Tears in the helmet today

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As you know, today was the funeral for Curtis Mehrer, one of two fallen Bismarck soldiers killed in Afghanistan. Over 200 motorcyclists, myself included, were in attendance to support his family and loved ones, brothers and sisters in arms, and to make sure no monkey business took place. Fortunately the Phelps jackasses did not show, although I am told they have a permit to protest on Saturday morning.

Many of these men and women would have been here anyway, I’m sure; there were many veterans among the ranks of the riders. These riders are no strangers to the flag or the uniform and the respect they are due. While there was a solemn air over the grounds today, there was also a sense of brotherhood.

As you can imagine, ALL branches of local and state law enforcement were present. If any weirdos were to try crashing this affair, they could be dealt with. It’s uncommon to see the “bad biker” types standing around with law enforcement, so it was nice to see the stereotypes shattered for a little while. I can only describe the attitudes there as “professional courtesy.” We got a lot of waves from city, county, and state officers.

As the procession exited the church the soldiers were sharply at attention. Also standing tall were the biker guard, flags held high with pride and respect for the fallen soldier. The loss of this young man is sobering…also sobering was the atmosphere here as we united in respect of the sacrifice he made for his country.

I really didn’t like the feeling of being among the photographers outside the funeral. It feels cheap. But I wasn’t there to get a “scoop” or to try to get hits for my silly little blog; I was there to ride, and to bring back images to show you the honor and respect shown here today. Thankfully this family didn’t have to deal with the horror of protests; I’m sure today was overwhelming enough. But maybe they’ll see some of these pictures someday and recall how people came out to honor their son.

The riders were given the duty of escorts out to the Veteran’s cemetery at Fort Abraham Lincoln. This is a remarkable duty, one we should feel honored to receive. Many of the officers in attendance and others coming out of the church were shaking our hands and patting us on the back as they walked past the lines of motorcycles. I think they were relieved that there weren’t any protestors and were reassured that people were lined up to protect the dignity of the ceremony.

Obviously I can’t take pictures and ride safely at the same time, so I have none. But among some of the other images I have, I’ll tell you what I did see.

I was overwhelmed with patriotic pride and emotion as we left the church to see people stopped on along our way and on the street corners to pay their respects to this young man, his family, and the other soldiers. There were flags on cars and flags being held and waved. All the way the procession and flag were saluted.

As we passed by many of the businesses we saw lines of uniformed employees standing at attention… Cedric Theel Toyota, Schwann Pontiac, Open Road Honda and Roughrider Harley-Davidson, Bill Barth Ford, and many others let their employees stand for this man.

Public and private road crews working along our route stopped and saluted. One worker cheered with both hands in the air as a motorcycle with a large flag went by. I saw moms point at the flag as we passed and explain to their kids. One mom with her children stood by the Sitting Bull Bridge in Mandan, hands over their hearts as the flag went by.

Along the route I saw lots of cars and trucks, many of them work vehicles, stopped and their occupants standing by the side of the road. As we rode down Highway 1806 towards Fort Lincoln I saw more vehicles pulled over, some with their hats in hand over their hearts.

That’s my America. These are the people that liberals scoff at as uneducated, superstitious morons. These people have respect for our soldiers, our flag, and the country they represent. They know the meaning of the words respect and honor. They’re aware of something bigger than themselves, and I don’t mean global warming. They’re aware that soldiers risk their lives every day so that we can enjoy the freedoms we do, and honor that. Hundreds of them showed that honor and respect today.

You see, these people certainly weren’t saluting the bikers, although there are many veterans among the riders. They were saluting something greater, something even bigger than Curtis and Travis. They were saluting our country, our God-given freedoms and those who sacrifice to protect them.

Of course we were all there today to honor a fallen soldier, to remind ourselves that he willingly gave his life because he pledged to do so, and served when his country called. We also honor the loss of those who were close to him and whose grief is so great. Such soldiers tend to be very modest about what they do. Their sense of duty is what helps us sleep at night. Americans who serve when called and put their nation before themselves make our country great.

It’s pretty sobering to be a part of a procession like that, to see such patriotism poured out. I suppose that’s why I’m being dramatic in my writing. But today I saw honor and respect on display, the likes of which should be a part of every day in America. Rather than hear soldiers being accused of atrocities and war crimes by politicians with a (D) next to their name, I’d just like to see everybody show more respect for our military, our flag, and our country. Today the street corners and parkings lots had many people doing just that.

That’s the part that had me teary-eyed. I can’t talk about how I knew Curtis and Travis…I didn’t. Some people from my church did. But I got to see a lot of people who never knew them — all kinds of people, lots of them taking time from work — who still feel a sense of connection and a wish to honor these men. North Dakota has a lot of soldiers serving overseas right now. They do so for our sakes. How could a person not feel a connection to them?

