Bomber Mascot Crisis Issue # 9 ~ 08/02/01 ******************************************** ******************************************** Today's comments submitted by: Gordon McDonald (56), John Northover (59) Burt Pierard (59), Judy Willox (61) Susie Shaver (63), Dave Miller (67) Pam Pyle (69), Kathie Moore (69) Carolyn Schneider (81), Jil Lytle (82) ******************************************** ******************************************** >>From: Gordon McDonald (56) I have read most of the rhetoric about this 'crisis'. Much of it shows that there are many alumni who are intelligent, thinking beings and they make a lot of good points with regard to history. However, I think the 'frenzy' has gotten out of hand and it is time for cooler heads to prevail. Like several others, I have not seen anything from the school board that talks about changing the nickname from Bombers to something else. We can read into their statement and actions anything we want to. But, the issue for them is simply, "Are we going to accept 'The Bomb' as an alumni gift to symbolize the school mascot?" There is no valid reason for them to not accept it. The school nickname is Bombers and that is a bomb! While placing a green and gold painted B-17 or B-29 on a pedestal outside the school would be pretty cool also, that might require a little too much space. On the other hand, maybe we could place it in the parking lot where the reserved parking spaces for the school board currently are! Hmmm. If the school board (or administration) only sees this as a matter of political correctness and doesn't agree to give the mascot a prominent place at the school, the answer is also simple. The next elected school board will love the mascot! -Gordon McDonald (56) ******************************************** ******************************************** >>From: John Northover (59) Missy Keeney (59), NO NAME CHANGE ???? ... Welllllll.... WHY NOT ... Now what will we have to cry about??? Holy mackerel ... the only issue left is the physical position of the BOMB??? ... My life just blew UP! Actually, when you stop and think about it ... If this is the greatest-biggest-most important issue in our lives... We are do'n OK! take care john '59 -John Northover (59) ******************************************** ******************************************** >>From: Burt Pierard (59) To: Missy Keeney (59) When you said (BMC #8), "No one -- I repeat, NO ONE -- is suggesting changing the Bomber name!!," it indicates to me that you are listening to Aagaard, the Spin Guy, and not to what Semler, the Superintendent, said to Roy Ballard (63). Roy has tried to warn us, TWICE, that Semler has murkier motives than merely the permitting of our Bomb. The first time was in the Alumni Sandstorm, 7/22/01, after he met personally with Semler, "Just a note that Semler also told me. The school board will make the decision to accept the mascot bomb,or not accept. Also, that the school board would also decide whether or not to keep the name bombers and the plane or bomb." The second time was in the BMC #2, 7/25/01, when he wrote, "Steve Aagaard's [RSD Communications Manager] reply to John Allen's query stated said that he had heard nothing of the subject, and, since he wasn't in the meeting with Semler and me, he probably hasn't. Semler's statement to me was that the school board would decide whether or not to accept the bomb gift and the school board can change the name and mascot if it decides to do so; but the vote by the students in 1990 and any other time means zip." Since none of us knows exactly how the RSB Agenda Item is going to be worded and whether that wording will exclude expanding the item at the meeting, it is of utmost importance that we show up at the meeting, in strength, to ensure that the permitting is the only issue under consideration. Bomber Cheers, -Burt Pierard (59) ~ Monroe, WA ******************************************** ******************************************** >>From: Judy Willox Hodge (61) To: Aaron Johnson (82) Boy Aaron, I wish that I had not been so angry and hurt when I wrote MY response to Carolyn Schneider (81) (which, of course, did NOT see the light of day as it should have gone directly to -- nay, BURIED in -- the Sandbox posthaste!) as you said nearly everything that I wanted to say to her and SOOOOO much more eloquently and diplomatically!! I should have taken the time like you did BEFORE I answered her and cooled off a LOT before I put keyboard to computer!! LOL!! Thank you for doing what I set out to do and in such a lovely manner! You are to be commended!! See you at the meeting the 14th of August? To: All Bombers All of this talk of our beautiful new mascot and the trauma that she has gone through brought about a new nightmare thought in my mind's eye. Does anyone know of the whereabouts of our "old" Bomber mascot -- the little bomb that I grew up with and that our cheerleaders used to bring out and cheer around back in the days of "old"?!! Has she met with the fate of a storage shed; or, is she where she belongs: in the Richland High School gym? Last time I saw her was at the R2K reunion in June of 2000. We tried to borrow her for our Class of '61 reunion, but we never did get her and now I'm not sure why. Where is "Little Bomb"? We all know where "Big Bomb" is