Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Close Up students get up close to life in Washington, D.C.

Each year the Gurdon Rotary Club helps sponsor the Gurdon High School students in the Close-up Program allowing them to visit Washington, D.C.

At Thursday's meeting of the Rotary, GHS Principal Leonard Gills and four high school students who attended Close-up were present to inform the Rotary of their trip.

Alan Wimberly, Gurdon Band Director and Rotary Club President told the crowd Rotary had received two separate post cards from Andi Finley and Ashley Hulan stating how much fun they were having and thanking the Rotarians for helping sponsor their trip.

Gills said they took 24 people on the trio, 22 students and two adults.

Jake Plyler told Rotarians he was grateful for the Rotary's donation and was glad to be a part of such a great learning experience.

"My favorite part was visiting the Arlington Cemetery. When we arrived there, they were holding the funeral for Astronaut Michael Anderson, who was killed in the space shuttle Columbia disaster," Plyler said.

"We visited several monuments like the JFK Memorial with the eternal flame and looked at all the memorial for the men and women who have died fighting for our country. It made me feel proud to be an American," he added.

Lavonda Buford said, "I really enjoyed the workshops we attended at night. After a long day on the bus and walking and touring, it was nice to get back to our hotels and split into our groups for workshops. In our workshops we would discuss things like war and what to do about it and what we thought about the governments decisions. We would have debates about our topics.

"I also enjoyed meeting new people."

Alana Finley, said she enjoyed Capitol Hill day when they got to go and talk to their representatives and senators.

"They talked to us about what their life is like and how busy they are. Mike Ross said he spends three days a week in Washington and four days here.

"We also talked to Blanche Lincoln about topics of gun control and other matters. Everyone we talked to seemed to be rushed due to voting and attending meetings," said Finley.

Cody Quillin said he enjoyed visiting all the different monuments.

"While we were visiting the Lincoln memorial I was thinking, Wow, someone can do or say one thing and they can be remembered forever. It was amazing to see the monument for Iwo Jima. We had just seen a play about it, and it was pretty emotional when you think about the people who died for us and how brave they were with everything that was going on around there," said Quillin.

Gills asked Quillin to tell Rotarians about what happened during the bomb hoax at the Capitol.

"Some people didn't take it very seriously, they were dancing around with the guy. I myself was scared to death. I wanted to cry and I was doing some praying," said Quillin.

Gills said he received several compliments about the students's behavior and dress.