{"id":2200,"date":"2012-06-04T22:00:22","date_gmt":"2012-06-05T02:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/?p=2200"},"modified":"2024-12-03T16:56:13","modified_gmt":"2024-12-03T21:56:13","slug":"the-wheels-on-the-bus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/?p=2200","title":{"rendered":"The Wheels on the Bus"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Linda Burton posting from Salem, Oregon \u2013 <\/em>The buses brought the kids today. Three loads of them were sitting on the capitol steps as I approached; the girls were singing in a chant \u201cElvis Presley, girls are messy,\u201d hands clapping on the beat. I pushed through the revolving door of the Oregon state capitol and found myself in the rotunda just as a group of students approached the center, taking their place around the seal embedded in the floor. The tour guide stepped beside me, \u201cYou\u2019re welcome to join us,\u201d he said and so I stayed, intent on hearing the story of the seal. It shines like gold, but the guide explained that it was brass. He pointed to the elk, the sheaf, the plow, the axe. He talked about the covered ox-drawn wagon, symbolizing the pioneers that came to Oregon. Then he pointed to the ships \u2013 one coming towards land, the other sailing away. \u201cOne is an American ship,\u201d he said, \u201cand one is British. Do you know why the British ship is going away?\u201d The children waited expectantly for the next line. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was all about land,\u201d he continued. \u201cDo you know who won the first war we had with Britain?\u201d A young man wearing a white dress shirt raised his hand. \u201cWe did,\u201d he offered. \u201cAnd who won the War of 1812?\u201d The same young man answered, \u201cWe did.\u201d \u201cWas there another war?\u201d the guide asked, looking around the circle. The children waited, not quite sure. The guide explained the land dispute, extending his hands to indicate the size of the territory at stake. \u201cAll the way from the Artic to the south of here,\u201d he said, \u201cbut there was an agreement, finally; Britain got all the land north of the 49th<\/sup> parallel, the United States got the land to the south. There was no war. That\u2019s why the British ship is sailing away.\u201d The children nodded. I left the group, ready to continue my personal tour of this historic building.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>As I stepped into the Senate Gallery, I caught up with another school group. \u201cThe little boy told his mother that he saw smoke coming from the capitol, but she didn\u2019t take him seriously,\u201d I heard the guide explain. \u201cBut he was right. It was 1935, and the second capitol burned. The depression was going on, and there wasn\u2019t much money to rebuild. So money from the Federal government was used,\u201d she continued. \u201cIt was the Public Works Administration, the program started by President Roosevelt. How many of you have been to Timberline Lodge?\u201d A number of children raised their hands. \u201cIt was built at the same time, with the same funds,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd President Roosevelt came to see it. Our new capitol wasn\u2019t built like other capitols in the country, it\u2019s a different style, very modern for its time, and we are very proud of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I walked across the building to the House Gallery, where another school group sat attentively, as the guide pointed out the mural behind the Speaker\u2019s desk. \u201cThis shows the Oregon pioneers at Champoeg in 1843,\u201d he said, \u201cwhen the provisional government was established.\u201d He went on to point out the Douglas Fir on the carpet design; it\u2019s the state tree. In the Governor\u2019s reception area, on the second floor, I came upon yet another school group, standing on one side of the room. \u201cWhat kind of work do people in here do?\u201d asked the guide. There was silence. \u201cWell, do they make hamburgers?\u201d The children giggled, just a bit. \u201cNo, they make laws,\u201d answered one of the girls in the group. Well, that was that. The Governor\u2019s door was closed, \u201cHe\u2019s in a meeting now,\u201d I was told. His ceremonial office was closed as well, something going on in there.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The gift shop next; some t-shirts in a stack proclaimed \u201cI survived the Tower Tour, by dragging myself, complaining, and nearly passing out.\u201d I remembered two young girls from yesterday at brunch; our tables crowded close. I wound up chatting with their mom, and them, Cherry and Lorelei. \u201cCherry graduates from 5th<\/sup> grade next week,\u201d said mom. \u201cAnd I\u2019m in 4th<\/sup>,” Lorelei piped up. They both confirmed they\u2019d been to the capitol with their class \u00a0(I asked, of course) and told me of their favorite part \u2013 the climb up to the tower. \u201cThat was the best!\u201d Cherry said. \u201cI thought I\u2019d die!\u201d<\/p>\n

I bought some postcards and headed back outside. The yellow buses waited at the curb. I\u2019m thinking there\u2019ll be singing on the ride back home; and lots of talking too. The Tower Tour! I thought I\u2019d die!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Linda Burton posting from Salem, Oregon \u2013 The buses brought the kids today. Three loads of them were sitting on the capitol steps as I approached; the girls were singing in a chant \u201cElvis Presley, girls are messy,\u201d hands clapping on the beat. I pushed through the revolving door of the Oregon state capitol and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4586,583],"tags":[655,653,654,171,612,658,656,652,657],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2200"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2200"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2200\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15593,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2200\/revisions\/15593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}