right now!! NOT where she belongs!! We MUST get her back home soon, as God alone knows what the "termination winds" will do to her if left out to the elements for long!! *G*!! Sorry guys, I KNOW I keep calling our mascots her -- no offense meant!! LOL!! Bomber Cheers and Pride with no Fear to Fight!! (My new fight chant! *G*! -- anyone care to join in?) :) -Judy Willox Hodge (61) ******************************************** ******************************************** >>From: Susie Shaver Caldwell (63) Do you realize that the day of the MEETING, August 14th, is actually on the anniversary of V.J. Day?!!!!! How appropriate! We need to uphold the mascot on the very day that the Japanese surrendered to the USA! GO BOMBERS! I wish I could be there! Love ya, -Susie Shaver Caldwell (63) ******************************************** ******************************************** >>From: Dave Miller (67) Well, I wonder what these people who do not like the name Bombers or the Warriors would think if they had lived in that time? My father (Robert Miller) was on Luzon, Philippines and contracted a malarial/viral infection while protecting a mountain (Presidential Unit Citation -- lost 50% casualties) and then went on to be stationed as part of the occupying forces in Nagasaki. After taking the family to Richland from Longview Wa. in 1958 he worked for Huck's floor covering until about 1968 when he went to work at the N reactor, then my folks moved back to Illinois in 1970. I don't think he realized that where he worked could affect his health and that the plutonium from Hanford was part of the bombs for Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but something came back, a viral infection called Shy-Drager Syndrome and it is mis- diagnosed almost all the time. My dad was proud of the name Bombers and of my class ring, although when I try to explain to other people they don't understand. I still have the graduation announcement from 1967 which explains what each symbol stands for and if I could scan it I would for Maren. For the old people including me I always remember the words of Chief Joseph (he would have been proud that we named our team the Warriors after him), "I am tired of fighting. Our chiefs are killed.... It is cold and we have no blankets. The little children are freezing to death. My people, some of them, have away to the hills and have no blankets, no food. (A hundred or so, mostly wounded, reached Sitting Bull's camp in Canada; they were only one mile short of the border) ... My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more, forever." There is a great festival every year (I think still) in Joseph, Oregon near Lake Wallowa, also the place where Walter Breenen (sp) is buried (I heard once). (Oh shoot ..... who the hey was he? Good movie about Chief Jo "I will cry no more forever".) Put the bomb back; it was in a good place; let the kids remember or find out what to remember about their town and what built it. "Good night Mrs. Kalibash wherever you are?" --Jimmy Durante. (Whippersnappers are saying, "who the hey was he?") -Dave Miller (67) Sorry, Rick Maddy (67); got laid off; am not going to Maui this year; see you next year unless we go during whale season. Bombers Rule! ******************************************** ******************************************** >>From: Pam Jewett-Bullock (nee Pyle '69) Reply to Chuck Monasmith (65): Chuck, for the record, I did not intend to draw any symbolic comparison between the Bomber mascot (bombshell) and the Confederate Flag in a recent missive. Rather, I meant to compare or focus on the behavior of those who prefer to revise history by censuring, retiring, or otherwise removing from public display and study many symbols of our nation's history. And, no matter what your personal opinion of these symbols, they are just that -- artifacts of another time in our great nation. Furthermore, no matter what else it may be, retiring things from public view is also censure. (By the way, Chuck, based upon your comment about the Confederate Flag, I'd surely enjoy being a "mouse in the corner" while you debate public display of that particular historic symbol with a couple of the citizens of the "great Commonwealth of Virginia." :-) ) I apologize if my choice and use of one historic symbol over another in the original missive was a source of personal "irk" for you. I could have used others, to be sure, but that one is so often "front and center" back here in Virginia that it was the most readily accessible at the time in the "recesses of my mind." Since I don't want to stray off the point any further, I'll repeat here that I am absolutely and emphatically against any move to change either the name of the team or its historic mascots, the bombshell and mushroom cloud. (I'd suggest hanging a beaver tail on the nose of the bombshell, but I'm just sure somebody would accuse me of something between a mildly warped sense of humor and a sadistic psychosis.) Always a Bomber, -Pam Jewett-Bullock (nee Pyle '69) ******************************************** ******************************************** >>From: Kathie Moore(69) To: Missy Keeney (59) From the 7-22-01 Alumni Sandstorm: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Just a note that Semler also told me. The school board will make