An awning is actually a type of canopy, typically made from canvas. You will find awnings used on houses, mobile homes, RVs, and businesses to help protect an area such as a porch or deck from sunshine and rain. In addition, most awning designs actually block out harmful UV rays from the sun. The benefit here is that furniture, carpeting, wall paint, and artwork does not fade from direct sunlight. However, the protection an awning provides, helping to keep heat outside, people notice the monthly utility bill decreasing.

Just as many features for a home or business, awnings are available in many different options. For example, you could choose a complete awning that runs the entire length of your deck or patio or if you prefer, a smaller awning that might keep sunlight off the front door. Many awnings are so thick and well made that they also provide some level of protection from snow and cold wind. In this case, you might consider adding a chimera for warmth while still being able to enjoy the outside.

In addition to various sizes, awnings also come in a huge selection of designs and prices. For example, a simple awning could cost between $250 and $400 while a motorized awning could be $3,000 or more. Before you make your final decision, we suggest you do some shopping locally, as well as check some of the online resources. Chances are that you will find a number of awnings you like. Although local sales are always possible, online websites could be the way to go for saving money.

If you think you want to add an awning to your home or business, you might invest in having it professionally installed. Although you could probably do some awning installations, generally the job is a little more difficult than it looks. One word of advice - check companies that offer free installation. While the price might be slightly higher, when comparing with a company that charges for both the awning and installation, you might save.

Then, there is the variety of colors and designs. The nice aspect here is that you can create any look you want while enhancing your home or business. If you want a sophisticated look, perfect for entertaining friends, then a white or taupe and white striped awning would be gorgeous. However, if you want an awning simply to coordinate with the house, you will find all types of colors and patterns from which to choose.

Awnings are also made with many unique features. An exceptional choice is the retractable awning. With this, you can crank or push an automatic button and the awning rolls up and out of sight. When ready to escape the heat, sun, or rain, you would simply go through the reverse process. The benefit with this feature is that if a storm brews and the wind picks up, the awning can be pulled in to avoid damage.

Remember, in addition to adding an awning over your deck or patio, you can also add them over a door, window, balcony, or terrace. Immediately, the appearance of your home will be improved without blocking out any beautiful views. Considering there are literally thousands of companies making and selling awnings, finding a deal and the right design is not difficult.

DeLillo’s fascination with exploring American culture is no secret, and though he has been criticized for including lists of products and brand names in his novels, these lists are essential to understanding the lives of the characters in White Noise, lives which are so media saturated that children mouth Toyota Celica in their sleep and adults ponder “leaded, unleaded, super unleaded” (DeLillo, White Noise, p. 199) after sex. The ubiquity of television leads the characters to perceive each other and events of daily life in terms of mediated images and explanations. Due to this, television is not only life, but life begins to echo television; the television static ultimately manifests itself as cultural static.

White noise, defined as a heterogeneous mixture of sound waves extending over a wide frequency range, can be compared to static, the buzzing of fluorescent lights, or the sound emitted from a television which has been muted but is still turned on. In the novel, the Gladney family seems to never be without some form of background noise - sometimes the radio, but most often the television, because “the need to use the senses that are available is as insistent as breathing - a fact that makes sense of the urge to keep radio or television going constantly” (McLuhan, Understanding Media: the Extensions of Man, p. 68).

The television plays the role of another family member, always ready to pipe up with useless commentary and observations at both intense and mundane moments: after dinner, before sex, when ex-husbands come to visit their children, during parent to child conversations, during adult conversations, in the morning, at night, in the middle of the afternoon. The television never rests, and neither does the family’s incessant urge to be visually and audibly stimulated.

An unfortunate side effect of the television’s constant droning is the manner in which advertisements become lodged in the character’s brains. Because the “steady trend in advertising is to manifest the product as an integral part of large social purposes and processes” (p. 226), the characters can not escape product jingles even within their own brains: “Coke is it, Coke is it, Coke is it” (DeLillo, p. 51). A woman walks down the street muttering “a decongestant, an antihistamine, a cough suppressant, a pain reliever” (p. 262). College students move into their dorm rooms carting “onion-and-garlic chips, nacho thins, peanut creme patties, Waffelos and Kabooms, fruit chews and toffee popcorn; the Dum-Dum pops, the Mystic mints” (p. 3).

Babette, the wife, mother, adulterer, and drug taker of the novel, has made it a tradition for the family to watch television together one night per week, feeling that this will in effect destroy the “narcotic undertow and eerie diseased brain-sucking power” (DeLillo, p. 16) the television seems to have. Paradoxically, this gives the television more power by forcing people to watch it for an entire evening as a sort of “wholesome domestic sport.” It seems that none of the family takes much joy in the ritual and yet they participate anyway, demonstrating their inability to resist the magnetic pull of the television. In this way, the television is more than mere entertainment but also a medium through which the family interacts.

Virtually everything the media presents is some kind of a simulacrum, which Plato defines as a copy of a copy, twice removed from the original and therefore twice removed from the value of the original. By watching television, the Gladney family is being exposed to fairly worthless reproductions of experiences which they may or may not have already had themselves, or seen before on a different television show or in a movie, or read about in a book or magazine. Because “the content of a movie is a novel or a play or an opera” (McLuhan, p. 18), nobody ever sees anything truly original, anything which has not been seen or heard before.

Because of the similarity of situations, events, and people shown through the media, the television begins to serve as a sort of modern day collective unconscious. “Such a universality of conscious being for mankind was dreamt of by Dante, who believed that men would remain mere broken fragments until they should be united in an inclusive consciousness” (McLuhan, p. 108). Now that people everywhere in America have seen the same television shows and movies and read the same books and articles, they share a wealth of common memories - but unfortunately, these are not memories of actual life, but memories of media manufactured situations and characters. Our collective unconscious is tainted, cluttered with media images and advertisements, catch phrases and jingles.

This begins to show in how the characters, particularly Babette and her husband Jack, expect each other to act. Real life begins to imitate the lives depicted on television, because “[television] is the medium that shapes and controls the scale and form of human association and action” (McLuhan, p. 9). When Babette’s marital indiscretion is revealed, Jack’s questions about the identity of the man and the circumstances involved prompt her to assume that he is going to act out in a stereotypically testosterone driven male fashion, as though all men who have been cheated on are homicidal revenge seekers. She tells Jack that “we all know men and their insane rage. This is something men are good at. Insane and violent jealousy. Homicidal rage” (DeLillo, p. 225). It is as though she expects him to play the role of jealous husband in some action movie or to behave as a crazy killer on the evening news, because “a male follows the path of homicidal rage … the path of plain dumb blind male biology” (p. 269).

On the other hand, Jack seems to think of Babette as though she should be as reliable and unchanging as a character on a favorite sitcom or a familiar product he has been buying at the supermarket for years. When Babette admits that she has been taking the non-FDA-approved medicine Dylar in an attempt to combat her fear of death, Jack seems unable to accept this revelation in her personality, in effect ordering her to be who he thinks she is: “Babette is not a neurotic person. She is strong, healthy, outgoing, affirmative. She says yes to things. This is the point of Babette” (p. 220). Later, when Jack inquires as to how she feels and her answer is less than optimistic, he tells her that he “depends on [her] to be the healthy former outgoing Babette” (p. 263). He criticizes her for wanting to go running late at night, saying that “no one can convince me that the person I know as Babette actually wants to run up the stadium steps at ten o’clock at night” (p. 301) and even for the way she talks: “Babette doesn’t speak like this.” He wants her to be as “uniform, continuous, and indefinitely repeatable” (McLuhan, p. 116) as the advertisements he is constantly exposed to, day in and day out.

Even Murray Siskind, visiting lecturer at the college where Jack teaches Hitler studies, seems to expect specific behaviors out of people in certain situations. When Jack reveals that he was exposed to the toxic chemical Nyodene Derivative and is therefore scheduled to die, Murray advises him on the proper way to behave like a dying man. “What people look for in a dying friend,” he informs Jack, “is a stubborn kind of gravel-voiced nobility, a refusal to give in, with moments of indomitable humor” (DeLillo, p. 284). Where else could he have developed preconceived notions about how a dying man should behave except from watching characters die movies and television? The social consequences of media, the stereotyped roles people expect one another to fulfill, result from “the new scale that is introduced into our affairs by each extension of ourselves, or by any new technology” (McLuhan, p. 7).

