What the Constitution Means to Me

We managed to go to see the Heidi Schreck play, “What the Constitution Means to Me,” in the final days of its Broadway run, which began on March 31 of this year after a year or so in Off-Broadway productions. Ms. Schreck tells both a political and personal story. While she was in high school in her native small town of Wenatchee, Washington (population approximately 30,000), she raised money to finance her college education at the University of Oregon by giving competitive speeches about the United States Constitution. The play is a mix of personal and political thoughts and stories, as she talks about the effects of the document on many generations of women, including those in her own family, starting with her great-great-grandmother who was brought to America as a mail-order bride. The play puts a strong emphasis on the unfortunately abhorrent treatment of women throughout the earlier generations of her family.

At the end of the main portion of the play, pocket versions of the United States Constitution were distributed to the audience. 

This was followed by a 20-minute segment that included a live “debate” between an actress playing a local high school student and Ms. Schreck, with an audience member serving as a judge. The topic was “Should We Abolish the U.S. Constitution?” The judge deemed that the constitution should be abolished, which appears to be Ms. Schreck’s position. In my mind, it is a rather frightening thought, particularly in these divisive times.

I was curious about the contest itself, and found the following on the American Legion’s web page:

The American Legion Oratorical Contest exists to develop deeper knowledge and appreciation for the U.S. Constitution among high school students. Since 1938, the program has presented participants with an academic speaking challenge that teaches important leadership qualities, the history of our nation’s laws, the ability to think and speak clearly, and an understanding of the duties, responsibilities, rights and privileges of American citizenship. The program has featured numerous politicians and prominent contestants over the years, including former president candidate Alan Keyes and CNN anchor Lou Dobbs.

Young orators earn some of the most generous college scholarships available to high school students. Over $138,000 in scholarships can be awarded each year. The overall national contest winner gets an $18,000 scholarship. Second place takes home $16,000, and third gets $14,000. Each department (state) winner who is certified into and participates in the national contest’s first round receives a $1,500 scholarship. Those who advance past the first round receive an additional $1,500 scholarship. The American Legion’s National Organization awards the scholarships, which can be used at any college or university in the United States.

High school students under age 20 are eligible. Competition begins at the post level and advances to a state competition. Legion department representatives certify one winner per state to the national contest, where department winners compete against each other in two speaking rounds. The contest caps off with a final round that decides the three top finishers.

Speaking subjects must be on some aspect of the U.S. Constitution, with some emphasis on the duties and obligations of citizens to our government. Speeches are eight to 10 minutes long; three- to five-minute speeches on an assigned topic also are part of the contest.

We had heard and read a fair amount about the play, and it was fortunate that we managed to see it before its scheduled closing at the end of this week. Barry really enjoyed it, but I found it rather challenging. The play, mostly a monologue by the author, moves very quickly, and unfortunately my brain is still not firing on all cylinders so I often found myself completely lost. Still, I am glad that I had the chance to see it, and now we each have our own pocket versions of the United States Constitution.

Love,

Rebecca

Camp NanaSabba, Session 2

We often refer to our weeks spent with grandchildren as “Camp NanaSabba.” I cannot quite recall how that got started, but it has stuck. Last week was our second session of the 2019 season, and the campers were cousins Eliana (almost 14) and Julia (almost 5½). What follows are some of the highlights.

We spent our first full day, Monday, at The Bronx Zoo. The girls really enjoyed the animals and Julia had her face painted while Eliana had a painting done on her forearm.

On Tuesday we headed over to Legoland. This place can be a lot of fun but, although we arrived just when it opened, the crowds were insane! It seems to be a very popular destination for day camps.

On Wednesday we had been hoping to head over to Rye Playland but the weather did not cooperate, so instead we went to New Roc City, which is high on Eliana’s list of fun things to do and turned out to rank highly for Julia as well. The girls won a lot of points which they traded in for some toys.

On Thursday we saw The Gazillion Bubbles Show. This had been a big hit when we’ve taken some of our other grandchildren over the years, but Julia may have found it a bit overwhelming. Still, during some of the calmer moments she did enjoy it. She chose to forego having her picture taken inside a bubble, though.

On Friday we drove back up to Sharon with the girls, and we stayed through the weekend. All in all, it was a fun-filled week for all four of us.

Love,

Rebecca

Playing catch-up

A few weeks ago, we saw “To Kill a Mockingbird” on Broadway, with Jeff Daniels in the role of Atticus Finch. This version of the story is not quite the same as the original novel, written by Harper Lee and published in 1960. Gregory Peck won an Oscar award for the 1962 movie version of this novel, but this is the first time the play has been on the Broadway stage. Whether through seeing the movie or reading the book in school, most of us are familiar with the story set in Maycomb, Alabama in the early 1930s in which a black man named Tom Robinson (played by Gbenga Akinnagbe) is falsely accused of the sexual assault of a white woman, and is defended in his trial by Atticus Finch.

