A Few Of FR's Finest....Every Day....06-24-03....Happy First Anniversary To The Finest!

jwfiv; dansangel | jwfiv

[dansangel]

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day

Free Republic made its debut in September, 1996, and the forum was added in early 1997.   Over 100,000 people have registered for posting privileges on Free Republic, and the forum is read daily by tens of thousands of concerned citizens and patriots from all around the country and the world.

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day was introduced on June 24, 2002. It's only a small room in JimRob's house where we can get to know one another a little better; salute and support our military and our leaders; pray for those in need; and congratulate those deserving. We strive to keep our threads entertaining, fun, and pleasing to look at, and often have guest writers contribute an essay, or a profile of another FReeper.

On Mondays please visit us to see photos of A FEW OF FR'S VETERANS AND ACTIVE MILITARY

If you have a suggestion, or an idea, or if there's a FReeper you would like to see featured, please drop one of us a note in FR mail.

We're having fun and hope you are!
~ Billie, dansangel, dutchess, Mama_Bear

"A Few Of FR's Finest" was born one year ago today. Together with Mama_Bear and Daisyscarlett, Billie turned a dream into a reality. The three Finest "sistahs" worked hard to bring profiles of individual FReepers to the attention of those that came to visit the Finest on a regular basis. Following is a "History of the Finest" lovingly written by our own jwfiv. Kick off your shoes, sit back and relax, for you are in for a rich and detailed story, promised to entertain and to bring you closer in spirit to what makes the Finest well...."The Finest."

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"A History of the Finest ~ told by jwfiv

A light drizzle was softly tapping on my window, which was open just a bit to let the cool breeze in. I was hoping it might keep me from dozing off...to no avail, I confess. Between listening to the rhythm of the falling rain, and the hum of Maggie's beloved electric fan, I had become Little Nemo in Slumberland, and was working on the 21st of 40 winks when I was hit right between the eyes by the scoop on this caper , like a bird in the way of a Gary Johnson fastball.

Maggie was off on one of her solos, leaving me to mind the store. I don't know where she goes until she comes back, and sometimes not even then...it's on a need to know basis, and that's OK with me, cuz I'm just glad to be a cub reporter, and her sidekick. I caught reference to magic lariats, glass airplanes and someone named Condi as she spoke into her decoder ring before leaving that morning...she said something about "an errand for George", then whoosh, when I turned around, she was gone.



My little nap ended with a start when I heard the Mac chiming to announce that new mail was in the hopper. I was thrilled to find an anonymous source named Dick Morris, wogue and wapscallion, as the author of the message. I'd lately been watching him tattle-tale on the doings and motives of x42 and Senator x, and was skeptical that he seemed so eager to turn over what he considered might be clues to the origins of an unidentified conservative website called FreeRepublic, and specifically a part of it he referred to as "The Finest".

His message said that I would find a manila envelope containing photos and documents of interest, and possible scandal, waiting for me at the front desk of the Hotel Monaco.

I dashed out the door and into the rain, ran the four blocks to the bus stop and caught the 2:45 E Street run, which took me across Main to a part of town I'm not really comfortable in. What used to be a family neighborhood was now a place of shadows, known locally as the DeeYew. I never have figured that one out, so I just call it Creepsville.



Keeping my eyes straight ahead, ignoring the hawkers and liberal loonies, I walked the final two blocks to the Hotel, where the desk clerk handed me the envelope, just as I had been told would happen.

Not waiting for the bus, I blew my comic book money on a taxi and hurried back to the office to open the envelope and find within it several aged documents, receipts, old newspaper clippings, deeds and writs, as well as a couple of tintypes and time-worn photograph.



Going through the various scraps of info, I pieced together a story that began when America was still a young nation.

I don't know if the tale which follows accomplishes my source's purpose, however, I think it's one worth telling, and see no scandal or mischief, only charity and good deeds.

The documents tell of three enterprising young women who founded the San Antonio Rose, a saloon and café on the outskirts of San Antonio de Bexar, near the old Alamo Mission.

The only known photo of the San Antonio Rose, ca. 1855.

A deed with the names Wilhemina Himmelblau, Eleanor L'Orso Marrone, and Daisy "Red" O'Hara is proof of its founding, in June, 1840. There was also a photocopy of a census record for the Republic of Texas, from that same year, with their names listed as proprietors. Newspaper articles and a tattered one-sheet from 1848 attested to its reputation for "honest card play and whiskey that ain't been watered down".

