, the shiniest surface, and was the best yo-yo for doing all kinds of tricks.  Annual contests were organized by Duncan representatives.  The final contest was usually held at one of the local movie theaters that had a large stage for the contestants to perform on.  In order to get into this contest, you had to qualify in your local neighborhood.  Every neighborhood usually had one or two kids that were the best at doing certain tricks with a yo-yo.  In fact, some kids could do loop-to-loops with two yo-yos at the same time using both hands at the same time!  You just knew these kids would be hard to beat in a yo-yo contest.

Bruce, my next-door neighbor, was one of the best trick yo-yo performers in our neighborhood.  I don't know if playing the guitar helped him with his yo-yo tricks or if being a natural athlete, catching onto things very quickly helped him win many yo-yo contests.  Maybe he was just naturally talented in almost anything he attempted, as he could do many tricks with the yo-yo that most kids had never mastered.

One day I was taking a shortcut through the neighborhood.  I would usually walk behind the houses where there was an alley.  The alley was mostly used by the garbage men to pick up household garbage.  I liked the alley because there was very little traffic, and it gave me a different perspective of other people's houses.  Plus cutting through the neighborhood saved time.  Anyway, as I was approaching my house, I spotted Bruce in his backyard practicing  his yo-yo tricks.  So I stopped by and said hello.  “What are you doing?” I asked Bruce.  “I'm practicing a few tricks for my yo-yo contest coming up this Saturday at the Roxy Theater on Central Avenue,” he replied.  So I watched him for a moment while he performed a few of his special yo-yo tricks.  “I noticed you put the yo-yo string on your finger next to your thumb,” I said.  “Yeah,” he said, “it gives me a smoother and quicker release for the yo-yo to spin better, and helps the yo-yo to keep its balance.”  After a while I noticed that Bruce's yo-yo string was a little shorter than normal.  “Hey, Bruce,” I asked, “Why is your yo-yo string a little shorter than normal?”  He just laughed at my question.  “Look, George, this is a secret that I don't tell just anyone!”  “A shorter string does several things to the yo-yo's action.  “What do you mean?” I asked.  “Well,” said Bruce, “it helps me practice my tricks and loop-to-loops for the upcoming  yo-yo contests at the Roxy Theater this Saturday.”  “Oh,” I said, not really understanding what Bruce was trying to tell me.  “You mean a shorter string makes your yo-yo work better?” I asked.  “Something like that,” he said in a roundabout way.  “George, I can tell you're a little naïve when it comes to performing yo-yo tricks, so I'm going to let you in on a little secret that I've learned over the years.  But you have to promise me that you won't tell a soul what I'm about to show you!”  “I can keep a secret as good as anyone,” I said.  “But if you're worried about it, maybe you better not show me or tell me your big secret,” I said.  “It's not that,” said Bruce.  “It's just that it took me a long time to figure out how the same people were winning the yo-yo contest year after year,” he replied.  “So a short string is the big secret?” I asked.  “It gives you an advantage on some tricks,” he revealed.  “Okay,” I said.  “I guess you'll have to show me!”  “The first thing you have to understand is how important your string is in relation to the tricks you are about to perform.  Let me demonstrate how this works out.”  He reached into his pocket and took out a nickel bag of yo-yo strings that he bought at the store.  After he fastened the new store-bought string on his yo-yo, he began to demonstrate.  When the string had reached its full length and was dangling from his finger, he began to spin the yo-yo with his other hand so it spun around clockwise like a top – not like a yo-yo!  “This is how you make a yo-yo perform certain tricks,” he said.  “How does that help?” I asked, almost in disbelief.  “Look closely at the string,” he said, “when the yo-yo stops spinning on its side.”  I looked at the yo-yo string as I held it between my fingers. “What do you see?” Bruce asked.  “It looks the same to me as it did before,” I replied.  “Okay,” Bruce said, “let's try it another way.”  He spun the yo-yo again as he did before, but in the opposite direction.  When I looked at the string again, I could clearly see that the string was unraveling!  Bruce had a big smile on his face. “This is how you make a yo-yo sleep, as he demonstrated one of his many yo-yo tricks called walking-the-dog.  “In order to perform many of the qualifying tricks, you have to be able to make your yo-yo sleep a little or a lot to sort of slow down the spin.”  He next demonstrated the trick called rock- the-cradle.  When he was finished with that, he continued to demonstrate what the yo-yo would do if you wound the string tightly the other way.  “Now watch the action of the yo-yo,” said Bruce, as he tried to make the yo-yo sleep for walk-the-dog again.  No matter how many times he tried, the yo-yo would not sleep, but immediately returned to his hand.  “Now let me demonstrate a few tricks when you don't want the yo-yo to sleep.”  He began by doing a trick called around-the-world, followed by a few loop-to-loops and a shoot-for-the-moon.  “Now to answer your first question about using a short, tightly wound string. When all of the yo-yo tricks have been performed on stage by all of the contestants, a contest is won or lost by the person who can do the most continuous loop-to-loops. In order to win most yo-yo contests, a person has to do well over 102 loop-to-loops! A short string gives me a tremendous advantage for performing that many loop-to-loops!”  I began to laugh out loud!  “Bruce, you are the smartest kid in the neighborhood when it comes to games of skill.”  Bruce put his arm around my shoulders and gave me a great big smile.  “That's what I like about you, George – you’re a great sport!”

