Last night I ran lights for the annual Smile Train Show, put on at the high school by the students and teachers of West End Elementary School under the direction of Mrs. Buzzy Durkin and the school’s service club. It was the eighth year for the project, which has raised money to buy 80 “smiles” for children with cleft palate and cleft lip since 1999. It was fun for me to sit in the booth again and reminisce about my techie days at the Civic Little Theatre, which has grown a lot since I worked there during high school and college. Speaking of technical equipment, since the school budget passed this week, the 30-year old lighting and sound system in the high school auditorium is finally slated for much needed updates. And, I heard, the town’s track teams may be able to host track meets at home next year for a change, because the budget also includes money to bring the track up to code.
Anyway, the kids in last night’s show were terrific, and I found the first song: “Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears” especially moving, because the children were asked to work with their parents to put together costumes showing the traditional clothing of their immigrant forebears. Because North Plainfield’s population is so diverse, the panoply of costumes was staggering. Lederhosen and medieval Celtic dresses. Brilliant saris and plain white robes with kafiyeh scarves. Native American tunics and headdresses. Tiered white dresses, worn by little girls with long dark hair and bright red flowers tucked behind one ear, and striped sarapes worn by little boys in straw hats. Embroidered Russian overshirts with high black boots. African cloaks with intricate colorful zig-zag patterns. My favorite was a little boy in a fur vest wearing a Viking helmet with two horns, although sadly, he couldn’t wear it during the show for fear of poking other kids in the eye. I don’t even know the names of most of the garments, but they were worn by children born of parents, grandparents, great-grandparents from Guatemala, Honduras, Iran, Palestine, Egypt, France, Ghana, Nigeria, Mexico, Germany, Slavic countries, Sweden, Colombia, India and dozens of other countries.
The Smile Train Show always includes a few routines to “salute the armed forces,” and this year included a reading of the names of more than 50 veterans related to West End students and staff, and more than a dozen military personnel who have served or are serving in Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. I learned last night that North Plainfield has not only an ROTC program at the high school but also a Junior ROTC program at the middle school, from which 40 fifth and sixth grade kids will soon take a field trip to visit West Point Academy.
The contrast was profound, between the tremendous sight of children from so many different countries and cultures singing and dancing together on a brightly lit stage, simultaneously sharing their uniqueness and their commonality, and the thought that some of them might someday join the armed forces, to train for careers in violence, and might even be sent back to their homelands to attack their own cousins, aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews. Perhaps as we humans become more intermingled, culturally, we’ll increasingly see all wars as internecine, and better resist calls to harm our kin.
6 responses so far ↓
marie k // April 20, 2007 at 2:54 pm
Perhaps as a PARENT and member of the West End COMMUNITY a night such as the Smile Train show should not be used as a venue for politcal commentary on your views about war. The school staff, children and their families worked for months to raise awareness and funds to support such a worderful organization as the Smile Train. The West End school raises the most money internationally for this organization and has been bestowed over the past 4 years with praise for their actions. CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL for your commitment to such excellence.
PROUD 2 BE AMERICAN // April 20, 2007 at 7:44 pm
First, I would like to thank you for your vivid portrayal of the children’s presentation. As a West End parent, I know how hard the children and Staff worked on this presentation. This event was done as part of the Service Club of the school. The West End School is a model school for “Character Education.”
The children are taught to GIVE BACK to the country which has provided them Freedom. Part of our culture involves sacrafice and this is the main thread in the fabric of our GREAT nation. Freedom is not free, nor should it be taken for granted. Our forefathers have given their lives to give us FREEDOM. I understand that. The children and parents at West End understand that. To give thanks to those who are willing to SACRAFICE their time away from loved ones and even their lives is the least that we could have done.
My grandfather was killed in the Battle of the Bulge in World War 2. My father never got to know him. When my father turned 18, he joined the Marine Corps. Many members of West End are very proud of the selfless dedication and devotion of our family members in the armed forces.
The Smile Train Show has absolutely NOTHING to do with our armed forces. By giving thanks, we show our RESPECT for those who have served for us. Their sacrafice is just the reason why you can spew your vitriolic and disrespectful commentary about our very proud military. These men and women are the very same people who would support your desires to live on a granola filled commune. These very same men and women are willing to shed their own blood so you can espouse the virtues of communism, peace, love and understanding. You have done yourself a great disservice by viciously, maliciously and foolishly linking a wonderful program to the lunatic fringe anti-American kook position.
