JC Traditions/History Blog

It's a new year and I've heard quite a few people mumbling about not being ready for school to start back. Over the Christmas break, I was trying to think of the best topic for my first blog of the spring semester. A familiar tune popped into my head and then it hit me! Not many people know the origin of their hometowns. What better subject is there to begin with than the town I live in most of the year?

Marion,

Of all the cities in the USA,

You are the best and we're here to say,

You're on the map to stay."

At every step sing, Judson girls sing of their honor and love of Marion. In fact, without Marion, Judson would not be here today. This instigated a few discussions with Judy Martin, Judson College Development office, and Eleanor Drake, Judson's registrar, who are noted around campus as being the authorities on Perry County history. Ms. Martin loaned me Perry County Heritage by W. Stuart Harris*. This two-volume work not only taught me about Marion, but will inevitably give me plenty of reasons to spend a sunny afternoon reading. The rich history of the town took me back to pioneer days...

Upon winning the Creek Indian War, a substantial amount of land was surrendered to General Andrew Jackson on August 9, 1814. Five years later, the Alabama Legislature was rewarded some of the land and created six new counties. Perry County was named after Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, a naval hero of the War of 1812. However, before the counties were created, pioneers had already begun to settle the area.

Michael McElroy, known as Michael Muckle, followed his father-in-law to the region in November 1817. Muckle's Ridge, his homestead, was built on the present site of Perry County Courthouse. Following the economic boom of cotton in 1817-1818, he sold the land to Anderson West, the first county sheriff. Muckle felt that the growing number of settlers was crowding his space. West was able to expand the original properties and in 1822 divvied his property into town lots hoping to increase his wealth.

Around the same time, a group of Perry County commissioners were selected to find another location for the county seat. Joseph Evans, a commissioner from South Carolina, opted to move the seat to Muckle's Ridge. Wanting to honor a war veteran from his beloved state, he recommended General Francis Marion the "Swamp Fox" of the American Revolution. The name was deemed an acceptable name for the city and thus Marion, Ala. came into existence. For several years, it was the only city in Perry County recognized on Alabama maps.

Hopefully, this new found interest in the town will inspire a visit to the area. Who knows? Maybe I will be the student ambassador giving tours that day. On behalf of Judson College, see yourself here in Marion, Ala.

*All of the historical research came from this book

"You'll shoot your eye out kid."

If you've ever seen A Christmas Story, you're familiar with Ralphie's quest for a Red Ryder BB gun. Even after a disappointing visit to see Santa Claus, who is credited with this famous line from the movie, Ralphie continues his quest.

One of the funniest things about Christmas time to me is observing kids watch TV. I realize that this statement seems a bit strange, but humor me for a minute.

Let's say a family is watching Frosty the Snowman. During the commercials, the kids begin saying things like, "Mom! I want that for Christmas!" or "I bet Santa will bring me that for Christmas!"

Then comes the dangerous part: Christmas shopping.

Everyone wants to find the "perfect gift" for all of their friends and loved ones. I use the word dangerous, because people are hardcore about Christmas gifts.

 For the past five years, I have gone Black Friday shopping. It's true that the first weekend of Christmas shopping has some of the best deals. However, some of the craziest things happen on this night.

Maybe the retail market is injecting some kind of drug into turkeys that promotes lunacy? Or is it the hormones the government already adds?

Anyway, the point is that some people will do ANYTHING to get what they want.

Including:

--Camping out for days to be first in line

--Stealing things out of other people's buggy

--Stampeding into the store once it's open

--Breaking in a line where people have been waiting for hours

--Bringing a gun into the store

Why do things like this happen?  The reason is that somewhere along the way the true meaning of Christmas has been lost.

And it's our job as Christians, as Judson women, and as spiritual leaders within our school, work, and family to remind the world of God's ultimate purpose.

God put his gift on the tree, not under it.

Let's play a game!

  What is one thing that...

--Everyone wants

--Everyone wants from you

--That is always lacking

--The greatest cause of stress and frustration

AND

--Everyone fears of losing?