During the initial moments of the airborne toxic event, Heinrich, Jack’s only son, seems to react more reasonably to the situation than his father does, perhaps because “the power of the TV mosaic to transform American innocence into depth sophistication” (McLuhan, p. 323) is most visible in children. While he is watching the black cloud with interest from the roof, his father decides that it isn’t safe for him to be out on a ledge and Babette, sounding like she is repeating advice she has heard somewhere for dealing with a suicide jumper, tells him to “coax him back in. Be sensitive and caring. Get him to talk about himself. Don’t make sudden movements” (DeLillo, p. 110).

Heinrich expresses concern over whether or not the toxins will reach them and Jack, more occupied with media images than reality, tells him that “these things happen to poor people … did you ever see a college professor rowing a boat down his own street in one of those TV floods?” (p. 114). Objecting further once the radio officially calls the black mass an airborne toxic event, Jack insists, “I’m not just a college professor. I’m the head of a department. I don’t see myself fleeing an airborne toxic event. That’s for people who live in mobile homes out in the scrubby parts of the county, where the fish hatcheries are” (p. 117). Evidently he feels that he is too educated and too rich for a natural disaster to affect him. If he hasn’t seen it on television, it must not be possible.

Initially, the radio serves as the most important form of media the Gladneys rely on for information describing the airborne toxic event and the symptoms it might cause. The symptoms keep being updated, however, and the two daughters develop whatever symptoms they hear about, even when the symptoms are no longer correct, demonstrating “the instant consequences of electronically moved information” (McLuhan, p. 203). At first, the girls have sweaty palms. Then when the symptoms of exposure are changed to nausea and vomiting, they develop those too. Denise, the older and more observant of the girls, keeps getting up during dinner and “walking in small, stiff rapid strides to the toilet off the hall, a hand clamped to her mouth” (p. 117). Heinrich observes that she is showing outdated symptoms, because the radio has moved on to “heart palpitations and deja vu” (p. 116). The power of suggestion that the media has here is undeniable. Clearly the girls had not been exposed to Nyodene Derivative within their home, but hearing about what it could do to them was all the convincing they needed to act accordingly.

The family does not clear out of the house until a booming voice outside advises them to evacuate, and even then they do not seem to be in any kind of a rush, because Babette is “sure there’s plenty of time or they would have told [them] to hurry” (p. 119). Apparently, even when they are told that there is a black billowing cloud of deadly chemicals, they need further instruction to clarify whether or not evacuation is only a suggestion or “a little more mandatory.” It takes them twenty minutes of gathering personal possessions and “tins and jars with familiar life-enhancing labels” before they get into the car and then they check the other motorist’s faces to try and figure out “how frightened [they] should be” (p. 120).

Heinrich takes over the role of the media during this event, acting as a sort of news caster for his family by describing the scene outside the car, “the number and placement of bodies, the skid marks, the vehicular damage” (p. 122), “enthusiastically, with a sense of appreciation for the vivid and unexpected” (p. 123). Once safely inside the abandoned Boy Scout camp where the evacuees were directed for shelter, Heinrich sinks deeper into his role. “At the outer edges of one of the largest clusters … [he] was at the center of things, speaking in his new-found voice, his tone of enthusiasm for runaway calamity” (p. 130).

The evacuees gather around Heinrich, listening and watching, as though he is a television. He relays what he knows about Nyodene Derivative with a mixture of seriousness, sincerity, and comedy, even throwing in some predictions for future damage caused by exposure to the toxin. “There’s a lesson in all of this,” he concludes. “Get to know your chemicals” (p. 131). He sounds almost like a commercial for poison control.

Babette busies herself through the event by reading tabloids to a group of people in the camp, thereby serving as a medium through which media could exist no matter what the circumstances. She changes her voice according to dialogue and speaker, reads stories and advertisements indiscriminately, alternately. She provides another form of entertainment to the crowd, one that is more light-hearted, bubbly, and insignificant.

The crowd enjoys listening to Heinrich and Babette not just because they are serving as makeshift forms of media, but because “the pleasure of being among the masses is the sense of joy in the multiplication of numbers” (McLuhan, p. 107). This is a similar joy to that which is derived from the repetition of commercials, of ideas, of anything. Jack tells his Hitler students that “crowds came to be hypnotized by the voice, the party anthems, the torch light parades” (DeLillo, p. 73). Hitler had double the power of a television; not only could he attract people to him due to the familiar and continuous repetition of his ideas and anthems, but also due to the sheer joy taken from being in a crowd, the concept of infinity finally realized in visual terms among the masses. “Hitler … we couldn’t have television without him” (p. 63).

Was Hitler not just an advertisement for hate and death, while the crowds he drew advertised life through conformity and infinity - both advertisements “intended as subliminal pills for the subconscious in order to exercise an hypnotic spell” (McLuhan, p. 228)? As Jack says, “to break off from the crowd is to risk death as an individual” (DeLillo, p. 73). To not buy what is being sold is to reject the crowd, to reject repetition, to reject eternity. To reject the illusion is to reject American culture.

Jack, never one to reject illusion, describes the toxic event as though it is in fact a movie, the cloud of poison moving “like some death ship in a Norse legend, escorted across the night by armoured creatures with spiral wings” (p. 127), the army helicopters “spotlighting the cloud … as though it were part of a sound-and-light show, a bit of mood-setting mist drifting across a high battlement where a king had been slain” (p. 128). Detached from the reality of the situation, Jack watches this thing happen as though he is not actually a part of it, indicating that he has begun to look at the world around him as though it were just an enormous television. He is more of a silent viewer than an active participant. As his son points out to him, “it is practically the twenty-first century and you’ve read hundreds of books and magazines and seen a hundred TV shows about science and medicine. Could you tell [people from the Middle Ages] one little crucial thing that might save a million and a half lives?” (p. 148). The answer is probably not.

All the characters reactions seem partially staged or rehearsed. Rumors spread through out the camp, the people manufacturing and distributing information which might or might not be based on truth. There was “growing respect for the most vivid rumor, the most chilling tale” (p. 153) and the people “began to marvel at [their] own ability to manufacture awe.” The people do not seem to have emotions so much as they seem to look around and decide how they should be feeling, acting, and reacting; everyone is caught up in the idea of what image it would be appropriate to present.

Jack, for instance, reveals at the beginning of the novel that has has altered his image so that he would look like the sort of man one would expect to be teaching Hitler studies. The chancellor of the college had advised him not only to gain weight in order to give off “an air of unhealthy excess, of padding and exaggeration, hulking massiveness” (p. 17) but also to change his name if he wanted to be “taken seriously as a Hitler innovator” (p. 16). Having invented an extra initial, Jack is known as J. A. K. Gladney and has become “the false character that follows the name around” (p. 17), skulking about campus in dark glasses and an academic robe to keep up appearances.

But he is concerned not only with his own image, but also with Babette’s, even when she is just around the house, as though he expects her to keep up a constantly picturesque image. He complains that she wears sweatsuits too much, telling her that “I wish you wouldn’t wear it when you read bedtime stories to Wilder or braid Steffie’s hair. There’s something touching about such moments that is jeopardized by running clothes” (p. 301).

The other image that Jack becomes obsessed with is that of Mr. Gray, the man with whom Babette exchanged sex for Dylar. Jack imagines Mr. Gray as a blurry television figure, “gray-bodied, staticky, unfinished … a hazy gray seducer moving in ripples across a hotel room” (p. 241). Perhaps influenced by his wife’s repetitive comments about homicidal rage, because “a small pattern in a noisy redundant barrage of repetition will gradually assert itself” (McLuhan, p. 227), Jack devises a plan to find and kill Willie Mink. Jack ends up acting just as his wife assumed he would, illustrating that life echoes what appears on television.

