Showing posts with label Comments. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Comments. Show all posts

Sunday, May 7, 2017

Making it Happen SOS Style

Many of us had the great please of meeting and being interviewed by this
modern day patriot from Grand Junction.  Big shout out to Reagan Girl, Marjorie Haun
Though it was nothing short of a miracle, Saturday's Celebration Rally hosted by Stewards of San Juan was a huge success.  The idea was born, and semi-planned Wed. night, and by Saturday at 1 PM, it was full blown peaceful, harmonious celebration of where we began, and where we're going.

It's 1:15 and people are still coming!  We are very encouraged!  Jolly Bayles is grilling hotdogs, because the big cookers took too much electricity!

Deb Bayles distributes Rescind Bears Ears T-shirts while Eva organized the food. Many people made generous donations, even though the shirts were free.  Such great people in San Juan county!


Everyone figured out what size shirt they needed, while KSL camera man films the proceedings.
We have yet to see any footage he took.  Guess we weren't an angry out of control mob, that sells news!
It was good to have time to visit and mingle and meet people we only knew on Facebook! 

The Lee family ready for program with front row seats.
   
Majorie Haun, (&Wendy Black) our Colorado Range Warrior came early
and interviewed many locals, and took pictures.
Hungry crowds waited until the program was over to eat.



The Pavilion was soon filled and the program began 
Ryan D.Wilcox, aid to Senator Mike Lee was our MC and helped orchestrate good vibes!


Scouts along with Harrison Johnson prepared for Flag Ceremony

Suzette Morris, Irene Jones  and Danielle Shirley- part of the warrior brigade


Jami Bayles, Stewards of San Juan, President spoke first.
Her message is also on our Ad in this weeks San Juan Record.

~~~~~~~~

Rally Speech by Jami Bayles

Our little community has been through a lot over the last year.  We’ve dealt with fake fliers, biased journalism, and hateful comments on articles that we stayed up late nights to write. We’ve been intentionally left out of surveys and push polls, and most recently, our personal stories have been referred to as #FAKENEWS.  We’ve been called "right-wing nutjobs", "snowflakes", "tame Indians", and "token Navajos". We’ve stood in disbelief as we watched our Navajo and Ute friends be lied to and ignored by individuals who used their power and position to deceive and destroy.

On social media we’ve been misquoted, degraded, personally attacked, and our entire county was even blocked by a certain state official.  Ranchers have had their livestock put in harm’s way, and sisters were banned from a press conference hosted by companies including Black Diamond and Patagonia because they weren’t wearing the right pro-monument t-shirts. We’ve been told by out of state recreation enthusiasts, “My hobby is more important than your livelihood, so if you don’t like it, you need to move somewhere else."

If you’re like me, I’ll bet you didn’t expect the last 10 months to play out like they did. Talk about crazy!! But I’ll tell you what.I KNOW, the other side didn’t expect it either! They didn't expect to see such a huge group of people - the real people who love and care for this land the most - fight as hard as we have fought.

Over these last 10 months, this community has done extraordinary things. We have accomplished next to the impossible. We have raised thousands of dollars overnight, organized ‘next day’ events in a matter of hours, participated in parades that were hundreds of miles away, put together information booths, written thousands upon thousands of letters, organized phone-a-thons, community dinners, traveled to Kansas, Richfield, Washington DC, and several times to the State Capitol. Not to mention, we pulled off a pretty amazing Freedom Fest concert having only a few weeks to plan it.  We have silently and respectfully protested, and if the other side was smart, they'd take a page from our book. We’ve rescued stranded hikers, pulled people out of the snow, and we’ve spent a great deal of time talking to and educating those who were on the other side, but genuinely wanted to learn more. We’ve changed minds, made friends, and formed amazing relationships with others that are battling the same land issues as we are right now.

And we did this together, on our own time, and on our own dime. We did it without the millions of dollars from celebrities like Leonardo Dicaprio and big name corporations like Hewlett Packard. We paid for our own commercials and our own online advertising. YOU have helped pay for these – even the guy who stopped us on the street and gave us the last $5 dollars out of his pocket, telling us, "I know this isn’t much, but I just want to help."

I honestly don’t know what’s going to happen in the next 5 weeks. What I do know, is this.... We have fought, and we will continue to fight with everything that we have, and we will continue to do it with grace and decency. We will never cave, and we will never sell ourselves out. We know the truth and we will keep fighting for what is right. We’ve transcended religion, race, cultural, and political differences. We know that this isn’t a Republic vs Democratic thing, or a Native American vs Anglo thing, or even a Mormon vs Non-Mormon thing. This is simply about what’s right and what’s wrong, and this monument that was done TO us rather than WITH us, was wrong. And we will continue to fight until this monument is rescinded and it can finally be done the right way. 

Several months ago, my son was heading to bed and apparently I was looking pretty tired and defeated that night. My son said to me, “Mom, we’re gonna lose, huh.” I told him, “I don’t know babe, but it’s kind of looking that way.”  Then he said, “So if we’re gonna lose, then why don’t you just quit? Why do you keep getting online, and researching, and posting stuff, and talking about it all day long?” And I told him “Well babe, because if we DO lose, I’ll at least know that I tried and that I fought with everything that I am.” He then said to me, “Ok. Well, I think you’re awesome, mom, and I think you need a hug.” 

So that’s what today is all about. That’s how I see all of you. You continue to fight with everything that you are, and you all could use a hug too!
~~~~~

