Laying a Wreath at Arlington National Cemetery, by Sam Fischer

Yesterday our class went to Arlington National Cemetery where Duncan, Mathias, and I were the lucky three that were chosen to lay the wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. I have had the jitters about this for the past couple of weeks, so when we arrived at the cemetery, I could feel my heart start beating faster. When we three arrived at the marble structure located directly up the steps from the Tomb of the Unknowns, we all felt extremely light headed and a little sick to our stomachs. We stood at the top of the marble steps and waited for the host to come up and give us directions on how to lay the wreath. Fifteen minutes later, three guards were now in the march on the black mats, making perfect copies of their previous step every time. Then they all went to the side of the tomb except for one who stood staring at us from the base of the steps with his tinted glasses, Marine uniform and big, shiny sidearm. Then, moments later, a solemn, eerie, blue figure approached us, ascending the stairs. His tinted glasses allowed us to see our own faces clearly and especially my terrified, pale white face. He now stood right in front of us staring us down, but to my relief we were greeted with a smile and a “Hey guys, how’s it going?” we replied with a shaky “good.” He then gave us our directions on how to respectfully place the wreath, so we followed him on his right side and a very serious figure, a Marine, waited for us with a wonderful smelling flower covered wreath. Mathias, Duncan, and I all took hold of the wreath and placed it upon the white stand and placed our hands over our hearts as we listened to another sentinel played Taps. When Taps was over we turned around and met the host at his side and ascended the stairs. At the top again, the guard, Jason, shook our hands, said we did a good job (because we “didn’t fall down the stairs”) and asked us where we were from and we replied we were from Washington State. He said he was from Oregon and to say hello to the Pacific Northwest for him. He went back to his duty and we finished our walk at Arlington. So, from all of us and Sentinel Jason, “Hello to the Pacific Northwest.”

Proof of Life

We had a great, really long day, and we'll tell you all about it tomorrow but we're going to bed now. But here are a few photos.

A lesson from Washington, DC

Dear Friends,

We have had a splendid day: safe, educational and fun, yet holding important lessons as well.

Today, among other things, we went to Arlington National Cemetery and visited the memorial to John F. Kennedy, our 35th President. Arlington is a very special place for me. I find its hallowed grounds a place of reverence, awe and wonder at the bravery and sacrifice of those who have built this great nation, and the incredible blessings we receive simply by merit of being born in this time and this place.

Kennedy led our nation during a time of fear and hope: Fear of the military might of the Soviet Union and the possiblity of nuclear annihilation, yet hope that our own recent military victories and economic might would protect us. He was a powerful orator who had a vision for our nation, a vision of service. In his First Innagural Address in January, 1961, Kennedy said, "My fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you -- ask what you can do for your country."

Kennedy called us not work only for our own needs and desires, but to work and sacrifice for the needs and desires of others as well.

The men and women buried at Arlington made the ultimate sacrifice to ensure our freedom and welfare. As is inscribed at the Korean War Memorial: "Freedom is not free." Let us all remember and be truly grateful for the work and sacrifices of those, in uniform and not, who ensure our own peace, security and well being. Thank a veteran or soldier for their service. Thank a policeman or fireman and tell them you appreciate their work. Thank your mom and dad and tell them you love them. Say a prayer, thanking God for his many blessings, and tell him you love him.

Gratefully,
Mr. Harvey

PS: To our dear parents and Mrs. Moody, THANK YOU for your work and dedication to send us here. We appreciate your efforts and we love you all.