There were so many motorcycles that, doubled up, we still took the length of Memorial Highway. Once we got to the cemetery we had to go all the way around the circular road to let the rest of the procession in. It was at this time that I needed to get back to work; I’m one of the fortunate ones who was able to take time to participate and show support, but I also had responsibilities back at the shop.

At least one guy there told me that his boss told all his employees a few days ago that if they were participating today, to “make sure you put it on your time card. YOU’RE GETTING PAID.” Amen to that! Obviously we have a pretty high ratio of patriots in Bismarck-Mandan.

I took the big bike today. Normally I’d be really out of place among so many “bikers”; sportbike riders and Harley riders don’t exactly mix. But on a day like today we were all unified. I kinda get a pass on circulating with the Harley guys, since I’ve moonlighted for a pair of Harley-Davidson shops for ten years, and I’ve met some of these guys through ABATE. But today we were all one pack, riding in support of those who have lost their son, their brother, their friend.

What lies before us now? The ugly business of dealing with the wackos on Saturday. I pray they just don’t show up at all. It would be best if we were just able to honor these fallen soldiers without having to deal with a freakshow. In any case, the bikers will be there to make sure the family doesn’t have that awful task.

National Guard Aviation Facility

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I’d seen the mount for it sitting empty for a long time, but earlier this Spring I took this photo of a Huey helicopter welcoming visitors to the National Guard aviation facility (home to the 112th Aviation Security and Support Battalion) southeast of Bismarck. It’s neat that they’ve got the Blackhawks to go with their mission, so I suppose some of the Hueys and jet rangers don’t see as much use as they had in the past.

I remember this facility as the James L. Grimstad Memorial Aviation Facility, named after my friend Jerry’s dad. He was one of the first pilots in the ND National Guard as far as I know, certainly one of the first helicopter pilots when the state started getting them. Prior to that it was little fixed-wing aircraft.

I did a film-to-video transfer of some of the film the guys shot back in the 40s or 50s and saved a couple of frames on my system…here’s one to bring back the memories:

It was neat seeing film of them logging their flight schedule on a chalk board in a tiny little room…obviously they’ve got much nicer quarters now! I doubt any of them could foresee how the unit’s size, mission, and equipment could change over the years. The helicopters based in Bismarck have done everything from medevac to shuttling VIPs around during times of flooding and natural disasters to flying night vision flights to help law enforcement. Now they’re representing the USA overseas and making us proud!

So…did y’all vote?

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The primary election was held today and as far as the local races go, I don’t think we had any surprises. The statewide stuff hasn’t been posted yet, so that’ll be a Wednesday thing.

I am not a news service so I didn’t post the link for precinct information, which is www.state.nd.us/sos (the Secretary of State’s office).

It was entertaining to go through the polls this time around, since I’m the guy who edited the pollworker and voter education videos that are linked on the state’s website and got a bunch of publicity a short while ago. Projects like that take a long time and a lot of effort by a lot of people to produce, so it was neat going through the process. I’d spent a lot of time and work around voting, ballots, voting machines, and pollworkers (or actors playing them).

If you missed the election…shame on you! Don’t worry, though…we’ve got another one in November.

Fred Phelps cult to come to Bismarck? Let’s shed some light on things

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Two of our soldiers from Bismarck who were killed in Afghanistan will be laid to rest this Thursday and Saturday. As if this week won’t be hard enough on friends and family of these two brave men, the Fred Phelps cult has notified the town of its intent to protest the funerals.

Who are they? Well, Fred Phelps and his relatives have a “church” they call the Westboro Baptist Church. First off, they’re not a Baptist church. Second, they don’t teach a Christian doctrine. They’re just plain insane. They have a website titled godhatesfags.com where they spew hate and claim to be Christians, which they are not.

Before we go any further, let me be plainly clear about one thing: homosexuality is a sin. You don’t like that? Tough. Don’t take my word for it. Don’t take my church’s word for it. Take God’s word for it. The Bible is very explicit in the Old Testament and New Testament that homosexuality is a sin. Take it up with him if you don’t like it.

Rather than quote you verses on that subject, which I’m sure you’ve seen, let me stay on topic and point out that God is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9) Or how about a verse that I’m sure everyone in America has seen or heard at one time: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) That “whosoever” includes everybody, Mr. Phelps.

The Bible says that if you’re a liar, you must repent and trust in Jesus. Likewise, if you’re a thief, adulterer or murderer, you must repent and trust in Jesus. If you engage in homosexuality, you must repent and trust in Jesus. See the theme here? ALL SIN IS SIN. It doesn’t matter how great or how small, how culturally acceptable or how disgusting.

