The big day. Please read!
We left Jeffersonville about 10:30 Monday morning and drove to Indianapolis.
I wanted to be there earlier than the "appointed" starting time of 2:30 P.M.
as I feared the general meeting of the House might end earlier than expected
and that the hearings would be over with before we could get there. SILLY
ME!!!
We arrived at about 1:15 P.M. FOUR AND A HALF HOURS LATER, we went into the
House Chambers (about 5:45).
I must admit that, other than the endless standing on those hard marble
floors, I really enjoyed the fellowship with so many people who share my
concerns and interests. In all we had about 15 good-spirited,
long-suffering people who waited it out with us. But it was WORTH IT!
Our SECRET WEAPON worked BEAUTIFULLY. My friend Donnie Loweth (whose family
cemetery here in Clark County was blacktopped and turned into a parking
lot -- graves notwithstanding) took his beautiful 8-year-old daughter Ashley
out of school for the day and we brought her with us to the Capitol.
When the hearing began, because of the lateness of the hour, Rep. Markt
Lytle thanks us several times for our fortitude and explained that, rather
than receiving comments on individual pending bills, the Committee would
hear brief testimony from anyone wishing to speak about the situation in
general.
I got up and did my little song-and-dance. Then Rep. Lytle called Ashley.
Though she was conspicuous as the only child present, I think all of them
were a bit stunned when she got up to speak. Ashley approached the
microphone and, in a very clear, calm voice, said:
"Good evening! It makes me very happy and proud to speak before you today,
but it also saddens me for the reason that I am here.
"My name is Ashley Loweth. I'm 8 years old and I'm in the third grade.
"The reason I am here today is, we write laws every day to protect ourselves
and our rights. That is great. But what about after we leave this world?
"I am a descendant of the Nathan Hale you may have read about in your
history books. I have three generations of great-grandparents buried in a
little lonely cemetery in Clarksville, Indiana. What is sad about this is
that three-fourths of the cemetery is now under blacktop and the law says,
'This is okay. As long as the property owner is paying taxes, they can do
what they want.'
"I don't understand all the laws, but I really don't understand how this one
got passed.
"How would you feel if your Grandma took you to put flowers on your
great-grandparents' grave and you were told, 'There they lay, under that
blacktop!'
"Well, I know that feeling and it hurts! Not only blacktop, but there are
two pay phones and a utility pole with guide wires going into a grave.
That's not all. They even have an EPA monitoring device in the middle to
monitor the ground for their gas pumps."
"I am asking you to please change this law for some day I will want to take
my children to this very same lonely little cemetery and be able to say,
'This is where we came from. This is our roots!
"Thank you."
Little Ashley received a standing ovation. I don't believe there was a dry
eye in the house. She left the Representatives speakless. Rep. Lytle
jokingly asked, "Does anyone on the committee have any tough questions for
Ashley?" Of course, there was nothing they could say. She'd said it all.
The rest of us had our opportunity to speak and I'm very proud of each and
every one of you who toughed it out with us. I don't believe, however, that
there's much question that little Ashley stole the show and the rest of us
were just there to lend our support to her plea.
Good night. I'm going to bed! It's not midnight yet and my body will
probably go into shock if I get more than 4 hours sleep, but I'm willing to
risk it at this juncture!
Lois
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