Running for an Elected Office in the Time of COVID19

In 2016 I ran for the Governing Board for Gilbert Public Schools.  There were three seats available with four people running.  I actually had to campaign.  It was really interesting.  I had to raise money, which is very difficult for me.  I HATE to ask people for money for anything for myself.  Fortunately, I won by a lot of votes with a very low budget.  I was so touched by the number of former students who I taught, the kiddos and parents I worked with as a principal, and the teachers and staff I had worked with through the years.  I was touched that I was able to get so many signatures to get on the ballot and then the number of votes I was able to get.

This year started out fine.  I had a committee of people working for me with Meagen Winter heading it up.  I got petitions ready and Lori Wood and Reed Carr, who were elected with me, decided we should work together.  Both Lori and Reed are very far apart from me politically, but we have worked together incredibly well and have respected each other and what we stand for.  I love living in Gilbert and totally respect the community and what is expected.  

After the "shutter in" getting signatures became very difficult.  Reed wrote a post and Lori came up with a "meme" for us to put out on Facebook together.  I can only say that I was totally touched that they included me in this.  We sent it out on Facebook and asked people to print off our petitions and just get signatures from their families.  Every two and three signatures would add up to the 400 we need.

I have been touched to the point of tears of the parents, teachers and community members who have come together to support us.  As of today, I think I am over the 400 needed.  However, some of the signatures could be from people in Gilbert who don't live in the District.  It is so confusing.  Last election, I had over 800 signatures so there was no problem.   I don't think there will be this time either.   I have had several petitions left under my "pug" mat by my door.  I have also had so many people share our post asking for signatures.  What has meant the most to me, is what they have said when they ask for signatures.  Once again, no matter what happens, I am so privileged to have worked with so many wonderful  people and to have them say such nice things means more than any will ever know.

I completely understand the social distancing that we need right now. I know that we need to save lives and protect our health care workers who are doing so much in these horrible times.  I also know how important it is that we have elected officials in the next election who can step up to the times and I know that I can.  

I can't begin to thank so many people.  I am looking forward to another four years (hopefully) in serving this wonderful community that I love.  And I also know that I need this in my life.  I am a social person so this has been very difficult for me.  That is why the posts and comments have meant so much.

I can't begin to thank all of the wonderful people that I have know for the last 49 years.  I look forward to being able to say that I have spent 50 (plus) years as an educator and I hope that by then, we can have a celebration!!!  After all as I always say, I put the FU in FUN!!!

Sheltering in Place--Pandemic Like I Have Never Seen

We are now into almost six weeks of "confinement" with this very scary virus that is killing so many people.  As much as I hate it, I totally support and understand what we are having to do to keep the already horrendous death toll from getting completely out of control.

I can't ever remember anything like this in my lifetime as there has never been anything like this.  I do remember when I was very young, polio was extremely scary and hit a lot of people, especially children.  I recall that we weren't able to go to the public pool in Douglas and that was always the highlight of my summers growing up.  I don't know when it was and haven't taken the time to look it up.  

One of the scariest parts for me was when a teenager who was the daughter of our head Phelps Dodge doctor contracted it and she was in an iron lung.   They would bring her to Sunday mass at St. Lukes and I can still see that iron lung and still hear it.

When the first vaccine came out, I do remember getting it immediately and later it was put on sugar cubes.  I also remember being in Brownies and we would do a fundraiser in downtown Douglas.  We had a line and would stand together and chant, "put a dime on the line to help fight polio."  People would put dimes down and we would obviously send it to wherever they were collecting money for research.   I don't know if that was before or after the vaccine came out.  I kind of think it was after the vaccine but before the sugar cube drops.

We have been very careful about going anywhere.   I have been to the grocery store and Sam's a few times.  We have had two Governing Board meetings that were closed to the public and we were sitting far apart.   Our next meeting on Tuesday is going to be on WebEx.   Dave and I took a drive one day to Payson, had lunch at Burger King and then drove home.   He had never been there and we just needed to get out.  Other than that we have stayed home.  

