An invitation to celebrate America

We will be celebrating America during the upcoming 10th anniversary of the September 11th attacks on America. Why do you love America? Please tell us on September 11th at 12 noon on the front lawn of the Sparta Municipal Building located at 65 Main Street in Sparta. Senator Steve Oroho will give the keynote speech and then we will ask anyone and everyone to stand up and tell us (one minute per person) Why I Love America. Why I Love America My family, an ethnic and religious minority in 1906 Russia, faced violent riots and mob violence (aka Pogroms) which included the murder of my family members and the destruction of their homes and their religious institutions. Both sets of my grandparents, with no monies and just the clothes that they were wearing (and speaking no English), arrived on Ellis Island in 1906. They chose to come to America for freedom, for economic opportunity and to escape the tyranny of oppression. They worked in the garment district factories in NYC, they worked as milkmen, they worked carrying ice (before refrigerators), they worked as elevator attendants, etc. They did whatever they could to put food on the table and pay the rent. My Dad and my Mom, born in the 1920s to the ghettos of NYC, did not speak English until they went to public school. As first generation Americans they were the first in their families to go to school and eventually to college (my Mom went 10 years to Rutgers night school after having four children). My parents created an incredible life and a world of opportunity for my siblings and me. I celebrate my ancestor’s hard work, their courage, their persistence and, most of all, I celebrate their choice in coming to America. This is why i love America. Please join us on September 11th at 12 noon on the Sparta Municipal Building front lawn and tell us why you love America. Mitch Morrison Sparta