What You Might Learn from Friends and Neighbors: Defining Patriotism

            When we think about America, we as a nation will show our pride. We praise our troops, we rally our cries for freedom, and we uphold the principles of our constitution. While many people may not always agree to the terms of what America is going through, or understand the truest history of our nation, how often do we show patriotism?

            Located next to Junction City, Kansas, lies a military base that is home to the Army’s oldest divisions, The First Infantry Division. With Junction City being a military town, it’s the only place that I know, exemplifies support to our veterans, loyalty to one person to another, and will pay honor to those who continue to fight, for both our freedoms, and the community. It’s not just about the military, but it’s to everyone in the town, including our community leaders.

            Tradition still continues, and it’s one thing that remains sacred to us all. This new generation may not understand it, but we have to educate them on it. We must teach our youth the values of being a leader, comradeship, and the loyalty to the homeland. As I sat here at Sundown Salute, how many people take the “celebration” for granted? Why do we have this every year? And what does it all mean? It’s not just a concert of rock bands for adults, or a carnival for kids… It’s much more than that. Why is our park called Heritage Park? People may have their opinions, but what is the value? For our citizens who join the military, why do you join? What values do you hold?

            As an African-American male, I can say that it may not be easy times for the people of my race, but I know that being an American is something I am proud of, and despite what our Country is going through, I still value what it means, and wouldn’t change my views about the military, this nation, or this community with a big heart. So I asked you now, how can we define the American way of life? What is patriotism, and how do you think this is going to be incorporated into “Friends and Neighbors”?  

What you might learn from 'Friends and Neighbors': An inside word

Ever since I wrote the musical "It's Your Time," and the drafts to "The Teenage Love Diaries," I would often find the moments within the story, come to life. Usually, they would come to life AFTER they were written. It's strange how every time I write a story, or something, it eventually comes to life right before my very eyes. Now, I'm not saying that I am Nostradamus, or a prophet, but sometimes it is strange to even look at. This past weekend, I went to Country Stampede. I had a fun time, and If you don’t know what Country Stampede is, it’s a four day, outdoor country music and camping festival, where people from all over the state come to watch famous country stars sing. In Friends and Neighbors, this festival is mentioned several times throughout the story.

 I always mention that characters within a story will always become a part of the author. Sometimes, it’s a matter of stepping in that character’s shoes to find the inspiration of emotion.  Last night, I felt a slight glimpse of emotion from the main character, Riley Johnson. In the book, there’s a chapter titled “An Unexpected Surprise.”  This chapter contains a lot of conflict, emotion, and twisted scenarios. In this chapter, there is a scene where Riley and Rachel meet each other for the first time since leaving College for the summer, but Riley encounters the feeling of him being unwanted at a party because Rachel’s friends "Prejudge" him based on the color of his skin. Last night, I actually walked into Riley's shoes, and felt the exact same emotion when I encountered a group of strangers with a friend. It was interesting to feel what the moment was like.  Now what’s the message behind the story? Well, I'm not giving out spoilers of the story, but it left me with this thought that I had Tweeted and even dusted to all of my Cyber Dusters. I said, "It may involve your life being on the line and at risk, but always do the right thing for others." When you save someone else's life, you're risking your own life. No matter what the situation is, where, who, big or small, your life is somewhat on the line. Think of a Soldier going out to battle. When a soldier runs out to rescue someone, the enemy is always firing back at the soldier.

An unexpected surprise, was actually the first chapter I had wrote for this book, and this chapter allowed me to expand around it. It introduces one of my favorite characters in this book, and that is Rachel. Like I said, I’ll throw in hints, but I’m not giving out spoilers. The only person who has read both the draft and revision of this chapter, was my professor. To be honest, this chapter is still being updated and revised as we speak. So what will you find in this chapter? Regret, Fate, and Racism…Okay, don’t believe it. Just think about it and you answer it all for yourself. Sorry, I’m not going to truly give away the juicy secrets.  Just know that it’s all an “Unexpected Surprise.”

Stay tuned for more updates of Friends and Neighbors

Ronald Atkinson

Friends and Neighbors: Update

You know that frightful moment when you’re typing up stuff in a word document, and eventually, something happens to your computer and you lose everything? What do we do? We freak out. But the good part is, we’re given a second chance to recreate those documents. We may forget a lot with what was being written, but we can always make it better, tweak something, and also make things fresh again. Put it this way, it’s like you’re doing something when you think it is good, but God has the power to change it and say “Do something better.” What we forget is, we’re always given second chances. We may fall seven times, but we can always get back up to try and try again. He knows what He wants from you, so he is always making sure that the best is yet to come.

As I was trying to relocate the updated version of Friends and Neighbors, it was nowhere to be found. A little spoiler alert, one of the most sentimental chapters was erased, and that was the only thing missing from the updated version. I don’t know what that really means, but we’ll just have to wait and see. Although I am taking summer classes, I’ve given very little time on writing this, and started to focus on what’s really important, and that is school. When July hits, I will be back in the full swing of things, and will resume to finish the draft. New characters have been added. Some minor, and some major, but most importantly, I have threw in the Bramlage family, if you didn’t catch the excerpt posted on my Facebook. I’ll give you more updates as time goes on, but in the mean time, I will not throw in spoilers, but I will throw in quotes, excerpts, and questions that will leave you wondering.