What Jack finds when following through with his plan is a man in a motel room incessantly shoving Dylar pills down his throat, spouting off nonsense like a walking television whose channels keep being flipped. “The pet under stress may need a prescription diet” (DeLillo, p. 307), he says, clearly repeating some random commercial. Willie’s face is even shaped like a television: “odd, concave, forehead and chin jutting” (p. 306), and he wears “Budweiser shorts” (p. 307) to complete the image, a commercial to correspond with his television face.

Faced with the man he has imagined all along as being an image from the television, Jack follows through with his plan and shoots Willie twice in the stomach “for maximum slowness, depth and intensity of pain” (p. 311). He describes the gunshot wounds as though removed from the situation, like he is in a movie: “I watched blood squirt … a delicate arc. I marveled at the rich color, sensed the color-causing action of nonnucleated cells … Mink’s pain was beautiful, intense” (p. 312). His plan falters when he places the gun in Willie’s hand in an attempt to imply suicide and Willie ends up shooting him in the wrist. Symbolically, Jack tries to kill the television and the television fights back, trying to save itself - indicating perhaps, finally, that Jack is ready to reject some of the artificiality of the media driven world.

In a world where television is everywhere, where television is a way of life and life is an echo of television, culture is inevitably influenced by the static sounding from the TV. But what purpose does the ever-present white noise of the media serve: does it intend to distort reality, or is it just an integral part of our modern reality? And for all Delillo’s good intentions for social commentary, are his words finally not just another layer of white noise in our already buzzing world?

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Glens Falls is the only city in Warren County New York. It is in the region known as the North Country. It is located just south of Lake George, one of the most popular vacation resorts in New York and just a short drive down the thruway to Albany, the state Capital. There is also an Amtrak station in near by For Edward, just about 5 miles away. Glens Falls New York has a great local shopping district and it is a short drive to malls in the area like Quensbury and Saratoga Springs.

Houses in Glens Falls New York are a mixed bag. Everything from small to huge. The ones at the lower end of the price scale are the oldest, with the exception of mobile homes, and the ones with the least amount of land. AS you move up in price, you get larger homes in town and some out the outskirts, where you get a mix of Victorian and more recent styles. Make note of the condos. They are very unusual and there are new ones being built. Some of the condos have more square footage than some of the private houses. And if you are looking for a maintenance free environment, one of them just might be right for you. You get a lot of styles, if not a lot of homes, in the higher price range and the highest priced one is really a county mansion.

Glens Falls is a place to consider when looking for a country life style while being able to commute to work Albany. It is not that long by Amtrak and when you can live near places like Lake George and Saratoga Springs, a little travel time is a pretty good trade off

These are only some of the houses available in Glens Falls today, but they will give you a good idea on what you can find.

A three bedroom mobile home for $64,000
A two bedroom bungalow for $99,000
A three bedroom colonial for $110,000
A six room three bedroom colonial for $122,900
A three bedroom colonial for $134,000
A four bedroom Victorian for $144,900
A five room two bedroom ranch for $144,900
A ten room three bedroom Victorian for $153,050
A six room three bedroom ranch for $159,000
A seven room three bedroom colonial for $164,900
A seven room four bedroom raised ranch for $174,500
A four bedroom townhouse condo for $179,000
A six room three bedroom ranch house on close to an acre of land for $185,000
A six room three bedroom ranch for $169,900
An eight room five bedroom townhouse style condo for $193,000
A three bedroom craftsman style bungalow for $209,000
A three bedroom colonial for $264,900
A ten room five bedroom Victorian for $275,000
A brand new five room two bedroom condo for $281,265
A seven room three bedroom split level for $299,876
A seven room two bedroom condo in a two story building for $329,900
A seven room three bedroom contemporary colonial for $339,900
A seven room four bedroom Victorian for $359,900
An eleven room, six bedroom federal style center hall colonial for $639,900

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The Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA) was established in 1977 in order to banish unfair and immoral collection practices by debt collectors. Many people who are behind on their bills feel threatened or intimidated by bill collectors, and will refuse to talk to them. It’s nice to know that even though you owe money to a bank or finance company, you still have rights. The FDCPA defines and protects those rights, and creates an atmosphere of civility so that you can feel comfortable talking to your creditors. In most cases, creditors have repayment options, or can suggest alternative financing arrangements in order to get you back on track with your financial obligations.

An important fact to note is that the FDCPA only applies to third-party collection agents. These agencies (collection agencies, collection attorneys) are collectors that are collecting for someone else. First-party collectors are agents that collect for debts that their company owns, such as a mortgage company that calls you directly if you miss a payment. Many first-party collectors will abide by the FDCPA in order to reduce their litigation exposure, but they are not bound by it.

Another thing to consider is that the FDCPA does not override individual state laws concerning collections. As a consumer, state laws will in most cases give you more rights, and limit the collector’s rights, such as divulging information to spouses without prior consent by the consumer.

Below are the major points that a consumer should know about the FDCPA. These are the basic, everyday issues, and not meant to be a comprehensive review of the Act. Knowing these points will help you to understand what a creditor can and cannot do, and whether your rights are being violated.

The Fair Debt Collections Practices Act

Location Information

Basically: The collector is allowed to try to find you.
Details: A common practice of debt collectors is to pull your credit bureau report, and look for your last listed place of employment. They will then call your job and try to contact you. This is allowed by the FDCPA as long as the collector identifies who they are and where they are calling from, and does not indicate to anyone but you that you have a debt. Collectors are also able to call any other third-parties for your contact information, including family members, neighbors, other creditors, your attorney, and anyone else they can find, providing that they follow the above rules.

Example: A collector was collecting on mortgages in Florida, and needed to find a particular debtor before the foreclosure sale. Their phone number was unlisted, and they were not responding to the letters he was sending. He looked on 411.com for every home on their block, and started calling neighbors. He contacted the next-door neighbor, who advised him that the debtors were still living in the home and having wild, loud parties every night. She offered to walk her cordless phone over to the debtors, knock on the door, and wake them up for the collector. He could hear the neighbor opening her door, her feet crunching in her gravel driveway, and then loud bangs on what was presumably the debtor’s front door. The phone was then passed to the debtor, and they proceeded to have a lovely conversation. All of this was allowed by the FDCPA because the collector never indicated to the neighbor that the person he was looking for owed a debt, just that he really wanted to talk to them.

Communication with Debtors

Basically: The collector can contact you to ask you for money owed.
Details: The collector needs to contact you between 8 A.M. and 9 P.M., but not during times that they know to be inconvenient to you. So, if you’ve told the collector that you work the night shift and sleep in the morning, they would be prohibited from calling you in the morning. If you advise the collector that you have an attorney, and provide the attorney’s name and number, the collector is required to communicate only with your attorney. If you advise a collector that you are not allowed or able to receive calls at work, they are prohibited from calling your job. If you contact a collector in writing and advise them to cease communication (or, “stop contacting me”), the collector can only contact you one additional time to let you know that they will stop contacting you. They can also contact you after a cease communication to let you know of special offers of repayment or discounted payoffs (special remedies). A collector can never communicate with third parties without your specific permission. Third parties are considered anyone but you, your spouse (in most states), your attorney, or your parent or guardian if you are a minor. Exceptions include credit reporting agencies, creditors, attorneys or representatives of the creditor or collector, and executors and administers of a debtor’s estate.

The collector cannot send you a letter that has any indication that you owe money to them on the envelope. That includes an ink stamp saying “PAST DUE”, as well as the name of the collection agency if it implies a debt. So, Big Debt Collectors, Inc. cannot have their name on the return address, but BDC, Inc. can. In no way can they send postcards through the mail as a contact attempt or location attempt.

Harassment

Basically: The collector is not allowed to make you feel uncomfortable.
Details: This is what the anti-harassment portion of the FDCPA boils down to: collectors must act professionally and ethically. Collectors cannot contact a debtor more than once a day unless specifically given permission by the debtor. They cannot use threats of violence, obscene language, or cause your phone to ring repeatedly. They cannot threaten legal remedies (lawsuits, foreclosure, repossession, etc.) unless they are legally allowed to take those actions. They cannot advertise your debt for sale, or put your name on a list as a debtor (except to a credit reporting agency). They must identify themselves and whom they work for when communicating with you.

