There may be little that's special about the 24 hours from noon Friday to noon Saturday this week. On the surface, that is. But below the routine events that make up any day, there always are special moments in the life of a community. A baby is born.
A jury finds a defendant guilty and the jail doors clang shut. A 12-year-old slides across the plate with his first home run. A heron glides down the riverbank, startling a lone fisherman. A mother quietly cries with joy as she reads a letter from her son overseas.
A salesman signs a big contract, then celebrates with his co-workers. The rhythm of a community moves through the day, with factory whistles and mall walkers giving way to traffic jams, business meetings and soaps, and finally to soccer games, choir practice and bedtime stories. Some days, the rhythm is interrupted by an unscheduled tragedy -- a family loses its home to fire; a traffic accident maims or kills a loved one. Some days, the rhythm is interrupted by unexpected joy -- a spur of the moment marriage proposal; a scholarship or promotion. But every day is unique, as much for the small moments as for the big. That's what the "Eye of the Elk" is all about. Life in Muskingum County is special, and in this Bicentennial year it seemed to Charlie Kearns that we should spend a day chronicling life in our community. Charlie is a professor of theater at Ohio University-Zanesville, and he deserves the credit for turning an idea about a day in the life of Muskingum County into reality.
Charlie chose to call the project "Eye of the Elk" because that's what "Muskingum" meant to the Delaware Indians. This Friday, the project will be launched in a short ceremony at noon on the Y Bridge. Then everyone, whether they attend the ceremony or not, is invited to take photographs, draw pictures, write poetry, essays or short stories, compose music -- whatever art form you choose -- to capture an image that is part of a day in the life of Muskingum County. The invitation is incredibly broad. Take a picture of your father brushing his teeth, your children sleeping just before the alarm rings, the steam coming from a pot on the stove or the sun setting over the pond on your farm.. Anything that represents a slice of life as we know it -- a sliver of the "Eye of the Elk." The Times Recorder is proud to be a sponsor of the "Eye of the Elk" project.When Charlie first told me about his idea, I knew it was a winner. I've been involved in other day-in-the-life projects. But always before, we used our own newspaper staff to chronicle the events, both big and little, that make up a day. Charlie's idea is bigger than that. He wants the entire community to participate. The tapestry of artwork that emerges could be impressive, indeed. It will be the essence of Muskingum County, seen through the eyes of hundreds of different residents. The photography and other artwork will be juried -- that is to say judges will select the best for display in July at Colony Square Mall. But all of the entries also will be displayed, so this is everyone's chance to try their hand at photography or drawing or whatever their interest. Many of the entries will be included in a special section in July in the Times Recorder. We'll take the best, from both the judges' selections and our own, for inclusion in the section. I'm excited about the project and its potential to create a significant collection of work. I hope hundreds of county residents dust off their cameras, their paint brushes, their keyboards and pencils. It's a chance to wrap our collective arms around Muskingum County, at least for a day, and capture the spirit of a community in one big visual hug. I'll be out with my camera. Hope to see you.
Top