I fully support your right to blog with such animous towards those protecting our FREEDOM. In the very same vein, I fully support your right to offend the members of our community who have a different opinion than you. It is sad that someone who presents themselves as open minded and worldly is no more than a Stalinist when confronted with a different moral compass or belief structure. It is both HONORABLE and NOBLE to engage in such a selfless act as enlisting in any SERVICE PROGRAM. This goes for planting trees, working at a soup kitchen or joining an ROTC PROGRAM. When we look at the melting pot of American culture, there are takers and complainers and givers and protectors. We should never take any for granted.
Your disgraceful linkage of the nights events to your disdain for our military was REPULSIVE. Parents went for a happy time to enjoy their families and you stole fond memories and replaced them with disgust. I hope that you are happy with what you attempted to take away from the parents, staff and children of the West End School.
In closing, I wish to convey that your convoluted logic, dementia based thinking and ungrateful belief structure will do nothing to tarnish the spirit of the American family. By publishing the left wing lunatic view point and attempt to link it to something pure, you accomplished nothing more than solidifying the resolve of thankful Americans. When you see people staring at you at the West End School, you will know why. They will not feel anger towards you, only pity. You should be ashamed of yourself Ms. Watt. We all are.
tree // April 21, 2007 at 9:17 pm
Well, a couple of points about Ms. Watt’s posting regarding the smile train show and the comments posted so far.
1. Ms. Watt obviously understands and is supportive of the goal of the smile train show and the service projects that the kids at West End do. Why is this obvious? She gave her time. A casual read of the posting indicates that she worked the lights, which means she went to rehearsals, pre-show meetings, and the show itself. She should be thanked for this, and I thank her.
2. Perhaps, the Smile Train show should not be used as a venue for political comments, but the Lee Greenwood song that is chosen year after year as the finale is hardly politically neutral. The country is split on its support of the War in Iraq and seems to be becoming increasingly opposed to the war. The connection between Mr. Greenwood’s song and the goal of the Smile Train is tenuous and unclear. What do the nationalist and patriotic overtones of the song have to do with helping impoverished children get surgery to correct cleft palate?
3. A “PARENT” is exactly the person who should be teaching their children about politics and helping them to understand that songs and the words that are in those songs have meanings. Meanings that should be understood.
4. Why is it that so often children are taught that the only, or most important way, to give back to the country is to join the military. Yes, a war was fought for independence. Yes, a war was fought against facism. But a war was fought for the eight-hour day and a war was fought for civil rights. The people that fought those wars fought against their own country’s laws and got their heads split by their own country’s law enforcement officials. Being in the military and fighting a wars in the foreign countries are not the only ways to give back. Why aren’t are children taught that and encouraged more strongly down those paths? Why does the federal government which spends billions of dollars a year in peace time on defense, but can’t find more money for AmeriCorps.
5. It’s sad to see how weakly proud 2 be american holds that idea that people can have opinions that differ from his. How do I know this is a weakly held value? Because he (or she) follows it up with name-calling and accusations. He warns her about dirty looks, as if to say, ” You can think that, but you’d better not say it out loud.” Hardly a strong endorsement of free speech. Ms. Watt espoused neither Stalist sentiments,nor did she impune the honorable intentions of those who choose the ROTC. She stated a possibility. The possibility that members of the ROTC who are immigrants may someday be asked (or rather ordered) to return to their country of origin for the purposes of fighting a war against their ethnic brothers and sisters. This kind of possibility has already happened in our history. During the Civil War, newly arrived Irish immigrants joined or were conscripted into the Union and Confederate armies and then slaughtered each other. Italian-Americans invaded Italy and killed Italians in the Italian army in Europe during World War II. I suggest that proud to be american contain his or her own vitriole and intolerance and read the posted thoughts of others more carefully.
The United States is a great place to live, but its not perfect. When being proud ourselves, or teaching our kids to be proud, it is well that we remember this. Blind nationalism and patriotism have no place in our democracy.
GET REAL // April 22, 2007 at 5:27 pm
Dear Mr. Watt, I mean tree,
1. Ms. Watt volunteered to flip a light switch. This is the first and onlty time that Ms. Watt has volunteered for ANYTHING at the West End School. If Ms. Watt was so understanding and supportive, she would have avoided injecting her anti-American viewpoint and LINKING it to the smile train.