The Finch children and their friend are played by adults, Celia Keenan-Bolger as Scout Finch, Will Pullenas as Jem Finch, and Aubie Merrylees (standing in for Gideon Glick) as their friend Dill Harris. I have to admit that I had a bit of a hard time with this aspect, although it would clearly be a challenge to have actual children acting in these roles.

The Broadway production does have some differences from the book and the movie, and provides expanded roles for both Robinson and the Finch’s housekeeper, Calpurnia (played by La Tanya Richardson Jackson). For this reason, the production was nearly quashed in its early development by Harper Lee’s heirs, but in fact it seems to have given the work a whole new generation of devotees. In these rather racially charged times, the themes of this play are, sadly, still relevant.

We went to see the new documentary, “Mike Wallace is Here.” What a fascinating career this man had, interviewing some of the most famous people on the planet over a period of fifty years. He was one of the original correspondents on the CBS show 60 Minutes when it first aired in 1960 until retiring from his full-time position there in 2006. The movie was directed by Avi Belkin (my maiden name), an Israeli who I would like to but cannot claim as a relative. Some of the highlights in the film included interviews with Bill O’Reilly, Ayatollah Khomeini, Anwar Sadat, Vladimir Putin, General William C. Westmoreland, Leona Helmsley, Barbra Streisand, and Donald Trump.

Have a good week.

Love,

Rebecca

Lots of baseball, lots of fun

We have just taken Joshua to the airport for his return to Sharon after a full week of fun.

His flight coming to New York on Thursday was delayed (they were told that the scheduled pilot failed to show up for work), so we sat in a lot of traffic between La Guardia Airport and Citi Field, just barely making it to the start of the game between the Mets and the San Diego Padres. It was a good thing we did make it on time, because the Mets scored 4 runs in the bottom of the first inning, and that was all either team scored. If I were a more devoted fan, I could tell you how many men were left on base but who am I kidding? I cannot possibly remember such details.

On Friday, Barry and Joshua headed out to the grocery store, and then we had a quiet day at home. We had Shabbat lunch at the home of our friends, Judy and Lanny. Lanny is also a big Mets fan so he and Joshua spent most of lunch talking about baseball.

We headed back to Citi Field on Sunday for game 3 of the Mets vs. the Pittsburgh Pirates. They had won the first two, and again had a very strong first inning, but the Pirates did manage to score and by the end it was almost a bit of a nail-biter, but ended in the Mets’ favor with a final score of 7-6.

We then took a break from baseball to visit two other places at which we enjoy spending time: The American Museum of Natural History and The Bronx Zoo.

The AMNH has quite a bit of dinosaur – related material this summer. Highlights of our visit included and the exhibits “T. Rex: The Ultimate Predator” and “Dive Into the World of Unseen Oceans,” and the movie “Oceans: Our Blue Planet.”

On Tuesday we returned to the Bronx Zoo, which everyone enjoys and is very close to where we live. The weather was quite warm so we only stayed until around 2 pm and tried to focus on indoor exhibits after taking the monorail when we first arrived. Here are a few pictures from our day.

On Wednesday we went to our third baseball game, the New York Yankees versus the Arizona Diamondbacks. There had been rain predicted and it started pretty much on time, which caused a rather lengthy delay. One advantage of the accessible seating is that it is always in a covered area, so we did not have to go running for cover, where at best you have to stand in the back of another section. We waited out the first storm that moved through, but when the rain started up again, we decided to head for home. We stayed long enough to see the Yankees score and they eventually won the game 7 to 5.

I have to admit that I really do not like Yankees Stadium nearly as much as Citi Field. Although they both opened in 2009, and are not all that far from each other, each has its own strengths and weaknesses. For one thing, the parking at Yankees Stadium is really a huge problem, and the traffic around the stadium is impossible. So, while it is quite close to us it can take forever to navigate the trip. Second, I love that big apple at Citi Field, that comes up whenever one of the Mets hits a home run. The Yankees may have an organist but Citi Field has that apple. It may also be that the Yankees attract larger crowds, so Citi Field does not feel quite so overwhelming to me. Having said all that, it was great that Barry was able to identify a week during which the New York teams were playing three day-games, and that is how Joshua’s visit dates were set!

We also squeezed in watching a couple of old movies we happened to mention that Joshua had never seen: “War Games” (1983) and “Jurassic Park” (1993). I had forgotten just how violent “Jurassic Park” was, but at least you know all along how it is going to turn out, with the good guys surviving. Our grandchildren all seem to enjoy watching “The Price is Right,” a show that we, too, find entertaining. Joshua has gotten pretty good at guessing those prices.

This morning we took Joshua back to La Guardia and bid our farewells. We old folks may be a bit tired but we will definitely miss him. He really is just a great person to have around.

We are planning a very quiet weekend!

Love,

Rebecca