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Show Cyan Magenta Yellow Black Wednesday, January 26, 2005 A5 Sanpete Messenger - Sanpete Messenger/Gunnison Valley Edition World wanderer lands inSanpete Off the Wasatch By Geoffrey Pace By Roger Baker Staff writer Liberty or freeedom? Even though I didn’t vote for President Bush and live here off the Wasatch some 2,177.08 miles from Washington, D.C., I carefully read his inaugural address. I’m interested in the words his speechwriters use to communicate with those of us far from the seat of power. The entire inaugural event is highly scripted and everyone is supposed to say the right words. That is probably why the only adlib was the word congratulations added by Chief Justice Rehnquist who at the second inauguration of Bill Clinton added a “good luck” after the oath of office. Bush seemed to get his words right this time as wordsmiths the world over probably listened carefully for one of his famous misstatements. Perhaps we forget that he had only one small slip in his first inaugural speech. I heard no slips this time except from Sen. Trent Lott who twice called Justice Rhenquist the “Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.” My Webster’s Dictionary says that the correct title is the Chief Justice of the United States. The word that came through the Bush speech for even the casual listener was freedom. By my count, he used the word 28 times. He used the word liberty half as often, 14 times if you count his reference to the Liberty Bell. I noticed that his use of “liberty” seemed more religious in tone than his use of “freedom.” This may be because of a bias in my ear when he suggested that America “proclaims liberty throughout the world, and to all the inhabitants thereof.” Was he quoting the standard of liberty? The quote is actually from Leviticus and is engraved on the Liberty Bell. He made no mention of Afghanistan or Iraq, leaving out specific examples that strengthen lofty generalizations, and his use of the word liberty to replace freedom seemed new for him. He has usually characterized terrorists as “hating freedom” and the military operations themselves are “operation Iraqi Freedom” and “Enduring Freedom.” This caused me to wonder if he thinks freedom and liberty are the same things. They aren’t, or at least weren’t until the last few decades. Patrick Henry didn’t say, “Give me freedom or give me death,” and Abraham Lincoln said in the Gettysburg address that our nation was “conceived in liberty,” not freedom. He went on, however, to pray for a “new birth of freedom.” Perhaps it is with Lincoln that we began to interchange the two words. The word freedom is not in our Declaration of Independence. The enumerated unalienable rights, as everyone knows, are “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” The Constitution’s Preamble also misses the chance to use “freedom” when it lists the purpose of the document to “secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.” It may be that the only other use of “free” in the Constitution is the reference to “free persons” as distinguished from slaves, and this reference has been amended out of the document. And speaking of amendments, it is in the first one that freedoms are specifically protected. The ones modified with the word free are freedom of speech and of the press, and freedom to worship. Liberty is for the Fifth Amendment. We can’t be deprived of “life, liberty, or property” without due process. Perhaps the distinction between “freedom” and “liberty” is too fine, but for me it is liberty that is lofty and freedom less so. I’m free to choose anything on the menu or any cell phone company. I have my freedom. But I don’t say that I’m at liberty to do so. Liberty is a more political statement, saved for a description of the best governments and highest ideals. It is why John Stuart Mill wrote “On Liberty” to describe freedom of ideas instead of “On Freedom.” Liberty is a whole host of freedoms. It is more than voting or speaking or worshiping. Liberty includes freedoms. Perhaps the attraction of the word liberty evokes many freedoms to me because of its close relation and alliteration to an important political ideal, liberalism. Liberals I know love liberty and appreciate the president’s use of ‘liberty” in his inaugural address. MANTI—Helen Lithgow, owner of Helen’s Hand Me Down Haven on 100 South in Manti, traveled the world before coming to Sanpete County. Born Helen Ems, near Champaign-Urbana, Ill., Lithgow came from an industrial area of the Midwest. She had worked at the Caterpillar tractor company since 1952, but due to the “lack of men” around the company because of a recession, in 1959 she decided to take to the skies, even though she had never flown in a plane before. She wanted to become an airline flight attendant. “They were still called stewardesses back then,” Lithgow explains. “I got wanderlust in my eyes and took off