I have read a lot of books, which has been good because I hadn't been reading for awhile.   We have watched way too much television and I have to say there have been a few days that I have yelled at the television and our "fearful" leader!

This was one of the things I worried about being retired has been happening right now.  However, being on the Board has kept me busy and that hasn't been taking any of my time lately with no school.  

I have had a hard time writing for some reason, but I am absolutely going to do my best to get back into it again as it is something I have always enjoyed.

TO BE CONTINUED......

"Masking" The Problem!

In making every effort to make sure that I am following all of the protocols for these current times, we purchased some masks from Amazon.  I really have tried not to go out much, but had to go to Sam's Club the other day to get some much needed supplies.  I wore my mask and I would say that only about half of the people in there were wearing masks.  Sam's is only allowing so many people in at a time,  which I think is a good thing.  I was just surprised there weren't more people with masks.

 

I must say, I guess I would never make a good bank robber with a mask.   I am not sure if I was wearing it correctly or not, but every time I breathed (which is quite often) my glasses fogged up! I have not been wearing my contacts because that is one of the many things that is recommended you don't wear.  It was quite an experience trying to navigate the aisles in Sam's and find what I needed while waiting for my glasses to unfog.  That didn't happen very often.  

 

This morning, I actually blew dry my hair after washing it.  Not going anywhere seems to make for not getting dressed up on a daily basis.   After blow drying it, I realized that probably within a week or so, my bangs are going to probably be so long that I won't be able to see with them in my way!  

 

Have to laugh about this as there is nothing else that you can do!  It really is a very scary time.  

 

Being "elderly" and having had asthma all of my life, I fit into the category that is considered more at risk.   It really ticks me off to be called "elderly" as there are a lot of other names I would rather be called!!

 

However, it is important that we all adhere to the recommendations so that we can all be okay and get back to whatever the "new normal" is going to be.  

St. Patrick's Day in Butte

Dave and I planned to go to Butte for a week that would include St. Patrick's Day (actually I was the one who really wanted to do this.)   Last year when we went, it was one of the very best St. Patrick's Days ever for me.  Dave has many friends there and over the two summers we have spent there, I have made friends.  I love it in Butte and love the friendliness of the people and his family.

Butte has the highest per capita Irish population in the US.  I believe this is because of the copper mining and the fact that most of the Irish are Catholic.   So many of the families had six plus children.  A lot of them have stayed in Butte or returned like Dave did.

When we got there on the 10th, it was cold.  We had a couple of days of snow, but it was not at all like last year when there was so much snow on the ground.  Of course, we went out to eat at some of our favorite restaurants and spent some time in the casinos.  Going to a casino in Butte is a different experience.  They are small and don't have a lot of machines.  You can earn points and get actual money.   For $5 or $10 I can play one of my favorite video poker games and get free drinks.  It is great!

With all of the Covid19 scare, all of the St. Patrick's Day festivities were cancelled over the weekend.  We went to the Irish store that I love as I always want to pick up a few "things."  Marlene, the owner, was telling us how devastating this is for the many small businesses, especially the bars. She said many of them are able to stay open all year because of the festivities and a few others during the year.  I had not thought about that.

We changed our plans and I was able to get a flight back to Arizona on Tuesday so that I could attend the Board meeting in person.

Monday, we joined our friends for lunch.   Everything was fine and no thought of any closures according to the waitress.   By the time we were finished with lunch, she came over and told us they would be closing at five per Governor's instructions and would remain closed unless they wanted to do take out.

We stopped at our favorite casino.  Originally, their hours  were being cut, but during the time we got there,  we were told that they would be closing at 8 that evening indefinitely.

We had an early flight back to Phoenix Tuesday morning.   It was a good thing we came back as the next day when we were scheduled, there was a very serious earthquake right about the time we would have landed and they had to close the airport.

I was able to get to the meeting that night and that was the beginning of all of the protocols and closures.  

That was March 17 and today is April 24.  What a month it has been which I am going to write more about! 

The one thing I have figured out during this time, is that I HAVE to get a hobby.  I don't know why I have not been writing as that is an outlet for me in many ways and I enjoy it! 

