{ title: 'The Sun & Record. (Williamson, N.Y.) 1999-current, October 25, 2007, Page 4, Image 4', download_links: [ { link: 'http://www.loc.gov/rss/ndnp/ndnp.xml', label: 'application/rss+xml', meta: 'News about NYS Historic Newspapers - RSS Feed', }, { link: '/lccn/np00200001/2007-10-25/ed-1/seq-4/png/', label: 'image/png', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/np00200001/2007-10-25/ed-1/seq-4.pdf', label: 'application/pdf', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/np00200001/2007-10-25/ed-1/seq-4/ocr.xml', label: 'application/xml', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/np00200001/2007-10-25/ed-1/seq-4/ocr.txt', label: 'text/plain', meta: '', }, ] }
Image provided by: Williamson Public Library
THE SUN & RECORD, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25,2007 Soups, muddy and Maple My middle son has been home for two years now, safe and sound from the war. Life seems somewhat normal again. Somewhat. His tour of duty in thp U.S. Navy completed, he settled in with a roommate, a friend he has known since they were both three years old. Now a success ful computer tech for a major company, Jon has been counting the days since his geek counterpart has been re turned to him in one piece. Taking a few months off before return ing to school to complete his degree, my middle son rejuvenated his batteries, both physical and emotional. Dinners with his siblings out at the Lake is one of the ways to reconnect with the family, as well as getting to know the \newest\ members of his family. My three sons are not always here at the same time, but they are always together, if not physically then by telephone or by spirit. Their favorite meal is a simple beef stew, with a side of corn bread or rolls, steaming hot from the oven with a slathering of butter. Apple Betty and va nilla ice cream for dessert, it centers us all and brings back memories of when they were children, all of them and Jon \working\ in the yard. Many times they would tease their youngest sister by concocting a bowl of soup, complete with muddy water, twigs and leaves, telling her to \...taste it, it's good for youl\ Invariably she would come into the kitchen, chest soaked with water and caked with mud, saying she \.. .needed a glass of milk to wash it down.\ Always with a smile, she would gasp at the end and say \Ahhh right...\ while the onlookers from the other side of win dow would laugh hysterically. My other three \sons\ of t he canine persuasion, are equally amazed by these two legged creatures crossing the thresh old and sharing their mother's affection. I am fascinated as to the similarities between the two species and the way I have \raised\ all of them. As we walk the land as part of our exercise, I smile as I watch the littlest one stoop at a puddle, seeing his reflection in it for the first time. I am reminded of the indoctrination into dogland when I read the column written by my beloved, a tribute to his much loved dog that had recently been put down. It prompted my writing of an es say that began our love affair with life and each other, and continues to this moment. \Look at that, Simon\ I say softly. A big pot of maple leaf soup. That was your cousin Jack's favorite!\ The other two 'brothers' standby and smile as well, as if recognizing the passing of a tradition and a ritual. \Yes taste it\ my human sons add and smile knowingly. \It's good for you \and for just a moment I can hear the catch in their voices. They miss their sister who has gone off to pursue her own dreams, but knowing they will see her again. Both of them have dodged a very large bullet, and recognize the blessings of having another chance to do whatever we like, because of where we live and who we are. All of us have a way of renewing our selves, season after season, year after year. Let us always recognize the blessings around us, rejoice in the mundane and the routine. They are as simple as a pot of Maple Leaf Soup. EMTIO! 