Wow! Here it is almost the Fourth of July already. It hardly seems like a year ago that Alyssa Van Lith was crowned Miss Annandale and Jenna Carlen and Alisha Doppenberg were crowned princesses. We had a chance to see the candidates at Friday night’s Celebration Gala, and once again this year, any of them would do very well representing Annandale. Congratulations to Zane Schaefer who was chosen as this year’s Honorary Commodore by the Minneapolis Aquatennial. Zane has deservedly received a lot of press lately (see story, page 1), and he joins a long list of community-minded recipients. For much more on Annandale’s Fourth of July celebration, see the story page 1 and also see the 16-page Fourth of July supplement inside this Advocate. With the Fourth falling on a Tuesday this year, we’ll print the Advocate early Wednesday. It will be distributed around town by about noon that day. Some folks may not get their paper in the mail until Thursday, but it’s better to do it that way so we can get most of the Fourth coverage in the paper immediately. The hunch here is that some businesses will be closed next Monday, while most retail businesses will be open – check the ads in this week’s paper and Fourth supplement for more information. Here’s a reminder to play and drive safely this weekend. For more on summer safety, see page 12. God bless America We live in a wonderful and beautiful country, and while there are many problems yet to be solved, we can be thankful for all that we have going for us. Consider: n The right to buy property, or simply said to own your own home. I’m convinced if the world’s population had a chance to own their own homes, a lot of problems would solve themselves. n A government that works for the people. While it’s easy to knock our government, it gets a lot of things right, and if we don’t agree with it, we have at least a small chance of changing it. OK, I’m a white man and the world has been laid out for me (in other words, I’ve gotten most or all the breaks). But we live in a country where you can get a free high school education, you can get a job and if you lose it, you may be compensated while you’re looking for another one. You can borrow money at a relatively low interest rate. We have every type of insurance available. We have colleges and other educational opportunities available. We have a criminal and civil court system, a welfare system, a social security system, health care for older Americans and the list goes on. There are more opportunities available today than ever before. This will be true 10 years from now and 100 years from now – thanks in part to a market-driven economy that allows us choice. I like what the late Ray Charles said about America – to paraphrase he said it’s still a country, where if you work hard you can get what you want. I like what Sheriff Gary Miller says when he hands out the Lee Miller memorial scholarship to an Annandale High School student in May. His dad, like a lot of his countrymen, came back from World War II (without one leg) and had two choices: feel sorry for himself or go to work and make this country into the greatest on earth. He chose the latter. We can do a lot because we have a lot. We can be like Lee Miller and get busy making this into a great country or we can worry about what this country owes us. God Bless America!
