My Boys State Experience

[BamaLefty]

Well, as you can see I am back in one piece. Boys State was awesome and that can be attributed to Judge Pete Johnson, a District Judge in Jefferson County. This guy is a warrior for the Dem side, EVERYTHING that he said was so true. Whether it be the prayer in schools myth, the war in Iraq, standing up for the less fortunate, etc. he aced it to a tee. He said that he would be running for a higher political office in 2008 and would love to have our help. I'll sure be working for him! Immediately after he said this, he started to talk about how there wasn't a man/woman in the US Senate that could carry past Senators briefcase. That leads me to believe that he may be looking at a run against Jeff Sessions. Man, would I love to get that quack Sessions out of office.

Living in a dorm was a bit of an adjustment, but I got used to it and made a lot of friends that I hope to see down the road. They were really great guys and much to my surprise, agreed with us! Sure, there were some of the status quo conservative group, but there were many progressive thinkers as well. Politics or no politics, its great to have them as contacts down the road.

Being elected to the House of Representatives was also pretty cool. I enjoyed being in the House and being on the Judiciary committee since that is exactly what my grandad did when he was a House Rep back in the '60s. The other members gave me some hope as well. A cap on punitive damages didn't even make it out of the committee, an outlaw on abortion was labeled as ludacris (yes, someone was actually that stupid and was that ignorant of history to introduce that bill), and a unfair tax system was shot down also.

Fortunately for me, with business came some fun as well. There were said to be ghosts in my dorm. I'll show these pics and tell these stories in a reply in this thread. It will freak you out!

All in all I had a great time at Boys State. I loved hearing Artur Davis, Lucy Baxley, and Ron Sparks in particular. The whole experience was fantastic and I would do it all over again if I had the opportunity.

[BamaLefty]

1. Ghost Pics

On Thursday night we got the policeman to take us up there and show us the door. There was an even stranger plank that he had found one day at the PD station. That one had distinct features and kinda had a facial expression... it scared one kid out so bad that he actually wanted to go home. Anyway... here is the story of Condie Cunningham, a 16 year old girl that burned to death 1937 in the residence hall that I lived in for the past week @ Boys State. :-< >:D [br />
Condie Cunniham’s is a tragic story . The telling of it has all the elements of a Friday the 13th or one of the more recent horror movies. It seems that at the turn of the century, she was a student living in main Residence Hall. It was and still is today a female residence hall. She and some of the other girls were fixing a hot chocolate over a burner and it tipped over. Condie’s gown caught fire. As the fire marshal tells us, the worst thing you can do when you are on fire is run, and that is exactly what Condie did. She ran down the hall. Subsequently, she died at the local hospital.

The legend of Condie flows from that, and it becomes more bizarre as students began to see in the wood grain panel to the door to her room the image of a woman screaming. Her hair was on fire, and the flames were shooting up. There were maintenance people who claim that they have seen the image too. It wasn’t just students who saw her. A few years ago, somebody decided to put the door in storage to put the school at ease. What happened was, the ghost reappeared in the new door. So it’s a classic kind of story. Even today, you can talk to students who swear that Condie came into their room. She’s been known to go into the shower areas and scream her head off. Some students have felt wind when the windows were closed. They have seen the carpet on the threshold of her room ripple as if someone walked into the room. Or they’ll tell the story of a door opening, and there won’t be anyone there. Now there is probably a rational explanation. It’s an old building, and it is probably settling. There are images in clouds called pseudo morphs, and if the brain is looking for something, it will see it. And another person comes along, and they believe you. The girls say when she roams the hall, she doesn’t do it quietly. She runs and screams through the halls as if she is still on fire. One student said Condie is coming back because she is trying to livie vicariously through the young students in the hall.

t’s a scary building if you approach it at night. According to everybody that’s seen it, the image is still on the door. I saw it twenty years ago. The girls often will hold initiations, and one part of it is you’ve got to go see Condie’s door, and it’s leaning against the wall in a storage closet. It happened in the central part of the building. The wings were added later. Nobody lives in that room now because of Condie. From the standpoint of fire hazards in the early 20th century, I would say yes. From my experience teaching in various colleges, I would have to say that most female dorms have ghosts. I’m not sure if there is any proof or not.


http://facstaff.uwa.edu/ab/mainresid.htm


The Door in its own special room (2 floors above me):

[Syrinx]

2. congratulations!