Commissioner  Phil Lyman, spoke encouraging words

~~~~~~
Rally Speech by Eva Clarke Workman
What a beautiful day, friends! Family! And Friends who are like family.

I’m so incredibly happy to see your faces here! Thank you for taking the time to come and lift each other. As I look thru the crowd I can name so many reasons why you are here, so many reasons to celebrate this beautiful place, and the many different reasons we are passionate about this cause. How cool is it that no matter how different we are, we become such a force when we act as One?

Over the course of nearly a year, we have entered into a community Boot Camp of sorts. We have learned a lot about each other. This is another reason to celebrate. It’s like a political version of Survivor and Family Feud. And we’re All. Still. Here. So while I have your attention at this “family reunion” of sorts, I hope you know how dear you are to me. Your loud voices are so brave. Your soft voices are encouraging and remind me you are with us. Thank you, for being here. Thank you for not giving up.

As we celebrate together today, I hope the energy and prayers bring new strength. In Native American Mythology, bears are symbols of strength and wisdom, and are associated with healing. In this battle we have all felt vulnerable at times. At one point, a plan that we thought was for our good, evolved into something we didn’t recognize. We stepped back, we re-grouped, we did not settle. We drew new strength, we healed and we persevered.

As we move forward, and work tirelessly into the midnight hour of the incoming news, I hope we have taken lessons from our earlier disappointments, our personal failures, our unwanted surprises and recognize the need we now have to stay continually engaged in the decisions being made about our land. The discussions, the meetings, the policies that seem so distant when discussed in Washington DC, or on Capitol Hill in Salt Lake City, or even as far, far away as our County Commission meetings in Monticello, are all so important.

May we be ever vigilant, as we no longer have the luxury of anonymity.
May we be ever studying, as we learn to better protect our freedoms.
May we be ever present, and ready to do the work that requires our Rural American hearts.

From the Stewards of San Juan, from my ancestors whose hands first loved this beautiful red earth, and from the families who joined together then and now to love this place, THANK YOU and KEEP UP THE GOOD FIGHT! 
~~~~

The surprise of the afternoon was Senator Mike Lee's live feed, a great ending to our program.
We so appreciate his support.





Merri Shumway was one of approximately 100 people providing oral testimonies.
She spoke on our concerns to protect SITLA lands in San Juan County




Truly there were never "such devoted sisters" in such a cause as this!
Jami Bayles and Devin Bayles Hancock


All generations of stewards came to our Rally.Iva Lou Perkins, and Joey Holliday, are behind the scenes "go to" gals

Shout out to Ted Black who is always so willing to help his energizer bunny wife !
We were worried that we wouldn't even have 100 attend on such short notice, but they came by the hundreds, and we had a full house, with spillover onto the lawns.  (Kim Henderson Photo)