If you’re a member of the Phelps cult, listen to this: “He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.” (1 John 2:9) “But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.” (1 John 2:11) “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.” (1 John 3:15). I think that’s pretty plain about where they stand. If they’ve got a burden about homosexuality they should be out trying to deliver the gospel in a loving way, not simply going out and hating. God isn’t glorified in that.

In times past there have always been those Christians, a group of whom the Phelps cult is NOT a part, who like to point the finger. It started with the first believers, who looked down on the Gentiles. Paul had to whip them into shape: “What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.” (Romans 3:9-11) We’re reminded that we were ALL sinners before coming to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. If God can forgive us, who are we to say he can’t forgive someone else?

Having said that, what this cult (I don’t think cults like being equated with the Phelps Phamily) does is not scriptural, is not appropriate, and is not indicative of Christianity.

Hopefully we can count on them being no-shows, as this article says they often do. According to this Bismarck Tribune article, they’ve notified police of their intent to protest but have not acquired a permit.

Our church, a REAL Baptist church, has done some street evangelization where we hand out Bible literature, maybe hold a sign with a Bible verse on it, and invite people to church. That group was broken up by police because a permit was required. If the Phelps cult doesn’t have a permit, and actually do show up this week, I hope the same ordinance is used to break up their hate rally as it was against a group of Bismarck residents inviting people to church.

Look…there are thousands of people out there, including some presently or formerly homosexual friends of mine, who would love to call me a hater for this post. I’m willing to put up with that; all I’ve done is say what the Bible says. Not just what Clint thinks or what my church or its doctrine say. Just the Bible. I know that’s called “intolerance” and a number of other buzzwords…but I can’t help that. All I can do is say, lovingly and rationally, that we’re all sinners of one sort or another. Fred Phelps and his inbred bunch, though…they’re in a category of their own.

Oh great…time to start sneezing. Watery eyes to follow

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That’s right…someone woke up the cottonwood trees. These trees provide us with lots of pretty green and cool shade but they also shower us with that nasty cotton. It’s snowing in June now, as the cotton flies and piles up all over the place.

For those of us with seasonal (or year-long, really) allergies, this cotton is not a welcome sight. I’ve actually had a couple of pieces fly up into my motorcycle helmet…yuck!

It’s also time to watch the cooling fins on your air conditioner and keep them free of cotton debris. That stuff will plug up the fins quite quickly. In years past I’ve used a porous foam wrap on my AC unit but I don’t have any for this year.

On that note, it’s time to go find a Claritin tab or something.

Pink Martini and the Symphony at the Belle

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Saturday night wasn’t a great night to be playing outdoors, but it was a perfect night to be enjoying the warmth of Pink Martini, who played with the Bismarck-Mandan Symphony at the Belle Mehus auditorium!

I couldn’t provide a picture because I obey the wishes of the Symphony and Pink Martini, who don’t want people taking pictures during their performance. Besides, you really need to see them in person. Trust me on this.

The place was packed, as it should be with such a talented group of musicians performing. The first part of the show was a treat of four selections by the Symphony orchestra, conducted by Dennis Gowen. He’s been the guest conductor of the Symphony since the departure of Tom Wellin. I liked working with Tom (I used to do most of their TV advertising) but I really love Dennis’ style. He’s very conversational and warm, often asking the audience a trivia question or telling dry jokes. If you’re a University of Mary student, you also know him as a member of the faculty there.

Pink Martini are a group based out of Portland, Oregon, although the musicians come from very diverse backgrounds and locations. They too have a wonderful way of interacting with the audience, who clearly loved their performance last night. There were several standing ovations.

The group gave us a swinging, smiling encore, and the crowd stood cheering to draw them to a second, but then the house lights came up. They hung around to autograph CDs and meet the audience, and the Bistro volunteered to keep their kitchen open extra late and served a special menu of dessert and stuff for the patrons.

This evening was a special treat because my wife and I won our seats (and a bunch of other Pink Martini stuff) at the New Year’s Gala hosted by the Symphony six months ago. They gave me fantastic seats, first row behind the railing on the balcony, although I doubt a bad seat exists at the Belle. I appreciate the legroom, I’ve torn my knee in half twice, kneecap and all…sometimes being jammed into a seat for too long can be quite agonizing.

I did see a few familiar faces in the orchestra and on the balcony: Susan Wefald, who serves on the state Public Service Commission and plays violin; Tom Weigel, my friend’s dad who owns Weigel Funeral home and plays bass; Signe Snortland, who was my anthropology teacher in college and plays viola; Pat Pins, my speech coach from high school (and one of my favorite liberals); Loren Grey from Clear Channel radio with her husband, who owns the Kirkwood Ace Hardware; and a few others. One downside to being in the balcony is we don’t really get to look around the audience below to see if any of our friends are there.

If you’ve never seen Pink Martini, you may have to wait next year, as I was told at church there isn’t a Sunday show today. The girl who mentioned it was supposed to usher, but she didn’t know any details. But I’m sure they’ll be back next year – they were really happy to perform for us (and with our talented Symphony) again this year!