As I thought about Bruce and his yo-yo tricks, I began to wonder if all of Bruce's risks were worth the rewards he had won!  I remember seeing many purple bruises on Bruce's face and arms in the morning when he sat by me at school.  So one day I asked him about the bruises.  “Oh, those,” he said, as if nothing had happened.  “Those came from my yo-yo practicing when my tricks didn't work,” he reported, as if it were part of the price you pay when the rewards are greater than the pain.  I had a deeper appreciation for Bruce and other people who endure the pain in attempting to become the best in whatever competition they participate!  Without pain there is no reward, I thought to myself.  Some people can just endure more pain than others, and those people are usually called champions!

My Opinions about Santa Claus

People sometimes wonder if Santa Claus can become a political catalyst to satisfy their financial gains and political views.  Some of these concepts may be true, but there is often an individual motivation that is both satirical and perhaps egotistical on the part of the writer.  I, for one, believe that the ideas of Santa Claus should be challenged on a personal and intellectual level when it comes to a paradigm shift in our society.  So I had three goals that I wanted to accomplish when I wrote the storybook, Santa and the Stranger.

My first goal was to pacify the sexist views of both male and female members of our society.  After looking through hundreds of Santa Claus stories, I discovered that Santa Claus’ wife did not have a first name!  She is often referred to as “Mrs. Claus.”  So I did some personal research and began to ask people if they knew the first name of Mrs. Clause.  After a few moments of reflection and soul-searching, most people began to realize Mrs. Clause has no first name!  So I did the only thing that was logical: I named her after a saint of a woman in our neighborhood who more or less personified everything that was good in a person.

The second goal of the story was to challenge the loss of societal traditions that should be most sacred to both children and adults.  This challenge addresses tradition, automation, and our systematic belief in the fantasy world.

My third goal or objective was to challenge both the physical and mental aspects of our voting system.  With modern technology, important issues can be changed or hidden, often without our awareness.  It is not unheard of for hackers to change an electronic voting system or to alter our bank accounts, personal records, and other private matters that are often unprotected.  Using my imagination, I tried to leave the reader with the question, "What if …?"

Mrs. (...) Claus and Santa visiting town square in Prescott, Arizona, USA

(Book 10, a novella by George F. Kohn, author of Holiday Favorites series available on Amazon.com)

To read this intriguing story, order your copy of Santa and the Stranger, published for Kindle e-readers and paperback.  Amazon search: Holiday Favorites by George F. Kohn.)

My Experience in Education

In light of current challenges and trends in public as well as private education, let me share some of my experience in that field.

I worked with special education students for more than 30 years!  I have a variety of outside experiences that I utilized in the classroom, ranging from sports to hobbies.  By incorporating my lifelong experience in the classroom, I was able to motivate students in a variety of methods.  Some of these methods included a behavior modification system utilizing bogus money the students could earn in the classroom for proper behavior, and imposing fines for improper behavior.  I am an avid believer in teaching life skills for students to use in modeling behavior.  I believe that teaching life skills is the first step in learning to modify a student's behavior for success in other classrooms and society.  Once a student incorporates these life skills, they have the ability to survive in almost any environment that may be hostile or detrimental to their self-esteem and self-confidence.

One of the ways I incorporated these concepts in my classroom was to make up stories about my students.  Each individual student became a character in the story I told to the students.  The stories soon became favorites and were later published as the Holiday Favorites series.  (For more information, visit Amazon.com or search on Kindle e-reader.)

