To the Editor:
Our community is joining together with the help of the American Legion & the Republic-Monitor to celebrate Commitment & Citizenship as we move forward as Americans.
Citizenship…. What does it mean to us as Americans? It is in the final analysis, an embrace of the responsibility we have as individual human beings:
• To our families
• To our friends
• To our communities
• To our Nation
• To our fellow human beings.
How do we address this important responsibility?
Inform ourselves via newspapers, multiple media, etc. ….every day of our lives:
• About issues before us
• About concerns we have
• About every candidate & potential candidate for local, state, national office.
We should commit to:
• Join an existing “political” organization/party, etc.
• Create an organization which can communicate your message.
• Courageously declare your position and then, always, without exception…. VOTE!!!
We are just two committed, citizenship focused community members: - Jim Martin, Vietnam Veteran, retired teacher, past St. Vincent de Paul Parish Council President, past president & national outreach chair of the National Stars & Stripes Museum & Library, founding board member of the Perry Co. Military History Museum & the Perry County Youth Tax Board & father & step father of four & grandfather/step grandfather of three & Keith Carroll, a current member of the Perry County Health Board, former Stewardship Board member of Immanuel Lutheran Church, Immanuel Lutheran Technology Committee member, current president of Perry County Unite and father of four, who are working together with city & county leaders, our venerable American Legion Post 133 and others in a nonpartisan effort to ensure that our fellow citizens understand & embrace this so important hopefully life long effort & celebration of our individual constitutional rights & responsibilities!
Over the next several weeks, with the help of our Republic-Monitor, we’ll be conducting interviews hopefully with each of our fellow citizens who’ve stepped forward to run as candidates for our school, health & hospital boards, culminating with a Commitment to Citizenship Dinner and Celebration/Candidate’s Forum, March 23rd at the Legion.
The candidates -
(School Board): Glendon Sattler, Nancy Voelker, Jamie Robinson, Melissa Hahn, John Schaaf
(Health Board): Gwen Moore Schweiss, Brenda Hopfer, Jeremy Brewster, Serini Defani
(Hospital Board): Joe Hutchison, Darryl Niswonger, Robin Sims.
(Perryville Board of Aldermen, Ward 1): Seth Amschler & Dennis House
Just some of our questions for them: What do they feel are their responsibilities as citizens? What was the first experience they had which truly hit home to them the importance of citizenship? What do they feel is the greatest threat to our being able to function as citizens in an open representative democratic republic? What do they think their children and grandchildren need to know to be good/functional citizens… to be productive citizens? What concerns do they have about our education system in general, our particular school system? What do they think are the responsibilities we have as citizens to safeguard the health of our communities and our fellow citizens? Do they have concerns about how our health care is being delivered as a nation, a state, a community? Do they have specific objectives in mind if they’re elected and if so what are they? And based on their answers, we’ll explore more about their thoughts.
Please stay tuned for what we hope and anticipate will be interesting, potentially even exciting and almost certainly informative content over the these next four weeks…. And come on out to the Legion March 23rd for what we hope will be just the first of our Commitment to Citizenship Celebrations!
Jim Martin
Perryville