2. You are 100% correct that the smile train is not a political event. Your aversion to a song “Proud to be an American” speaks volumes. It is a song. It speaks of American pride. It does NOT have a political slant any more than the national anthem. I suppose that is political and we should remove One Nation Under God from the pledge of allegance as well. At no time did the smile train show discuss support for any war. Ms. Watt chose to bring her anti-war, anti-military and Anti-American views to the table. This is just what the problem is. You seem to be upset of her being confronted for what she posted. I read the prior post and it never mentioned the Iraq war. THis is exactly what happens with the fringe lunatic perspective. They always veer off course and imagine events that never were mentioned. Whatever “overtones” of a song you are speaking about identify your own bias against American Pride. The purpose of the song in the smile train is because we have an extremely diverse population, but are all PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN. Imagine that, e pluribus unum or out of many one. Wow, that must really be a horrible overtone for you and Ms. Watt.
3. Songs have many meanings to different people. If you need a “PARENT” to explain the meanings of every song to children, you will need a whole lot of time. Perspective is understood from where you view something. If you are accusing the West End Staff of somehow imposing a political position on the children, you are completely way off base.
4. It was never mentioned that children are taught that the only, or most important way, to give back to the country is to join the military. It was stated that ANY type of service was noble. The fact that someone would be willing to give their life is a far greater sacrafice than someone planting apple seeds. Both are needed, but one requires a much higher level of commitment. The issue is not about Americorps vs. the Army. While all death is tragic, we have a very bellicose history. It would be a wonderful world if there were no war, evil people or a need for a military. Unfortunately, the world is filled with bad people who have wanted to do bad things to Americans for a very long time. This is why we should be thankful to those willing to serve and not disrespect them. Just like we should never look down on anyone. There is a show called Dirty Jobs. It shows work that a whole lot of people would never do, but our society could not function without them.
5. I thought that proud 2 be american strongly expressed their support of the idea that people can have opinions that differ from his. As a matter of fact, they even went so far as to say that the reason Ms. Watt had the right to malign and disparage the military was because of the military. THe person never called Ms. Watt names, but rather described the perspective proposed by Ms. Watt. I viewed what she wrote as anti-American as well. You are even showing an anti-American pride bias as well. You should not just make things up and believe them to be so. It makes you look disoriented at best. No one warned of dirty looks, as if to say, ” You can think that, but you’d better not say it out loud.” THe writer clearly discussed that people would be staring with pity for Ms. Watt because of what she did. Do not try to make a matar out of a suicide bomber either. Ms. Watt called the people entering the ROTC as trained killers who woulf kill their own families. Now that is disgusting. According to your “Stalinist” views, there would be no nationalism and patriotism in our democracy. You can’t even get past a song about American Pride.
Jim Watt // April 23, 2007 at 7:15 am
I am Katherine’s father. I served in the US Navy for 4 years in the late 50’s. I was proud to serve because the Russian Empire had threatened to bury us. We knew who the enemy was and how to counteract them. It was honorable service in my opinion and most Americans agreed.
It is not so now. We as a nation have been lied to repeatedly by our government and our soldiers have been sent to do an impossible task without the proper equipment and without enough force to accomplish the task. This is dishonorable. My heart goes out to the troops who have been sent out to suffer and die. This war is wrong; perhaps all war is wrong.
I firmly support Katherine’s views. She has made me see the futility of this war.
I now have 10 grandchildren. If any of them wants to join the military, I will do my best to dissuade them. I want them to live and have families, not be killed or maimed on some foreign field for some fuzzy political dream of a politician who has never seen combat.
James G. Watt, Esq.
Stay on topic // April 23, 2007 at 7:25 pm
Mr. Watt, may I thank you for your service to our great nation. Unfortunately, you forgot about the military. The Troops do not have a say in which wars they fight.
If the question posed about your daughter was for being anti-war, you would have a valid perspective. Unfortunately, the issue was your daughter taking a story about little children doing a service program and link it to the war. This was and is disgusting. I fully understand that you must support your child. Just because you want the discussion to be about the war, does not make it so. I surmise that this is the only way that even you as a parent could support such a vile supposition. It is about the children doing good work for a good cause. Taking time out to thank those who have served over decades, not just the current war, is what was done. Should your child have decided to write an anti-military or anti-American post alone, there would be no issue. If it is your belief that linkage of the smile train show to the anti-war, anti-American, terrorist safe haven group is good, I would strongly disagree. It is amazing that Ms. Watt is left with seeking solace and support from only immediate family. Again, thanks for your service, but people who are offended by the Lee Greenwood song, Proud to be an American are just a little off kilter. I have heard the saying about having a face that only a face that only a mother could love, but not making a post that only a father could love.
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