A “behavior mod” system was used to reward students for the proper response to questions I asked about the story using a simple method concerning Who, What, Where, and When. The students soon learned by using the discovery method of taking notes for better recall to answer my questions.  They used discovery in other classrooms by utilizing these same skills.

I believe more creativity should be allowed by school systems and employed by teachers to meet individual student needs.

(See the story published today for Kindle:

Santa and the Stranger by George F. Kohn, author of Holiday Favorites series available on Amazon.com)

The Big Fourth, Part 2

Butch was the fourth person called on to read his paper. He walked to the front of the class with a casual, confident stride, aware of his stirring presence. Butch was one of the best readers in the class and had won many spelling competitions throughout Norwood Elementary School.  He had a good speaking voice that was loud and clear, and most of the students were eager to listen to what he had to say.  “My report is a little different than the other reports,” he said.  “I took a completely different view of what most people think about in war. I chose to write about what it must have been like to be an animal in wartime!”  The class began to shuffle their feet and move around in their chairs in a nervous manner.  “My Uncle Dan had a farm, and he used to plant the lower forty acres next to the river. He had a mule named Midnight, because he would sometimes pull a plow from morning till midnight. That old mule worked six days a week dragging a plow behind him, turning up the soil in long straight furrows. He continued to work that way until he died in the barn at the age of twenty-two. When I looked at all of the ink drawings in the books showing the war-time destruction of animal life on the farm, I couldn’t help but feel what those animals must have thought about the sacrifice they had dedicated to mankind. Their only request in their life was a little bit of food, shelter, and perhaps a token of love by a kind word, a scratch behind the ear, or a pat on the back. Throughout the battle scenes depicted by an artist’s sketch pad, the black-and-white images were a vivid contrast of emotion that was graphically portrayed in each scene. Too many pages had sketches with dead animals that had been slaughtered in their cages or in their pens. Pigs, cows, chickens and horses lay in heaps on the battlefields. Some of the animals were killed by bullets or cannon fire or just plain starved to death. Many were bloated and distorted out of shape, so they were unrecognizable. They died in a position that was in proportion to their pain and suffering – without any dignity. Some had their legs sticking straight up in the air like a stuffed toy. There were multiple objects that had pierced their body from splintered trees, boards, and other objects that could be propelled by an explosion. I could only imagine the stench that saturated the area. Throughout the area, it must have been a lingering smell that you couldn’t wash away from your skin or your clothes. I thought about all the farm animals that had been needlessly slaughtered – animals like those which had given me so much pleasure in my life throughout the years. I thought about their loyalty, devotion, and willingness to accept the consequences of risks put upon them by their masters. In my mind’s eye I could still see my spotted hound dog that had accompanied me on so many hunting trips through the woods, and how he protected me with his barks whenever he thought danger was near. I thought about how he enjoyed my company and showed his appreciation of his love even though I was away from the farm for less than an hour! He would overwhelm me with his love and his joy when seeing me again, until it was almost embarrassing to have him make such a fuss over me each time we met. I would now like to conclude my report,” said Butch as he looked all around the classroom.  “This report is a reflection of my feelings and thoughts of what it must have been like for the animal kingdom to experience the tragedy of men killing and destroying everything around them. War not only kills people and animals, but it does massive destruction to all forms of wildlife and nature. Some of these things we don’t even think about, like the birds, butterflies, and flowers that are killed. Trees that are hundreds of years old are needlessly destroyed by war.  Survivors are left homeless and without a livelihood as their houses, farms, and businesses are destroyed. The big question is, ‘When will man doubt the validity of such actions and see the consequences of his deeds!’ This concludes my report.” 

There were many tears throughout the classroom, and Ms. Smith thought to herself.” How profound is the wisdom of a child!” Lester was the fifth and last student of the day to give a report. Lester was the smartest boy in the school and was known for his large vocabulary. Every year, as far back as anybody could remember, Lester had always won the contest for the most books read by a student in a year. In the third grade he won a silver dollar for reading over 300 books. He could tell you the longest word in the dictionary – “antidisestablishmentarianism” – and spell the word correctly and even tell you what it meant. He also scored the highest in the school on all kinds of math tests. To say that Lester was a good student was putting it mildly. When Lester approached the front of the class he knew that he was in control of the situation. It didn’t bother him if he used words that his classmates didn’t understand; he figured they could look them up in the dictionary if they were so inclined.

