[b]Backdrop Papers[/b] by Misty Cato
title font is [b]DJB Scruffy Angel[/b] by Darcy Baldwin
journaling font is [b]The Emo Kid[/b] by Heather Hess
journaling reads
It was bitterly cold when we visited the site of the battle of Concord, where the opening shots of
the war for our independence from Great Britain were fired on April 19, 1775. Despite the cold, we enjoyed seeing where it began. It was also neat seeing the “National Guard” statue. The farmers who stood here were the forefathers of the National Guard in which I was proudly serving. Somehow it meant more seeing it once I was a citizen soldier than when I visited the site growing up. (Nov. 23, 2005; journaled Mar. 13, 2011)
Concord Hymn
by Ralph Waldo Emerson
Sung at the completion of the Battle Monument
April 19, 1836
By the rude bridge that arched the flood
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard round the world.
The foe long since in silence slept;
Alike the conqueror silent sleeps;
And Time the ruined bridge has swept
Down the dark stream which seaward creeps.
On this green bank, by this soft stream,
We set to-day a votive stone;
That memory may their deed redeem,
When, like our sires, our sons are gone.
Spirit, that made those heroes dare
To die, and leave their children free,
Bid Time and Nature gently spare
The shaft we raise to them and thee.
