{"id":110428,"date":"2020-01-02T10:56:33","date_gmt":"2020-01-02T15:56:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=110428"},"modified":"2020-01-02T10:56:33","modified_gmt":"2020-01-02T15:56:33","slug":"the-musings-of-a-simple-country-man-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=110428","title":{"rendered":"The Musings of a Simple Country Man"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A Little Praise Goes a Long Way: A Christmas Gift Never\nForgotten<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Hobie Morris<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

By Hobie Morris<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To give pleasure to a single heart by a single act is better than a thousand heads bowing in prayer.\u2013 Mahatma Gandhi<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The influence of each human being on others in this life is a kind of immortality. \u2013 John Quincy Adams<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For 96 years, a great Utican has been silently standing at the very busy intersection of Genesee Street and the Parkway. Each day thousands of vehicles speed by, their occupants too rushed to notice this solitary man. His anonymity not always so. If you look carefully, his left hand is reaching toward a pocket. The sculptor knew why, as did a young boy at Christmas many years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is a bitterly cold Christmas Day morning more than a\ncentury ago. The young boy is dressed for the harsh weather. A heavy canvas bag\nfilled with tightly rolled Utica newspapers hangs heavily on his thin\nshoulders. His patrons are waiting anxiously for their large Christmas paper. Snow\nis falling heavier now as he continues his long route.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The man\u2019s beautiful Genesee Street home \u2013 imposingly\nstanding above Oneida Square \u2013 suitably reflects its owner\u2019s importance not\nonly in Utica and this state, but also our nation. His prominence and affluence\nfar different from the paperboy\u2019s whose immigrant parents are living on Miller\nStreet. A street, among many in Utica containing struggling immigrants all\ntrying to make a new life in the land of endless opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His full name is James \u201cSunny Jim\u201d Schoolcraft Sherman. Sherman\nis a former Utica mayor, political leader, influential member of the U.S. House\nof Representatives and the 27th vice president of the United States. Unquestionably,\nhe was one of Utica\u2019s great native sons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The boy kicks up snow as he walks up the snow-covered\nsidewalk leading to the elegant house\u2019s wide porch and massive wooden front\ndoor. He grabs a paper and is about to place it on the door sill when the door\nopens. He hands the paper to a well-dressed man. The lad is turning to leave\nwhen the man says \u201cwait.\u201d When the vice president of the United States says it,\nyou do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The paperboy stops and looks up at the imposing but\nkindly man. Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out a shiny silver dollar and\nhands it to the boy. Sherman thanks the lad for his good work\u2026  A big grin comes to the boy\u2019s rosy cheeks and\nan excited \u201cthank you\u201d to his lips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kind words that this young paperboy never forgot, long\nafter the silver dollar was spent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sherman\u2019s equally famous friend Elihu Root said of\nSherman, \u201cHis life made men happier, and his example is making men better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSuccess is all about being able to extend love to\npeople\u2026not in a big capital-letter sense but in the everyday: little by little,\ntask by task, gesture by gesture, word by word,\u201d wrote actor Ralph Fiennes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The boy grew up to be a handsome young man. Like James\nSherman, he graduated from Hamilton College and became a lifelong Utican, an\nattorney, a political and community leader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We will never precisely know what may have precipitated\nthis son of poor but proud immigrants to excel in life. Could it have been such\npraise and encouraging words on that snowy Christmas day?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Editor\u2019s note: Hobie Morris is a Brookfield resident and simple country man.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Little Praise Goes a Long Way: A Christmas Gift Never Forgotten By Hobie Morris To give pleasure to a single heart by a single act is better than a thousand heads bowing in prayer.\u2013 Mahatma Gandhi The influence of each human being on others in this life is a kind of immortality. \u2013 John […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":42368,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23677,23808,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-110428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-columns","category-opinion","category-top-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=110428"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110428\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/42368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=110428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=110428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=110428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}