Sunday, June 14, 2009

Empoprise-IE News - 14 June 2009

Empoprise-IE News


The news letter for Empoprise-IE - An Empoprises vertical information service for Inland Empire (California) news.



Welcome to Empoprise-IE News

For those who don't live here, we're right in the midst of "June gloom" right now, in which it will be cold and gloomy one day, hot and scorching the next. But eventually this will make way to July, which pretty much occupies the "scorching" end of the scale.

Behind the Scenes

Perhaps you saw my post on Travis Clark. I should also mention that I attended his funeral on Friday, as well as the graveside ceremony. Travis was a Boy Scout, so the members of his troop attended the former and participated in the latter.

Two things bear repeating. First, there were several readings in the church before the memorial service, one of which was from 1 Samuel 17, the story of David and Goliath. In the readings, the reader chose to use The Message text, which renders the first part of 1 Samuel 17:44 as, ""Come on," said the Philistine. "I'll make roadkill of you for the buzzards." In the context, this worked well.

Second, Travis was very interested in aeronautics and aerospace, as you probably noticed from the Gene Kranz clip I shared earlier. Therefore, it was especially touching when, during the graveside ceremony, two helicopters flew overhead, then flew in the "missing man" formation. Very touching.

Special Features

Perhaps Mary Petit doesn't have to move to Rancho Cucamonga - perhaps she could move to another part of Upland. While her neighbors war over her proposed garden, the people in the Red Hill area have enthusiastically adopted a garden.

"We had this triangular piece of land in the back that wasn't being used for anything. And then I remembered seeing the stories about First Lady Michelle Obama planting a garden at the White House. A light went on and I thought, `Hey, we could start a garden,"' [Ron] Hamer said.

He and a dedicated group of residents have taken a forgotten piece of land turned eyesore and transformed it into fertile ground for both vegetables and friendship.


Interestingly enough, both Ron Hamer and Rancho Cucamonga's Dee Matreyek have cited Michelle Obama as an inspiration. If Mary Petit's opponents are effectively rejecting the First Lady, does that make them un-American?

Upcoming

Free hot dogs on Monday, a National Night Out in August - stay tuned to this blog for details. And write me at the Gmail address "empoprises" if you have any other thoughts or comments.

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