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Sunday, March 4, 2018

This is real



One weekend ago Laura and I visited Deb’s, so Laura could see their old farmhouse and pick up some eggs from the henhouse. We mentioned the seeming lack of interest on the part of Hudson High School to join the national student walk out on March 14th.  Laura knew, whatever Hudson planned, I would stand with her.



But, Hudson had no plan, except parents were excluded. Laura and I planned simply to stand outside the school. Knowing the police would intervene if we were on school grounds, we told Deb we would stand on the sidewalk for seventeen minutes. Laura was prepared to take whatever punishment her school meted out.

“I’ll stand with you,” Deb said. “I have an old hippie jacket you can wear”.

In my mind, Pam was there too, and three women would be on the corner. In front of the old Boston Township school. I left Laura on her own, to keep prodding Hudson. I knew what I needed to do. It was as clear in my mind as being twenty one and casting my ballot for Lyndon Johnson. Or 1968, and Eugene McCarthy’s anti-war platform.

Now it’s our turn to not block up the halls. Support these young adults who have helped put a national statement in place. For my part, one phone call led to another. The ripples from the pebble spread. Other townsfolk called and volunteered their effort in support.


It so reminds me of the effort we old hippies put into ending a war. And the years it took! I think it’s our duty to tell today’s youngsters it’s OK. Work for it. It will be the best thing you ever did, instilling common sense back into life. It’s our duty to support all the common sense we currently find; retailers restricting gun sales, even though Congress doesn’t. 

There have been texts all morning, from old friends and new, “I’m with you!” Better yet, “I’ll be there!” And I text back, “Thanks. It’s the best 20 minutes you’ll spend.”

It takes so little. Three women, silently standing in support of high school students and their future; now we’ll fill the corner. There are ten days to March 14th. I would be honored to know you made a sign and took to your sidewalk in support. Tell your FaceBook friends. Call your newspaper. It can happen.




38 comments:

  1. My granddaughter is trying to organize the walkout for her middle school. I couldn't be prouder.

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  2. I couldn't agree with you more. Protest may not be speedy but it is effective in the long run. It's a valuable lesson to learn that protestors must be patient and keep their eye on the prize.

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  3. Thank you. And everyone else who stands. On the other side of the world I will be cheering. Seventeen times. At least.

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    1. Love the article. Some of the comments are scary though.

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    2. I know. This country is turning decisively knee-jerk. There is little dialogue or compromise.

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    3. I know, I read them, too, just for interest. But it's not just the USA - it seems to be media websites in general and it definitely is pervasive in Canada as well. It brings out the kooks, for the most part. There will generally be a few intelligent people valiantly trying to change the minds of the kooks, but there are just too many of the latter.

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  4. I'm with you. There will be a sign on my lawn because there is no school in this town.

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    1. Thank you, Emma. Take a picture and send it to me. jnoragon@gmail.com. Let's see how many I can collect to make a collage and send to the Parkland school.

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  5. Nice piece from the Beacon. 'You guys be the leaders you need to be'. It's good to see that students across Akron are being supported by their schools.

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    1. Pretty much. Many schools have strict regulations. The students may put on some action, but only inside the school. Perhaps these kids want to be seen. We've heard nothing from Hudson, to date, or the other school system that most Peninsula students attend.

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  6. The article in the newspaper was very good and how wonderful that the Joanne Noragon movement has sparked others to support these kids. This is not about politics, it is about lives. Adults have done little except sending their thoughts and prayers while the innocents are being slaughtered. Action need to be taken and the kids will lead us.

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    1. I think the Parkland students have started a big ball moving. It will take a lot of pushing, especially across the rough ground.

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  7. That was a great news article. I'm glad the schools mostly seem supportive. Love the quote from you - says it all. Kudos to you and the other caring adults who are standing behind the young people. Cheering you all on! And thanks for showing us what a hippie jacket looks like :)

    There's one thing I didn't understand in the article - the Norton principal who said he wasn't comfortable with the kids going outside because of the "national nature of this" ... can anyone help me understand that? Was it a cop out, or is there a meaning I'm missing?

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    1. I just don't know. These kids aren't Freedom Riders, no one will hurt them for their message. There aren't Black Panthers in the wings. If any local police department cannot secure the perimeter of an area they know will have students participating, we have a bigger problem than students exercising constitutional rights. And, we may.

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  8. I meant to add the first photo looks like a Christmas card; beautiful.

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  9. love the hippie jacket, that is not "old" but beautiful; and all that snow; what is the tall building behind your new place ?

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    1. It's my friends home. It's a nearly 200 year old farm house. The tall building behind is the original, one story home. It is taller because a short second story was added.

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  10. Hari OM
    Fabulous article... and that things are moving again, albeit a slow burn. Determination, the long slow smoulder, provides the essential warmth for survival and can be fanned for flames when the need requires. The 1960s ember is glowing strong! YAM xx

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    1. You know, Yam, I doubt these kids have any knowledge of these old struggles, like my daughter had no idea the price we women paid in the sixties and seventies for them in the eighties, nineties, turn of the century.
      These new kids are just damn mad and aren't going to take it any more. Good for them.

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  11. I wish I could be there with you.

    Love,
    Janie

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  12. This is so awesome! I'm with you all in spirit.

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  13. So good you care - and set an example. Success, Joanne!

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  14. I'll be there in spirit, this is a very worthy cause to get behind. Change needs to happen.

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  15. Dear Joanne, I'll do it. Thanks for the prompting and the prodding! We old hippies have to stick together. Peace.

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  16. Do all you can, I was in your country in 2000 and was surprised at the amount of guns in shops everywhere, I know of one gun shop in Sydney and our gun laws are very tight .
    Merle................

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  17. That photo of the house just couldn't be more charming.

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  18. The farmhouse is lovely in the snow, and the jacket, well, its an original, just like you. Good luck with your efforts and good for Laura. The comments on that article were a little scary. I'm not sure if it's scarier to think that some of them were by Russians or that they were all by Americans. It's a complicated world.

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  19. I thought Hudson was planning a walkout, although I'm not sure now (my kids have long since graduated, and I am out of the "loop"). I thought Principal Wilch was on board with it also; hope that hasn't changed since I read it. And good for these kids! I also hope they all register to vote when able to and make their voices heard that way as well.

    Love your blog!

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    1. The students organizing a protest hope to secure the football field, form a heart on it and have the photography teacher take a drone picture. 'Nuff said.

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  20. Great job getting the word out. Also getting your quote in the article shows the support to others who might be on the fence.

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