Miss Willie, Miss Lori and Red, as the three were affectionately called, were known far and wide for their hospitality and good cheer, and hosted many a weary traveler and cowboy dusty from the trail

The three women were daughters of the South but loved the Union, too, and encouraged the discussion of politics and religion, which came natural to the pioneering spirit. In 1859, the Rose burned down when an argument between patrons became a brawl and a broken oil lamp lit the lace curtains on fire. No one was hurt, luckily, and in the aftermath, the penitent customers, and townsfolk, rallied together to build a new and more grand venue. To honor the community for standing with them, the ladies retired the name Rose and the first Finest Saloon was born.

Independence Day, 1876; a crowd of regular customers is pictured in front of the Finest Saloon, built on the spot where the San Antonio Rose stood before burning to the ground.

On the top steps to the right, standing from right to left, are Wilhemina Himmelblau, Eleanor L'Orso Marrone, and Daisy "Red" O'Hara.

On the far left, second row, is Ladimier Tekcz and his two sons, Shane and Clint; and standing to his left is Travis Meek, one of the first of the famed Texas Rangers.

The two women in top row center, wearing the similar hats, are Lady Margaret Exington and her sister, Lady Nanette, reunited after the former's brief time as captive of the Comancheros, and subsequent rescue by Marshal Meek.

In front center, hand on hip, is Arthur O'Naughtt (who earned a mention in the history books serving as a balloon observer for the North during the Civil War, and afterwards as a detective for Wells Fargo). To his left are, respectively, Louis deWolff, gambler and merchant; Don Carlos Ounaeoli (frontier chef and early Tex-Mex cuisine enthusiast); and Daniel McForty, the Fifth Earl of Kirkaldy (Scottish arms merchant, horse trader and, later, Colonel in the Confederate Army, First Georgia Volunteers).

This is believed to be the earliest extant photograph taken by Valerie Kloop, an immigrant from Holland who traveled the breadth of her adopted country, capturing images of Her pioneers and the cities that sprang up in their wake as they moved West.

The Finest thrived in the years that followed, not just as a saloon and café, but as a steakhouse famous for its barbecue, Cajun and Mexican cuisine (thanks to their brilliant chef and chief bottle washer), and as a community meeting hall, polling place and even a classroom, when the river was high.

In 1881, the three founders decided it was time to let go their hostess duties to devote more time to their loves and families. After turning over the building to a local church and temperance union, they each spent time travelling the world to visit the places from which so many of their guests had come, before settling down into their comfortable later years.

The three founders of the San Antonio Rose, sipping
hot chocolate in the Chicago Train Station,
Easter Sunday, 1899. The man in the middle,
seated at a table behind the ladies,
is identified as none other than Th. Inman,
the famous, some say notorious, chief copy
editor for the Chicago Daily Herald.

Friends to the end, they always kept in touch, by post, telegraph, and, much to their delight, "Mr. Bell's telephone"...and would yearly have a breakfast together, sitting by a window or at an outdoor cafe, sharing fond memories of days gone by...and wondering what joys the future would bring.

The story of the three founders would seem to end here, with the mention of their annual reunions...exept for a torn page from a 1936 issue of Look Magazine which was in the mysterious package. On that scrap of old paper was a brief article about a Fourth of July Picnic at the Tres Hermanas Rose Garden and Park in San Antonio, on the site where once stood the Finest Saloon.

The Garden was said to grow the most beautiful of yellow roses and, to that day, bluebirds nested year 'round in the tall cottonwoods that stood watch over the San Antonio Rose.

Well, that may not be exactly the way "A Few of FR's Finest" began, but a little poetic license never hurt.