The Movie, The Musical.

The script to the musical, has been hidden inside of a dusty box. The original diary manuscripts, has been fading away for over a period of time, and is also with the musical script. The musical, and the diary entries,  serves as the foundation story to "Friends and Neighbors." Though, that story is controversial, I haven't decided whether or not I should blow off the cobwebs, tweak it, and revise it. Who knows... it may stay hidden forever.

The movie, did I talk about that? Give the movie some time. I can’t say that a movie of Friends and Neighbors, will, or will not happen. I can’t say that a pre-production process has started. I’ve gotten many questions, but all I can say is this… I have no control of what’s going to happen, when, and how, but I do know who is already casted for some of the characters…

And that goes for all three books.

Some of us are getting older to recreate our old selves, but thank God for Hollywood make-up.

Friends and Neighbors: A Foreward

When we think of summer, we think about swimming pools, baseball, barbecues, summer concerts, carnivals, or even those summer nights, sitting around the campfire and star gazing throughout the night. Throughout my life, I have had some amazing memories with my summers. While we spend our days in the present, we don’t think about what the moment is trying to teach us. Sometimes, we don’t even look at the value of the moment and why moments can be special, until later on down the road when we’re looking back at those memories that were created. Imagine you are going to a baseball game. You get to the game with your friends, and throughout the game, you’re sharing memories, laughs, and making more friends with those around you. What’s the value behind it? Friendships.

            Every summer, I always gain something new to learn. A lot of times, I always experience a life changing moment. It would take pages and books to describe every single summer, but the one I can say that was most inspirational, was summer 2012. It was the final summer that I had spent with my best friends, before we all had headed off to our separate ways. We shared memories, laughs, philosophies and even tears. By the time that summer was coming to a close, we slowly drifted apart and went our separate ways. After we departed, I ended the summer by spending time with my family. Since that summer, I have learned that family and friends is what makes a summer extremely special.

            Throughout the next few months, I started to write down a series of short stories and drafts. All of the drafts had no significance, nor correspondence with each other, but I felt that it could have been turned into something. I also thought about the memories of high school and college, and long story short, I came up with the title ‘Friends and Neighbors.’ While writing ‘The Five Phases of a college student, The peasant in the crowd, and The teenage love diaries, I felt that I had to write this story, as it serves as a sequel to Riley’s story of his first year in college.

            Friends and Neighbors is a story about four, young-adult gentlemen, told through the voice of Riley Johnson. In this story, we follow the characters, Riley, Eric, Antwone, and Andre, spending their last summer in Riley’s childhood neighborhood, before heading off on their separate ways. They each have their own trials and tribulations, but what gets them through it all, is the value of trust and friendship. This story picks up where Riley is leaving his first year at K-State, and now he ventures back to his hometown of Junction City, Kansas. What I try to include in this story, just as much as I did with the others, is to keep the authenticity of setting, characters, and focus of detail. Though this is a work of fiction, it’s still authentic in its own way. There were a ton of inspirations that have inspired me to write it, but nothing beats the inspiration of my friends, family, and hometown.

            There’s only one chapter that my professor has read, and it was hard enough to revise that specific chapter. Although there are more chapters that need to be written, some that need revision, and even other ‘books’ that serve as the sequel and prequel, I will make sure that this story will not only be a good impact, but will also serve as teaching lessons for high school, and college students. By gathering all of my values of relationships, I thought that stories will truly serve a good purpose

Here are some other writing projects that are in the works.

            College, A year to remember: Riley’s adventures through his first year at college. The prequel to ‘Friends and Neighbors.’ (Official title is still being determined)

             The Teenage Love Diaries: The prequel to it all. Riley’s senior year of high school, and how five friends deal with high school relationships, divorce, and faith.

             Gretel: A twisted, collegiate story with the elements of Hansel and Gretel. From a small town called Atchison, Kansas, Gretel goes through her first year of college, trying to find a purpose.

             

Our Past is Present: School, Memories, and Giving Back for our future generations

Junction City, Kansas, is a town that I can literally write a book, or perhaps even stories that will be centered in this town. Not only stories, but stories through music. As I am constantly writing new thoughts and ideas, a lot of times, I have to sit back after going through a full nostalgic attack on many things. Whether it’s my life of experiences, or the memories others created, this time, I had to think… With all of the music and writing projects I have created in the past that has to do with this town (in which they are not published/finished material yet), I thought about one thing…. I remember a lady once told my mother, “this is God’s country, and it hasn’t been struck down”. Have you ever noticed the fact how tornadoes would touch down Geary County, but they never fully destroyed us? I understand the old Native American legend about the two rivers, but seriously, has it ever occur to you that there is some sort of “magic” in this town? What is it really? What I find extremely interesting, is the fact how there are people who are drawn to this town from surrounding areas/counties who not only work, but actually HELP and give back to the community.  With us being the home to Fort Riley, even Fort Riley gives back in so many ways. People from Manhattan, Wamego, and other places give back for much support.