To visit Pink Martini’s website: pinkmartini.com

To visit the Bismarck-Mandan Symphony’s website: www.bismarckmandansymphony.org

I hope this isn’t the extent of Mandan’s development

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The headline says it all. There’s a fancy new brick building on the west end of the Strip in Mandan – oh goody, another “bookstore.”

First off, I thought all the pornography freaks were just getting their jollies on the Internet…you mean someone actually drives to a store for this garbage? Apparently so…brick buildings aren’t cheap.

Second, is this a new building for the old bookstore, or an expansion…I don’t know. Another thing I don’t know is the name of the one on Main Street. Everyone always referred to it as “the Mandan bookstore,” and THAT is the problem.

What do people think of when they think of Mandan businesses? The “bookstore” and the “tuck-a-bucks,” ie the Silver Dollar and Tree City bars. There are other businesses on the strip, of course, but that just doesn’t quite seem like Mandan for some reason because you don’t actually drive “into” town. So Mandan needs a perception update.

Don’t get me wrong – there are other big construction projects happening in Mandan, although they all seem to be along the Strip. There’s the new Harley shop, built a few years ago. Dusty and Annette have just opened their grand new Open Road Honda building, and it’s amazing. There’s a new McDonald’s greasing up on the intersection of Memorial Highway and 3rd. Riverwood RV has expanded into an enormous facility on the west end of the strip. Wheels, Wings, and Hobbies has relocated from a side road to Memorial Highway and built enormous indoor and outdoor tracks for their customers to race on. Things are happening. Venture into town and you find the Pizza Ranch, which is a fantastic restaurant – but do you ever hear much about it?

So why do I have to bring this up? Because I don’t think Mandan’s getting a fair shake. I’m not saying it’s easy to get the word out…but I’m saying it’s ESSENTIAL to get the word out. Don’t let people continue to associate the name Mandan with pornography stores and stripper bars. Let people know what’s going on!

Look, people have no problem driving to the bars in Mandan. I doubt they’d have any problem driving to any GOOD businesses there too, if properly encouraged. Take dining for example. How many times have you wanted to go out to eat, then sat there trying to sort through the local restaurants in your head, forgetting most of them? Mandan falls through that crack a lot, and unless they get REALLY aggressive about it, they’re just going to continue being a little town across the river from an ever-growing Bismarck.

On an aside…Mandan residents pay the highest property taxes in North Dakota, far higher than many residents in states on all three sides of ND. Why? There isn’t a sufficient revenue from businesses, for one. Bring them in, and let them share the tax burden with the citizens.

Mandan summer bandshell concert series

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Last night the bandshell in Mandan was home to the sounds of Bill and Sarah Franke. Mr. Franke, as most of us know him, was the choir director at Mandan High for many years, and his daughter Sarah is a graphic artist in the Bis-Man area.

Last night they treated us to a wide variety of music and a nice relaxed good time. The picnic tables were full so I wish I’d done like most people and brought a folding chair or something! If you weren’t there, you really missed out.  The series runs from June 5th to August 17th.

POES let me down last night

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This was the ominous display of the POES map last night around midnight:

Looks like we’re headed for a meltdown, doesn’t it? So I bolted up north of town with a good friend of mine, and saw…well, nothing. The sky had a light glow to it, but that’s it. Nothing to report.

That red streak is a plane drifting along the horizon…when the shutter is open for 30 seconds you tend to get neat little artifacts like that.

Oh well, better luck next time! Not to worry, though; we’re heading into another stretch of meteor activity such as the Arietid, June Taurid, and zeta Perseid meteor showers.

I don’t think they qualify for a Home Depot account

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I’m really glad I take my camera with me nearly everywhere I go. One of the more opportune moments was this weekend at Home Depot. The garden section, which is sheltered but outdoors, is home to lots of little brown birdies. I found one of these little guys checking out a shiny new home/feeder:

I don’t think he’s carrying $24.99 plus tax, though! That’s okay, he and his little friends have a pretty nice place staked out for themselves even without a fancy cedar feeder (say that three times fast!).

These little birdies make their nests in the bottom of the pallets on which much of the merchandise is shipped and stored. At one point I saw three little fledgelings poking their heads out of one of the pallets… unfortunately I didn’t have the camera ready at that point.

This flock also has some readily available chow if they’re willing to put up with the nuisance of customers, one of them with a camera. I don’t think they pick the bags at all; they don’t have to with the loose seed that falls on the floor near the shelves where the bags of seed are stored.

I asked the employees in this area if the constant tweeting got on their nerves, and they said that it didn’t. In fact, they get used to the ambient tweets and don’t even hear them now. That’s just how it is around my house!