Doe Bay Celebration Features Patriotic Speaker

— from Chris Brems, President, Doe Bay Community Association —

The Doe Bay community held its 45th Annual Independence Day Celebration and Potluck at the Doe Bay fire hall on Sunday, July 3. Some 200 friends and neighbors attended. The Doe Bay Regiment Band, a collection of 25 Orcas Community Band members, came out to play and help us celebrate. It was a special day – full of smiles, home cooking and family fun – something out of a Norman Rockwell painting.

Every year we invite a neighbor to be our “Patriotic Speaker” and share his or her unique perspective on the day. This year Dale Heisinger spoke and I thought his words were worth sharing. Dale is a longtime islander, retired pediatrician, cellist, woodworker and was president of the Children’s House board for many years.

Doe Bay Community Association Patriotic Speech
by Dale Heisinger, July 4, 2016

I had the occasion to visit El Salvador a number of times in the past providing pediatric care to the poor. It is a small country in Central America with a population of 6.5 million people. The rural areas have high poverty levels. I’ll use as an example San Juan Opico, a community somewhat representative of other rural communities that I visited:

• 50% live on less than $100 per month.
• 12% have no electricity.
• 40% have no potable water – most children have parasitic infestations.
• 80% have no indoor plumbing.
• 78% cook over wood-burning stoves with many children suffering from respiratory disease from smoke inhalation.

El Salvador is considered a third world country.

I’m telling you this because prior to my experiences there, my life was focused on my work, my family, my community, and my desire to secure our future. I would like to interject here that I believe that experience generates perspective and my experiences in El Salvador gave me a new world view, new sensitivities and new tolerances. I realized how fortunate my life’s journey had been by virtue of my birthright and the commitment and support my parents made for my physical and emotional well-being and my educational pursuits.

I reviewed the history of our country and the contributions that our founding fathers made for future generations. Very briefly: Thomas Jefferson put pen to paper to declare independence from Britain in 1776. Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, George Washington and others in 1788 drafted our Constitution after significant debate and compromise by colonial representatives and it is that document that defines our government. To assuage the colonists’ concerns about centralized power, the Bill of Rights was adopted in 1791 in order to protect individual rights.

Some 240 years later the Constitution remains intact and is the foundation of our governance. Since its inception, we have experienced many challenges and changes – a civil war that preserved the union, the Emancipation Proclamation, women’s right to vote of 1920, Brown vs. Board of Education in 1954 that ended segregation in public schools, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Freedom of Information Act of 1966, Roe vs. Wade 1973, the Clean Air Act of 1990, impacting us either positively or negatively, depending on our points of view.

Today, we have a population of 318+ million citizens representing many ethnicities, religions, and cultural differences and I find it remarkable that we remain united. However, it is no surprise to me that with such diversity there is often dissension, egregious human behaviors and intolerances, and vilifying rhetoric. It is my fervent hope that, without fear of governmental reprisal, we can be instruments of change in a positive way, when it is necessary to do so.

On this 4th of July, I feel that America is great, but we are far from a “perfect union.” I am troubled by continued racial unrest and economic inequalities. I struggle with the unfairness of the persecution of those of different faiths, or sexual orientation, as evident from the horrific event that occurred in Orlando, Florida, last month. I’m appalled by the lack of health insurance for 30 million Americans and the deaths of 20 to 30 thousand who die annually because they don’t have access to health care. I am saddened by the knowledge that 22% of children (or 15.7 million) live in poverty in this country (annual income <50% of national median income $23,050). I believe we can do better.

In conclusion, as my perspectives have been transformed, so have my views about being a patriot. I believe that with our freedoms comes responsibility. We have a responsibility to be informed, to listen carefully as we formulate our own conclusions, and to treat all respectfully, without vilifying, or name-calling. We have a responsibility to promote change either through participation or vote, and to accept the will of the majority, or the law, or work in a constructive way to make change if it is impossible for us to do so. It is my hope that we can find common ground and seek solutions that contribute to our well-being. These are my imperatives because I want to keep America great.

I leave you with the following quote:

“I know no danger so dreadful and so probable as that of internal contests. And I know no remedy so likely to prevent it as the strengthening of the band that connects us.” – Thomas Jefferson, 1782