Example: A field collector who worked for a mobile home financing agency before the FDCPA took effect used to have an effective way of getting the debtor to communicate with him. If a debtor were avoiding his calls and letters (“ducking”), he would go to the mobile home and remove the air conditioning unit and front door from the home. In South Carolina, in the summer, this usually resulted in prompt responses from the debtors. This is a prime example of why the FDCPA came into being, and the abuses it was meant to stop.

False or Misleading Representation

Basically: The collector cannot lie to you.
Details: The collector cannot give you false or misleading information about your debt, their identity, what they will or will not do to you, or anything else. Specifically, they are prohibited they cannot provide false or misleading information about:
- The amount of money owed
- The legal status of the debt
- Their ability to garnish wages, repossess property, or any other remedies unless allowed by law
- The timeframe of any legal action or remedy
- Any action that will not or cannot be taken by the collector
- The identity or nature of any communication (i.e. sending a letter that appears to be from an attorney or government office, or pretending to call from a police office or government bureau)
- Their identity, or identity of their company
- Any information given to a consumer or debtor in any communication

Example: In mortgage collections, the obvious remedy for non-payment is foreclosure. It is not uncommon to hear collectors advise debtors that their home will be seized and sold by the bank. This is allowed by the FDCPA, because it is a real legal remedy. However, to insinuate that it will happen “soon”, or to give unrealistic timelines is prohibited. If a home is in New York, a notoriously lengthy foreclosure state, a collector cannot say that the home will be foreclosed on “soon” if the legal process hasn’t started yet. However, in Texas, the foreclosure process takes about six weeks.

Unfair Practices

Basically: The collector cannot do things to unjustly cost you money or hurt your character.
Details: The collector cannot collect any money other than what is owed through the default of the loan, and the provisions of the contract. Many contracts, such as mortgages, credit card applications, and car loans, stipulate that you will be liable for legal fees or collection costs. Therefore, the collector will also be collecting the costs and fees as well as the original debt, plus any interest as indicated by the contract. A collector cannot send a letter COD, or call you collect, because that would cost you money that is not reasonable for collection purposes. The collector also cannot accept or solicit postdated checks that are dated more than five days ahead, unless they send a letter indicating their intention to do so***. Of course, the collector cannot threaten to or actually deposit a postdated check early.

***Post-Dated checks vs. Check-by-Phone – It is a common practice for collectors to request that you do a “check-by-phone” when they are requesting money either immediately, or when setting up a payment plan with you. This service allows a collector to print a check in-house and deposit it to a bank using your check information (Routing number, Checking Account Number, and a Check Number). This is allowed by the FDCPA, and not considered an Unfair Practice as long as the collector sends a letter reminding you that you have authorized that payment if it is dated more than five days out.

Conclusion

The best way to get out of serious debt is to work with your creditor. They may be able to help you in ways you were not aware of. The FDCPA is designed to empower the debtor to feel comfortable communicating with a collector, and to make sure that the collector is playing fair and being nice. Communicate openly, and remember that your situation does not rob you of your rights.

Caveat
The author is not a legal professional, nor does he profess to be so. The above article is meant to be a summary of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act as it is understood by the author. If you feel that your rights as a consumer have been violated in any way, it is recommended that you consult an attorney to determine your legal recourse.

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‘Tis the season for outdoor fun! This summer get outside, and take that camping trip you always dreamed about. The following steps and activity suggestions should help you plan a summer weekend adventure near the Washington town of Olympia.

Step 1: Learn About Olympia, Washington

Olympia, Washington is a modest city with a population of about 42,514 people. Its summer climate is comfortable with average temperatures staying between morning lows in the 40s and afternoon highs in the 70s. Rain is always a consideration that you must make in the Pacific Northwest. If you are planning an outdoor weekend adventure in May then you will want to bring rain gear and extra changes of clothing. If you want sun then you will want to plan your vacation in July because this is the month that gets the least amount of rain during the summer. While you are in Olympia, Washington you may want to leave time for a guided tour of Wolf Haven International, a stroll through the Japanese Gardens, or a picnic in Sylvester Park.

Step 2: Plan Where to Stay

Before you go any further in your planning you should decide what type of lodging you will need for your weekend adventure. If you don’t want to rough it in the outdoors at night then you may want to book a room at one of the many local hotels, B&Bs, or motels. Some of your options include: Ameritel Inn, Best Western Turnwater Inn, Phoenix Inn, Red Lion Inn Hotel, and The Governor Hotel.

If you want to have the full outdoor adventure experience then you will want to make plans to pitch your tent at a local campground. One of the closest campgrounds to Olympia, Washington is Offut Lake Resort. It is located only about 4 miles from the city. Other nearby campgrounds include: American Heritage Campgrounds, Olympia Campgrounds, and Salmon Shores Resort.

If you are looking for lodging that offers you the comforts of a hotel and the outdoor experience of camping then you may want to bring your RV with you, or rent one for the weekend. RVs allow you the freedom to set up camp anywhere you want and to move between campsites. If you are looking for a place to set up your RV near Olympia then you may want to consider staying at the Nisqually Plaza RV Park or the Coach Post Mobile Home Park.

Step 3: Plan What to Do and What to See

The first type of adventure you can have near Olympia, Washington is a land adventure. There are several hiking trails located within an hour’s drive of this city. The closest is the Mount Jupiter Trail. This trail system is 35 miles away, it offers a variety of trails to choose from, it offers 12 miles of outdoor fun, and it offers the opportunity to negotiate your way over 3830 feet of elevation changes.

If whitewater is something that you are interested in then you will want to plan a day trip on one of the local waterways. Your closest option is located 16 miles away on the Deschutes River. This is a 9.3 mile long class II run that travels between Vail Loop Road and Military Road. If you are looking for something with a little more speed and turbulence then you may want to travel 33 miles to the Duckbush River near the 2515 Bridge. Here you will find an access point for a class IV run that stretches 6.2 miles from this access point to the Highway 101.

If you are interested in water sports then you may also want to plan a trip to one of the local lakes. The closest lakes include Chamber Lake, Hazard Lake, Hewitt Lake, Munn Lake, Sheehan Lake, Smith Lake, Springer Lake, Springer Lake, Susan Lake, Trails End Lake, and Ward Lake. If you want place to rest and bask in the sun then you will also want to make sure that you visit one of the local beaches including the Countryside Beach, located 8 miles away, and the Joemma Beach, located 12 miles away.

Many older people want to stay in their own homes or at least in the same neighborhood. The maintenance and upkeep of a large family home is not always a practical option, physically and financially. But a retirement home sounds so… retired.

So, where are you going to live if you leave the home your children grew up in? There are a few options that you might want to explore if you are adamant about not moving into a structured retirement facility.

Manufactured Mobile Homes are an increasingly attractive choice for older folks. These homes are affordable, energy efficient, spacious and some of the models are designed especially for seniors, utilizing “universal design” features. If zoning ordinances permit, they can be assembled near or on family property, or moved to a senior mobile home community.

Cooperatives are usually found in urban areas. Homes in a cooperative combine the benefits of home ownership with the convenience and efficiency of multi-family housing. This idea appeals to those who want to build equity in their accommodations but don’t want the isolation or responsibility of a larger home.

Condominiums are also an option. This type of ownership offers many advantages to older people. Condos are different from a conventionally owned single-family home or an apartment. While you are holding title to your own living unit, you share ownership of common areas.

Accessory Apartments are worth considering if your house is too large and the utility bills and maintenance are too much for you. An accessory apartment is a second, completely private living unit created in the extra space of a single family home. You may have heard it called a MIL or mother-in-law apartment.

ECHO Housing (Elder Cottage Housing Opportunity) or Granny Flats are also an option. These separate, self-contained units are designed for temporary installation in the side or backyard of an adult child’s home.

Home Matching Programs have been gaining in popularity because of the lack of adequate senior housing. The idea is that you contact a service (often for a fee) that matches people up as roommates. When it works, it is an excellent situation and can enable an older person to stay in his/her own home, while relieving the feelings of isolation and loneliness that many older people experience. A good home-matching service offers counseling to provide help in identifying needs and concerns.