for parts unknown to me,” Lithgow says. “I’d never flown in an airplane, so I got an interview with TWA in Kansas City.” But what happened next was not exactly what she had expected. “I flew from Peoria to Chicago on TWA, but spent the whole day in the air,” she says. “We couldn’t land because of all the fog!” Lithgow eventually got to Kansas City for an interview; however, she was about an inch too short. Undaunted, she went to a competing airline, Capital, where she went to airline school. She was one of the 14 selected out of a group of 60 flight attendant candidates. (Capital was bought out by TWA later). The former Caterpillar employee remained with the airlines until 1963. Although she was looking for the perfect mate, it did not deter her from having a lot of fun while engaged in the search. “My high point in the airlines business was when I went ‘on vacation.’ A girlfriend and I went to Europe, [and I] went around the world with another friend on another vacation,” Lithgow says. “Next I went to Vegas, and then on down to New Orleans for the Mardi Gras.” Lithgow turned in her flying wings for a wedding ring in 1963. She married William Lithgow of Minneapolis, Minn., joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints and proceeded to move “out to Zion,” as she puts it. Despite fear of a new culture, she and her husband and their then three children came out to Utah and landed in Pleasant View near Ogden in 1971. The Lithgows purchased 10 acres in Cache County. They moved around a little bit: first to Smithfield, then over to Paradise, then to Smithfield again while they built a house where they resided until 1986. Lithgow says, “We always seemed to be a little tight on money. But, we built a seven-bedroom home out of Perlite material with thick walls and concrete flooring between basement and the upstairs.” Having saved money from the sale of some land, they could build their dream home. But once in the house, they struggled to maintain it. “Being a mother, I stayed at home,” Lithgow says. But she sold Jafra cosmetics and also did foster care. Eventually, they moved back to Ogden and rented a house from an old friend. The Lithgows later divorced. They had raised six children. The Dallam Family clothing, odds ’n ends, and knick knacks at Helen’s Hand Me Down Haven, 47 East 100 South, Manti. She accepts donations of goods during her regular business hours from1-5 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday. BRUCE VAN DER RIET/MESSENGER PHOTO Sanpete volunteers teaching English in Hungary PHOTOS COURTESY GLOBAL VOLUNTEERS With sincere thanks, Lithgow helped to start Sanpete Thrift in Ephraim in February 1999 with a couple from her religious affiliations. But she left that business in spring 2000 and started her own thrift shop. Lithgow sells books, furniture, Helen Lithgow has had a lifetime of various ventures, the latest of which is owning Helen’s Hand Me Down Haven in Manti. Jean Beatty (below) teaches conversational English to a Hungarian schoolgirl in a public-school classroom in Hodmezovasarhely, Hungary. Immersed in Hungarian life, Cameron Beatty (above) shares a learning experience with a young Hungarian boy. Thank you to all of the rescuers and many friends who searched for him. Thank you to Wally Buchanan, all of the people who sent cards and plants, and the Gunnison 3rd ward Bishopric for a helpful contribution. BRUCE VAN DER RIET/MESSENGER PHOTO At her thrift shop in Manti, Helen Lithgow sells books, furniture, clothing, odds ’n ends, and knick knacks. She welcomes any donations. SPRING CITY—“The more I learn about different cultures, the more I learn that we are alike in all of the ways it matters,” Jean Beatty of Spring City said. Jean and her husband, Cameron Beatty recently traveled to southeastern Hungary where they spent two weeks volunteering in the town of Hodmezovasarhely. As part of a Global Volunteer team, the Beattys taught conversational English to schoolchildren. For Cameron, a retired teacher who taught at Snow College, the experience was like a homecoming. He served at the same site last May and enjoyed renewing friendships with teachers, students and local residents. “The children were delight- ful and we quietly developed a friendly, informal relationship,” Cameron said. “Students everywhere share some characteristics, despite their differences of language and culture. I am reminded again of the importance of openness and making an effort to understand and be understood.” Global Volunteers coordinates programs in 18 countries around the world. Projects range from teaching conversational English to caring for children to constructing buildings. Tax-deductible service program fees range from $750 to $2,650 for one week, which covers most expenses. Contact Global Volunteers at 800-487-1074 or www.globalvolunteers.org. Tell a friend! The Sanpete Messenger The Voice of Sanpete County since 1893 1MBDF ZPVS PXO XBLF VQ DBMM |