Junction City High School was a dear place in my heart, and with all of the greatest memories my friends and I had in that school, we all had dreams to be somebody, and we all had dreams to go somewhere. We all had teachers that impacted us through the good times, bad times, and even if they were bad, we still look back and say, I wish I could go back to repeat it.  We say it not because it was high school and things were easy at the time, but there’s something about that magic in which we all felt connected to one another. We all had our best of times, and worst of times. We have grown up with some great elementary school memories, middle school memories, and even community memories. Some of the people who live here will often say something negative about this town, and some people end up leaving this town. However, when I sat back in my chair the other day, I thought about who graduated, left, or is living their life. But I also realized how once we departed this town after graduating, or anything else, we always end up wanting to come back. We also end up staying in this town for some odd reason. The more people who try to deny wanting to live here, the more some how they end up right back here. What draws us to this town? What makes us stay? What makes outside people from other communities give back to continue building on the rich traditions and legacies that were once started by the community founders?  

If the community can help us grow, we can help it grow by giving back. I always think to myself, if we are to come back, how can we lead for the next generation? If we are to grow, who’s going to be the next mayor, teacher, commissioner, historian, or any other leader who has an impact?  We all have a part in this town, we all have many stories and memories. Like I always said, many people don’t understand it, but if there ever came a time in which we had filmed a movie of our years in school, this town, or anything, it would be a fantastic experience to do. I wouldn’t mind if the director said, okay I want everyone who taught at the school from 2007-2011, and has graduated from those classes, come back to participate in a Hollywood movie. I bet you 100%, if that was to ever happen, not only will everyone feel the memories and bondage like family waiting to happen, but the “magic” in where you came from. By the time you look at it, you’ll know that it will be a moment to relive those glory days.

…..Oh don’t worry, I didn’t stop right there…..I have a lot more stories and wisdom to share with you.

…..No wonder why Senior year felt like a movie…..

…..More stories to come…..You may not understand it now, but I’m telling it the best I can.

I'm So JC : Little History Facts

Remember in my last blog I told you that I had many stories, memories, and great words I have to say about the Junction City-Geary County Region? Well lately I’ve seen a trend on Facebook called “I’m So…”, which describes what you remember growing up in the town. Well, for one, I have many….So I’m just going to give my list right here….Only some…Not everything…

I’m so J.C., I remember when Powerhits 97.5 used to be “The Big Kat 94.5”. The Talk of JC, used to be “1420 Country KJCK”. If you ever listened to the radio, you would know when to sing along when they played the full version of The Martinez Sales and Rentals, theme song..

Across from McDonald’s where Panchos is located, used to be a Winchell’s Doughnuts, and a Pie place.

El Tapatio used to be, Pinata.

Kite’s was Erika’s Guesthaus (German Restaurant).

Denny’s and a Dairy Queen south of Washington.

Food 4 Less where JC Naz is currently.

Sirloin Stockade was located in the building across from the JC Naz church, before it became EL Cazador.

Shoney’s was where the Family Buffet is at currently. In fact, The Wal-Mart area was nothing but a Shoney’s, Wal-Mart, gas station, and Holiday Inn express.

The old Arby’s where the Eye doctor is at currently.

Days Inn before it became a Knight’s Inn.

All Fast food restaurants on sixth street had their original décor.

Hardees where El Ranchito is currently at.

Montgomery Wards used to be where Goodwill is at today.

Wal-Mart’s ORIGINAL Look went through three renovations in which it used to have a McDonald’s located where the Deli is at.

The Place to rent videos from was Dillons, Blockbuster, and Video time.

Community Band became a summer time activity in the park back in the 90’s.

ALCO’s before it became ‘The Dixon Center”.

JCHS went through many renovations.

Prom used to be held in the gymnasium with an awesome design of jaw dropping decorations….You would think you were not in Shenk gymnasium anymore. (my early 2000’s graduate friends might remember it)

South Park held the best Easter egg hunts.

The Opera House was vacant at the time….I never thought they would refurbish and re-open it during my High school career.

The Library held many great kid activities, story time, reading contests, magicians, Mr. Bill, and many other performances.

Sundown Salute used to be in Milford, although, it started back in 1972.

Grant Avenue had many restaurants which were owned by Korean, Puerto Rican, and German citizens.

Jin-Jin Garden used to be Imperial Palace.

The Tabaco/liquor shop used to be a Mexican restaurant.

Turning Point church was the ORIGINAL 18^th Little Theatre Play house.

Radio Shack, All Banks, Martinez Sale’s and Rentals, and Church’s Chicken have been in their same location dating back to when Junction City first started booming in the early 1900’s.

Jim Clark’s Tiger.

….I will stop right there, because the list, stories, and many many more things can go on.

By the way….Do you remember “The Flood”?

Ronald Atkinson