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HOST:
Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC — a VOA Special English program aboutmusic and American life that also answers your questions.
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This week, we answer a listener’s question about two Americanholidays…
and listen to music by Mary Fahl.
But first…we tell about the most famous park in the UnitedStates.
Central Park
HOST:
In eighteen-fifty-three, New YorkCity bought a huge amount of land for a public park to be built inits center. This year, New York is celebrating theone-hundred-fiftieth birthday of Central Park. It was the firstmajor city park in the United States. It still is the most famous.Shep O’Neal tells us about it.
ANNCR:
Central Park contains more than three-hundred-forty hectares ofland. Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux (VOX) designed the hugepark. Their goal was to make a beautiful natural environment withlakes, woods and open areas for all the people of New York to enjoy.
The area was mostly wetlands with no trees. The park buildersreshaped the land with tons of soil and rock and millions of treesand plants. They created hills and lakes. They designed bridges,roads and paths. They added more than fifty statues, monuments andfountains of water. They completed their work ineighteen-seventy-eight. Later, playgrounds, baseball fields and anice skating rink were built in the park. Today, Central Park alsohas a zoo, a carousel ride for children and a theater where playsand musical concerts are presented each summer.
About twenty-five-million people visit Central Park each year.These include people from other areas of the United States and fromforeign countries. Millions of people who live in New York loveCentral Park as a place to escape from their small apartments inhigh-rise buildings.
Every day, people walk, run or ride bicycles along the paths inCentral Park. Others walk their dogs, play baseball, row a boat onthe lake or eat a meal on the grass. Bird-watchers can observe morethan two-hundred kinds of birds in the park. Many people also usethe park for special events. For example, some people choose one ofthe beautiful natural areas in the park as the perfect place to getmarried.
Central Park is a place of peace, quiet and natural beauty thatis surrounded by tall buildings and the noisy, crowded streets ofNew York. Some people call it the heart of the biggest city inAmerica.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg says that “for millions ofNew Yorkers, Central Park is not just a park. It is our front yard.It is our picnic spot, our playground, our nature preserve… and ourfield of dreams.”
Holidays
Host:
Our VOA listener question this week comes from Nigeria. NuraddeenHamza asks about the American holidays celebrated on September firstand November eleventh of this year.
This Monday, Americans willcelebrate Labor Day. International Labor Day is May first. But theUnited States chose another day for its labor celebration. A NewYork labor leader is said to have suggested the first Monday inSeptember be a holiday to honor labor. He said it was a nice time ofthe year for a celebration. He proposed public parades to show thestrength of labor organizations. And he urged that people end theday with outdoor parties.
New York City held the first American labor day celebration onSeptember fifth, eighteen-eighty-two. The idea quickly spreadthroughout the country. Congress declared Labor Day a nationalholiday in eighteen-ninety-four. For many years, American workersused Labor Day to demonstrate for better conditions and pay. Overthe years, however, their condition improved. Such demonstrationsare no longer common.
Now, Labor Day weekend for Americans is a time to celebrate thelast warm days of summer. People enjoy outdoor activities andpicnics. And for most American children, Labor Day means it is timefor school to begin again.
November eleventh is Veterans Day.It was first declared Armistice Day by President Woodrow Wilson innineteen-nineteen. It was a day to honor the men and women who hadserved in the American armed forces during World War One. Congressmade it a national holiday in nineteen-twenty-six. The federal,state and local governments would close. All public schools wouldclose too. Parades in almost every city honored the men and womenwho had helped bring peace to Europe.
Armistice Day in nineteen-forty-five honored veterns of bothWorld War One and World War Two. In nineteen-fifty-four, Congressdecided to change the name of Armistice Day to Veterans Day. Bythen, almost six-million Americans had served in another militarycampaign-the Korean War. The number of veterans has continued togrow.
On November eleventh of each year, America’s military veteransare remembered with ceremonies and parades across the nation. Thepresident and other public officials speak at Veterans Dayceremonies. Everyone honors the men and women of the armed forceswho have served their country in war and in peace.
Mary Fahl
HOST:
Mary Fahl was the lead singer of agroup called The October Project. That group only performed for ashort time together during the nineteen-nineties. Now, Mary Fahl hasa new CD of her own. Faith Lapidus tells us about it.
ANNCR:
Mary Fahl’s new CD is called “The Other Side of Time.” She helpedwrite almost all the songs on the album. One of them was used in arecent movie about the American Civil War called “Gods andGenerals.” The song is called “Going Home.”
(GOING HOME)
Another song on Mary Fahl’s new CD was recorded for a moviecalled “The Guys”. The movie is about New York City firefighters whowere killed saving others during the attack on September eleventh,two-thousand-one. This song is called “The Dawning of the Day.” Fahlwrote new words for a traditional Irish melody.
(THE DAWNING OF THE DAY)
Critics say Mary Fahl’s voice is deep and rich and powerful. Theysay the music on her new album is beautiful. We leave you now withanother song from Mary Fahl’s new CD, “The Other Side of Time.” Thisone is called “Dream of You.”
(DREAM OF YOU)
HOST:
This is Bob Doughty. This program was written by Shelley Gollustand Nancy Steinbach. Our producer was Paul Thompson.
I hope you enjoyed our program. Join us again next week forAMERICAN MOSAIC — VOA’s radio magazine in Special English.