Last weekend, I turned thirty years old. I spent the time in Brooklyn, New York amongst family and friends. As I visited, I took several strolls down memory lane, reflecting on a part of my life I will never forget.

No matter where one is from there is something they take with them. For me it was french fries from Nathan's in Coney Island, a community that thrived during the Roaring 20s and is doing pretty good today. As I sat down munching on the fries enjoying my mother's company, I began to appreciate things I did not prior to moving to Texas. For instance, it was great being able to hang out with the one person who has done so much for me. Enjoying that Sunday afternoon was only a small token of appreciation I have for her. In addition to her company, I came to appreciate what I never appreciated before: watching the wonderful waves that crashed the shore or hearing the sound of the F train as it drives off into the subway sunset.

As we walked across the boardwalk, we spoke of simple times and how life has changed immensely over the past 5 years. While it is frustrating, I learned to appreciate the waves and sounds of seagalls as they rush to find crumbs. Through using my senses, I realize that I overcomplicated things in recent times. Moreover, the afternoon with my mother taught me to enjoy the small things in life and that troubles will pass in due time.

All and all I had a great time, reminiscing and enjoying things I never thought much of before. As I sit here and reflect, I want to thank everyone who joined me on that great day. Most importantly, my mother and sister, who are two big reasons I am who I am today. May God Bless them and those who have patiently seen me put my foot in my mouth or make illogical (there you go, Spock) decisions. Thirty is here and the best days are to come.

A Raspy Mother Road Figure

For a soon-to-be thirty year old, I have been blessed to have traveled to 21 states, ranging from Maine to California. While each state has its own unique qualities, one of the places that holds a special place is Arizona, particularly Flagstaff. The first time I drove up to the "City of Seven Wonders" was in September 2006. After flying to Phoenix and driving around the beautiful desert, I decided it was time to visit Route 66 in Arizona. (Forgive me, but on this trip I did "forget Winona") After two and a half hours of steep curves and beautiful canyons, I hit a crossroad. Either take I 40 West towards Los Angeles, I 40 East towards Albuquerque or Route 66 and US 180 through Flagstaff. I took the latter route. I stayed at the America's Best Inn off W. Route 66 and pigged out on meatloaf and garlic mashed potatoes at the Galazy Diner. As I sit here reminiscing over that great trip I wonder, did anyone born in and around Flagstaff become famous? One person I discovered was actor Andy Devine. (Although, one may argue that he was not even from Flagstaff)

Andrew Vabre "Andy" Devine was born in Flagstaff on October 7th, 1905. (Interestingly, his great-grandfather, James H. Ward, was the first officer of the United States Navy to be killed during the War Between the States.) In 1906, his father, Thomas, purchased and relocated his family to one of the most prestigious places in the southwest, the Hotel Beale in Kingman.

Devine, known for having a squeaky, raspy voice, attended a few universities, including Northern Arizona State Teachers College (now Northern Arizona University) in Flagstaff. However, it was during his career as a football player at Santa Clara University where people began to take notice. Like all Americans, Devine hoped to fulfill a passion. In his case it was acting. While attending Santa Clara, he played in various bit parts in silent pictures. However, in 1931 he was given a big part in the talkie (a movie with sound or a sychronized sound track)The Spirit of Notre Dame.

People in Hollywood discovered that Devine had a raspy voice. "There were a couple of theories as to how Devine's voice became raspy: His high-pitched, gravelly voice was the result of a childhood accident. While running with a stick (some accounts say a curtain rod) in his mouth, he tripped and fell, ramming the stick through the roof of his mouth. For almost a year, he was unable to speak at all. When he did get his voice back, at length, it had the wheezing, almost duo-toned quality that would ultimately make him a star. Another account of his throat injury says he was sliding down the banister in his father's hotel and somehow damaged his throat."

Nonetheless, it did not became a major issue. In fact, it became his trademark. Over the next five decades, he became a popular comic figure in various movies. They include: Canyon Passage, Stagecoach, On the Old Spanish Trail, The Red Badge of Courage, How the West Was Won and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. In addition, on television Devine depicted Guy Madison's sidekick in The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok.

Towards the end of his career, Devine did voice overs as "Friar Tuck" in Disney's Robin Hood and Cornelius the Rooster in several Corn Flakes television commercials.

On February 18th, 1977, Devine died of leukemia in Orange, California. Among those who attended his funeral were two former collegues, John Wayne and James Stewart. In his honor, Kingman renamed Main Street, Andy Devine Avenue.

Whenever you head to Arizona, visit Kingman and the Beale Hotel. (325. E. Andy Devine Avenue, Kingman, AZ 86401) In addition, as you travel, remember to stay on the Mother Road (Route 66)and you will be suprised on what you may discover.

Sources:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0222596/bio

A drive down a Parkway's memory lane

In a couple of weeks I will be traveling to Brooklyn, New York to visit my mom and sister, as well as some other people, to kick off my 30th year on this planet. That being said, it is a good time to look at some NY highway history and what a way to do so then to talk about President Franklin D. Roosevelt's role in one of the major parkways in southeast New York state.

