Monday morning dawned long after our day had started. You know people talk about getting up at the crack of dawn? Well, we were up long before the crack of dawn. My sister, Hannah, and I jumped out of bed (ok, so we dragged ourselves out of bed) at 5:00 in the morning, showered, inhaled breakfast and grabbed our stuff just in time to run out the door to meet our ride.
We climbed in the M.'s van and were very shortly informed that the number of occupants was going to go over the intended number of occupants (by one) very soon. The end result being that we managed to squash 4 girls on a back seat meant for 3 for a 30 minute drive!
Fortunately, we did not have to sit in the sardine can for the entire trip. We stopped to switch to a 15 passenger van that, after the second stop was made more interesting by 4 guys crammed onto the back seat which was meant for 4 much smaller people.
We rendezvoused with Jimmy M. the trip coordinator and were surprised to find that we had homework to do on the way. Each person was given a sheet to fill out with simple information such as who your state senator and state representative are, how many Republicans vs. Democrats are in the House and Senate, etc. We were also assigned the task of dividing into teams and to write a bill. The first sheet was fairly easy, and for my team at least the other assignment was equally simple and fun. :) Some topics addressed by the various bills included Bibles on school property to sawed off shotguns.
After an approximately 3-4 hr. drive we finally arrived in Jefferson City. There were about 30 of us in 4 vehicles including those who joined us when we all piled out of our two vans.
Our first stop was the Missouri Supreme Court building right across the street from the capitol building. I have two knives that I carry in my purse and I almost left them there thinking that they wouldn't be a problem. As soon as I got in the door I rejoiced that I had opted to leave them. We crowded in and walked one by one through the metal detector and gathered in a group on the other side ready to start our tour.
Our tour guide, a pretty, young clerk who I noticed is engaged, gave us some history of the building before leading us up the marble steps, down the hall and into the courtroom.
Group picture in the courtroom
She asked us to notice how many of the judges portrayed on the wall were women. There was only one. Ann Kettering Covington served from 1989 to 2001. She was the first female chief justice There are currently 4 women out of 7 judges on the supreme court. This is what we in America call "progress". We put those in leadership whom God meant to follow and we put those meant to lead in the position of a follower.
We walked through the robing room (where the judges put on their robes) and then went into the library. We stopped by the display of the Dred Scott case in the library. (The African-American who was freed by the law upheld by Southern judges and then illegally enslaved again by Northerners. Fortunately, his Southern owner freed him and his family soon after the case was over, but this continues to be a reminder of the injustice of this world in more ways than one.)
The tour was over and we headed back down the marble staircase and out the doors.
...and across the street to the basement of the capitol building for pizza which was graciously provided by Representative Bryan Stevenson.
During lunch we shared our bills, listened to the MO state TeenPact coordinator and TeenPact alumni, (Hannah and I will be attending this year) and got instructions for what to do next.
After lunch and all that entailed was over, we split up into groups and set out to deliver pocket calendars to each Representative and Senator on behalf of Families for Home Education.
We then headed down to the first floor for an official tour of the capitol. (We were scheduled for a special tour, but our guide "The Telecommunicator" was sick that day.) The guide took us through the main part of the building, teaching about the history and answering questions. We saw several of the Lunette paintings, the art room painted by Thomas Hart Benton.
The tour ended in the House of Representatives just before the session started. Cameras are not usually allowed in the House or the Senate, but we were given permission this time so I took advantage of the moment before the bell rang to snap as many pictures as possible. This consisted of 3 pictures before the tour guide asked us to put the cameras away.
As the representatives gathered, we left the visitors' gallery and went to the House floor where we were introduced as special guests. We listened to the proceedings for a few minutes and then left to get a group pictures taken in the art room. (We're supposed to get that picture, but I'm not sure how or when.) Then those of us who wanted to, headed up to the Whisper Gallery by way of a VERY crowded elevator.Yes, Michael really does tower over everyone.
The ceiling of the elevator.
The Whisper Gallery is so called because you can stand on one side, whisper into the wall and someone on the other side can hear you perfectly.Looking up into the Whisper Gallery from the 1st floor.
Looking down on the 1st floor from the Whisper Gallery.
Across the Whisper Gallery
The chandelier is taken down once a year to change the lightbulbs. Once they took it down and it hung over the 1st floor. The chandelier fell, hitting the Missouri seal(which you can see in the picture above looking down from the Gallery) and spent several months being repaired. Surprisingly the seal was unharmed.
Some of us then headed even further up to the capitol dome. There was no elevator this time, so we all got to work off all that pizza walking up the stairs....and more stairs....and more stairs.....
We stopped at a small landing area where we waited as the guide took us up to the dome in groups...this involved even more stairs and more stairs....
The crank to let down the chandelier.
Looking up.
The view of the river from the dome.
We all walked all the way down to the tiny hallway by the elevator and rode to the 4th floor where we waited in the hallway to meet with Speaker Ron Richard (also my district rep.) who was in a meeting.
Looking out the window.
This was a very cool water fountain. See the little button on the top right? If you push it water shoots out of the lion's mouth. A big surprise if someone happens to be attempting to get a drink at that moment. :) Just make sure they're not holding any non-water proof valuables (such as a camera) and that they are not about to go meet an important person and need to look dry. Fortunately there were no serious mishaps.
That was the last event for the day so we gathered back in our room in the basement to vote on where to go for supper while the drivers when to get the vehicles.The main entrance which we didn't really see until we left.
The boss over-ruled the vote for health reasons involving some members of the group (I was not disappointed as I'm not a big fan of Wendy's) and we went to Subway.Nychelle and Alyssa
The guys
Lorianne, Nicole and Hannah
After everyone had eaten, we said our goodbyes and piled back into our vans to drive the rest of the way home.
2 comments:
I like your new look. :) It was fun in Jeff City. Those are some neat pictures.
that was such a fun day!!
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