Please feel free to add your own personal story of what the Finest has meant to you over the past year. Meanwhile, thank you all for being a part of the Finest Family. May God Bless you all.

~~~ Billie, daisyscarlett, Mama_Bear,
dansangel and dutchess ~~~

THIS WEEK'S THREADS 06-23-03 Military Monday

Opinions by our own 'King of Ping' The guy's good, folks!

Thanks, Mixer!

1) Click on the graphic to open the Calendar.
2) Once there you can click on any month and even click to the right to go into next year. Once you are in the month that you joined FR you will need to click on the number in the calendar and then an add item screen will come up.
3) In the next box enter your name in the "Calendar Text" field and then click on submit.
4) If any of the screens fail to load simply click on refresh in your browser and that will usually fix it.
5) If all else fails or simply if you want me to do this for you send me a FReepmail and I will gladly do it for you. ~Mixer

God Bless Our Military

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Below are names of some of our FReepers' loved ones who are serving our country. If you have someone you would like to add, please address a post to Billie; Dansangel; Dutchess; Mama_Bear; and we will add their name to this list. As we pray for them, we pray also for all our nation’s leaders, and military personnel, and their families and friends. May God hold them close to His heart.

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We ask Lord, that You guide the leaders of our great country in their hour of decision. The burden that has been placed on their shoulders is overwhelming. We ask that with Your infinite wisdom You guide them gently to the right decisions.

Please give us the strength, Lord, to get through each difficult and devastating day that faces each of us and our country. Protect and guide our Military that are now being called to duty, strengthen them in their trials and temptations; give them courage to face the perils which beset them; and grant them a sense of your abiding presence wherever they may be; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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OhioWfan........................son mystery-ak..........son, husband Gogrammy................grandson Inspectorette...................son Blessed American..........nephew Slip18..........................nephew anniegetyourgun...........nephew Pippin....niece,nephew,loved one Doug from Upland......son-in-law weldgophardline.....brotherinlaw Future Snake Eater..........cousin WaterDragon..son-in-law,grandson BeforeISleep...................son The Mayor........................niece LadyX.........................grandson fawn796.....................nephew ValerieUSA................2 sons Warrior Nurse...........active duty SK1 Thurman...........active duty David Osborne.........active duty fc2tomschermuly......active duty bkwells..................activve duty LongCut..................active duty Trish.......................active duty

Maigrey................cousin ladtx....................2 sons Mama_Bear...........nephew gator girl............husband severa................husband MozartLover......son, nephew LBGA........................son SpookBrat...........nephew Himyar.....................son boxerblues............2 sons the piper...................son sheeza...............husband kemathen7...........husband Diver Dave................niece deadhead................cousin JimRobinson.....2 nephews Armymarinemom.....3 sons Consort..2 daughters,son-in-law Darheel..................niece dixie sass.............nephew BeAllYouCanBe.........son AgThorn...............2 sons homeschoolmama.......nephew kneezles.................son

[dansangel]

His charming and gracious ways are exceeded only by his so wonderful imagination, and ability to put that on paper for us.

He is, indeed, all of that. We are so fortunate that he dropped in to visit one day and decided to stay!

Yes - Johnny Mac is a truly special guy - The Very Finest of the Fine.

You'll get no argument from me - which is a first coming from the Inquisitor! LOL!

[LadyX]

We still need you to ward off any pirates that hove into sight, gunner!!

Glad you climbed down from the mainsail to share some Spam Delight with the rest of us..:))
LOL

Miss our dear Captain ofMagog, wherever he is....

[Diver Dave]

So sorry I am late getting here.

Glad you made it...and you brought a note from home. Guess you won't have to stay after school and write, "I was late" on the blackboard. :) Louie's waiting anxiously for his hugs.

Let's all raise our glasses to each other and to ourselves in a congratulatory toast with best wishes for another Finest year! To US!!!

Glasses raised... To US!!!

[Dubya]

[Dubya]

Your welcome and thanks to you also.

[Dubya]

good one.

[MeekOneGOP]

So ..... I get it! She is not at fault, right? When she left him there to bleed to death, she committed murder!! Poor thing it must have been the enviroment where she was raised!



What a bunch of BS!

hehe! I almost missed part of your comment there. :O)

Her friend, Titilesse "T" Caree Fry, testified against her yesterday and today. Today they replayed some of her testimony from yesterday. She said that she talked Chante into going to the nightclub (Big Bamboo ??) the night the hit and run occurred. As soon as I heard that testimony, I figured that Chante probably blames her friend for her woes. I can hear it now: If 'T' hadn't talked me into going out that night and getting drunk and stoned, this NEVER would have happened in the first place !!

[Dubya]

You are my Sunshine

[Dubya]

[Dubya]

What is a Veteran
Some veterans bear visible signs of their service: a missing limb, a jagged scar, a certain look in the eye.

