Remembering a Mom on Memorial Day
May 31st, 2010 by John Creighton in Dispatches
Tags: Atwood, Holidays, Neighbors
I’ve been looking at the Facebook posts imploring people to remember our veterans on Memorial Day. I must confess the first person I think of on Memorial Day is not a veteran. I think of a mother who served her community and country, too. I think of Mrs. Gladys Beamgard. C.W.’s wife. In my mind, she is standing on a platform in the middle of our local cemetery. The surrounding grave sites are adorned with a rainbow of flowers. Small [...]
Read more...Taking Back Our Nation Begins at Home
May 28th, 2010 by John Creighton in Dispatches
Tags: Atwood, Civility, Community, Public Leaders, Public Values
The Tea Party Movement is the most recent vehicle people use to express their anger toward government. The 1992 Ross Perot campaign for President was a vessel for similar discontent nearly twenty years ago. Concern over surging national debt fuels the Tea Party now and Ross Perot in the early 1990s. It was twenty years ago that The Harwood Institute released the report Citizens and Politics. This report was covered by nearly every major news outlet in America. It was [...]
Read more...How Do We Make Dreams Come True?
May 21st, 2010 by John Creighton in Dispatches
Tags: Atwood, Emma, High School, St. Vrain
Unlike Glenn Beck and President Barack Obama, I won’t make any top ten list of commencement speakers. But, I have had the privilege to speak to a graduating class as a member of the St. Vrain Valley Board of Education. Like many commencement speakers, my preparations included contemplating a big question. In my case: How do we make our dreams come true? Mr. Bray, the custodian at my home town high school, was the first person I thought of when [...]
Read more...Retirement Dinner Remarks
May 14th, 2010 by John Creighton in B.O.E.
Tags: Atwood, School, St. Vrain
I was asked to speak at the St. Vrain Valley retirement dinner on behalf of the Board. Here’s what I said: It is a privilege to be here tonight to say a few words of appreciation on behalf of the Board of Education to all of you who have served the students of the St. Vrain Valley for so many years. I especially appreciate the opportunity to speak at this dinner. I was at a celebration last week and our [...]
Read more...A Tribute to My Teachers
May 5th, 2010 by John Creighton in Snapshots
Tags: Atwood, High School, Mentors, Teachers
This column originally appeared in the Longmont Times Call and The Rawlins County Square Deal in January, 2006. I am posting it in celebration of Teacher Appreciation Week. * * * Jim Finn was a special teacher for me, as he was for many who attended Atwood High School. Enough years have passed that I can’t recall anything specific I learned in Mr. Finn’s civics or sociology class. But his classes aren’t what made him special. Mr. Finn was one [...]
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