Shared Housing is a similar option. This is what the TV sitcom Golden Girls was all about. It can be economical, provide companionship, and provide a sense of security. It is a peer group situation, but it is not for everyone. If you’ve never lived with others (or have been on your own for many years), you may find it difficult.

Adult Foster Care, or Adult Family Homes, is provided in a private home occupied by an individual or a family who will offer room, meals, housekeeping, and minimal supervision for a month fee. Staff are not permitted to administer medications, however, unless they are nurses.

Retirement Hotels (also called Senior Resident Hotels or Senior Apartments) are hotels intended for people over 62. Some hotels are high-rises and have landscaped gardens while others are drab concrete shoe boxes, but they are usually built in good locations with nearby public transportation. Rent can include meals and maid service, activities programs, assistance with personal grooming, and access to a chore service for a fee.

A Boarding House is when you are basically renting a room, sometimes shared, in someone else’s house, with a manager on the premises.

Senior Apartment Houses are monthly rentals with a variety of options. Some have security systems, activities, and a full complement of services, while others offer lodging only.

More resources

The nice gentleman at Staples led me to the wireless routers, handed me the white box and told me “This is all you will need”. Having looked up prices online, and knowing that the prices for wireless routers ranged from $30 up to over $200 I was a bit skeptical on accepting this package from the customer sales rep. “Is this the cheapest one you have?” I asked, hoping he’d take the hint I couldn’t afford much.

“Honestly, no. We do have one that is $39.99, but this one is only $45 and it’s worth the extra $5.” Again, he repeated that this was everything I would need, so I was a bit taken aback that a sales person had chosen this wireless router to recommend and not one of the more expensive ones. So, I bought it and took it home.

Now hooking the NetGear G Wireless Router up to my desktop was much easier than I had thought it would be. The installation disc checks your current internet connection and then provides simple, easy to follow instructions for connecting everything. I was using a DSL modem, and was given step by step instructions for connecting the cables.

I did however find a problem with the laptop computer afterwards. The desktop was working just fine, and the laptop was finally reading a wireless signal but it would not connect to it. After an hour of trying to solve the problem myself, I finally caved and called the 1-800 number to have technical support help me. The receipt sat next to the box, ready to go back if this did not work.

The technical support assistant knew much more than I did, and was able to help me reconfigure everything that needed to be done and in no time I was able to connect to the wireless signal using the laptop. Now, the most important thing about this router would be how strong the signal is.

To paint you a picture, I live in a single wide mobile home. It’s certainly not large, although I don’t have exact measurements. The wireless router, and the desktop computer, are in a small office at the beginning of the hallway. Right next to the office is a kitchen and on the other side of that is the living room. The lap top can not connect in the living room.

According to the tech support agent, this is because there is a microwave and a cordless phone… both of which can cause interferance. So, my next example is my bedroom. Directly across the hall, which only one person can fit through at a time, is my bedroom. Again, the lap top can not connect in my bedroom. Now I do not have a Wireless USB 2.0 Adapter, which is supposed to increase signal strength and distance. With the NetGear Wireless Router, coverage is extended to 100 feet if you are using the adapter.

Without the adapter, the lap top does connect with a ‘good’ signal (3 out of 4 bars) if it is sitting on the filing cabinet in the closet sized office… less than 2 feet away from the router.

The verdict? Well, this has covered everything I need because I just needed to access the internet with the lap top computer, and I can. I won’t even invest any money into the Wireless USB adaptor, because I am fine with not being able to use the lap top in any room but the office. However, it is important for anyone else considering the NetGear wireless router to be aware that if I have this problem in my tiny little trailer… you may want to consider another router or at least adding the adaptor if you need more mobility in your home.

My earliest memories revolve around the divorce of my mother and father: my mom telling me that she and Daddy still love each other, but just can’t be together anymore; being taken to Aunt Pat’s house because Daddy didn’t have his own house and Mom was not financially able to take care of me; Mom calling me every single day without fail to tell me how much she loved and missed me; a 4 year old boy trying to find comfort in an upside down world. These are the foundations of my entire memory bank. 

Of course there were other things of which I learned later; experiences I cannot remember; entire slices of my childhood lost to the self-protective mechanisms of the mind. I cannot recall seeing my father physically abuse my mother. As infuriating as the thought is, I am glad it was suppressed. Otherwise, the decade or so that my father spent as a hero in the mind of a child could never have been. Only in recent times have I begun to vaguely remember nights of Vietnam flashbacks. The idea was hidden from me that my mother faced time in jail for charges of check forgery. All of these, and many others, are issues with which a small child should not be confronted. Still, as strange as it sounds, I sometimes wonder whether I might be a more complete person had I retained these things in my psyche. 

My first lucid recollections are of the final days at Aunt Pat and Uncle Donald’s home. Aunt Pat was my father’s older sister. There were joyous times spent with my cousin Donnie, who was like an older brother to me. Running through the woods behind his house. Visiting our grandparents (Dad’s folks) who also lived next to the woods. Grandpa had a huge garden and a granny smith apple tree in the backyard. Oh the tummy aches we endured to eat as many barely ripe apples as possible. Oddly enough, I have very few memories of my father from this period. He and I both lived with Aunt Pat and surely spent lots of time together, but the phone calls from my mother stand out much more vividly than the moments with Dad. 

Then, at some point during my 5th year, the bittersweet moment arrived when my world turned 180 degrees once again. Aunt Pat called me down the stairs from Donnie’s room. My mother had come to see me. I approached the front door, ajar, with my aunt standing on the front porch. I peered out toward the driveway and saw something which was peculiar, even to an already confused little boy. My mother was standing in the driveway next to a man I had never seen. I remember being very excited to see Mom, whom I had seen only a couple of times during the nine months spent at Aunt Pat’s. But I also knew something was going on. I glanced at Aunt Pat, and she had a worried frown across her face. I looked back at Mom and she held her arms out beckoning for me. Aunt Pat said to go back inside. She said I should wait for my dad to come home from work. To this day, I shiver with the thought of the dilemma I faced that day. The entire encounter probably lasted 3 minutes, but it seemed hours. I cautiously walked out the door toward the front porch steps. My aunt implored me to go back inside, although she declined to actually stop me. I believe she knew this had to happen even though she wanted desperately to be my father’s advocate. Mom smiled so wonderfully as she stepped onto the lawn from the driveway and motioned for me to come down the stairs. I had missed her so much. By the time I made it to the bottom step onto the sidewalk leading to the driveway, Aunt Pat was silent. I looked back and saw a tear stream down her cheek. Then, in a flash, I was scooped up by the man I had seen standing next to Mom, and we were in his ’69 Chevelle backing up the steep driveway. I can now look back and appreciate what my aunt went through allowing me to walk down those steps. I can now understand that my father’s custody of me was temporary and ended that day. I realize Aunt Pat loved me as a son, knowing full well that my mother would eventually come for me.

The man who scooped me up in his arms that day was Terry. He would eventually become my stepfather, but at that time, he was Mom’s boyfriend. My new home would be the small trailer in which they lived. Now, for anyone other than a boy who loved and missed his mother, it would be an unbearable culture shock to move from the large suburban house of an upper middle-class family to a tiny trailer in a run-down mobile home park. But I was happy. Just before coming for me, Mom had gone to the SPCA and brought home a pretty black puppy named Smokey. Smokey was my first pet, and we became inseparable. I did not completely understand what was happening, and I was as yet unaware that I would never again have a real relationship with my father. The heated battle that was waged between my parents over the next several months was unbeknownst to me. I do not know exactly how long we lived in that trailer; a few months, maybe a year. I only know that the time spent there was a time of contentment for me. A contentment that was cut short by a violent act which, to this day, I cannot comprehend.
To even begin to fathom this event, two things must be understood about my father. First, Dad has the temper of a fire-ant and the subtlety of a neutron bomb. He is of the breed of fighters who, when mad, would as soon punch you in the mouth as look at you. Apparently, that was always his nature to an extent, but his time in the jungles of Vietnam certainly did not help. Secondly, he is burdened with a trait common among that breed: he acts first and considers the consequences later.
When Dad found out Mom had taken me to live with another man, he was understandably angry. He was filled with hurt, fury, desperation, and who knows what other dark emotions. These demons swirled like a tornado inside his soul. This is something with which I can empathize, being a father myself. It is the solution my father devised that still stuns me. One evening when my mother, Terry and I were not home, my father came to our little trailer blind with the angry delight of revenge. According to witnesses who later gave statements to police, he was drunk with no shirt and no shoes. He carried a gasoline can. 