More Blog, Day 2

Rows and rows of white markers uniformly dotted the hillside at Arlington National Cemetery. When passing by the memorial to the U.S.S. Maine, which sank in Havana, Cuba in 1998, I read not the names of the departed but their occupations. From Sea-cooks and blacksmiths to lieutenants and majors, they were honored side by side. The cemetery is on the site of the former home of the Confederate general from the US Civil War, Robert E. Lee. His house still stands at the top of the hill and is a US National Park. When we visited the house I not only thought of how sad it was that every day they perform at least 36 funerals in the cemetery, but also that someday I would love to live in that house. We saw Mel, the famous bus-driver from the trip two years ago, but didn’t have a chance to really talk with him, and we thought of the alumni from that trip. Another Tourmobile driver was very memorable because of the way he spoke… His voice was thickly accented with who knows what, and fluctuated unnecessarily. He mentioned several times that the Kennedy Center had free shows every night and that we should attend them. The he pondered whether to go as well… for a long time… Another driver became our favorite, his name was Norman. He waited patiently for Mrs. Bentley and Mr. Williams as they ran from the National Air and Space museum.-Melina

For lunch, we went to Union Station. We all split up into our mini groups and picked a restaurant in the food court to eat. Melina, Maddie, and I ate Greek food after Mr. Williams, our chaperone, left us with our $15 lunch money before deserting us. We then ate our food together by ourselves! (ok, all of the other adults could see us, but it was still fun!) After using our remaining money to buy ice-cream and watching Sam buy a picture of himself with Justin Beiber, we left Union Station and got to walk to the Air and Space Museum. Noah got stuck on the other side of the street after running ahead. We could see him on the other side walking all by himself (He caught up with us a few minutes later.) We saw most of the monuments today as well. By the end of the day, we were all exhausted and everyone’s feet hurt, but it was definitely worth it! I miss you guys! -Madeleine

Day 2

Hi School! Today we had an awesome monument tour, going to the Lincoln Memorial and the Vietnam Memorial. After a splendid tour of the Air and Space Museum, featuring the awe-inspiring guide Mr. Williams, we barely made it to the last bus of the day. The remarkable bus guide, who wishes to remain unnamed, waited for us when a few chaperones got "lost." While we were heading back to Arlington National Cemetery, the tour guide knew a great deal of Washington (State) facts, which made the bus trip much more enjoyable. The bus driver followed us off the bus, showing us the way to the parking lot through the pouring rain and misery. (OK, it wasn't that bad, I wore shorts and a T-shirt, but I never get cold.)  Since we were pretty tired, we decided to postpone the night monument tour to a different night, so we could write post cards, blog postings and play Risk in the comfort of the awesome 4-H Center.  Good night, Duncan

Safe Trip

Hi Everyone,
We made it very safely back with a long plane trip and "interesing" car ride to the National 4-H Youth Conference Center. The rooms are nice, but the water isn't as nice as Washington State's water. It's midnight here even though it is only nine o'clock at home.

-Jonathan, Duncan, and Talbot

See where we're staying

Just to let everyone know, we will be staying at the National 4-H Youth Conference Center. Here is the link: www.4hcenter.org

Fundraising

The fundraising is going great with only five days to go! We have done three Fridays of pizza days each fetching in about $125 each. We did a movie night which gained about $300. Fruit sales pulled in about $1100 which was the best fundraiser by far out of all of our activities. Our chocolate sales fetched around $900 which was spread over about 20 hours! All in all the fundraising helped to bring in about $3500! The fundraising was set up and run by Greg Van Patten and Mrs. Miller and they did a great job! The fundraising in general was even better than last time by $1000! One person even donated $50 in the candy sales! The money helped to lower everyone’s fee by about $200. We all did a great job!
We had lots of fun selling chocolate and met lots of interesting people. There were many people who were "allergic" to chocolate, but several of them were generous enough to give us money without buying chocolate. One person gave us $50 without buying any chocolate.

-Mathias Van Patten and Talbot Miller

Introduction

DC TRIP 2011!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This year's 7th and 8th grade class is venturing to DC from February 20-28! We have finished our Barnes and Noble gift wrapping fundraiser, our fruit sales, our first two pizza days, and our babysitting night! The second drafts of our itinerary and packing list have been completed. All of the other commitees are working very diligently to make our journey a success. Please pray for us as we continue our planning!

We are all extremely excited for our new adventure!!!!!

Babysitting night

Hi Everyone,

We just finished our baby-sitting night fundraiser on Saturday. It went great, and we raised over $300!
Thank you to everyone who helped make the night such a success!