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<DIV><FONT face="Book Antiqua">I want to commend a lot of our children and teens
who helped out, even in small ways, at Steppes Artisan this
weekend. Lady Donnel already told how her children helped, all Friday
evening and for setup and tear-down on Saturday, and I second her on all
the effort they gave. Richard and Emily were not the only ones
helping; she's just better at remembering her children's names than I am at
remembering those of all whom I spotted helping. There were no organized
children's activities, but they made their own fun, in the hall and in the
playlot and around the legal areas of site. I saw many children and
teens helping in various ways - waterbearing (Lady Gerita told me the only
responder to her request for assistance was a young boy); managing a list table;
fetching and carrying; older looking after smaller (through MANY swings in the
playyard); helping to roll hoses and otherwise assist in breakdown on the
field; folding banners (with just a little instruction); and when I
appeared on the deck with a trashbag in hand in the evening I was almost
instantly confronted with a line of teens with empty bottles and other trash, so
that the desk was cleared in about a minute.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Book Antiqua"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Book Antiqua">I didn't get all the names, for which I am very
sorry. Who thinks to carry a notepad to pick up trash? There were
"the usual suspects" and some new faces as well. Several of them asked me
questions about why things were so for the event, always politely, and their
conversations were always within acceptable boundaries of politeness and
volume. For all that we read in the papers about how teens cause
trouble, about children running wild, I didn't see it at Steppes Artisan.
(OK, there was the early lineup at the supper buffet, but that hardly
counts.) Remember, these are our future, and I think we can be
proud.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Book Antiqua"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Book Antiqua">VIVANT!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Book Antiqua"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT
face="Book Antiqua">
---= Morgan the Short Twin</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT
face="Book Antiqua"><BR>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<BR>"Man's
mind, once stretched by a new idea,<BR> never regains its original
dimensions."<BR>
---= Oliver Wendell Holmes<BR>"....look on every exit as being an entrance
somewhere else."<BR> ---= Tom
Stoppard, "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead" (1967)</DIV>
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