Mary Scott--The Last of the Scott Family Elders

Our wonderful Aunt Mary Scott passed away on April 1 at  97 years old.  She was the last of all of my mom's siblings and their spouses.  Mary was married to my mother's brother, Tom.  They lived in the Washington, D.C. area and as a result, we didn't get to see them as much as my other aunts and uncles.

The last several years, I did have the opportunity to get to know her a lot better.  We were able to go to some family reunions back in Virginia and it was delightful.  She and Teresa were very close and during my time in Douglas, they talked often.  They were just a few months apart.   This picture is from the reunion in 2016 that we we able to take Teresa.  It was her last real trip.   I love this picture.

During these very scary times with the Corona Virus and not being able to gather, her services will be at a later time.  Her family invited all of to a Zoom service on Easter Sunday.  I have to say that it was really awesome.  I was thinking how sad it is that people have to wait for closure and I still feel that way, but the Zoom service was so nice.  Each of her five children talked about memories of her. Then several of her grandchildren and nieces and nephews were able to speak of their love for her.

Here is her obituary from the newspaper.  It speaks to who Mary was as a wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother.   She will be missed by many.   How fortunate she lived such a long and wonderful life!  

I wasn't able to upload the obituary, but I am going to write it because it is worded so beautifully.

MARY K. SCOTT

(1922-2020)

Mary K. Scott, beloved matriarch of the Scott and Krizmanich clans, died of pneumonia on April 1, 2020, at the home of her daughter in Rockville, MD.   Mary was born September 5, 1922 in Ebensburg, PA, one of five children to Michael and Anna Krizmanich.  Her fatherwas a coal miner, and her mother was the proprietor of their Green Acres bar in Kittanning, PA.  They had emigrated to the USA from Croatia, formerly the Austro-Hungarian Empire, in the years after World War I.  As a child Mary witnessed the effects on her family of Prohibition and the Great Depression, which made the most profound impact on her life.

In early 1942, as enlistments in the Armed Forces were taking many men away from their jobs, there was a need for qualified women workers to fill their positions.  She answered this call and got a job with the Department of Agriculture in Washington, DC.  As she liked to tell the story, Mary arrived in Washington's Union Station on March 4, 1942, the first night of the WWII blackout, and hailed a taxi at 9 p.m. as the lights went dark.  Her job at Agriculture ultimately led to a promotion and move to the Justice Department.  After the war, on November 10, 1945, she married Thomas J. Scott, FBI Special Agent and later Chief Clerk of the Senate Appropriations Committee.  They started a family soon after and had four daughter and one son. She was preceded in death by him in 2005 after 59 happy years.

Mary was strong-willed but also unassuming, welcoming, and friendly to all.  She was the glue that held a large family and much larger extended family together throughout the years.  Through regular family gatherings, her family history and influence has been passed down to her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, as well as dozens of nephews, nieces, great-nephews and great-nieces who are scattered all across the USA.  Her impact continued well into her later years, where she was active in the social life of her new home, Maplewood Park Place in Bethesda, MD (to where she moved in 2007).  She y littled used hobby never tired of starting new things and became a competent pool player after moving there and getting her friends to join her, thus saving a previously little used hobby room for other purposes planned by the facility.

 She made it a point to get to know her care givers and workers at her new home.  Getting names right was important.   Her artistic and fashion sense were legendary and set a family standard none of her children could quite match:  she dressed every day to the nines.  Her frugality, the legacy of her Depression-era childhood, was a sobering lesson to all of us:  paper towels could be reused with proper care; and to this day, no one of Mary's descendants can but think twice before throwing out a perfectly good used paper plate. Mary loved her family but knew we could -- no, should -- do better.  She lamented, to no avail, her daughters' bad hair and failure to properly pre-warm dinner plates at family functions.  Mary advised -- no, chastised -- nieces and nephews and grandchildren on proper etiquette, attire, behavior, and they paid heed because they knew she was the expert.  She worried late life  in life that she had been too strict a Mom, but the fact is that the good-hearted Mom always prevailed.  Those closest to her knew her to be a warm figure with a spirited sense of humor, and we all  looked forward to seeing her and to soliciting her always-opinionated take on our latest life developments.