“My report,” said Lester, “is mostly about the ballistic capabilities of weapons used in the Revolutionary War. It also describes the hardships, lack of supplies, and scarcity of good equipment that handicapped the Continental Army. There were basically two types of rifles used by the minutemen in the Revolutionary War. There was the musket that had a smoothbore and was not very accurate at more than 100 yards. The other was the long rifle which got its name from the grooves inside the barrel. The grooves were called rifling because they would spiral the bullet in its flight, making it a lot more accurate at a longer distance. Pistols were used mostly by officers for close range combat. There were two weapons that were mostly feared by both sides in the battle. Both were very deadly in the eyes of the soldier. The most feared was the cannon. It was a large heavy weapon that had to be moved around on wheels. It could be fired at long ranges and did devastating damage to men, animals, and structural dwellings. Because of the cannon’s great weight, it had to be maneuvered by many men or pulled into place by a team of horses or mules. The next most- feared weapon was the bayonet. It was fixed to the front of the rifle and used when the soldiers ran out of ammunition for hand-to-hand combat. It has been reported that more soldiers were killed with the bayonet than by any other weapon in that war. Of course the men also used swords, sabers, knives, tomahawks, and spears. Most people cannot really appreciate or understand the conditions under which the minutemen fought during the war,” continued Lester.  “Soldiers fought under many adverse conditions, starting with lack of rations involving food and water. He was ill-equipped to contend with the weather in the summer as well as in winter. Many of the men fought without wearing any shoes and could be tracked like an animal by the bloody footprints left in the snow. Supplies like tents, blankets and personal hygiene supplies were scarce. When a soldier was wounded or came down with some kind of disease, he was often treated in a facility that made his wounds or disease more life threatening, and he usually died there. It is also interesting to note that after surviving all these conditions and hardships, there were very few minutemen who deserted their post, the battle, or the war! After General Cornwallis surrendered to George Washington, the general feeling of the people at the time was that the war was over, and there was no need to supply the Continental Army with additional equipment. That posed a challenge for the future of national defense.”

The classroom looked pleased with Lester’s report.  However, they were glad the reports were over for the day.  Ms. Smith called for a recess break, and the students went happily about their business, looking forward to playing in the warm sunshine outside.  The reports of the Revolutionary War were soon forgotten along with all the atrocities of war, as the students focused on fun.

The five boys’ reports were all posted on the bulletin board in front of the principal’s office on the Honor Board at Norwood Elementary School.  Each report had a big “A+” marked with bright red ink at the top right-hand corner of the page, under the name of each author.  Almost everybody in the school read or looked over the reports.  It didn’t take long for all five boys to become celebrities throughout the school.  As the year went by, the fabulous five continued to be celebrities, both in the classroom and out on the playground. The school had athletic contests with other schools from the surrounding areas.  With the help of the fabulous five, Norwood Elementary School won trophies in ragtag football, softball, and basketball.  Before long, the local newspaper did an article in the paper about “Achievements of Norwood Elementary School.”  The local community had a banquet at the school for all the achievements and awards the school had won throughout the year.