By the early 1930's, the United States was stuck in a deep Depression. Roosevelt attempted to alleviate the stronghold of this crisis by installing a staggering 100 Federal programs. This became known as the New Deal. Two examples were the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the Civil Conservation Corps (CCC). The main goal of these projects was to provide Americans with jobs by having them work on several projects that would help ameoriliate the infrastructure of the nation. For example, "from 1933 to 1938 thousands of unemployed male youths from virtually every state were put to work as laborers on road gangs. As a result of this monumental effort, the Chicago-to-Los Angeles highway was reported as 'continuously paved' in 1938. In the final analysis, Route 66 affected more Americans on federal work relief than people who used it during the famous exodus to California."

What helped prompt FDR to create such policies was his involvement with the Taconic Parkway Commission prior to his election in 1932. The Taconic Parkway was one of the first four parkways (others include Bronx River, Merritt, Hutchinson River) to be built in the New York City area. Beginning in 1931, the Taconic was originally to be slated as the "Bronx River [Parkway] Extension" until 1941 when the Taconic Parkway Commission took over the road's operation. "Combined with the already completed section of the Bronx River Parkway, this section of the Taconic was to provide a scenic, rapid route from New York City to the Bear Mountain Bridge and points north. "

At this point, the "Extension" split up. One part headed northwest (later became the Bear Mountain State Parkway) while the right fork headed north to the "Eastern State Parkway", now the Taconic State Parkway. However, FDR and Robert Moses, designer of the parkway system, rammed heads.

By 1924, there were 4 proposed state parks for the highway. "The parkway and four proposed state parks tied to the parkway were to provide the backbone for the state park system in the eastern Hudson Valley. However, the northward progress of the Taconic State Parkway ran into roadblocks. Desiring to make the Catskill and Adirondack regions more accessible to New Yorkers, Franklin D. Roosevelt, the new chairman of the Taconic State Park Commission under Governor Al Smith, sought to extend the Bronx River Parkway through the Hudson Valley all the way north to Albany. At the same time, Robert Moses was seeking to procure funds for his Long Island park and arterial system. Moses had a distinct advantage: he chaired the State Parks Council, which allocated funds to parks and parkway projects throughout the state. Moses slashed Roosevelt's budget requests, and even said that the Taconic Parkway should not extend north to Albany, but end in Westchester County."

According to Robert A. Caro's The Power Broker:

"Roosevelt had at least one bitter face-to-face confrontation with Moses, the details of which can only be imagined. Then Roosevelt tried to go over Moses' head. In December 1926, he wrote Smith asking the Governor to restore the funds he had requested. "It is an absurd and humiliating position to be put in, to be informed that we could have no money because through lack of an Executive we have not been able to properly expend the money we had and then to be informed that we cannot have an Executive because we have not been given more money," he wrote.

But Smith was taking Moses' word as to what was happening in park matters. He asked Moses about the Taconic situation and Moses wrote Smith: "I suggest you write him (Roosevelt) a letter along the line attached." The "attached said that of course the parkway would go through - it did not say through to where - but that there was so much competition for the limited money available that it must be concentrated on those projects which were moving ahead fastest, and the Taconic Parkway was not one of those�

A year later, the State Parks Council eliminated from the Taconic Commission's request all funds except those needed for bare maintenance of existing parks. "Moses simply used us," Roosevelt said. "The enormous appropriations for Long Island, while perhaps necessary, prove merely that we have been completely useful to other people."


Despite the acromonious relationship between Roosevelt and Moses, work began in 1927 on a 20.7 mile stretch in Westchester County. By 1932, the parkway was finished in two segments, "the 'Bronx Parkway Extension' from the Kensico Dam Plaza to the Bear Mountain Parkway, and the four-mile-long spur north to the Westchester-Putnam border, known as the "state parkway," which linked the Westchester parkway system to the parkway being planned by the new Taconic State Park Commission."



In November 1963, despite all the confrontations, the 105.3 mile-long Taconic Parkway was finally completed. Mr. Roosevelt was not around to see the Parkway come to its fruition, but he would have concurred with Mr. Moses assessment.

"Rolling through the natural scenic charm of one of New York State's most beautiful country regions, the (Taconic State) Parkway is a composite of safety, beauty and utility, representing every known facility for safe and modern parkway construction yet devised� While safety engineering has been the starting point for designing and constructing the parkway, at the same time the Taconic State Park Commission has sought to provide a parkway that takes advantage of all the natural beauty New York's country area provides."


As in all parkways in New York, the goal of the Taconic was to promote its aesthetics: state parks and natural scenery. If one takes a drive off US 9A towards Poughkeepsie, New York, for example, one will be amazed at the amounts of trees and luscious scenery.

Sources:
http://www.route66ca.org/66_study/history/hist_66.html
http://www.nycroads.com/roads/taconic