Out and About

Party down, everybody. The recession is over!

At least that’s what economic experts from across the country are saying.

Well, maybe not the party down part. More like party responsibly.

CEOs at many of the country’s leading financial institutions are predicting the start of a slow recovery at the end of the year, and after a few more months of high unemployment rates. Jack Albin, chief investment advisor at Harris Private Bank in Chicago, was quoted in a July 30 Chicago Tribune column by correspondent Greg Burns that the recovery will be “like a traffic jam that takes forever to get everybody through.”

In other words, unless you are at the top of the economic echelon, don’t pop any champagne corks until you, your friends and your neighbors are all gainfully employed and making mortgage payments.

Still, I can’t help but think that we have more control over the length of time it will take to recover from a recession that has tested our individual character and the collective consciousness of our nation. Once we truly believe that the recession is over – and, more importantly, once we start acting like the recession is over – indeed it will be.

It’s not about “seeing is believing.” It’s all about “believing is seeing.”

So come on, people. Loosen up the belts you’ve been tightening for the past year or two — if only by a half a notch for those of you who are still skeptical. The sooner you do that, the sooner the consumer gridlock of which Albin speaks will become untangled.

Know that the axiom “what goes around comes around” applies to positive things as well. Spend a little, rejoice a little. Believe it to see it. If we put more faith into prosperity than we do poverty, we’ll be fine. 

Let’s get this party started.

It took a few months, but with the prodding of a compassionate neighbor, 82-year-old Joan Jones of Keystone Heights ventured — quite literally — outside the box and clicked her way into a world of discovery.

It all started six months ago when Jones, as personable as she is chatty, received a Christmas gift that came in a strange looking box.

“I said, ‘What is this thing?’ and then I opened it and I said, ‘Eek! It’s a computer!’”

Not knowing a mouse from a hard drive, Jones left the Dell Inspiron laptop in its box until mid-January, when neighbor Cathy Clark stopped by and asked why the computer wasn’t hooked up.

“I told her I didn’t want to open it,” Jones said. “I was petrified.”

After reassuring Jones that it wouldn’t “blow up” on her, Clark offered to help teach her neighbor the basics of Googling, e-mailing and blogging.

“Just plug it in?” Jones laughed. “That’s not true, believe me! I plugged it in and I didn’t get anything out of it. I was stressed out and scared to death.

“Oh, and the words you have to learn – bytes or whatever,” she said. “I have to write them down. I’ve never even heard of blogging.”

Patience and perseverance paid off, though. After a few lessons, Jones’s confidence grew with every click of her wireless mouse.

Her first order of business was to run a search for the passenger log on the USS David C. Shanks, the ship on which Jones sailed with 406 other World War II war brides when she moved to the U.S. from Australia. The ship sailed out of Sydney on May 30, 1946, and arrived in San Francisco on June 23.

“I’ll find it one of these days,” Jones said. “It’s got to be somewhere.”

Along the way, she discovered that Jack Ross, Australia’s last remaining World War I veteran, died recently at the age of 110.

“He was from my hometown of Bendigo, Victoria,” Jones said. “But I didn’t know him.”

She also is determined to locate a book, based on a true story, about an American soldier stationed in Melbourne who killed three women “because he liked their voices.” She says the book, “The Death of a Solider,” was written many years ago and eventually was made into a movie she saw on TV about eight years ago. So far, her searches have led only to other books by the same title.

Aside from saving money by burning digital photos on CDs rather than paying for film and prints, Jones has been able to reconnect with family members in her homeland. She also uses her laptop to organize and recruit new members to a local chapter of the World War II War Brides Association.

“It’s actually opened up a whole new world,” Jones said. “You just have to get over that fear.”

The recently held Celebrate Clay awards breakfast at the Howard Johnson hotel in Orange Park made me realize just how valuable a role the sponsoring Paul E. & Klare N. Reinhold Foundation plays in our community. 

The foundation, which also awards college scholarships to dozens of local high school students each year, has paid out $1.7 million in grants and contributions during the past five years alone.

But giving away money isn’t the only reason to be grateful to the foundation, which presented cash awards totalling $65,000 at the inaugural Celebrate Clay ceremonies last month. It became clear to me as I sat in the audience that foundation members had placed a great deal of effort into organizing an event that also gave well-deserved recognition – and perhaps some visibility — to at least 79 not-for-profit agencies and individuals.

Though I’ve been living in Clay County off and on for many years, I was surprised by — and impressed with – the number of social service agencies and loosely organized groups that have given so much to so many while operating in relative obscurity. I had never heard of The James Boys, a group of 30 volunteers at Orange Park United Methodist Church who help the elderly and needy by repairing bicycles and building houses and handicap ramps, among other good deeds.

Nor was I aware of The Way Free Medical Clinic, which gives the uninsured and poverty stricken access to health care; or Hope Therapy, a wonderfully creative program that uses horses to help improve the motor skills of children and adults with special health-care needs such as cerebral palsy and autism.

The list goes on. And so does the giving. I wonder how much of  that wouldn’t be possible if it weren’t for the social conscience and generosity of the Paul E. & Klare N. Reinhold Foundation.

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