When school had finally ended for the year, the boys were beginning to prepare for summer vacation.  The last big event of the summer was the Fourth of July picnic.  Each year the picnic was held in the same place to celebrate the Fourth of July.  There would be dazzling fireworks, food, and games; participating would be the same people that were there last year and the year before.  “I wonder if the dry-cell batteries on our shortwave radio still work,” asked Lester.  “What do you have in mind?” asked Butch.  “Oh, I was just wondering what the little old Lady was up to,” said Lester.  “We could buy some new dry-cell batteries and see if we could pick up some of her broadcasting frequencies on our shortwave radio set.” replied Robert.  So the boys went to the hardware store and bought two brand new dry-cell batteries to replace the old ones.  The boys were getting a little bored from being out of school and could hardly wait for the Fourth of July fireworks to begin.  It was a chance to see all of their old schoolmates again and talk about old times. Robert said, “I can hardly wait to see and talk to Karen at the picnic while watching the fireworks.”  The rest of the boys started laughing.  “She sure is pretty,” said Allan. “Do you remember when Claudia had a birthday party?” asked Allan.  “I sure do,” said Butch.  “There was Claudia, Karen, Judy, Phoebe, and Barbara at the party.”  “Yeah, and we all played games of post office, spin the bottle and seven minutes in heaven,” recalled Butch.  “Boy, that was a great birthday party,” said Butch, smiling with a look of satisfaction on his face.  “Maybe we can talk the girls into playing a couple of those games with us again at the fireworks display,” said Butch with a romantic sound in his voice.  “Let’s go over to the tree Fort and hook up the new dry-cell batteries to our shortwave radio set. I have a hunch we might be able to pick up some important news.” said Butch.  “Oh, you’re just looking for some excitement,” said Lester in a humorous way.  When everything was hooked up properly including the telescope, the boys scanned the horizon with their binoculars.  They had been looking through their binoculars for a while, when the first star came out for the evening.  A faint voice was coming through the radio.  “Turn up the volume,” said Lester.  When the radio was adjusted, and the voice became louder and clearer, the boys gathered around to hear what was talked about.  Admiral was saying something about landing in the Meadows and doing some exploratory investigation of the human anatomy. “We’ll come in and land in visual mode so the boys will be able to see us as well as hear us.”  “Sir, we have made radio contact. Shall we begin crypto-code procedures?” he asked.  “Yes, give them enough information to keep their interest aroused and then switch over to mute, using light-interpretation codes. Remember we only need one species sample of each gender for our anatomical research facilitator to analyze the genetic makeup of the DNA and the amino acids makeup of the Homo sapiens that we cloned several thousand years ago. I want to study the insertion we made into the DNA code. I question whether it was enough of a genetic boost to enhance their cognitive learning capabilities for speech and higher levels of thought. We may want to intervene with another code change in the DNA molecule structure that will give them the capability of dual thinking on both sides of their brain. This higher order of thinking would allow them to read a book or engage in conversation and do mathematical equations at the same time. It would also be to their advantage if they were able to become ambidextrous to help them complete several tasks at the same time with either or both hands. You may proceed with the necessary experimental steps to give us the results that we are searching for, and start the project immediately using the nanostep procedures!”  

(Part Two of the novella by George F. Kohn, author of Holiday Favorites series available on Amazon.com)

For the rest of the story, order your copy of The Big Fourth, published for Kindle e-readers and paperback.  Amazon search: Holiday Favorites by George F. Kohn.)

The Big Fourth, Part 1

When the five boys were back in their classroom at Norwood Elementary School, the teacher reminded the class of the importance of Independence Day. She wrote five words on the blackboard: “Revolutionary, Declaration, Minutemen, Celebration, Constitution.”  For the next two weeks, there would be all kinds of written reports and oral reports.  There would be weekly pop quizzes and tests about the history of “The Big Fourth.”  Of course, the history lesson would begin with the American Revolutionary War and continue up to the present time.  “I would like to remind the class,” said Ms. Smith, “that the American frontier colonies were first sponsored and supported by the British government. There were many investors in the British government that sponsored and supported all kinds of business activities in America. The American colonists and British citizens in general were loyal to their king. It was the Founding Fathers who wrote and signed the Declaration of Independence to be free of Great Britain and secure the people’s unalienable rights.”  Ms. Smith further taught that it was adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, as a proclamation by “the thirteen united States of America” to be independent.  Years later, the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights would guarantee in writing certain privileges and rights that had never before been granted by government in recorded history of the world.  The Constitution was signed and published in 1787.  It begins with the Preamble “WE THE PEOPLE of the United States …” and was amended in subsequent years.  In 1791, the majority of state legislatures ratified amendments which became the first ten, called the U.S. Bill of Rights.  The first amendment was to protect our freedom of religion, speech, the press, and so forth.

The teacher then pointed out that if America had lost the Revolutionary War, every one of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence would have been treated as a traitor and either shot, hung or imprisoned by the British government. This was one of the reasons that John Hancock signed his name so large on the original document. He wanted to make sure his name would stand out above all the other signatures. Hancock was making absolutely sure that the British government would see his large signature and be assured that his name was part of this conspiracy that he wholeheartedly believed in and supported this document.

The five boys were not surprised to hear what came next.  “Your homework assignment for the weekend is to pretend that you are in the fireworks in the battle of the Revolutionary War.  Explain to the class what you feel, what you see and hear, and what the battle means to you personally. All of these reports will be given in front of the class by the person who writes the report. The first ten volunteers will automatically receive at least an ‘A-’ for classroom participation! Of course, the best reports in the class will have an ‘A+’ marked on the papers,” Ms. Smith explained.

