Brown's Journal: June 2007

Real beaver teeth

Blair took this picture of the 50 pound beaver. I could not resist posting one more picture.

A FIFTY pound beaver

There was quite a commotion when this 50 poound beaver was brought in on the back of a truck.

A man and his son are trapping beaver and muskrat out of the ponds and beaver dams here on the property. The animals are gaining in number and causing a lot of damage.

Today, they caught a 50 pound beaver. The trapper said that this is the second largest that he has caught. The largest that he has caught is 75 pounds.

Check out those teeth. Beaver teeth never stop growing so they need to gnaw and gnaw to keep them sharp and a reasonable length.

Their back feet are interesting and useful.

Here is a look at the strong tail that pounds the damns into shape.

Slip and Slide

Peter and David engineered a 150' slip and slide from a roll of plastic. Then with liquid soap and and buckets of water........Away they goooooooo.
Isaac and Sam Bulman, Spencer, Hannah, Cole, and Lydia Blevins, Peter Bradrick.David, Blair and Claudia Brown could not have had more fun at a fancy water park.
Kelly is directing the whole operation. Thanks Peter and David for the joy of watching the fun and cooling everyone off on such a hot humid day.

Jamestown Quadricentennial

Bill and Tuskeegee Airman and Medal of Honor Winner Ezra Hill had a great time comparing notes and talking about their experiences.

This was a grand and meaningful celebration at Jamestown, VA of the 400th year of the birth of our nation. There were many first here. The first Bible was brought to our shores. The Bible of the Jamestown settlers and the Pilgrims was the Geneva Bible as the King James version was yet to be.
The first Christian worship began here.
The first conversion took place here with Princess Pocahontas.
The first Christian Baptism,.
The first inter-racial marriage between John Rolfe and Princess Pocahontas.
The first school was established here. When Princess Pocahontas became Lady Rebecca in England she asked that there be a school established for the purpose of teaching her people to read so that they might read the scriptures and believe in Christ as their Savior as she had. Henricus College is still going strong.
The first Republican Representative form of government was established here and became the model for our constitution. When the people did not own their own land, they became lazy and disinterested in the affairs of the settlement.
The Jamestown settlers were sent by the English government and the charter stated that they were to spread the gospel and evangelize.
The Plymouth settlers were escaping Religious persecution.

We were here to celebrate God's providence in the founding of our country.
Richard Hakluyt, one of the Jamestown founders said this, "We shall by planting there inlarge the glory of the gospel, and from England plant sincere religion, and provide a safe and sure place to receive people from all parts of the worlds that are forced to flee for the truth of God's word."

We celebrated with tours of Williamsburg, Yorktown, and Jamestown. There were boat rides on the James River, tethered balloon rides, re-enactments, lectures, speeches , poetry recitations and plays.
We heard from Teddy Roosevelt, President John Tyler, Captain John Smith and witnessed the conversion and marriage of Princess Pocahontas to John Rolfe.

For two days about 4000 people gathered at Fort Pocahontas . This land has been owned by the Tyler family for many centuries. Men, women and children dressed for the ocassion. It was a sight to see.

The boys had a great time of learning the art of war.

Peter's mother and I linger after a meeting under the tent that seated 3000 people.

Fifers and drummers opened meetings and led the children's parade each of two days.

Hot air balloon rides gave a view of the land.

Peter's brother, Phillip , worked hard to see that everyone's needs were met.

People enjoyed picniking and visiting and resting. The festivities were from 9:00am to 10:00pm for two days at Fort Pocahantas.

The highlight of the two day celebration was the unveiling of the Children's Memorial. Many children sent $1 to fund this undertaking. In years past many monuments were dedicated to the founding of Jamestown but this year because of political correctness none others were laid.

The Great, great , great grandson of President John Tyler in on the platform to witness the unveiling. This private property is still in the hands of the Tyler family and they so graciously allowed this celebration to take place here.
The Bible is opened to Psalm 78:1-4

The east side, 'Honor your father and mother that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord Thy God givith thee."

The north side reads,"We, the grateful children of the twenty-first century, in gratitude to the Lord our God for the mercy and kindness bestowed upon the American people through His providential directiion and care of our Jamestown forefathers, do hereby erect this monument on the four hundredth anniversary of the Jamestown Settlement.

