Letters to the Editor for Tuesday, February 11, 2014 - NewsAdvance.com : Letters To The Editor

Sale of Bellows painting a travesty

I am writing to express my deep disappointment with the sale of George Bellows’ painting “Men of the Docks” by the leadership of Randolph College. 

College President Bradley Bateman has tried to put a positive spin on this travesty of the public trust, which has been denounced by many museum professionals and the professional museum organization that govern museums of art, as a triumphant moment in Randolph Colleges history. Bateman’s statement that the reputation of Randolph College will benefit from its sale of this American masterpiece to the National Gallery of London proves the arrogance and ignorance of his actions.

The Maier Museum is a Lynchburg treasure, and the sale of this painting has diminished the lives of all the residents of our city.  I can only hope that the arts community of Lynchburg will react with one voice in the face of this despicable act and place immense pressure on the leadership of Randolph College to forgo any further sales of the Maier’s collection.

America and Lynchburg have lost an irreplaceable part of their history and Randolph College has discarded its values and dishonored the memory of the students and alumni who raised the funds and donated the painting to the college so many years ago.

What a shame the sale of “Men of the Docks” has been, for now our residents — and especially our children — will never again have the opportunity to be inspired by this amazing painting.

MARK DAY

Lynchburg

Poem: "Addressed to a student"

 

Few are those inspired and resolved to learn the great truths of human knowledge.

Fewer still are those who will hazard the sojourn down dark musky paths toward enlightenment.

But for those who heed the call of the muses, knowledge shall radiate forth like a candle in the dark.

 

Written by Mark R. Day 2/5/2014.  Copyright by Mark R. Day 2/5/2014, all rights reserved.

 

Poem: “Disappointment”

Oh! Balm of Sorrow, thy soft caress reproaches my blank and hollow aspect.

Disregard my only response, a folly to those who witness my continence.

For darkness has encompassed my universe and hidden all that rewarded life.

I am the vessel overflowing with misery, which splashes upon empty remains.

Cold!

Cold!

Cold!

My once joyous spirit is now corrupt and meaningless.

I am a shell, hollow, and devoid of contentment.

Life shall persist but with little desire, for my dream is dead.

Consumed in the unrelenting fires of technological achievement.



Written by Mark R. Day on 2/4/14.  Copyright by Mark R. Day 2/7/14 all rights reserved.

"initially done as an experiment to see if, I could write in the Romantic Style of Keats.  This work is my attempt to speak toward the the forlorn spirit of a man who has seen his way of life overwhelmed by the steady progress of human industry.  The man has been left behind in a rapidly changing world and nothing remains of the life he once lived.  Despair is the outcome as even his dream [hopes] have been taken from him."

Poem: "Virtual Relationships and The Emptiness of Modern Life"

Have we become separates.

Divided while yet together.

Distant and impersonal.

Is there no time?

Is there no interest?

An existence without substance.

Veiled in shadows of relationship.  

No connections of value.

No connections of love.

Who are we?

What are we?

Electronic messages without faces.

A  host of people but not one true bond.

Intimacy without being intimate.

Loveless and sterile.


Do we know anything about each other?

Do we know nothing about each other?

Relationships so Shallow, hollow, and empty

No real feelings, just words on a screen

 

Poem written by Mark R. Day 1/19/2014

Message: "2013 Christmas Message to the 2nd Military District"

Brothers and families of the Second Military District,

     In this season of peace and joy, I am strengthened by the many acts of love and charity which are carried out without fanfare or notoriety.    Christmas is about our collective ability to share, to love, and to be loved.   In the story of the Grinch who stole Christmas; the Hoo’s welcome Christmas morning, in spite of having lost all the material goods they coveted, with the following tune Fah who for-aze! Fah who for-aze! Dah who dor-aze! Dah who dor-aze! Welcome Christmas, Welcome Christmas, Come this way! Come this way! Fah who for-aze! Fah who for-aze! Dah who dor-aze! Dah who dor-aze! Welcome Christmas, Welcome Christmas, Christmas Day.    These somewhat nonsensical words are the perfect expression of the true sense Christmas has in our lives throughout the years.  Christmas is the song we annually raise up and sing in an effort to renew our spirits and pronounce our faith in humanity.  In the celebration of Christmas we are reminded that there is a redemptive power, which can heal and renew our spirits as we watch Christmas stories such as “The Christmas Carol” or The Bells of St. Mary’s.  Christmas reminds us of our commitment to our fellow man and our challenge to eliminate ignorance and want.