She is survived by her daughters, Ellen Johnson (Nick) of Pittsburgh, PA, Ann Fila (Joe) of Sebring, FL, Judy Scott Feldman (Neil d. 2015) of Rockville, MD, Lisa Scott of Center Sandwich, NH, and her son Thomas J. Scott, Jr. (Michele) of Bluemont, VA, 12 grandchildren, 14 great-grandchildren and countless nephews, nieces, and loving friends.

Contributions in her memory can be made to St. Jane Frances de Chantal Catholic Church, 9701 Old Georgetown Road, Behesda, MD 20814, and designated, at her wish, "For the poor."

Funeral services will be determined at a future date. 

God Speed, Mary and thanks for the memories!!!!

Thomas J. Park--March 11, 1943-October 28, 2019

I have been remiss on not posting this sooner.  Tom was my cousin, the oldest of my Aunt Dot's (and Uncle Ed's) children.  He was six years older than me.  We spent most of our vacations growing up visiting Sacramento and Dot's family.  As I grew older, we spent a lot of time together with Tom and his family.  Tom was even a groomsman in my first wedding.  I always loved him.

Unfortunately, we were not able to go to the funeral as Dave and I had already booked and paid for a cruise at the time of his death.  However, I was there in spirit.

I am going to post his brother Ted's eulogy as it is absolutely the best and sums up our dear Tom.

Introduction

Blessed is that servant, who his Lord finds awake

when he comes and knocks at the gate.

This was the Communion Antiphon at this past Monday morning mass. It made me think of my brother Tom who was ready to be embraced by God and family.

When I heard that Tom being taken to Emergency Sunday night, October 27, I immediately feared the worse.  Not for Tom, but for those of us he would leave behind. All through the restless night, thoughts and memories of him swam around in my head.  I could think of little else. So I felt compelled to release them from my mind by putting them down on paper.

These thoughts and memories are personal. They are my reflections....hence, they have a personal focus on me and my family.

Thomas J. Park

March 11, 1943 - October 28, 2019

And then there were five....

Thomas J. Park was born March 11, 1943 in Tulsa, Oklahoma to Edwin and Dorothy Park. Tulsa was Dad's second office in the FBI (Indianapolis was the first).  My grandfather pleaded with my Mom to have her baby in Arizona..he didn't want his grandchild to be called an Okie.

Tom grew up like the rest of us in Sacramento. He attended St. Philomene's Elementary, El Camino H.S. and earned a scholarship to the University of San Francisco.  Tom was a loyal Don.  He majored in Economics and earned a Masters in Contract Bridge..or masters' points I should say.Tom was the smartest person I've every known.  He was well read and articulate in many subjects; including his Faith.  The Jesuits did a fine job disciplining his mind.

Tom was the first-born,  followed by 3 girls: Kathy, Janine and Janice.  Mom had 4 kids in 3 years. That was it for 8 years until God decided to bring balance to the Universe and to the Park Household by delivering twin boys in 1954.  Tom was 11 years older than Ed and me.  He went away to college in 1960 when we were only 6. He did come back one summer and worked for Aerojet at the beginning of the Space Race. After college, Tom worked for Wells Fargo Bank in San Francisco where he met his future wife, Elsa Reyes.

 Their first date was a production of Harvey in San Francisco.  He purchased tickets for Janine, Janice and their spouses as a birthday present. They provided a convenient escort on their first date. Tom and Elsa married in January 1974.  Their daughter Dorothy arrived 11 months later in December.  (More about that later).  They settled in San Jose and Tom worked as a Comptroller for various printing companies in the Bay Area..several of them alongside is Brother-in-Law and college roommate, Mike O'Connell.

Tom and Elsa were very active in St. Victor's Parish.  Tom and Elsa were RCIA Sponsors and Facilitators in World Wide Marriage Encounter. Tom was a Lector for many years; conducting the readings regularly at Monday morning mass.  He also served on the Saint Victor Evangelist Committee.

