"Bad art by Good People"...

The arts in Shelby County are supported by a group known as the Gateway Arts Council.  And as with all arts related groups, funding is tight.  So, to try to refill their coffers, they have a project once or twice a year known as "Bad Art by Good People."  They identify a theme and get local residents, politicians, teachers, lawyers, preachers, doctors, etc., etc. to do some form of art related to the theme and then they solicit votes ($1.00 per vote) from community members, followed by an auction to cap off the drive.

Well, this year's drive is related to the "Field of Valor" being held in Sidney during the first week of September.  During this week, the Historical Society is bringing The Traveling Vietnam Wall to Sidney, erecting a field of flags (approx. 1,000 U.S. Flags flying in an adjacent field), the civic band is putting on a concert, a local car club is hosting a car show "cruise-in" and a local runners club is holding a 5K run/walk "To the Wall."  All in all , it will be a fun week.

In conjunction with this event, the Gateway Arts Council will display the entries at the field so the public can see all "this great art work."  This year's artists are all Veterans of the Sidney/Shelby County area, and their work is to be related to something patriotic or from their military past.

Yes, I am one of the artists, and I would like to present my piece titled "Duty, Honor, Country."

This piece is mounted on a 16"x22" canvas.  I made the background by cutting up an old pair of my BDU (Battle Dress Uniform) pants and gluing it over the canvas.  The picture is one I set up against a wall of ivy on a brick wall.  The Gateway people told us that each of our pieces should have a personal story behind it, so my story is that I wore, carried, ate, shot, cut or followed every item of equipment used in this piece.  I shot the picture and then got it enlarged as a black and white.  I also had a color one done just so I could cut out the U.S. Flag and paste it in.  I thought it would draw one's eye into the shot.

I have no delusions of grandeur here, but did have fun making it and going thru the process.  I would also like to make a couple of bucks for the Council, but that's about it.  Not about to give up my day job (oh, yeah, I already did that!!).  There was one other possible name for it "Tools of the Trade" but thought the one I chose would work out better in the long run.  I hope you like it.

One other thing I almost forgot -- once the Gateway reaches a certain point in funds received from this project, they plan to donate 50% of their funds over that point to the Dayton VA Hospice.  What a noteworthy project.  In fact, one of the pieces in this "contest" is being done by the director of that Hospice unit, a retired Army Colonel who also serves as the chief nurse on our Vets to DC trips.  If you have time after September 5th or so, go to the Gateway Arts Council's website to check out all the works. <gatewayartscouncil.org>.  Click on the Bad Art by Good People link.

A patriot is one who, against all odds and circumstances, is prepared to defend his country...and sometimes against its own government.


Hooah

OK...I'm back...

Been gone for a while.  But if you are a follower of this blog, you've probably gotten tired of checking in just to see the same last entry.  Well, I've got some new stuff for you, so let's go.

One of the things I really enjoy, as if you haven't already noticed, is playing golf.  Currently I play in two leagues; one is called "The Senior Swingers" and the other is the McCartyville/Rumley league. 

The Senior Swingers is a group of about 80 retired guys in the Sidney area who play on Monday mornings.  We all get a laugh out of the name, because in "our day", a Swinger was someone who had quite possibly had a dubious reputation as someone who chased women, drank and gambled a lot.  Now, there might be some guys in this league who still entertain fleeting fantasies of those days, but now most of their swinging is done on a porch, or on a golf course and only after a couple of doses of Advil.  Some of these old boys can still play pretty well though.  For instance, just the other day, I played with 3 guys, shot a 41 and got my behind shaved again.  The other 3 guys had a 36, 37, and 38.  Oh well, it was a beautiful morning.

The McCartyville/Rumley group is a really good bunch of neighbors and friends.  After playing our weekly round, we usually congregate in the "19th hole" and do what some of the guys say we do best.  So this week, as we were sitting around, guys were calling each other by their nicknames.  I got curious about how each of them got these names, so the stories started flowing.  Here are some of them:

"Beaty" got his nickname a long time ago when he was playing CYO basketball here. They were state champs. It seems a number of the guys were playing and picking their favorite players and Tom picked Zelmo Beaty, Jr.  It seems Zelmo was a center who played in college for Prarie View A&M, and was a 1st round (3rd overall pick) in the 1962 NBA draft by the St. Louis Hawks.  Zelmo was 6"9" tall and played center.  Our "Beaty" would have to hold up a broom over his head to reach 6"9", so there was obviously no connection between the two in terms of playing position.

"Squeak" was a younger brother in his early life, and his handle was laid on him by his brothers.

Nobody seems to know how "Whitey" got his nickname.  His real name isn't even close to it.  And I never got a real good story on how "Peatie" (Dave) got his name.

One of the guys was called "Mary" which was a reference to an old girl friend.  Nobody calls him that much, so the flame must have died in his early teenage years.

And there were many more, but I didn't have a pencil or paper with me.  I might revisit this some time.

I just think it is important to know things about the guys you spend this much time with.  I like to get to know them, pay attention to their "story" and, when possible, get some history of the area...even if it is sometimes told with a wink of the eye and a belly laugh.  Being in a group with nicknamed guys, I feel the closeness of this group, the trust each has in the other, the acceptance.  A new guy like myself (even though I have known some of these guys for going on 19 years now) doesn't dare just blurt out a nickname when talking to one of these guys.  That right is something that has to be given by them.

I love nicknames -- the stories, the history, the camaraderie.

Hooah