2007 1 The Sun & Record will be publishing a complete town wide distribution on November 1. Every address in the towns ofSodus and Williamson will be receiving a free copy of the Sun & Record. There will be an Election 2007insert to the November 1 edition with information on each candidate running for localpositions. Please call 315-589-4421 for more information. VOTE mi CAMMM (OVIRAOI ^^^^^^^^^^^ Rubbing your nose in it In world history, every ruler, nation, state, principality and entity of every known form, has, at times, engaged in behav ior that was either bad, evil, sadistic, wicked, nefarious, criminal or, at the very least, regrettable. We're no exception. Neither is Turkey. After the end of World War I, as the old Ottoman Empire disintegrated, bits and chunks were taken over as mandates under the control of France and England. Turkey remained intact as a nation, due, in large measure to the presence of its forceful leader, Mustapha Kemal, who gave himself the name Atarurk. \At\ means father. Father of the Turks. In the eastern marches, the disintegrat ing Turks subjected Armenians to rough handling of a form that today is some times categorized as genocide. Not sur prisingly, Turks resent being constantly reminded of these events, even though many ineradicable traces of Armenian presence and culture remain in eastern Turkey. (Think Alamo.) Japan isn't happy to be reminded of the Rape of Nanking. Neither do American schoolchildren make field trips along the Trail of Tears, or to Wounded Knee. Back in 1915, as Europe bled, Arme nians living in the eastern part of today's Turkey were forced from their traditional homelands by Turkish soldiers. In 1929, an Austrian author, Franz Werfel, began work on a fictionalized treatment of the persecution of Armenians at Turkish hands. His historical novel, completed in 1933, was titled The Forty Days ofMusa Dagh. \Musa\ means Moses, \Dagh Mountain. The book describes events leading up to and including a forty-day siege of Armenian refugees who fled to the heights of Moses Mountain in the re gion south of today's Antakya (ancient Antioch. The actual siege lasted 53 days). Werfel's book won world acclaim. Its au thor was compared with Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky. Werfel is better remembered for The Song ofBernadette (1941), which became an award-winning (four Oscars) movie starring Jennifer Jones. The Forty Days... never be came a film despite intense inter est from Hollywood. Why? MGM secured film rights in 1934, but in 1935 the Turkish Am bassador requested our Secretary of State to stop the proposed movie. It would have embar rassed the Turkish government. The Sec retary put pressure on Will Hays, czar of the film industry at that time. The movie wasn't made. Nevertheless, Werfel became a hero to the Armenian people who derived the grim consolation of knowing that the story of their bloody diaspora and death march would not be forgotten. Today, in the enlightened 21st century, the sins of the fathers are being visited upon subsequent generations. Turkey has just recalled its ambassador to the U.S. to show its disapproval of a recent proposal in Congress to label the World War I era killings of Armenians by Turks as geno cide. Conceivably the new resolution serves some useful purpose, although it isn't clear to ordinary citizens what this pur pose might be. Turkey is our ally and is a member of NATO, currently seeking membership in the EU. They permit us to maintain an airbase in Incirlik. Ameri can soldiers in Iraq are resupplied, in part, through Turkey. It isn't obvious how a condemnation of Turkish actions in 1915-1919, however heinous, serves any useful purpose. Are Democratic sponsors, Senator Steny Hoyer (D. Md.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi taking moron pills? They must be clueless. If they're going back in time to set the record straight for every one's misdeeds, let's not forget Wounded Knee. Or My Lai. Or maybe the Turkish government will condemn General Sullivan's march across upstate New York. This resolution—in 2007—is insane. WAYNE COUNTY EDUCATION COALITION (WCEC) SUPPORTS THE SUPERVISORS WHO SUPPORT WAYNE COUNTY SCHOOLS. ASK YOUR SUPERVISOR CANDIDATES IF THEY SUPPORT EDUCATION . . . BEFORE YOU VOTE! The Sun^&vRecord USPS 684820 Merged January 1, 1999: Sodus Record (Est. 1897) 4 Merged: Williamson Sun (Est.1925) & Sentinel (EST. Feb. 1885) Published weekly by Sun & Record Publications, 4287 Jersey Road, PO Box 31, Williamson, NY 14589. Periodical postage paid at Williamson, NY 14589. Subscription rates: $21 per year, $24 out-of-county Official Publication of: Wayne County, Town of Williamson, Town of Sodus, Village of Sodus, Village of Sodus Point, Williamson Central School District, Sodus Central School District, Williamson Fire Department, East Williamson Fire Department, Pultneyville Fire Department, Wallington Fire Department Postmaster: Send address changes to: Sun & Record Publications, PO Box 31, Williamson, NY 14589-0031 Member of the New York Press Association Wilma Young - Editor Williamson Phone: 315-589-4421; FAX: 315-589-8433; E-mail for NEWS: recsun@rochcstcr.rr com E-mail for ADS / legals: recsunl@rochester.rr.com