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Jan 08, 2009

Bright lights, strong voices
Can he live up to the expectations?
That's the question people around the world are asking as they celebrate the inauguration of Barack Obama, the first African-American to be elected President of the United States of America - the most powerful man in the world.

Not since the days of Martin Luther King or John F. Kennedy has one man captured the hopes and imagination of so many people. When one listens to speeches made by Obama you get the impression that Americans have elected a combination of the two. And, according to the latest polls, 57% of Canadians not only feel he will meet these expectations, he will surpass them.

Obama appears to be a decent human being: sincere, caring, believable, family oriented and a man of the people. The arrival of Obama, along with his family, at shelters on Thanksgiving Day and all four helping to distribute meals and food to the poor was a genuine sign that he has not forgotten his past and will show compassion for the millions of Americans who need help. There are some who will paint this as a publicity stunt. But the election is over and he had nothing to gain, other than the good feeling that he was helping where help was needed. Obama, along with his young family, have already made a positive impression that we all hope will produce only good things for North America and the world. We watched his swearing-in on Tuesday with the exciting and wonderful realization that we were once again part of history in the making. This time something positive. And we also rejoiced in the giant steps that Americans have made by tearing the race card in half. I wonder how many people thought they would ever see a black U.S. President in their lifetime. I know I didn't. Unfortunately, Obama arrives in the White House when the world economy is in shambles. It will take much more than charisma to fulfill the expectations he has created during his rise to power. Adding to my recent wish list I express the wish that Obama will be the greatest U.S. president ever and, given time, will use his tremendous power to solve many of the problems facing the world today.
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There are few among us who have not enjoyed the talents of our Town Crier, Bill McKee. Hardly a community event goes by that Bill hasn't been on hand barking out proclamations often followed by the melodious sound of his singing talents. Bill is a wonderful addition to our community makeup and everyone is proud that he is also the North American Town Crier Champion. Bill now has aspirations to compete in the World Town Crier competitions to be held in New Zealand this year. As you can imagine this will be a costly venture, so some of his friends have decided to hold events to raise funds to give Bill some needed help in his desire to bring world recognition to Uxbridge. The first event is a five-course dinner coming up on February 28 organized by his friends at the Uxbridge Legion. There will be entertainment as well as three Chinese auctions to add to the funds. Only 100 tickets will be sold at $50 each, and if you want to put a group together tables of 10 can be reserved. Tickets are available at the Legion Club Rooms on Franklin Street. Get yours today.
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There is a bright light. A lot has been written lately about the destruction caused around our community by uncaring vandals. But we all know that for every young vandal there are hundreds of really good young people living amongst us. Last week I was helping clear a ton of snow from a property on Planks Lane - a busy route for students attending Uxbridge Secondary School. As I was struggling with a heavy shovel, two young female students walked by. One stopped and said, “We would like to thank you for keeping your walk clean. We really appreciate it.” Pleasantly taken aback by this spontaneous, caring demonstration, the snow suddenly became lighter and I felt good about the future of our community.
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For the next two months I am off to Barbados for a winter break, so this will be the last 'Stew' for a while. Sipping cold ones on the beach makes it easy to leave work behind. Not hard to quickly adapt to the relaxed way of Bajan life and let the world go by. But I won't be entirely out of touch as the excellent web site recently introduced by the Cosmos makes keeping up with happenings in Uxbridge a breeze. Take care and see you in April.