Hometown America began, still salutes Vets

ELY - Some people still bug me as to why I left the glamorous Las Vegas lifestyle and moved to teeny-tiny Ely, where the town pretty much rolls up the sidewalks at 6pm and is all but shuttered by 10pm.

There’s something to be said for the quality of life here. It fits me.

You see, I was actually born in the town that created Veterans Day.

Heck, it’s official. The Kansas Legislature said so in 2003, the fiftieth anniversary of the holiday.

Al King, who was not a shoe store owner as reported in so many places, but was in fact a cobbler -- a shoe maker and shoe fixer back in the days when shoes were worth beign repaired -- felt that the World War II veterans were being excluded from celebrations of the then-Armistice Day celebration that noted the end of World War I - “The War to end all Wars” and began a movement to “upgrade”, if you will, Armistice Day to “All Veterans Day”.

How popular was the idea in the town? It seems that 90% of merchants and the school board voted to close down for the first celebration in 1953. The War Dads, American Legion and the VFW all got behind King and, along with then congressman Ed Rees of Emporia, pushed legislation through and it was signed into law by President Eisenhower in May of 1954. According to newspaper reports, that first celebration included church prayer services for peace, essay contests, a USO show, a parade with an aerial flyover, luncheon events at the local VFW and American Legion halls, a program by Civil War re-enactors, exhibit of military equipment, and parties, dinners and dances.

Susan Rathke of the Emporia Chamber of Commerce, which coordinates the now week-long celebration, verified that King was a cobbler who passed away in 1960, and also verified something else: that until the 50th anniversary of “All Veterans Day” approached, no one in Emporia gave a second thought to being the birthplace of Veterans Day. According to Rathke, it was just soemthing the town did. When someone pointed out the town’s place in history, the anniversary celebration was brought about. These days, something like being the birthplace of ANYTHING significant can help your tourism profile.

Rathke told me that their parade on Tuesday was cancelled to to threatening weather and the celebrations moved indoors. Standing room only. Then it was over to the American Legion for the Ham and Bean Feed. Vets and friends alike chatted, remembered, and enjoyed the hot coffee, hot food, and warm friendship.

Just about 27-thousand people lived in Emporia in 2000, with 13 structures on the National Register of Historic Places. When you drive through the town, you get that feeling of home.

That’s what brought me to Ely.

When I visit Economy Drug, it’s Young’s Rexall all over again.

When we eat at the Silver State Restaurant, it’s the Transport Inn all over again.

When we shop at Andersons Foodtown, it’s Zieglers IGA all over again.

To paraphrase our former president, it’s the people, stupid. They make the town.

Or to be more precise, they make the town - your home.

It seems that a Secret Service sergeant was busted on Saturday. Seems he was driving his Secret Service vehicle and was in full uniform, stopped and negotiated a deal with a lady of the evening. Only she wasn’t a lady of the evening. She was an undercover DC cop. Secret Service has put the officer on paid administrative leave pending both the DC and internal investigations.

I suspect the sergeant had other aspirations. Perhaps he wants to be a congressman. Except he was starting out one consitutent at a time.