Winning Words 7/1/11
“As long as you remember where you are from, you will always know where you are going.” (Sparky Anderson) George Anderson came from a little town in South Dakota. It was there that he learned a value system that lasted a lifetime. And humility was one of those values. I’m proud to say, “I’m a Moliner, and humbled to remember a value system that I received there. Where did you come from? ;-) Jack

FROM JS, FORMERLY FROM EAST MOLINE: Anyone and Everyone from Moline should be very humble!!!////FROM JACK: I'm reminded of the song....
Oh Lord it's hard to be humble
when you're perfect in every way.
I can't wait to look in the mirror
'cos I get better looking each day
to know me is to love me
I must be a hell of a man.
O Lord it's hard to be humble
but I'm doing the best that I can.
////MORE FROM JS: Is that sung to the tune of "We are Moliners"?////FROM JACK: The answer is, "No." But, you can see and hear it on uTube, if you're interested. What's the East Moline fight song?

FROM DS IN MICHIGAN: Heading there tomorrow morning bright and early. ;o) Whoo-hooo!////FROM JACK: "You can take the girl out of Wisconsin, but you can't take Wisconsin out of the girl."

FROM RJP IN FLORIDA: I wonder why value systems are always attributed to small towns.??? I grew up in Chicago and we also had a great value system taught to us. The home, school and neighborhood atmosphere was the key. Some of that is what we have lost today. Just an opinion from an old man...............................
////FROM JACK: Small town or big city, "the home, school and neighborhood" are still the key. Some of my grandchildren are growing up in this community where our children grew up. Their values are pretty much the same. The "key" helps determine it.

FROM JL IN MICHIGAN: The inner-city of Detroit. Values learned there and from family and friends like you are used every day.////FROM JACK: Back in those "glory days," you and I didn't know that each other existed. While I remember certain good things about the past, I celebrate certain good things about the present. People who care about values still exist.

FROM BLAZING OAKS: I,too, thank God that I am a Moliner, and received the traditional values that growing up in a town that size brought. Our MHS graduating class "reunions" every five years, and we have produced a lot of "do-gooders" that have made a difference in the world. Last September we had a "mini-reunion" in San Diego,CA, to celebrate our collective 80th birthdays, and had a great time for four days! Many who weren't "close" in HS, but we have become like family through the years! I think our graduating class was 496, including the January grads. "We are Moliners, We're from Moline: Our team's the finest you've ever seen! Tra-la-la, You do your best boys, we'll do the rest, boys, Fight on for old Moline! Rah! Rah!! Ja-hee, Ja-ha, Ja-ha-ha-ha, Moline High School, Rah, Rah Rah, "We are Moliner... :-) Thanks for the memories, eh, Jack?! YOU are one who is making a difference!!////FROM JACK: My children and grandchildren are mystified by the Moline fight song. They weren't there to appreciate what it means to us. I don't know if their school's "fight song" means anything like that to them. Maybe when they get to be 80-years-old.....

FROM EMT SINGS IN MICHIGAN: You know my answer. I am proud of it,too!////FROM JACK: "Minnesota, hats off to thee." I remember a time when women always wore hats to church. I don't see that much, anymore. How can they raise their bonnets and sing, "Hats off to thee?"

FROM JB IN WISCONSIN: Irma.////FROM JACK: When I received a call to become pastor of Merrill, Wausau and Irma, I had a hard time finding Irma on a map. Not until I actually came there, did I realize what a nice little community it really was.

FROM PLAIN FOLKS CHESTER: "I'm a Moliner, I'm from Moline. I am the proudest you've ever seen. Tah, Rah, Rah, you do your best boy, I'll do the rest boy. 'Cause we're both from ol' Moline."////FROM JACK: Turn down the volume. I can hear you over here in Michigan.

FROM JT IN MOLINE: Born in Iowa City, but still a Moliner !////FROM JACK: Born in Des Moines, which makes me an Iowan, but still a Moliner...and also a Detroiter. Nothing wrong with being proud of a tree that has more than one root.

FROM SH IN MICHIGAN: I might add, living here in the Detroit area now for almost 20 years and hearing about all the people moving around from City to suburb and so forth, I feel like I can really understand more what's happening in my home town. People in Iowa and in Michigan aren't so different after all. In fact, seems like everyone is getting to be pretty much homogenized.////FROM JACK: I think that having a nice neighbor depends on who's living next to them.////MORE FROM SH: The little rural town in Iowa I was raised in has changed so much. The farms got much bigger, some of the old farm houses (like my in-laws family lived in for 150 years) have either been sold or rented to people coming out from Des Moines to raise their kids "in the country life" with I suppose country values but you can never go back. This new blood will mix with the old blood and form some sort of community that's never been envisioned before and probably the "key" to it all will be some sort of "simpler lifestyle", some sort of dream that hopefully they will all share.
We are the Reds, mighty mighty Reds. Everywhere you go, people want to know, who we are. We are the Reds, might mighty Reds. That's about what I can remember of that song. Fight, fight, fight.

FROM CL IN MICHIGAN: Interesting isn't it. I have been in Michigan since 1980 and yet when asked Jamestown, NY is always home. Falconer High School here's to you, best in the land. those were the good ole days.////FROM JACK: I'm guessing...Was the symbol of your high school a falcon?

FROM DS IN MICHIGAN: "Moliner"? Moline, IL? I grew up in Tonica, LaSalle County - 80 Mi. E of Moline.////FROM JACK: Yes, Moline, Illinois. Tonica? Oh, there it is on US 51, just south of I 80. You are the first person I've known from that place.

FROM CWR IN B'MORE: .......I was born and reared in Baltimore, which at the time was racially segregated in all ways, schools, buses, housing, employment, theatres ("Negroes sat in the Balcony").....even employment, such as skilled labor.....Negroes were permitted non-skilled menial jobs....and no Unions.....but I had a Father who thought differently and hired the first Black to become a Pressman (a skilled job and at equal pay)... in his shop......to the chagrin of the Union....whereupon he pulled out of the Union and they became the first "integrated" printing company in the City....were succesful and broke the color barrier in that business.And he did it without fanfare. His only public comment was "I needed a printer....and skill in printing is not a color issue. He is the best man for the job." That simple example I never forgot....from a good man....who happened to be my father.////FROM JACK: After all these years....Now, I understand (partially) why you are as you are. It all makes sense. It's about roots. I think I know where he'd stand in today's world.

FROM DP IN MICHIGAN: I was born in Portland, ME. 80 years ago next month, along with my twin brother, who still calls me his wombmate! Am off to the cabin tomorrow for a few weeks with daughter, Heidi. computer will travel with me.////FROM JACK: "Wombmate..." That's the first time I've heard that expression, and I love it. I know that you will enjoy your time up in Eagle River country. I was looking through some stuff recently came came across reminders when I served as vice-pastor for Sayner and Conover. "Up there" I recall seeing a laundromat located next to a church. A sign out front read: "Cleanliness is next to Godliness."

FROM NK IN WISCONSIN: I came from a little town in Wisconsin called Merrill!////FROM JACK: Your Grandma used to say..."They say that people are leaving Merrill. Look at the sign outside of town. The population reads the same as when I was a little girl."