Teens discuss Constitution in American Legion event
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year, 6 months AGO
From left: American legion State Commander Al Jensen, junior Ruth Atcheson of Colville, junior Natali James of Washougal, senior Cassandra Brinlee of Olympia, junior Mary Crosby of Burlington and American Legion Auxiliary State President Diana Hagen at the Constitutional Speech Contest sponsored by the American Legion of Washingont March 29 at Big Bend Community College.
COURTESY PHOTO/AMERICAN LEGION ART SEMRO POST 28
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | April 8, 2025 3:00 AM
EPHRATA — Sixteen Washington students demonstrated their speaking skills March 29, according to an announcement from American Legion Art Semro Post 28 in Ephrata.
The Constitutional Speech Contest, sponsored by the American Legion of Washington, was held at Big Bend Community College, according to the announcement. Competitors were required to research, write and memorize an 8-10-minute speech on the U.S. Constitution, then deliver it without using notes, amplification or a lectern.
Mary Crosby, a home-schooled junior from Burlington who took the championship, spoke about civic virtue and its connection to the Constitution.
“Moral virtue is our disposition as an individual to make moral or reasonable choices,” Crosby said. “Civic virtue is that same disposition when it comes to the common good … Any attack on the ability of a good citizen to act morally is an attack on the Constitution and the foundation of our country. The reason for this is that when being a good citizen no longer becomes our focus, we do not strive to uphold the Constitution.”
Next, competitors had to deliver a three- to five-minute speech with five minutes’ preparation on a topic chosen by the organizers.
The topic they picked was the 18th Amendment, which prohibited the manufacture, sale, transportation or importation of alcoholic beverages.
“Historians look back at the 18th Amendment and they realized that it was a great example of the Senate failing to do its job as the cooling saucer of Congress,” said second-place winner Cassandra Brinlee of Olympia. "The House of Representatives, since it’s more proportionate to the people and essentially represents the people, tends to be much more inflammatory, fiery, passionate, whereas the Senate, since it represents the states, is much more level-headed. So you’ve got your steaming cup of tea, which is the House, and there they start boiling over with ideas and bills they want to get passed. The good news is, the Senate is right there underneath as the cooling saucer to temper some of that heat and to catch some of the spills that come over the side … The 18th Amendment is when they let one of those spills go out.”
The four finalists — Crosby, Brinlee, third-place winner Natali James of Washougal and fourth-place winner Ruth Atcheson of Colville, will share $5,000 in scholarship funds. Crosby will receive $2,000 and an all-expense-paid Hillsdale College in Michigan May 16-18 to represent Washington in the finals, the Legion post wrote in the announcement. The champion at the national level will receive a $25,000 scholarship and the second- and third-place winners will receive $22,500 and $20,000 respectively. Washington State has produced two national champions in the last five years, the Legion wrote.
Read the full text of the Constitution at: constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution
ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
Endless battle
Noxious Weed Control Board works to keep invasive plants under control
MOSES LAKE — Some of the nastiest plants in Grant County were the topic of a class led by Jay Johnson, a consultant with the Grant County Noxious Weed Control Board, Tuesday. The Noxious Weed Control Board, as its name would suggest, is tasked with keeping weeds under control in Grant County. That’s not a small job; the board’s website lists 129 species of noxious weeds that are found around Grant County. A noxious weed is defined as an invasive, non-native plant that threatens agricultural crops, local ecosystems or fish and wildlife habitat, according to the Noxious Weed Control Board. Washington state law requires that these weeds be identified and their spread kept to a minimum, if not completely eradicated. “We’re one of those agencies a lot of people don’t really understand,” Johnson said. “We’re a county office and … our funding is tax-based assessment. When you get your tax bill and you look down at all the expenses that you pay for, there we are.”
BASIN EVENTS: Oct. 16-24
COLUMBIA BASIN — Whether you feel like shopping, crafting, learning or seeing a show, there’s something happening for you this week in the Basin. Oct. 16 ‘My Family (Mi Familia)’ screening Spanning three generations, “My Family (Mi Familia)” is a heartfelt drama that follows the Sánchez family as they build their lives in East Los Angeles. Through love, hardship, triumph, and sacrifice, the film explores the immigrant experience, the strength of family bonds, and the traditions that connect one generation to the next. Lowrider show and taco truck before the screening. Sponsored by Columbia Basin Allied Arts, EDUBS C/S and the Moses Lake Creative District. $12 per person. Doors open at 6 p.m., film begins at 7 p.m. at the Moses Lake Civic Center Auditorium, 401 S. Balsam St. Tickets and info: www.cba-arts.org.
Moses Lake author encourages women to look beyond church culture norms
MOSES LAKE — A Moses Lake author’s book, “A Christian Woman Striving to Live Her Faith in a Man-Controlled World,” takes aim at the role to which many churches relegate the female half of their congregations. “It’s to encourage women in the faith,” Linda Curran said. “A lot of churches say, ‘Teach Sunday school, do this, do that, but don’t (evangelize.)’" In her book, Curran recounts a time when she moved to a new community and joined a church there. She was surprised to learn that, as a new female member, she had been automatically assigned church cleaning duties. When she questioned it, she wrote, she was met with condescension and her objections were brushed aside. In other churches, she said, women who were capable of teaching were relegated to “women’s ministry.”