Dedicated in the year of our Lord, June 15, 2007

A time capsule with the names of all the contrubutors and letters written for the children to read in one hundred years is burried at the foot of the Memorial. Kelly and Peter wrote a letter for their decendents and plan to keep each genetation apprised of this so that in one hundred years at least one of them can be present at the opening of the capsule.

Elegant Claudia dressed for the ocassion.

Claudia is in the middle.

One evening we were priviliged to attend a dinner cruise on the James River and learned more about the landmarks. Charlie Zham provided songs of the era.

Now we are home and trying to sort out all we have learned and how to pass 0n the Providence of God not only at Jamestown but in our own lives.

There are more pictures on http://www.visionforum.com/ then click on Doug's Blog.

Scott hasn't posted his pictures yet.

Remembering Keith Holmsley Biedermann

Keith Holmsley Biedermann was the husband of Thuy, the father of Randi and Traci, the son of Ken and Libby, the brother of Paula, Tom and Kyle and the nephew of Mary Brown, Frances Stenicka and Tom Holmsley. Keith is remembered by many, many friends and co-workers.

On June 4, 2007 Keith and two other men were canyoneering in Zion National Park. It had been an exhausting day rappelling down canyon walls and in and out of pools of water. Light was fading. The first man was lowered down which took a long time. The second man rappelled down in the dark. No one knows for sure what happened when Keith began to climb down in the dark but he fell 300 feet to his death. Rangers were summoned and his body was taken to Salt Lake City, Utah.

Keith will be remembered for his love of his wife and two daughters and his passion to teach them all he could of God's creation. He taught them geology, butterflies, plants and animals with a passion. The Minister said of Keith that he was a participator, never a spectator, just as Christ is a participator in our lives even unto death.

God in his sovereignty and His perfect will has taken Keith to be with Him. We who are left trust that God's ways are perfect and if not in this life, in eternity, we will know the answer.

There were so many kindnesses, blessings and joys expressed by those who knew Keith and his character will be a beacon to all of us and his family.

We pray the Lord's mercy on the two men who witnessed this tragedy. May healing come quickly.

Our prayers are with Thuy and Randi and Traci as they face this new life together. Lord, have mercy on them and guide them and love them.

Memorial Day May 28,2007

O're the land of the free and the home of the Brave.

We live in a land of the free because of the Brave.

VFW Marines

Color Guard

Bugler played the call to assemble and to raise the flag

Hayrides for everyone all day. The Blue Gospel quartet led us in rousing songs of faith.

WWII Jeep rides for everyone all day.

Here comes the National Guard Apache Helicopter flying over the lake.

We learned that one helmet with all its technology cost $15,000.

Karen Sultan played appropriate music during the lunch break.

How many nails will go into a tree stump?

Preparing hush-puppies for 900 people.

The food line took longer than we wanted so next year we will have four serving tents instead of two. We served pork, slaw, hush-puppies, cake and lots and lots of sweet southern ice tea.

For Deborah, Memorial Day meant showing a picture of our expectant Kelly.

Good Ole Lester Roy Barham greeting all of us after being up all night cooking four pigs for the pig-picking lunch. He also cooked the hush-puppies.

The crowd was attentive and appreciative of all the testimonies given by the Veterans who spoke.

This was a multi-generational day. That is Blair standing tall.

Many of the girls who fourteen and under word colonial dresses and served the veterans.

The four Price brothers enlisted in WWII and were all sent to different places. One was involved in D-Day in Normandy. They honor us with their presence every year.

David Lanier is a Civil War Historian and he told stories of the Patriots of that war.

Art Burry(rt) was shot down on June 1, 1945 near the Sea of Japan and rode out the worst typhoon, Typhoon Nana, of the war. He was in his little raft for 6 days. Huge destroyers and carriers in Admiral Halsey's fleet were being split apart by this storm. After six days the Submarine Trutta just happened to surface and saw this tiny black dot on the crest of the wave. Jack Toliver was on that Submarine and is sitting here with Art. There are so many wonderful stories to tell.

Ashley Brown escaped death in Afganistan. Jim Dyer told of the providence of God in his life in Vietnam.

All of these men were on Iwo Jima at one time or the other. Bill and Art Burry flew P-51's, Marvin Sneed flew P-47's, Buck Bunn flew B-29's and Bill Henderson was a Marine who was in the first wave of the invasion of Iwo Jima. It was Buck Bunn who saw Bill's plane on fire and watched him bail out. It is quite possible that it was Buck's tail gunner that shot Bill out of the air.