North County Park Archives

July 5, 2013January 14, 2015

A Quiet Fourth

Mother and I passed through Capaha Park when we ventured out to Hamburger Express to pick up some ribs. I stopped at a pavilion where it looked like it there might be a reunion of some of the folks who lived in the Smelterville area. It turned out to be the Descendants of Nettie Hopper Spicer Family Reunion. They came from the Ranney Avenue area around Fort D and May Greene School, which is on the north side of Tollgate Hill, but they knew a lot of the folks I had photographed. I’m going to hook up with some of them to hear their stories of growing up in South Cape.

Shameless plug: I’ll be at Annie Laurie’s Antiques for First Friday, July 5, between 6 and whenever if you want to pick up a Snapshots of Cape Girardeau calendar or look at my Smelterville: A Work in Progress book. They are $20 each if I can place them in your hand. They are $25 if they have to be mailed. More about that later if you are interested.

Parade of Flags

Capaha Park was quiet, particularly since the pool has been demolished, so we cruised out to North County Park, which was equally quiet. I had to take a couple frames of the Parade of Flags. The wind was as calm as the park and there was some overcast, so the flags weren’t as dramatic as they had been on other visits.

As I was taking this photo, I was moved by the idea that each of those flags represented a man or woman who had served his or her country, and the family that waited for them to come home. These flags have a real meaning. They aren’t some monster flag a car dealer puts up to sell cars. They represent real people.

Kids and sprinklers

We cruised over to see what was happening in Jackson. I couldn’t resist stopping when I saw Elias, 5, and Emily Huff, 4, playing in the backyard sprinkler. (As always, you can click on the photos to make them larger.)

We’ve lost something important

One of my former staffers told me a few years back that he no longer shoots this kind of photo. “As soon as I walk up to ask the kids for their names, they start screaming and running away. That’s if somebody looking out a window hasn’t already called the cops on me. It’s not worth the hassle,” he said.

Too many hours sitting in front of the All Fear All the Time TV Networks has robbed us and our kids of our independence and innocence. Thanks to Elias and Emily’s father, Tim, for letting me take these photos. It’s nice to know kids can still be kids in Jackson.

July 4, 2013July 4, 2013

Happy Independence Day

I cheated a little. I took this photo at North County Park on Veterans Day 2011. It’s appropriate for the 4th of July, though. Have a safe and thoughtful Independence Day.

Don’t forget

Take a moment out from grilling and shooting fireworks to think of the men and women who are out there making this celebration possible. You can click on the photos to make them larger.

Other Flag pictures

September 11, 2012November 12, 2016

Our Pearl Harbor

It was our generation’s Pearl Harbor. I wasn’t going to write about it because everybody else in the world is going to do “where I was stories.” To get THAT out of the way, I was in Cape. Mother said something about a building on fire in New York. I looked at the TV and thought, just like I had when I first saw the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City in flames on April 19, 1995, that it was a gas explosion. Soon, in both cases, we discovered a darker reason for the flames: terrorism.

The scramble to get home

I called Wife Lila in West Palm Beach and we shared our fears.

I hurried to a Cape gas station to fill up for a quick trip back to Florida. I wasn’t sure if gas was going to be available – or how much it was going to cost – for the return.

On the way south, I drove under an overpass near Nashville that had a massive American Flag hanging from it. I’ve never seen so many flags flying. I also noticed that drivers were more polite – they’d give you a wave to let you know it was OK to pull out and you’d acknowledge it in kind.

Where was the shared sacrifice?

Of course, that only lasted for a short while. Instead of experiencing the shared sacrifices of World War II, we were told to go shopping. Instead of cutting back on energy consumption, we demonstrated our patriotism by hanging “Support our Troops” magnetic ribbons on the back of gas-guzzling SUVs. Instead of drafting a cross-section of American society, putting everybody at risk, we had a volunteer army that meant it was unlikely that you had any literal skin in the game. Politicians like Rudy Giuliani whose sentences, according to Joe Biden, consist of “a noun, a verb, and 9/11” wrapped themselves in the flag and rushed us into two wars for dubious reasons.

Osama Bin Laden, for the price of 19 airline tickets, managed to cripple our economy and made us give up freedoms and privacy. Mission accomplished.

Flags still thrill me

Still, as I travel across this great land, I’m still thrilled to see our Flag flying. These were taken at the North County Park, Overbey Farms outside Murray, Ky., the Jackson City Hall and a florist in Gastonia, NC. These are AMERICAN flags. They don’t belong to politicians and political parties and they should be used to unite, not divide us.

July 5, 2012

Flags Coming Down

I promised myself that I wasn’t going to do another North County Park flag picture, even if it was the Fourth of July.

Then, on my way back from Perry County at the tailend of the afternoon, I saw the flags were coming down. I knew, of course, that somebody had to put them up at dawn and taken them down before dusk, but knowing something isn’t the same as seeing it.

Controlled chaos: no conking

Volunteer Jerry Hampton said most of the work was being done by VFW Post 3838, members of Boy Scout Troop 5 and folks from the Delta 1st Baptist Church. If I missed anyone, I apologize.

The workers acted in controlled chaos. Despite flag poles whirling and spinning all around, I didn’t see anyone conked or speared. They teamed up to handle the flags respectfully and to make sure they never touched the ground.

These flags are special

Those of us who visit the parks and appreciate the beauty of the flags flowing in the wind need to keep some things in mindL

Volunteers work hard when it’s cold and when it’s hot to put the flags up and to take them down.
Families donate the flags to honor their relatives who were in the service.
Each flag once covered the casket of someone who served to protect our freedoms.

Flag display gallery

Click on any photo to see a larger photo of these hard-working volunteers, then click on the left or right side of the image to move through the gallery.