Sounds like that legislature has the real one beat to hell. Good signs for the future I must say!

I'm not familiar with Pete Johnson, but sounds like I could happily vote for him. I hope he runs and beats Sessions "like a bad piece of meat."

Good work BamaLefty!

[BamaLefty]

3. Pete Johson Is A Great American

Judge Johson Bio:

There is no man whose name is more associated with Alabama Boys State than that of Judge Pete Johnson of Birmingham. Through decades of tireless service and dedication to the promotion and growth of Alabama Boys State, Judge Johnson has been the recipient of numerous deserved awards and countless tributes.

His 36-year involvement with the program has earned him a reputation as the very personification of the highest ideals of Boys State.

Judge Johnson was born and grew up on a farm in Hardaway, Alabama. As a boy he raised show calves and worked on the family farm, all the while active in various youth organizations such as 4-H. In 1963, he represented his school at the American Legion's Alabama Boys State program.

Beginning the very next year, Judge Johnson has continuously served on the staff of Alabama Boys State, with the exception of the year 1970, when he was in service in Vietnam.

He has been the Director of Alabama Boys State since 1984.

Judge Johnson attended Huntingdon College in Montgomery, and received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from the University of Alabama in 1969. He served as the Business Manager of the "Crimson White", the campus newspaper, and was awarded the Gold Key Award from the Board of Publications, while at the University of Alabama.

Upon graduation from college, Judge Johnson entered the United States Army and served as an Armored Cavalry Platoon Leader in Vietnam, 1969-1970, receiving the Bronze Star and Vietnamese Service Medal.

He entered Cumberland Law School, graduating in 1974 with a Juris Doctorate. From 1974 through 1979, Judge Johnson served as an Assistant District Attorney in Birmingham. During that time, he successfully prosecuted over 150 felony jury trials, including 7 for capital murder. During 1980-1984, he was engaged in private practice.

On January 6, 1984, Governor George C. Wallace appointed Pete Johnson to the position of District Judge, Jefferson County, a position he has held since that time. Since 1992, Judge Johnson has served as the Presiding Judge of the Criminal Division of the District Court.

In 1996, Judge Johnson initiated the Jefferson County Drug Court, and is widely recognized as a Drug Court advocate throughout Alabama. He also travels to other states as a frequent lecturer on drugs and crime.

Judge Johnson is a member of the Birmingham, Alabama and American Bar Associations, as well as the American Judicature Society. He also serves on the faculty of the Alabama Judicial College. In addition, he is a member of the Vietnam Veterans of America, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Birmingham Committee on Foreign Relations, the American Legion and the American Legion's National Americanism Commission. He is a Rotarian.

The recipient of the Americanism Award of the American Legion Department of Alabama, Judge Johnson has also been honored with the Outstanding Service Award by the Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the Vocational Service Award of the Shades Valley Rotary Club and was made a Paul Harris Fellow by the Rotary. A proponent of athletics, as well as civics, he has also coached youth league football, baseball and basketball.

Judge Johnson and his wife, Jean, have two sons and are members of St. Luke's Episcopal Church.


http://www.legislature.state.al.us/misc/guide/student_teacher/boys_girls_state/judge_johnson_boys_state.html

[Frances]

4. Thanks so much for the report

I love getting good news from my native state.

(By the way, what did your teacher say about your essay on "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God"? I thought you wrote a really interesting essay.)

[BamaLefty]

5. I Made A 96 On That One

Thanks Frances! :)