I found myself reading an article this morning about Lake Champlain. Every fifty years after it's "discovery" in 1609 there is a, well, celebration. A party. A tourist attraction. A re-enactment. All of that historical goodness. I've found myself watching such things on television, seeing sitcoms with their re-enactments in their small towns and their pride and excitement. I wanted to be a part of it. It looked fun, and special. And in a few years my chance will come, only on a much larger scale.

I'll forget about this in a few weeks, but a twenty-four member quadricentennial commission will be focussing on it for the next four years. It's exciting to think about that. And also exciting to think about what it will do for our region. In 2008 Quebec will be celebrating their 400th anniversary. In 2009, we will have ours. There's talk of national ad campaigns and the like. All sorts of media attention. All sorts of excitement and just plain good stuff. It'd mean money for the region, development. It'd put us on the map. Selfishly, I won't be asked, "What state is that in?" when I tell someone I live in Vermont.

Look. I try as sensitive to Native American (and other ethnic) feelings as I can be without being one. But the reality is that I'm an average American, and as an average American I don't understand the purpose of changing the words. They're going to avoid calling it a celebration, but that's what it is.

Dictionary.com defines celebration as:

1. To observe (a day or event) with ceremonies of respect, festivity, or rejoicing. See Synonyms at observe.
2. To perform (a religious ceremony): celebrate Mass.
3. To extol or praise: a sonnet that celebrates love.
4. To make widely known; display: “a determination on the author's part to celebrate... the offenses of another” (William H. Pritchard).

Let's break it down. We will be observing an event with ceremonies of respect and festivity. These two emotions will invoke rejoicing. First definition applies. I'm not trying to say whether or not taking the land was right. I'm not touching that political bomb with a ten foot pole. What I am trying to say is a rose by any other name still smells so sweet, and a celebration by any other name is still a celebration. That's what it is. So let's stop trying to change the name of it and start changing the nature of it. If we have a problem with the concept of celebrating over taking the land, then let's make the celebration a way to raise awareness of exactly what happened here. We will still be observing an event with ceremonies of respect. Yes? Good.

Sometimes it feels like people are so busy trying to be politically correct with their words that they miss the opportunity to do it with their actions. And I assure you, in this man's eyes, actions do speak louder than words.