We returned home that night to a small crowd of onlookers, 2 fire engines, and the smoldering remains of all our earthly possessions. I will never forget the smell of that traumatic evening. A sickening, toxic stench of burning fiberglass and rubber signified the brutal destruction of our lives. Of course, for a five year old, loss of material things is less disturbing than for an adult. What is more agonizing for a young child is the loss of a treasured pet. Smokey was not just a dog. She was a devoted friend and playmate for a little boy who lacked both. I took little comfort in the fireman’s assurance that she died from smoke inhalation before the flames reached her. 

I overheard conversations between Mom, Terry and the police that evening and was emotionally assaulted with the realization my father had committed this vicious act against us. I believe it was at that exact moment when the separation occurred in my mind. My father became two distinct individuals in my sub conscience. There was the strong and affectionate heroic figure who could do no wrong. And there was the heinous and wicked monster who committed unspeakable acts of cruelty. This division allowed me to continue to worship my father as young boys of divorced families often do. The man who did these terrible things was not my father. He was something else altogether. My anger and pain were never directed at my father during this time when wrongs should have been righted and healing could have taken place. Instead, those feelings were harbored until early adulthood. The suppression of those emotions lay the seeds for the breeding ground of demons in my own soul. 

We then moved into a small apartment and started over. There was literally nothing salvaged from the fire. Our lives continued, but a part of me was incinerated that night in the flames. Something I could not have put into words then, and still find difficult today. Who can you trust in this life if your own father would burn your world down.

ERIC MEADOWS (WCAN Co-host): Good evening. We want to welcome you to another episode of Missing Pieces hosted by Todd Matthews and myself Eric Meadows. This is really first of a new year in 2007, the first show of 2007 and we hope all of our listeners out there have really enjoyed themselves the times that they have heard us. Todd I want to say good evening tonight. How are you?

TODD MATTHEWS (Missing Pieces Host): I’m great. Happy New Year and happy 18th episode.

ERIC: Great, great, great. Now listen, I’ve been telling the audience prior to bringing you on the air that you got a guest with you tonight. Why don’t you introduce her?

TODD: I’ve got Sherry Smith a good very friend in Kentucky. She’s the mother of a murdered son and welcome Sherry.

SHERRY SMITH (Guest): Thank you very much and I appreciate you all having me on tonight and hopefully I can get answers for justice, I long for.

TODD: Well hopefully give you an entire hour to say whatever you feel you need to talk about.

SHERRY: Ok thank you.

TODD: It was February 1, 2002, five years now.

SHERRY: Yes

TODD: Bo Upton and Ryan Shangraw were murdered. What happened that night? The story, how were they killed?

SHERRY: Ok

TODD: And Bo’s your son?

SHERRY: Yes my son was Bo Upton and he was 18. He was my only child. And he was a senior in high school with a 3.85 grade point average who loved baseball. He was the intended pitcher and he had several scholarships all in place for college and hadn’t even got to play his senior year yet because this happened in February of his senior year. He tried hard to reach his goals with a scholarship for college and he was loved by all who knew him and Ryan was only 20 and he was Bo’s friend and that night was on a Friday night and they were having a home coming basketball game and the baseball parents were having a big chili supper at the basket game, the home coming basketball game there where they sell concessions to raise money to take the boys back to a tournament in Florida. And Bo had got to play in that tournament the year before and pitched a one hitter and they had done a big article on him down there and I felt like a lot of the scouts that were at there, that’s were probably some of the scholarship offers came from. But the reason for the fundraiser was some of the boys didn’t have the finances to go and we wanted to make sure that every team member could go and we were having this fundraiser, having this chili supper at the basketball game so that all the boys could go and then after the basketball game was the homecoming dance with about 30 minutes in between. And Bo was 18 and wanted to stay for the dance and so I said ok and thought that was the homecoming dance and I knew he wanted to stay and so I left after the chili supper and it was about 8:00 and Bo was still at the school and they had about 30 minutes in between before the dance started and a lot of the kids were running and getting ready and Bo and 2 girls started to leave and his friend hollered at him, so I’ve been told, and said “we thought you were staying for the dance”? And he said “oh, we’ll be right back”. And later I heard that he was going to go get Ryan who had been out of school for 2 years who in fact had been invited to the homecoming dance and he knew that Ryan was back in church and trying to get his life straightened out and so he thought that if he and the 2 girls went there; meet them there, that they would go. But my son was killed instantly so I’ll never know really. So what happened was him and these two girls went to this boy’s mobile home…

TODD: In Hubble, in Lincoln County.

SHERRY: Yes in Hubble community; a very small community in Lincoln County and the high school is in Stanford in Lincoln County and it takes about 20 minutes to get to Ryan’s house from this school. And so he was still there when I left so he couldn’t have left before then so if he left at 8:00 and it took 20 minutes to get there so at 8:20 the call came in at 8:33 so the most he could have been there was 10, 15 minutes when the call came in to 911. And what had happened is though when the two girls arrived at Ryan’s and within this 10 or 15 minutes 4, and according to what the girls say that they were four black people, and we are absolutely not prejudice. One of my son’s best friends was black and stayed at our house so much he had his own dresser drawer there but Ryan; the other boy was not prejudiced either. But 4 black guys, I don’t know if it was boys or men, 4 black guys came in, just busted in Ryan’s trailer where my son went and had blue bandannas over their faces, I don’t know if that is suppose to represent some sort of type of gang, I heard it has but they had blue bandannas over their faces and they had toboggans over their heads that their eyes were exposed. And they came in and pointed their guns at Ryan and he got up and it was a little small trailer with a kitchen/living room combined and he got up to get out of the living room to go to the kitchen even though its only just one room, I always thought to maybe get harm away from my son Bo and the two girls. So he walked in front of him according to what I’ve been told by the girls and walked to the little kitchen area and said I’ll give you whatever you want and they shot Ryan anyway. And according to the girls my son got up and go in front of the two girls and told them to get down and get behind him and my son Bo handed the murderers his billfold and said here take my wallet and the wallet was found right there on the floor at the crime scene and they said he had like $14.00 on him but he got in front of the girls and said told the murderers he said here take my wallet just don’t hurt anyone and looked back at them and said stay down and stay behind me but as he was doing that they shot and killed my son multiple times and he was killed instantly and died right there. Ryan died in the helicopter on the way to the hospital and the girls ran to the…one ran to the neighbors and the other one stayed there. One ran frantically to the neighbors and the other one stayed right there and called 911. And I heard that…someone called me and said where’s Bo and I said he’s at the dance. And they said no he’s not his car is not there, he’s not there, and there has been a shooting at Hubble. And I knew Bo had a friend at Hubble and it scared me and so I started heading that way and when I got there, there was his car inside the crime scene tape which I just raised it up to go under and a policeman grabbed me by both arms facing him, face to face, had me by both arms and said who are you? And I said I am Bo’s mom and I’m afraid that he’s hurt, let go of me. And he wouldn’t let go of my arms and he said are you his biological mother? And I said yes let go of me. And he said I don’t know who to tell you this and I’m standing in the middle of the little of the road, the little street, just a little driveway in a very small community in Lincoln County and he says I don’t know how to tell you this but your son is dead. He’s been shot. Oh my gosh. I just fell to the ground in the road.

TODD: Now Sherry I know how hard this has been for you.

SHERRY: Yes.

TODD: When we first heard your voice tonight and I talked to you at great length last night I didn’t even know how to begin this interview because I know that it is so hard.

SHERRY: Well it is but you know it let’s people understand how terrible, how horrific, which anyone that’s lost a child it’s absolutely painful and the only help is with God and I for them to have a little bit of what happened. And so then it was awful because they told me…

TODD: This wasn’t robbery. Obviously there wasn’t money.

