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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Monday, March 3, 2003
Study club learns more about Lewis and Clark
An Americanism Department Program, entitled, "Bicentennial Celebration
of Lewis and Clark Expedition, 1804-1806," was held recently by The Modern
Study Club at the First Christian Church in Pecos.
Paula Fuller, chairwoman of the Americanism Department planned the program
and made the presentation.
The thought-quote for the meeting _ "We set out early and proceeded to
the top of the mountain _ from this point I beheld the grandest and most
pleasing prospects which my eyes ever surveyed." _ William Clark, Jan. 8,
1806.
Fuller began by providing handouts to club members which included, 11
ways to follow the trail of Lewis and by giving a selection of the most notable
of many historic sites, parks, museums and festivals of the Bicentennial
Celebration which will span three years. Other handouts provided information
about the tools of the trip, the boats and canoes used, and a map of the
route Lewis and Clark took _ from Pittsburg where Lewis left on Aug. 31,
1803 to where Clark came aboard at Fort Massac on Oct. 15, 1803. The handout
also told that while gathering supplies for the trip, Lewis underwent crash
courses with the country's top scientists _ including Thomas Jefferson.
She continued, trying to fund and arrange the expedition was a timely
and a difficult task. Lewis was 29 years old and Clark 33 years of age when
they set out on the journey that would take them 8,000 miles, which lasted
28 months.
The explorers encountered distress early on as the upper Ohio River was
so shallow that the keelboat kept getting stuck. The expedition continued
up the Mississippi, on the lower Missouri River, through the Plains Area,
the Rocky Mountains and on the Columbia, according to the presenter.
After a journey tense with Indian encounters, the casualty of Sgt. Charles
Floyd, military missions by Spain aimed to intercept and stop Lewis and Clark,
crossing the Rocky Mountains portaging severe rapids, the explorers spotted
the Pacific Ocean on Nov. 7, 1805. "O! the joy," Clark wrote. They spent
a month exploring and then selected Ford Clatsop to winter from Dec. 7, 1805
to March 23, 1806, knowing that come Spring, they would have to make the
journey all over again, closing their epic adventure of crossing the continent.
Fuller's presentation was a colorful story of the expedition of Lewis
and Clark, as well as an interesting and informative account of the planned
three-year Bicentennial activities, that will trace the "chapter of discovery"
as the continent is crossed, once again, in celebration of their expedition.
President Joyce Morton presided during the meeting. During opening ceremonies
Doris Moorman led the Club Collect and Nan Cate led the pledges to the United
States of America flag and the Texas flag, as those in attendance repeated
all in unison.
Lena Harpham, Federation Counselor, presented a most informative report
on the General Federation of Women's Club and their decline in membership
in the past 10 years which she called, "A Wake Up Call for Membership."
Mrs. Harpham reported that from 1992 through 2002 the number of members
lost from GFWC was 153,166 and that there were 3,347 clubs lost in that same
period of 10 years. That tabulates to an average yearly loss of 16,575 members.
How long will it take before there are no more members and no more GFWC?
The answer is 10 years. Harpham urged members to think about what can be
done at a time when the projects of GFWC, an international women's volunteer
service organization, may be as much or more important than ever.
Secretary Paula Fuller read the minutes of the previous meeting and a
statement of club finances were presented by Treasurer Pearl Gustafson.
A scholarship report was given by Margie Williamson, scholarship chairman,
concerning both the Western District Alam Van Sickle Scholarship and The
Modern Study Club Annual Scholarship.
Benefits seminar set in Fort Stockton
A Few Benefits Seminar will be held at 6 p.m., Thursday, March 13, at
the Pecos County Civic Center, 1674 Airport Drive, Fort Stockton.
The program is sponsored by the Texas Veterans Land Board, Jerry Patterson,
Chairman.
The seminar will include information on Texas State Veterans Benefits,
state veterans homes, land program, housing program and home improvement
program.
For more information call 1-800-252-VETS.
Pecos Enterprise
York M. "Smokey" Briggs, Publisher
Division of Buckner News Alliance, Inc.
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 915-445-5475, FAX 915-445-4321
e-mail news@pecos.net
Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium.
Copyright 2003 by Pecos Enterprise
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