After school the boys headed home to tell their parents about the assignment.  Next, all five met at the public library to find some books on the Revolutionary War.  Over the weekend, the boys worked together on their individual reports at the tree Fort, where everything was quiet and conducive to writing about their experience from a soldier’s point of view.  After two days of almost continuous writing, a little brainstorming for ideas, and lots of snacks, they finished their paper for the weekend.

On Monday the five boys were sitting in class, waiting with anticipation. Ms. Smith asked for volunteers.  Five hands went up immediately from the five boys.  Ms. Smith was not surprised at their eagerness.  They always seemed to be the leaders in the class and out on the playground.  Ms. Smith admired the boys’ confidence to become future leaders, and encouraged them and the rest of the class to pursue a leadership role in life.  “Have courage to take risks in life!” she said.  “Be not the first to always try the new, but be not the last to put some old ideas aside.”  This was one of her favorite sayings, adapted from a poem by Alexander Pope (1688-1744), and she would often repeat it throughout the year.

The boys had previously agreed which of them would go first and what order they would follow.  They all knew that Lester, Butch, and Robert were the scholarly bunch, and like a relay race in track, the fastest runners were usually placed at the back of the line to close the gap or to win the race. Ronald was the first to raise his hand.  He stood in front of the class and began to read his report.  “I pretended like I was the drummer boy leading the troops into battle by setting the cadence of the movement forward. I saw grown men all around me fall to the ground from gunshot wounds and cannon explosions. I was so scared that I wet my pants.  …”  Nobody in the classroom made a sound.  The students were all sitting up forward in their desk with their eyes and ears tuned in on Ronald’s report.  Ronald concluded his report by stating, “Some of these experiences I read about in the library were taken from actual events in the Revolutionary War. I tried to imagine what it would be like to see these things happen with my own eyes.”  A round of applause was given to Ronald by his classmates when he sat down in his seat.

Allen was next to volunteer.  “My report is about a man who is scared to death to go into battle. He is constantly fighting with himself and his conscience. ‘I don’t want to die!’ he kept saying to himself. He kept looking back over his shoulder to see if anyone else was running away from the battle. He thought to himself that he would pretend like he was dead and perhaps the enemy would go on past him. He thought about what his fellow soldiers would think, and what they would say about him if he were found dead, shot in the back! He just couldn’t handle the pressure, so he curled himself up into a little ball and hid behind….”  Allen stopped reading and said to the class, “I wanted whoever heard or read this story to finish the story by drawing their own conclusion.”  Another thunderous round of applause was given by his classmates.

Robert came to the front of the class. “My report is based on a soldier’s religious view about doing God’s work for the good of mankind. This minuteman named George became a soldier as he was studying to become a minister, when he was called into battle by his fellow citizens.” They were called minutemen because in a minute’s notice they would drop whatever they were doing and join in the fight against the British.  Robert continued, “George was well known throughout the community for two reasons. He always had a Bible in his hands, and he could quote all kinds of scripture. It was also a known fact throughout the colony that George was one of the wealthiest men around, if not the wealthiest man in America. The good book says, ‘Thou shall not kill.’ But it also has been said that ‘There is no greater glory to God than for a man to be killed in battle for his country,’ George would say. George seemed to be at odds with his conscience and his religious views. His fellow men were counting on him to fight with them in battle against his fellow men, but his religious training weighed heavily on his mind to refrain from violence. George would often be seen looking up at the sky and asking his Heavenly Father to forgive him. Then he would give a strong hand signal to charge and attack the enemy. ‘To become a leader of men is one of the hardest things I ever had to do in my life,’ he was overheard saying to a fellow officer. The officer replied, ‘It is the will of God!’ So I tried to put myself into George’s shoes and think what I would do if I were in his position.” said Robert.  “Then I found myself thinking, “We are all sometimes put into a survival position like an animal. We have to make a decision to either stand and fight or run to survive. If ‘survival of the fittest’ means only the strong will survive, we make our own choice. After reading many scenes about the bloody battles in the Revolutionary War, I pray to God every night to keep me from ever having to make such a decision.”  When Robert went back to his seat to sit down, it looked like he had tears in his eyes.  The class remained very quiet for a while then everyone broke out with a cheer.

(Part One of the novella by George F. Kohn, author of Holiday Favorites series available on Amazon.com)

For the rest of the story, order your copy of The Big Fourth, published for Kindle e-readers and paperback.  Amazon search: Holiday Favorites by George F. Kohn.)