the decision to accept the mascot bomb, or not accept. Also, that the school board would also decide whether or not to keep the name bombers and the plane or bomb. Did I hear the word RECALL IN THE FUTURE?????? -Roy Ballard (63) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ So YES, Missy -- Mr. Semler is "threatening" to remove the name of the Bombers. There are a few very out-spoken teachers at Richland High School, some of whom;are Bombers, that do not like the Bomb and they wanted it out of there (they were actually overheard by a Bomber parent). That is their choice, the teachers that are against the Bomb have nothing to lose in speaking out. Whereas the teachers that are for the Bomb would have a hard time going against the school board. The kids are out for the summer and they can't be there to know what is going on, which is the saddest part. Gifts to the Richland School District are nothing new. They have accepted thousands of dollars in equipment and even whole cars, with no "proper" paper work; true facts. We even gave a love seat to our school so that the kids could sit next to an adult to read. I also volunteered enough of my time to our school to win the Golden Acorn Award, is that not a gift -- and, believe me, no one asked me to fill out any paper work. I am a "Union Puke," always have been, was raised by one and married one. The Richland district union maintenance had no problem with our PTA painting the inside of our school -- they even gave us the paint. And I helped -- 'cause it was either paint it for our kids or they kept the ugly walls. So, evidently the district's rules are only ones of convenience. This was and is a political move; this has nothing to do with quality of education. My son is to graduate in 2008, and he wants to be a Bomber. He has had first-hand experience in seeing how Bombers come together to be there for each other. He already knows that Bombers help each other. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but you only get three minutes to talk at a school board meeting and letters to the editor [of the TCH] can only be 200 words, so write to them, be there if you can, let them know your opinion. Yes, we will all be Bombers no matter what happens but what of future classes? The kids have voted in the past to be Bombers and to have the Bomb, I think that's the way it should be. This Bomb wasn't made to resemble any other bomb, it was never meant to offend anyone. It was never meant to glorify war. It was just a bunch of nice guys trying to do a nice thing for their old school. The school already had Bombs, so why not one more? Who would've guessed, eh? Went to the 1966 35th reunion this last weekend; it was wonderful. They had the small Bomb there. Made me glad; I'm still proud to be a Bomber. Jimmie and Steven agree, so sign us: Kathie Moore (69) and Jim Adair (66) and Steven Adair (08) Proud Bombers in West Richland -Kathie Moore (69) ******************************************** ******************************************** >>From: Carolyn Schneider (81) To: Aaron Johnson (82) First of all, according to one alumni-poster it appears there is no threat of losing the "beloved" Bomber name. Where did this whole issue come from, anyway? Did someone once upon a time suggest it might be a good idea and then the reaction of it got all out of hand? Second, I believe this issue has nothing to do with history itself but merely a school name. You can make it a historical issue, though, and rave on and on about the significance all you want, which you all seem to be doing. Knock yourselves out! History wouldn't be changed because a school mascot name was changed. Memories wouldn't be changed, either. However, if the Bomber mascot WERE to be changed (which it apparently IS NOT), I would have no attachment to it and would most certainly be OK with it. The name of my high school mascot also has nothing to do with who I am. It would have no effect on me if they changed it. I hear they changed my junior high school mascot from the Chief Jo Warriors to the Eagles. That's fine; it doesn't affect me a bit and it didn't hurt my memories or the future of the kids attending the school. You can call it lack of pride or loyalty or whatever you want, but I call it having the discernment to be able to let go and move on, as I've had to do that with many many MANY things and people in my life. But they're apparently not changing it, so DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT! -Carolyn Schneider (81) ******************************************** ******************************************** >>From: J. Lytle-Smith (82) Re: Aaron Johnson's (82) letter You said it Aaron! Your letter was very informative and to the point. It would help if we all would take a moment to review just what this issue is all about. Our local history needs to be preserved for those who were directly a part of the making and for those who are responsible for keeping the history and memories alive. Nuke 'em! -J. Lytle-Smith (82) ******************************************** That's it for today. Keep the faith! Nuke 'em! ******************************************** Send RHS Nickname/Mascot entries to: <rhsnickname@richlandbombers.com> Back issues: <AlumniSandstorm.tripod.com> ********************************************