What do old American flags and carved animals have in common?
Those disparate subjects have a common link, or so it seems. We must teach our young people about them, or that next generation may care less about them, and allow them to slip away like a morning fog.
Have you ever tried to carve? I’m not thinking about juicy roast beef or turkey, but creating something from a block of wood. Among the releases that focused on the 29th Wings ‘n’ Water Festival, one dealt with the subject that there are not many young carvers out in the hinterland.
I’ve a sneaking suspicion the dearth of youthful carvers has a direct correlation to the increase in popularity of electronic games among the pre-teen and teen crowd. Who has time to sit in a lonely shed and create a bird or deer when you could conveniently plant your butt in front of a color television and earn worthless points for eradicating an imaginary enemy? The fact that there is no farm league carving guilds bodes ill for future maritime festivals.
Through the years, one of the biggest prizes awarded at the Wings ‘n’ Water Festival was the Shorebird Carving prize. At a whopping $5,000, I often wished I could have produced one of those darling carvings that are so lifelike; I expected them to flit away any second.
The work of those meticulous chaps who chip away at basswood or similar substances is an art form, truly a gift from the Almighty. As with any art, it’s obvious, there were many failed hunks of wood left on the floor, maybe burned in the fireplace, before those purchase prizes were judged first place.
So what would happen if there were never again wood carvers? The world would certainly continue to spin. The sun would appear each day in the east, but as with so many of the arts, over time, there would be less and less to hand over to the generations yet unborn.
There is a spark of wood carving interest here. Two nights a week, at Cape May County Technical School, Anthony Hillman teaches woodcarving. That’s encouraging since, in large measure, carving is nearly as lost an art as playing the organ, violin or piano.
Once again, how many average Cape May County households with children have access to a piano, violin, or organ for youngsters to sit and learn? Why is classical music categorized by many as s scorn of society? It’s wonderful and mind expanding. It is the same with woodcarving.
When budgets get tight, cultural programs in schools are easy to chop. Sports? Heavens no! Music and the arts, Go ahead. It’s sad but true. Who needs the arts? Ask number crunchers, they admit that they would “love” to keep those worthwhile programs, but as you can see, with this lean budget…
Here is where an artful carver mentor could enter the picture, maybe spend some time with youngsters, and ignite an interest in carving.
Those possessing the gift of “seeing” objects in a rock or wood block are rare. In Villas, for instance, there is a studio filled with sculptures done by the Gerald Lynch, who passed on in September 2000. He had the gift, if only he were still here to guide and teach a few youthful carvers or sculptors. He was renowned, sculpted at the National Cathedral in Wasahington, D.C. and around the world. What a teacher he would be.
Surrounded as we are by water, marshes and forests, there are surely many subjects young carvers could imitate.
Who will teach them? As the days get ever shorter with onset of fall then winter, there would seem to be extra hours for young carvers to dabble in the ancient art form. Again, it would be so much easier to sit before a big screen television and chalk up imaginary points good for absolutely nothing.
In addition, what of those old flags at the beginning of this column?
On Oct. 9 at 1 p.m., Disabled American Veterans, Chapter No. 44, Del Haven will host its annual flag retirement ceremony. Why is that important?
As most veterans will explain, especially those disabled because of service to the nation, old flags cannot be tossed into the trash as just so much garbage. An American flag must be properly retired in a ceremony steeped in tradition that is not unlike a burial service.
Tim Donnelly, commander of Chapter No. 44 would like as many young people to attend that ceremony as possible in order that they might see how tattered and torn flags are “retired.” Theme of the program is “Teaching the Children.”
The ceremony, open to the public and scheduled to be held in Cape May County Park South, across Bayshore Road from the post home, is a time when thoughts of distant wars and people who served in them gave everything for you and me.
“It is disrespectful to all who sacrified for it to just throw it away,” Donnelly wrote.
Veterans reverently and slowly cut apart each flag, so that it may be burned. Once dismembered, the union and stripes are no longer considered a flag, thus it is not an insult to burn the parts. The ashes of those proud but tattered flags are then buried next to the chapter’s headquarters.
If we expect our grandchildren and other impressionable youngsters to hold precious the things we do, should we not shoulder the responsibility to teach them?
Perhaps if a few take the time to impart knowledge of carving, while others show, by their actions on a Sunday afternoon, they respect the emblem of the nation, a spark will ignite in young minds.
We know there is a war raging for those minds of our young people. Without guidance from elders, after whom will they pattern themselves for the future decades?
If the trail is not blazed today how will they find their way?
Villas – Don't kid yourself. Those "Nobel" prize people are as political as you can get. Wise up!