The Festival of States Parade, Part 2

The boys woke up to a beautiful sunny day, as light beams of sunshine made light rays visible through the windows.  “Look at all the dust particles dancing in the light beams!” said Allan.  Each of the boys looked at the dust beams with wonder.  “They kind of look like a miniature Milky Way in another galaxy far away.” said Ronald.  “You know, “said Butch, “there could be all sorts of life in every one of those light beams, but they’re too small for us to see.  I bet if you had a powerful enough microscope you could probably see all sorts of weird things very similar to our solar system circling each other.”  The boy slid down the emergency rope ladder and headed for the Meadows.  “Now that it’s daylight, maybe we can find a trace of where that strange object landed,” said Robert.  On the way through the Meadows, the boys looked around for some wild raspberries to eat for breakfast.  When they had their fill of the ripe raspberries, they stumbled upon a patch of huckleberry bushes.  “Wow, look at this!” exclaimed Allan.  “I haven’t seen this many huckleberries in bloom in a long time.”  “We need to come back and pick a couple quarts of these and let Mrs. Strawn make us a huckleberry pie,” said Ronald while licking his lips with his tongue.

When the boys had their fill of wild berries, they began to look around the Meadows to find the spot where the strange object had landed.  Suddenly they came to a dark spot in the Meadows where the grass had been pressed down in the shape of a circle.  Butch got down on his hands and knees and looked at the grass very closely.  “Look at this,” he said to the rest of the group as he pointed to the matted grass.  On closer observation, the boys could see that the grass was mashed down, and all the tips of the grass were pointed in the same direction as though they were magnetized.  “That’s really weird,” said Lester. “I wonder if there are any other signs around,” suggested Ronald.  The boys continued their search outside the circle, when suddenly Robert yelled out, “Look at this!”  He pointed to the stool of a large animal.  “What in the world is that?” asked Allan.  “It must be a bear,” replied Ronald.  “That’s no bear,” said Robert.  “Whatever it is, it came from a mighty big animal, is all I got to say,” said Butch.

When the boys got back to the tree Fort, they decided that they would do another observation on the sky that night.  They set up all their equipment after moving the telescope into a different location.  They wanted to be able to look in the direction from where the strange object approached for landing.  While they were sitting around discussing their next plan, Butch had an idea.  “Let’s see if we can pick up any news or conversation on the shortwave radio.” said Butch.  “Good thinking.” said Lester. So the shortwave radio was calibrated until a faint sound began to be heard.  “This is Elvus; come in, please.”  “We want you to … try and … find the … of those … little varmints that … us so much … Do you read me?” a commanding voice responded.  “You’re breaking up, Sir!”  Then the shortwave radio became silent.  “We’re either low on battery power or their signal is breaking up.” said Butch.  “Why don’t we go to Mr. Zay’s hardware store and buy a new dry cell battery?” asked Robert. “We had better get going so we can make it back here before dark.”   “If that’s what you want to do,” agreed Lester.

Inside the hardware store, the boys overheard some of the customers talking about a mysterious monster that was seen all over town.  “Oh, my!” said Mrs. Neuner.  “The children are afraid to walk to school for fear of the boogie man.”  “I know,” said Mrs. Lewis.  “My Johnny is afraid to sleep in his bed at night for fear that the monster is going to get him!”  “Did you hear about the little girl Karen, and what the monster did to her?”  “No, pray tell, what happened to her?” asked Mrs. Souder.  “Well, it seems like little Karen was playing at the lake with her older brother Johnny, when out of nowhere this hairy monster came out of the woods, grabbed Karen, and ran off with her!” “What happened to Johnny?” asked Mr. Zay.  “He jumped into the lake to get away from the monster.  “What about little Karen?” asked Mrs. Souder. “Later that evening, the police found her walking around the lake.”  “Was she hurt?” asked Mrs. Neuner.  “I heard her clothes were all torn and dirty, but she was too scared to tell what had happened to her”  “We’ve got to do something about this!” said Mr. Zay.  “I’m going to donate some steel traps that are big enough to catch a bear,” he said.  “I’m going to form a vigilante committee,” said Mr. Hupp.  “I’ll tell everyone to bring their weapons and anything else they may need to go on the hunt. My orders are going to be to shoot to stop that monster in its tracks!”  After the boys left the hardware store, they walked over to Ward’s store.  They stopped long enough to read the headline in the newspaper that was still in the paper rack.  The headline was in big, bold print: “Swamp ape-like creature spotted all over town.  Local residents claim to have seen the monster near the Cypress Swamp. Some people claim that …”