SHERRY: Yes they came in to get money and robbery and the police thought it might be drug related but if that’s the case why isn’t it solved. You know they thought that Ryan since he was back in church and getting his life straightened out that he was getting out of that mess that he was in and Bo knew that Ryan was back in church and the policeman told me follow me to the funeral home. Can you imagine being told that your son has just been murdered, that he has been shot and to follow him to the funeral home? And I mean, it’s my only child. Now if you let me go in ’cause I thought I could save him and he said no, he’s dead. You have to follow me to the funeral home. So I thought he meant that’s where Bo was so I got in the car and he said I’ll be behind you, I’ll be right behind you. So I went to the funeral home and no one was there and the police didn’t follow me. So then I went to the hospital and said somebody has to know where he is. And they didn’t have him or know where he was so I went back to the funeral home and no one was there and back to the hospital again and thinking where is he, where is my son? And there was a gentleman that was standing there that let me out the door that said if your son has been murdered I’ll tell you where he’s at, he’s in having an autopsy. Oh my gosh. And so then I can just vividly see those things being done and to me its what hit me real because I hadn’t seen him and it was just so terrible and he was a normal child, he was loved by so many kids at the school and family and friends, he was just a type of child that one little boy wasn’t going to get to be on the team because he was two years younger than Bo but couldn’t get on the team because his family just didn’t have the finances to get him to practice so Bo went from the end of the county to get him and take him to practice and if he didn’t have time to take him home he would just hang out with us and wear Bo’s clothes. It was just the kind of young man that my son was. And then later I found out that evidence that it was 4 black people, that they came in to rob, they had bandannas, blue ones over their faces and toboggans on, and Ryan told them he would give them whatever they wanted but they killed him and when my son brought up and got in front of the girls and said her take my wallet they killed him instantly and so at first I was in nothing but shock. I couldn’t do anything.

TODD: This is a big city crime that you normally see on television and suddenly your right in the middle of it.

SHERRY: Yes and then suddenly it’s on TV and I’m just laying there crying and going to those graves. Crying and then seemingly at that it went by that they said that they had found a gun, they said they found bandannas, this kind of stuff is in the paper, and I’m thinking it meant confidential information. And I felt like that due to lack budget there wasn’t enough man power on it because when I would call why isn’t there more hours, well we have to deal with the manpower that we have with this budget.

TODD: It’s a year later…

SHERRY: I couldn’t do anything buy lay on Bo’s grave but one day when I got up from the grave, I just got up with Bo’s fist up; so to speak and said to my son I will, I will stay on this until it is solved and justice is served.

TODD: And that’s what I read nearly a year later.

SHERRY: Yes

TODD: My father-in-law lived there.

SHERRY: This is a little copy of a letter that I had written saying that I am Sherry Smith Bo Upton’s mom and he is my only child. He and Ryan Shangraw were brutally murdered on February the 1st in 2002. And Bo was my only child and then I told about what I just spoke earlier about his scholarships for college and his love for sports and did excellent in school because he wanted so bad to get that scholarship and I said since the detectives have not solved this case I believe it is due to budget cuts resulting in not enough hours being spent on the case by the state police. Much evidence has been found. Please help get this case on a top priority list. I’m trying to do everything that I can to bring in leads. I miss my son. My life will never be the same. This went to commissioners, to the news media, it went everywhere and it says Sherry Smith, family and friends, searching for answers, longing for justice. And one thing at the website is a spot for anonymous tip line www.BoRyan.cjb.net which can also now be accessed at www.BoRyan.us and this is started by Todd Matthews and it has helped tremendously to let people know what is going on with the case and what happened. And one of the most wonderful things is that at the tip line where they can go in at the guest book and leave anonymous tips or however they want to leave them if they are afraid to speak out otherwise.

TODD: You have to give them an opportunity.

SHERRY: Yes. And I thank you. And something that helped my soul is the little sweet things that the children just went on there on the guest book and wrote remarkable stories in the beginning. And I think the place just got so full that we had to start over but…

TODD: We really didn’t expect that. That wasn’t really what we were expecting. It was about a year before we actually created the website because at the time it wasn’t really a cold case and I followed it in the newspaper and my father-in-law lived in Lincoln County, he would give me copies of the newspaper and he said this is a terrible crime that’s happened here. Maybe at some point you can help or some of your friends could help. And I thought well the internet is really all that I know and I thought if we could make this site and keep it easy, give you something to operate with.

SHERRY: It’s been extremely emotionally supportive too with all the things that the kids wrote about Bo saying you wouldn’t believe what he was to me and what he did in time of need you could always count on Bo. So its emotionally supportive for me as well and the rest of the letter said after the website generated by Todd Matthews I did a flier campaign to senators and congressmen and the governor and anyone, we sent out thousands, to get more time spent on the case, to get it put in the budget. Many attempts to get help from America’s Most Wanted, at that time it went up to a $12,000.00 reward and it is now $25,000.00 due to a local business man donating the extra money to make the reward go up. I would like to put a million but you have to show what you put up for a reward and of course I don’t have that kind of money and then I did a huge billboard on Hwy 27 in Stanford with Bo’s little baseball picture and with Ryan, his friend’s picture, offering the reward money and it has the detective’s number there so people have easy access to it.

TODD: I see that all the time when I go back and forth.

SHERRY: Yes and every time I go by it, I cry. But it’s helped to bring in leads. And then I did a national prayer chain where prayer letters were sent to a least 5 churches per state in all 50 states and Bo’s friends were able to help me with that. And then the last interview that I did, because it will be 5 years February the first and I’m still fighting for justice and the last interview that I did was the end of July because the reward money had went up, so Channel 18 news had covered that for us, showing that the reward was up to $25,000.00 because the billboard it was something extensive to get it changed and I thought it would just be easy but I said that’s ok the interview will just let people know and the newspaper. And then I was hurt in a terrible accident and was in the hospital for a long time.

TODD: And Sherry actually, right now, today was her first day back to work. She has recovered from brain surgery, from an accident. I know you have been through the mill the last few years, especially this last one.

SHERRY: Yes.

TODD: And Eric I want to let you know that part of the Genesis for this very show exists in this very case because America’s Most Wanted did turn her down to try and get her case on AMW and that’s what made it so tense and to try and help her even more since the people were turning them down.

ERIC: If I could just interrupt you.

TODD: Well I was hoping you were.

ERIC: If you could just turn your mic up a little, we’re trying to boost your signal as best we can. We can barely hear you.

SHERRY: Ok.

TODD: Can you hear me?

ERIC: Oh yeah, that’s a lot better. What I did want to say is you’re holding up quite well Sherry.

SHERRY: Thank you.

ERIC: You’re holding up quite well and you’re doing a great job with giving us a lot of information about Bo Upton. You did make mention that they did find guns and masks and the handkerchiefs that they tied around them, have they been able to lift any DNA off any of the facial wear or were they able to trace the guns back to who they may belong to?

SHERRY: Ok from what they have told me because I think that they really must be really limited about what they can tell me because that was my question to them and they said that they couldn’t fingerprint a gun that’s laid outside all night long in that cold February weather. And so they were going to try and do some kind of…because what we have I suppose wouldn’t lift it so they were going to try and get things sent farther. Like more extensive labs to be able to do that and then they wouldn’t tell us if there was any DNA or not. And I feel like there has to be.

ERIC: What about the serial numbers on the firearms?

SHERRY: They either didn’t have any or they were stolen guns. That was the two answers that I got and I don’t know which one is correct but they must be trying to seal evidence from getting out because the papers have printed things they shouldn’t like the fact that they’ve found the evidence. It looks like that would be something they wouldn’t have wanted out. They said that don’t have any right now and I don’t know if they couldn’t get it or they just don’t want me to know.

TODD: Well I think if they were expecting a quick resolve, you know because there were some very tantalizing tips in the beginning and I don’t think it closed out as quickly. I think there was a lot of hope placed upon some of these clues and when they hit a dead end with it, it was sort of embarrassing because it didn’t pan out the way that they thought. This is a small town, how many double homicides happen here?

SHERRY: None.

TODD: This is rare. This is a rarity here.

SHERRY: Very rare.

ERIC: You know you made mention that Ryan Shangraw was getting his life together.