     Our Civil War ancestors understood the true meaning of Christmas.   Soldiers far from home and hearth celebrated four Christmas Days in the far flung outpost and encampments of the Union Army.  I often am overcome by the strength they possessed and the dedication it took.  For the soldiers Christmas would have been bereft of the material things that many hold dear today.  My own experiences with Christmas in the service, during the 1^st Persian Gulf War, are still a powerful reminder of how simple things like a box of cookies or that stale but wonderful apple sauce cake; were the perfect gift because they were filled with the love of family.

     The second stanza of the Hoo’s Christmas song says, “Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome Fah who rah-moose Fah who rah-moose Welcome, Welcome,  Welcome, Welcome Dah who dah-moose Dah who dah-moose Christmas day is in our grasp Christmas day is in our grasp So long as we have hands to clasp So long as we have hands to clasp”   It is my sincere hope that, in this joyous Christmas season, each of you will be clasped in the arms of your friends and family  and that, you may find the opportunity to clasp your fellow man in your own. 

May this be the year we truly realize peace on Earth and good Will to man. 

In Fraternity, Charity, and Loyalty

Mark R. Day, Lt. Colonel

Commander 2^nd Military District

Speech: "Graveside Service Honoring George Washington Meals"

We are gathered to honor the life of George Washington Meals, a soldier of the American Civil War, however in the larger sense we are also honoring the legacy of an American family.   The progenitors of George Washington meals were among the first settlers of our nation.  In the Mid-Eighteenth Century Samuel Meals, George’s Great Grandfather came to Pennsylvania, from the German Rhineland, seeking the opportunity to enjoy a new life and following the American Revolution the Meals family grew and prospered.  Ultimately the family established itself in Adams County near the town of Gettysburg were George Washington Meal’s father Gabriel founded a monument works and George was born in 1840.  While, I have no direct evidence of it, patriotism and love of country must have been taught in the Meals home for Gabriel Meal’s children were staunch patriots.  In the nations hour of need George and his brother William both served in the Union Army and patriotism in the Meals family was not limited to the men but also ran deep in the character of the women of the family.  George’s sister Lydia bravely confronted Confederate soldiers who had plundered her home during the early stages of the Battle of Gettysburg and was only constrained, from pummeling the confederate soldiers verbally, by the insistence of her mother to be quiet.  

Today we specifically stand upon this sacred site to honor George Washington Meals, who served with Battery F, 4th United States Artillery.  His unit saw many battles, but most significantly he was present at the battle of Gettysburg in 1863 where he stood on his own families land and saw action repelling Pickett’s Charge on July 3rd 1863. While we can never know his thoughts at that moment, I believe he undoubtedly understood the meaning of the situation.  He was defending his home and the fate of the nation was hung in the balance.  Only victory would be a sufficient outcome and so he persevered and gave his all to achieve it.

Now on behalf of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, I publicly thank the George Washington Meals and his entire family for their dedication to our nation and I am honored to stand at the graveside of a soldier, a patriot, an American to whom we owe thanks for his service to preserve the Union in its darkest hour.   

 

Letter to the Editor: "Council making big mistake on tourism"

     The recent events surrounding Lynchburg City Council, the local tourism board and the Lynchburg Regional Chamber of Commerce nothing less than tragic for the hundreds of businesses and thousands of individuals who rely on tourism in the greater Lynchburg region for their economic viability.

     To say that the majority of council members, supporting the dissolution of the current tourism board and the discontinuance of the cities contract with the chamber, are short-sighted and have undercut the city’s ability to advertise and promote itself is an understatement. In Charlottesville and Roanoke, they are cheering the unprecedented destruction of Virginia’s most honored and awarded tourism program, and these cities are looking to capitalize on Lynchburg’s mistake.

     Whatever the proprietary and budgetary reasons were, for City Council’s hostile takeover of tourism promotion in Lynchburg, they could not have outweighed valuable and productive work that had been accomplished by the chamber and the its staff over many years.  Irreplaceable personal contacts, award-winning programs and a highly respected reputation throughout the state have been thrown over in a coup d’état by an oligarchy comprised of politicians who have an agenda to obtain total control over decision-making regarding tourism.  For those who believe that government is best able to manage tourism rather than an outside agency, whose soul purpose is the promotion of business, I would ask, do you really think that is the best way to go? The tourism industry in Lynchburg will become yet another victim of bureaucratic tomfoolery, and it will become mired in the debate over resources and budgets, which will debilitate and stagnate economic recovery in Central Virginia.


MARK R. DAY
Lynchburg