It was obvious that the whole town was in a state of panic!”  The local police declared a curfew that no one under 18 was allowed on the streets after dark.  Mr. Lewis, the chairman of the vigilante community, called a meeting for all the hunters in the town.  “We want to build all kinds of traps around the swamp. We want pit traps, dead falls, steel traps, and any other trap that will hold something bigger than a man!” he exclaimed.  “Whatever this thing is, we have got to get to the bottom of this problem soon. If the monster remains alive after it’s trapped, we remove it to another location far away from town.” Almost the whole committee was in agreement with the plan.  The next day, people from all over town were busy making and setting traps all around the outside perimeter of the Cypress Swamp.  The people setting the traps could not believe the size of the giant footprints in the mud around the swamp. Some of the footprints measured more than 14 inches long and almost 6 inches wide.  “My God!” said Mr. Townsend.  “By the size of that track and the depth of the imprint left in the mud, that creature must be over 10 feet tall and weigh more than 1,000 pounds!”

All of the traps were prepared and set overnight.  When the vigilante committee checked the traps in the morning, they couldn’t believe their eyes! Huge trees were snapped in a large circle as if they were matchsticks to the swamp monster.  Some of the trees were driven into the ground upside down in smaller circles!  Almost every trap was broken or thrown into the swamp. Large limbs of trees were left hanging as if to show a warning sign not to enter the swamp!  A strong odor of rotten eggs filled the air throughout the area. “Holy … will you take a look at this!” exclaimed Mr. Webster as he came upon the scene with a small group of men.  The men all had their rifles in the ready position, chambered and ready to fire at a moment’s notice. Everybody’s nerves were on edge, when suddenly a loud whistle-like cry could be heard echoing through the swamp.  

The next morning, the Times newspaper front page read, “Large Skunk Ape believed to be living in the great Cypress Swamp. Residents are asked to stay away from the area until further notice. Large footprints are found in the area, and it is believed that …”  The boys from the tree Fort club couldn’t believe what they were reading.  Lester said, “We’ve got to be real careful when we go to the tree Fort. I suggest we arm ourselves.”  “With what weapons?” asked Butch.  “What I propose,” said Lester, “is that everyone bring a slingshot and have it with you at all times!”  “What will we use for ammunition?” asked Robert.  “Whatever you feel confident will hit the target,” said Lester.  “You can use marbles, steel ball bearings, small lead sinkers, pebbles, dried seedpods, or anything that works with your slingshot, depending on how bad you want to hurt the enemy.”  “I need to make one. What’s best – a Y slingshot or a clothespin slingshot?” asked Alan.  “No matter, as long as it shoots straight.” answered Lester.  So the boys headed out to find the necessary equipment to make a slingshot.

Robert, Allan, and Ronald all went to the Shell Oil filling station on the corner of 16th St. and 30th Ave. to see if Mr. Kelly had any old car inner tubes that he didn’t want.  On the way, Robert said, “I hope we can find an old, red inner tube.”  “Why is that?” asked Ronald.  “Because red inner tubes make the best slingshot; they’re stronger, and they stretch longer, which gives you more accuracy.” said Robert in a superior tone.  Luckily, Mr. Kelly had an old, red inner tube stashed away for any such need.  He gave it to the boys and offered them some advice.  “Before you build your slingshot, maybe you should go to the corner and have a talk with Slingshot Parker.”  “Who is that?” asked Ronald.  “If you don’t know about Slingshot Parker or have never met him, it’s high time. I highly recommend his expertise.”  “What’s so special about him?” asked Ronald again.  “Well, Slingshot Parker happens to be one of the world’s greatest slingshot marksman in the world! Other than that, he’s just a neighbor of mine that lives down the street.”  The boys could hardly believe their good fortune.  They thanked Mr. Kelly for the inner tube and made sure they had clear directions to find Slingshot Parker’s house.

(Part Two of the novella by George F. Kohn, author of Holiday Favorites series available on Amazon.com)

For the rest of the story, order your copy of The Festival of States Parade, published for Kindle e-readers and paperback.  Amazon search: Holiday Favorites by George F. Kohn.)