Poster Contest Winners
Jade Noel
Kindergarten - Jameson Elementary School, Old Orchard Beach
Rebecca D'Amico
4th Grade - Belgrade Central School
Constitution Essay Winner
Rylee Bellemare
7th Grade - Windsor Elementary School
"Parks and Recreation"
State Parks are a wonderful natural place that we all cherish and it’s all due to our Maine Constitution. Our Constitution states that no State Park Lands may be altered except by a 2/3rd vote of the Legislature. In fact Section 23 of Amendment IX says if any land is sold, the money must be used to buy more land for conservation or parks. This Maine Constitution allows people to enjoy the Maine Woods and wildlife without the fear of the land being destroyed or sold.
The delightful Maine State Parks that we have today weren’t always here. The first Maine State Park was Baxter in 1931. Governor Percival Baxter bought the 6,000 acres in 1930. Over the years he purchased additional lands and started putting his park together. At last he bought his last piece of land in 1962. Several parks followed such as Aroostook in 1938 and ending in 1989 with Shackford Head State Park.
Now we have forty-nine amazing State Parks around Maine. Each year Maine State Parks see about two million visitors and provide 1,449 full and part time jobs. State Parks are a wonderful place to come and spend the day, have a picnic or lay in the sun at the beach. Each State Park has its own unique and special things to do, like Camden Hills State Park. The park has 112 campsites. You can also climb Mt. Battie or walk the shore of the Atlantic Ocean. That’s not all! Some State Parks are historical sites like Fort Knox State Park. Fort Knox is Maine’s largest historic fort with its amazing granite craftsmanship. This fort was constructed from 1844 to 1864 and was never completely finished. From sandy beaches to the historical, you will always find one park that is special to you.
I have already found my special park. It is Peaks Kenny State Park. This park even has camping. There are fifty-six campsites and a sandy beach on Sebec Lake with a shoreline of eleven miles. One year my family and my friends went camping at this park. When we got there all we could see was the dark forest with birds chirping and the sun reflecting off the captivating lake. Once we got to our campsite we wanted to go explore. There was so much to do! We could hike, bike or swim! We all decided to go swimming. When we got to the lake, I could feel the warm yellow sand under my feet and the slight breeze in my hair. It was incredible. All at once we jumped into the water! That day we had so much fun. That night we started a fire and cooked up some golden brown marshmallows to go in our s’mores. This was one of the best camping trips I had ever been on. Ever since then we go back every year and each year we find more and more things to do. Peaks Kenny is definitely my favorite State Park.
All in all State Parks are one of my favorite places to go all year round. I am so glad that our Maine Constitution has this law to protect the land that we can all enjoy and explore.
The Importance of Voting and Democracy Essay
Kiley Eckstein
11th Grade - Highview Christian Academy
"Making Your Voice Heard"
This fall there will be an important election for president. However, all elections are important. Sadly, like usual, too many Mainers and Americans will not vote. Too few will state their opinions.
This ideal of voting is not new, but for many, they are all still waiting to latch on to the idea. Americans have voted for people and rulers for a long time. The Plymouth Colony started with a vote on the Mayflower Compact.
Now it seems strange that America was the first country to declare that rulers may govern with the consent of the people. Today, in many European countries more than seventy-five percent of all voters consistently votes. In the past century seldom have sixty percent of Americans voted. But really, the idea of voting and governing yourself is the basis of democracy.
Voting and democracy have come a long way in America. In colonial times, only white males owning property could vote. Additionally, most Founding Fathers only thought the upper class would be wise and competent as leaders. Therefore, many people were kept from public office.
After the Civil War, the 15th Amendment outlawed voter discrimination on the basis of “race, color, or previous condition of servitude,” but still only men were allowed to vote. Finally, in 1920, the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote. In 1964, the 24th Amendment lowered the right to vote to 18. The history of American Voting is the extension of voting to “excluded” groups.
People’s votes are important. Elections have been decided by a few votes. In 1884, Grover Cleveland was elected president over James Blaine when out of over a million New York votes, just 1,149 more votes chose Cleveland. Woodrow Wilson was elected in 1916, but Charles Evan Hughes would have become President if one more voter from each California district voted for him.
In 1960, John Kennedy defeated Richard Nixon in the presidential election by less than two tenths of one percent of the vote. President Kennedy’s Vice President Lyndon Johnson, in an earlier election for senator of Texas, won by 87 votes. Also, third-party votes have put nine people into the Presidency without a majority of the popular vote- Hayes, Garfield, Cleveland, Harrison, Wilson, Truman, Kennedy, Nixon, and Bush.
Even in world history, a small number of votes should not be overlooked. In 1932, Adolph Hitler was elected leader of the Nazis by one vote. If Hitler had lost, would there have been a World War II?
Today, an example of this tradition of voting and democracy in Maine can be seen in the traditional “town meeting.” The town meeting gives every Mainer the right to speak and vote.
But even with the town meeting, too many Mainers do not vote. People have forgotten that too many Mainers have fought powerful nations and sacrificed for democracy, which depends on voters. For a democracy to work, every person has to get involved in voting. Voting makes a democracy work and helps preserve democracy for others.
To be able to vote is so simple. Voting is granted to all Mainers by Maine’s constitution and the Constitution of the United States of America. Since 1971, the only requirements for voting have been that a person be a citizen of the United States, be at least 18-years-old, and be registered.
Although I am not 18, I still have a duty to voting and democracy. I must know how the United States works and its problems. I can consider candidates and issues and help voters cast their ballots in a more informed manner. Just reminding voters to vote is very important.
Americans have a responsibility to vote. They need to care about America. Democracy suffers when few people vote and few people decide who leads America. Too often, a minority of Americans is making a decision for the majority of the American people. Americans must reaffirm the importance of voting in a democracy.
Voting gives democracy a goal. Voters decide what people and laws are needed to meet a goal. Simply, voting is essential for democracy to succeed. For voting and democracy, Edmund Burke put it best, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
I can not imagine another system different from voting and democracy that is nobler, more just, more decent, and freer. The long campaign for voting and democracy must continue.