Others may carry the evidence inside them: a pin holding a bone together, a piece of shrapnel in the leg - or perhaps another sort of inner steel: the soul's ally forged in the refinery of adversity.

Except in parades, however, the men and women who have kept America safe wear no badge or emblem.

You can't tell a vet just by looking.

He is the cop on the beat who spent six months in Saudi Arabia sweating two gallons a day making sure the armored personnel carriers didn't run out of fuel.

He is the barroom loudmouth, dumber than five wooden planks, whose overgrown frat-boy behavior is outweighed a hundred times in the cosmic scales by four hours of exquisite bravery near the 38th parallel.

She - or he - is the nurse who fought against futility and went to sleep sobbing every night for two solid years in Da Nang.

He is the POW who went away one person and came back another - or didn't come back AT ALL.

He is the Quantico drill instructor who has never seen combat - but has saved countless lives by turning slouchy, no-account rednecks and gang members into Marines, and teaching them to watch each other's backs.

He is the parade - riding Legionnaire who pins on his ribbons and medals with a prosthetic hand.

He is the career quartermaster who watches the ribbons and medals pass him by.

He is the three anonymous heroes in The Tomb Of The Unknowns, whose presence at the Arlington National Cemetery must forever preserve the memory of all the anonymous heroes whose valor dies
unrecognized with them on the battlefield or in the ocean's sunless deep.

He is the old guy bagging groceries at the supermarket - palsied now and aggravatingly slow - who helped liberate a Nazi death camp and who wishes all day long that his wife were still alive to hold him when the nightmares come.

He is an ordinary and yet an extraordinary human being - a person who offered some of his life's most vital years in the service of his country, and who sacrificed his ambitions so others would not have to sacrifice theirs.

He is a soldier and a savior and a sword against the darkness, and he is nothing more than the finest, greatest testimony on behalf of the finest, greatest nation ever known.

So remember, each time you see someone who has served our country, just lean over and say Thank You. That's all most people need, and in most cases it will mean more than any medals they could have been awarded or were awarded.

Two little words that mean a lot, "THANK YOU".

"It is the soldier, not the reporter, Who has given us freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, Who has given us freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, Who has given us the
freedom to demonstrate. It is the soldier, Who salutes the flag, Who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protestor to burn the flag."

Father Denis Edward O'Brien/USMC

[Mama_Bear]

Glad you made it...and you brought a note from home. Guess you won't have to stay after school and write, "I was late" on the blackboard. :)

Thanks, Dave. You are so graciously forgiving. That is one of the nicest things about this place, isn't it? Except for T Man, who, bless his heart, is on a personal mission to keep us marching towards perfection (someone has to do it, LOL), everyone is so good about overlooking tardiness, typos, grammatical errors and other short-commings.

We think you are pretty special around here. Thanks for a year of positive, supportive, informative and uplifting posts,.....and for everything else you do for this site and for your country.

(((((((((((((((Dave)))))))))))))))))

[Dubya]

CH-46E mechanic carries rifle, guitar while deployed in support of OIF Submitted by: 3d Marine Aircraft Wing

KUWAIT(June 7, 2003) -- All is not quiet in the "tent city" at an air base here in the evening. After working on and around aircraft all day in temperatures that can reach more than 120 degrees, many of the service members here take advantage of an evening breeze to socialize, play cards and watch other Marines go about their business.

Entertainment is hard to come by here - there are a few small portable televisions and several sets of playing cards and dominoes, but almost everyone has some type of portable radio, compact disc player or mp3 device. Music, it seems, is difficult for these troops to live without.

Each General Purpose tent in the tent city will often have its own type of music wafting through the tent fabric; the latest rap or hip-hop hit can be heard from one 'hooch,' country music blares from the next.

All of the music is loud enough to hear from a distance, but one musical sound somehow carries above the rest, as a Marine with an acoustic guitar plays a classic song that almost everyone within hearing range knows some of the words to.

Lance Cpl. Bobby E. George, aviation ordinance technician, Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 165, has become proficient at strumming the guitar he has been playing for less than five years.

[The Mayor]

Hello!! I'm still here.

[Pippin]

Hi, TM!

[The Mayor]

Hi, It's been a while. How's everything?

[LadyX]

It's about time you check in with us, The One & Only The Mayor - we missed you!

[deadhead]

Thank You so much for your History of the Finest.

Brilliant, Johnny.

[Aquamarine]

Thanks Pip! It should be alot of fun, I'll just be hostessing a few times a month.

[The Mayor]

OH! God Love ya..

It's been a tough few weeks. I have been to Atlanta, Virginia and all over New York State.
I just found a place to live and will be moving the family up over the 4th weekend.
I miss my family and FreeRepublic..

[knighthawk]

All is fine. I was very busy lately, so I didn't spend enough time at the FR.