QUARANTINE BLOG # 161

September 7, 2020

The Black history story of Hagerstown has produced one more fascinating link.  You remember in Friday’s blog I wrote about Jacob Wheaton who was believed to be the first African-American to vote in Maryland after the Civil War, and became an advocate for the creation of a high school for African-American youth in Washington county, with as a result, the first 12-year program diplomas were awarded at North Street School in 1928.

Looking for the above picture of the school, I came across an article in The (Hagerstown) Daily Mail on July 8, 1942, reporting on 63 one-teacher schools in Washington County being consolidated into larger, centrally located schools.  The story included this paragraph:

“Among schools consolidated was the colored elementary school at Hancock.  These pupils will be transported to the North Street School in Hagerstown [the one Wheaton was instrumental in starting] and the pupils will now be able to attend high school grades.  A few colored pupils in Clearspring will also be brought to this city.  The average daily attendance of colored pupils at Hancock has been twenty.  A new bus route will be established.”

I did a quick check on Google maps.  In 2020 you can travel from Hancock to Hagerstown in about 30 minutes on Interstate 70.  In 1942 you were looking at an hour ride each way – in a school bus.

And in 1942 members of the Negro race were identified as “colored.”

Personal note 1: 
I graduated from Southern Garrett County Junior Senior High School which opened in 1952, 5 years before I entered the 7th grade (1959 – graduated in 1965).  Southern replaced Oakland High School, which was established in 1901.  I have no idea when schools were consolidated across the county, but I remember Dad, who was half of the maintenance department for Garrett County Schools  – along with his sidekick “Uncle” Bill Callis, demolishing some old, one-room schools (closed circuit to Luke – the pigeon hole desk, upon which you have placed a post-it note, is made of wormy chestnut which Dad salvaged from one of those schools).

Personal note 2: 
The stories from this blog and the three earlier ones sparked my interest because Bonnie was born and raised in the Hagerstown-Williamsport area.  Our daughter, Jennifer, was born in Hagerstown.  We lived there for a year, and attended the Williamsport Church of God.  We were “set forth” by that congregation to serve our first church, the Damascus Maryland Church of God.  

** This past Saturday morning was most annoying.  I woke up at 4:50 singing – in my mind, not out loud – the theme song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=he4WPvKGGR0 from “The Brady Bunch!”  Why?  I have no idea.  But it is one of those songs that once you get it in your head you can’t get it out.  Kind of like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbIhYhrOJAg “It’s A Small World After All.”  Sorry about that, but I thought I should share.

**  In case you missed it, on September 1, Dictionary.com added 600 new entries to their assemblage of words, including “jabroni.”  Jabroni is a noun, and is defined as “Slang. stupid, foolish, or contemptible person; loser.”  Usage examples include: “She always has a comeback to own the trolls and jabronis on Twitter;” and “Shut your mouth, you dumb jabroni!”

Fans of World Wrestling Entertainment recognize the creation of Hollywood superstar Dwayne Johnson, the wrestler known as “the Rock.”

**  In March, Spain instituted a stringent and painful three-month lockdown that brought the country praise as a model for dealing with the coronavirus, which through the spring had raged out of control, overwhelming hospitals and killing at least 28,000.

A short summer of parties, bar hopping,  gyms, nightclubs, too much closeness, and vacation jaunts to coastal towns and neighboring countries has returned Spain to something approaching the depths of the pandemic.  As national health emergency coordinator Dr. Fernando Simón recently put it, “Things are not going well.”  In fact, they are going so not well that some towns across Spain are locking down again, this time of their own accord.

Public officials shy away from using the term “second wave,” although local and international media characterize it that way, but with new cases surging toward 9,000 a day, the highest numbers in all of Europe, Spain is becoming a cautionary tale for the rest of the world, with a higher rate of new infections per capita than even the United States.

Just as states in the U.S. all have different coronavirus policies, Spain’s 17 autonomous regions all have theirs.  The lack of a coherent policy was so grave that in March the national government in Madrid declared a “state of emergency,” telling residents not to go out except for food and medical necessities.  But in June, when the state of emergency was lifted, the national government tossed the job of managing the pandemic to the regional governments.

One of the factors contributing to the new surge was the disregard of face masks.   When Spain reopened from lockdown on June 21, the national government warned its citizens to mask up, but the regional governments interpreted the warning as they wished: some strict, some overtly lax.

Not wearing a face covering outdoors in Barcelona is punishable by a 100-euro fine ($118.40), but reports indicate it isn’t uncommon to see the maskless stroll right past police, with no repercussions.  Overall, mask use is indeed up, but problem is where they are worn: the elbow mask was a popular fashion this summer, and the chin mask remains ubiquitous.

I am put in mind of signs outside of local business declaring masks must be worn, but seeing people enter the establishment and take off their masks.  Or as they do in Spain, wear them on their chins.

**  To add a follow-up to the story of the resurgence of the coronavirus in Spain, Europe has a warning color scale that indicates the infection rate in a particular nation.  To enter the “red zone,” the worst zone, the number of cases per 100,000 over seven days must exceed 20.  At the top of the red zone is Spain, with 127.2; France is at 62.8, and Portugal crossed into this category last week with a current rate of 23.2.  The UK at 16.1 and Italy at 15.3 are the only countries in the “amber zone.”  Greece is in the “green zone” with a rate of 13.1.

**  Since the first Sunday in June Bonnie and I have been going to the Crawfordville UMC to lead worship.  It is a small church, a dozen folk, who had no one to preach for them since earlier this year.  Rev. Beth Sanders, the Augusta District Mission Specialist asked me if I would help out since we aren’t cruising, and I accepted the offer.  I’ve started recording my sermons and have put them on my website using a small digital recorder.  You can tell when I walk away from the pulpit because the volume drops (and I’m trying to stay in behind the sacred desk).  Beginning today, and for several Mondays, I am including a link so you can click in and listen.  Today: “Real Freedom” (for Independence Day) from Exodus 21:1-5 and John 6:51-69 (selected verses) http://davidsisler.com/christian/RealFreedom.mp3.

**   Today’s close is by Phil Ware of Heartlight.

“Jesus replied, ‘If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching.  My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him’” (John 14:23 NIV).

At many Christian funerals, the preacher emphasizes how Jesus has left to make a place ready for us to join Him in heaven.  Then He is going to come back for us.  But just a few verses later, Jesus adds the promise of John 14:23.  He’s telling us that until we can come be with Him at His place, He will come live with us here in our hearts.  It all hinges on one thing, our willingness to obey Him.  Not a bad deal, is it?   So let’s not let obedience be a forgotten word in our lifestyle!

Prayer:

Holy God, I know Jesus came to earth and obeyed your will.  Give me discernment that my obedience will not simply be the obedience of your words, but will also be the obedience of your will.  I long to honor you because you have done so much to save me.  Thank you.  Through Jesus I pray.  Amen.

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