TIME!

Our chapel speaker this Tuesday was Dr. James Earl Massey. He spoke on the value of time and how the Lord wants us to use it. If I walked away with anything from his sermon, it was this statement:

"There is more to life than time, there is also eternity."

Think about your day to day activities. Throughout the day, who demands most of your time? What do you spend the majority of your time doing? America is a high paced society where being ahead of the game is of most importance. However, the problem with living at such a fast pace is the quality of life.

So many memories are overlooked by constantly moving from place to place seeking the biggest and best of life.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm all about living life to the fullest. God does have extraordinary plans for His believers--plans that are greater than we ourselves could expect or imagine.

But, look back on your fondest memories of life. What do you remember the most?

I know the fondest memories of my life are the small things.

Such as:

--A compliment given by a friend

--Receiving an unexpected gift

--Talking to the people you're serving on a mission trip

This past weekend, I had the opportunity of picking up some scrapbooks, Conversationalists, and diplomas from the granddaughter of an Alumna. Her name was Ruth Adams, and she graduated in 1918. What I found the most unusual were the things she wanted to remember. The scrapbook was filled with little things like a section of streamer and part of a throat lozenge box. The captions for each item indicated a simple memory and the happiness it brought her. Later on, there will be a more in detailed blog about Ruth's scrapbooks, but I just wanted to point out the simplicity of her memories. Our days are filled with little moments--moments that can help shape our future or simply bring a sprinkling of joy.

We're all in a race against time. If you know anything about the Apostle Paul, he was the poster boy for "running the good race." I don't want to sound cliché, but it's really not about the race, it's all about how you choose to run it.

RED ALERT! RED ALERT!

On Saturday, November 6, 2010, I was a part of setting the fire alarm off in Barron Hall.

REWIND!!!

Before I go any further, I want to recap the events of Hockey Day that led up to my epic story.

Seniors vs. Junior-Frosh: A sweeping victory of 5-1 for the Senior team

All-Stars vs. Alumnae: A 1-0 victory for the Alumnae

Everyone had a blast, and there were no serious injuries!

After the games, the 3^rd years (juniors) put on Wishing Well. This tradition is simply an improvisation of favorite class memories. My class had a lot of fun preparing Wishing Well, and we had a blast reminiscing.

Now, the real story can unfold.

I spent the remainder of the afternoon resting. Apparently, I am really out of shape. :-)  My recuperation period was brief, and I was having a hard time focusing on my homework. This usually happens to me after a busy day.

What are girls to do in Marion on Saturday night???

My friends and I consider it a challenge to keep ourselves entertained. During my Judson career, it is very rare that I do the same thing on the weekends (well, besides homework).

A group of us decided to play with shaving cream. You know, put it on the floor and draw? If you have never tried this, it is cheaper than an Etch-A-Sketch. Also, I've been told that it's a great stress reliever.

This managed to hold my attention for about an hour. Holly Beth, Bethany, and I decided to play with modeling clay. We spent a long time working on our masterpieces. I made a little man to give to my friend Maggie for her birthday. Holly Beth had laboriously made some trinkets that looked like Christmas ornaments.

It was then time to bake our handicrafts! We were using a legit brand called Sculptey.

As usual, this is the part of the story where the plot thickens. Holly Beth has a toaster oven, and we thought it would make a great substitute for a real oven.

Five minutes later, the room became smoky.

The smoke alarm began chirping, and we pulled the tray out of the oven. Our sculptures were toast! I opened the door of the room not realizing Barron's smoke alarm was right above the door frame.

Yikes!!!

Everyone began exiting the building. I called security and told them to not call the fire department. Needless to say, Barron's residents sighed when they found out a spurt of creativity sent them outside.

Did I mention that it was 11:30pm?

Anyway, I learned three things from this episode:

--Toaster ovens are not real ovens.

--People are not comforted by, "Well, at least it's not a real emergency" when annoyed.

--It only takes one mishap to earn a spot in next year's Wishing Well.