Tom loved sports.  If not for sports, Tom would have been more like an uncle to Ed and me rather that a brother due to our age difference. In 1969, Tom purchased season tickets to the San Francisco 49ers with two friends.  By 1971, one of the friends dropped out and Tom offered the ticket to Ed and me.  In 1972, his other friend dropped out so Ed and I got our own individual tickets. On Sundays during football season, we would board the 8 AM Greyhound Express to San Francisco.  Tom would pick us up in his Chevy Vega and we'd go to the game at Candlestick.  Afterwards, he would drop us off at the Greyhound station and we would be home by 7 PM. We did this for many years until I got a car.  These were very important years as it brought the 3 brothers closer together.

On December 15, 1974 Ed and I drove down to San Francisco to see the 49ers play the New Orleans Saints.  We met Tom at 143 University (Elsa's family's house) which was close to Candlestick. We drove to to the game and parked in the stadium parking lot.  Just prior to game time, Tom called Elsa to see how she was doing...she being 9 months pregnant.  He raced back to our seats and said we have to go...Elsa was in labor.  Now, exiting Candlestick just before game time was no easy task. All of the escalators were programed for incoming not exiting fans. We made it to the car and again, all of the gates were set up for incoming cars not outgoing.  We raced around the parking lot, dodging fans as we went, and found the one exit that was open.  We drove to 143 University and Tom picked up Elsa.  We followed them to the hospital in my car and settled into the waiting room.  (Fortunately for me, I had my college books and was able to study for a Latin exam the next day, as it was finals week. As an aside, I learned a lot in Latin that has allowed me to navigate these tense political times. I can translate "quid pro quo", "non sequiter", "habeas corpus" and "Evernay Umptre".  But I digress.)   We waited for 3 hours in the hospital and by 4 PM we had to leave.  We just missed Dorothy's birth for as Tom returned to the hospital after walking us to our car, the Nurse told Tom to "suit up".  We have frequently reminded Dorothy of this story as she caused us to miss a 49er victory which were rare in those days.  The 49ers beat the Saints 35-21 that day.  But our greatest thrill was the birth of our god-daughter, Dorothy Katherine Park.

Tom and I maintained our 49er season tickets for 34 years!  I remember sending him a note when he retired his season ticket.  It was patterned after the old MASTERCARD commercial:

     years attending games: 34

    number of games seen:  360

    accumulated round trip miles to Candlestick:  64,800

    memories and moments with my brother...PRICELESS.

Tom and I shared many adventures.  In 1994 the First Round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament was in Sacramento. As a birthday present for Tom, I bought two tickets for the weekend.  We just loved the games and the atmosphere.  The next year, he bought tickets for the second round, which was held at the Oakland Coliseum.  One of the teams was the UCLA Bruins who went on to be crowned NCAA Champions that year.  In successive years we traveled to different venues..wherever there was family to see between the games.  We went to Phoenix and Tucson many times to see basketball and our Arizona Aunts, Uncle and Cousins.  We loved every minute of it.  We were joined on several occasions by our sister Janine, my nephew Jeremy and my daughter Kelly. We even went as far as Birmingham, Alabama and traveled up to Huntsville between games to stay with our sister Kathy.  These are priceless memories for me...ones that I will cherish forever.

Now we are five.

My faith assures me that Tom is in heaven in the embrace of God and Family.  Tell Mom she now has her FOURSOME:  Bid 3 NO TRUMP Tom!  (Sorry I couldn't Resist.)

May God Bless you and Keep you

May God make his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you.

May God lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

 

These Very Scary Times

During this time of being quarantined, I have had so many thoughts about who we are, what we are about and life in general.  I have been remiss in my writing for the last few years.  After Teresa died and we cleaned out 858, I was able to utilize this blog to help me make it through difficult times.  I don't know why writing has been difficult for me since then.   

My goal for the next days is to start documenting some of what is happening.  I feel so badly that we have lost two very important family members over the last several months (not from the current pandemic).  I intend to write about both Tom Park and Mary Scott over the next few days!