SHERRY: Yes.

ERIC: Are you free to talk about what it is that may have prompted these people to come to his house?

SHERRY: Well I wish that I knew that. There are so many speculations that if any of them was the right speculation it looks like it would be solved. For instance if Ryan truly was mixed up in drugs and then was going to church and committed to getting his life straighten out then possibly what if it was a dealer that thought oh he knows us so if he’s going to get straightened out he might tell. That was a speculation that probably 50 people told me and that’s worse background it’s coming from. Well that’s just what we figure because it aint solved, what else could it be? And other people saying that he might have owed them money well if that’s it then why isn’t it solved. Why weren’t they able to link anything to that? And so its all speculation as far as that part of it goes because I felt, I feel like that if it was those because so many people called in with that type of lead, that it would have been solved. It must be something that they’re not looking at. I wonder. And of course my first Christmas without my son, well initially like I said I just thought that…I couldn’t do anything but cry. I missed him so bad and it was so traumatic. Anybody killed with a gun, no way to protect yourself. And my first Christmas I was praying because as a mother you spend time around your children, the birth of Christ and I just couldn’t hardly do Christmas without him. I just cried for God to help me. And then every prayer before I could even finish my prayers I could see this little homeless people coming up to me patting me and saying can I have a dollar? Well when I was in a band before I lost my son, when I would go there was one place in Louisville whenever we would do the setups to play there we’re carrying stuff in or carrying stuff out these little homeless people would come up in this certain area and say can I have a dollar? And I never could finish my prayer on God to help me through my first Christmas without Bo without seeing those little homeless people so I thought that God was telling me to go there. And so I collected from friends and family coats and blankets and took it to the homeless people in Louisville and now that’s what I do on Christmas Eve. To give them Christmas Eve and by the time I get home it’s pretty much over and the bible says “the way to lighten your load is to reach out to others and God’s word is promises” and anything that God says is for real. And I didn’t do it to lighten my load, I thought that’s what God was telling me to do, that it’ll get you pass this day. And by the time I got back it was in fact over but then I also found that there were children and I was able to that night, even thought that night even though it was late on Christmas Eve, this one lady was at the store, it was just a little BP where I was just trying to get the children some candy for Christmas Eve because I didn’t know that I was going to have children homeless as well, and I was able to get them those huge bags of M&M’s and load it up with candy for all of them and this lady that told me where there was a BP open down town in Louisville on Christmas Eve had stuffed animals in and said she was taking to a church in case anyone didn’t have Christmas and she loaded my vehicle with those stuffed animals and when I got back they said it was Christmas Eve and the children, there’s not room, but being Christmas Eve they’re going to let them sleep on the floor in the living room at the shelter and when I walked in and my arms were loaded down with candy and stuffed animals for those children those Louisville church bells started ringing. And I cried and the little kids were hanging on to me and patting my face and telling me thank you and they loved me. Little one and two year old, three and four year old babies half of them were black and I was totally blessed and I cried the whole time. But that’s how I got through it was by reaching out to other people. And now my traditions have changed because I don’t have tradition the way tradition was, to have Christmas with my son. And so now that’s what I do on Christmas Eve is everybody knows I do it and I have a truckload, I think I’m going to have to get a semi next time, but that’s ok, and to be able to provide for them even though its about a three hour drive from here. It helps to reach out but I pray for justice daily and I fight this fight with every ounce of energy that’s in me and God has sent me people like Todd Matthews to help me do this.

TODD: Well Eric can you see she has a lot of energy?

SHERRY: Yes I do.

TODD: Sometimes you have to just hold her down to get her to just relax and I’ve not seen her relax except for when she had the accident.

SHERRY: Right when I had the accident. And today being my first day back to work and I couldn’t go back to my night job just my one full-time job and at the end of the day go home instead of going to work in another shift at the hospital. And they made me do that at the end of this day, I had to come home, because from being in the wreck and having so being that many broken bones and a head injury that required brain surgery it’s a wonder that I know anything and God has truly, truly been with me and answered these prayers. And so now was my first day back at work and other than just me tolerance being low from being in the hospital for that long and not being able to do things for so long but I made it through it.

ERIC: I’m glad.

TODD: And the timing for this show was based a lot on your first day back.

SHERRY: Yes. Thank you.

TODD: Did it feel like you were back in a normal routine when you went back to work? Are you getting back to normal at all?

SHERRY: Well…

TODD: What you learned to be normal anyway.

SHERRY: Well when I walked in my little my patients and said we just want you to know that not one day went by that as a group that we didn’t pray for you and I cried and I said you know I know that this is, this is why that I am better. Mentally from the brain injury and physically I’m not going to be able to go right straight and work 2 jobs but at the same time I’m going to have to go 2 or 3 weeks to be able to do that, but I know it’s the prayers that have healed me and I said I know you all didn’t know if I was going to live because that was the first word out of how bad that I was and I was air lifted to a hospital. And I said if I live to be a 150 there is nothing that can happen to me that’s going to be worse that I went through when my only child was murdered. And God is holding me up daily and that’s the stroke, that’s the hardest. Even more than what I’ve went through. My father died my first Christmas without Bo, on the 20th and on the 23rd we buried him and the 24th on Christmas Eve I went to the homeless people and Louisville. And then Bo’s father and I had divorced when Bo was about 5, we were married 10 years and we had divorced when he was about 5 and then later when Bo was about 7 or 8 I remarried and I was married for 11 years when I lost my son and 1 year later, after I lost my son I went through a divorce with my second husband because of things that were happening and I was trying to work, and I was trying to fight back on Bo’s case. And at first, for that first month I just went to his grave and lay down. But to be able to, through God, be able to go back to work, be able to fight back on Bo’s case, even though I was so…I would see a little boy going down the hallway in a baseball suit and cry. I would cry at anything. It was my first thoughts when I woke up and it was my last thoughts when I went to sleep. My thoughts throughout the entire day, and just like I said of course there is nothing that I can go through that would be worse then that. And I appreciate both of you for giving me another opportunity not only for someone to have access to the police department and the website if they know any information but also to learn if anyone is going through this or anything similar call out to God.

TODD: Well we’ll ask for your help after this. Just a couple of years ago we we’re working on another case in Kentucky, Madison Man. An unidentified man in Madison County and we got him a tombstone, he had unlimited marker and he was still unidentified and we got him a tombstone marked Madison Man and I asked Sherry if she wanted to make the topper, the grave topper and she did. And she also added a little photograph of Bo and Ryan and we put it on the topper of the new stone and it wasn’t long after that you know that resulted in publicity on Madison Man, he was identified.

SHERRY: Right and he was identified.

TODD: And I think you brought a special blessing to that. So I think everything has its time and you did. I’m just sure you…I felt like I needed to take some of your energy there because you have so much.

SHERRY: Thank you and honestly it was just heartbreak. Bo was just a high energy level person and then when that happened I was so lifeless and through many, many hours on my knees God has given me strength to fight for justice. And if I remember correctly your children used some allowance to help with that.

TODD: My oldest son did. Yes.

SHERRY: Yes. And so ok my brain is back because that was a long time ago from this brain injury that I had.

TODD: Well I saw last night in our conversation, we talked for over an hour last night and I saw a lot of little lights coming back on again and I was really pleased to talk to you and hear you remembering things. It really felt good. Because I wasn’t sure what was going to happen after your wreck.

SHERRY: My brain was injured so bad that the doctors, from hearsay, I was told that the doctors said that’s it, she’s done, she’ll never be back to work, and we’re sorry ’cause we love her but she’s done. That’s how bad my brain was injured when I was in this wreck and I had to have brain surgery. And it is only through the grace of God that when it came pass that initial stage of being unconscious and having brain surgery, that when I came to myself mentally, that yes I knew my precious family and everybody that is around me, my boyfriend Brad never left my side the whole time that I was in the hospital. We’ve been dating since Thanksgiving of last year. I’ve been divorced almost 3 years and I finally started dating because he just opened up and said to me when I told me because when someone would ask me out I was like you just don’t know what I’m going through, I lost my child and he said no one can take your son’s place ever and I’m so sorry what happened. No one can take his place but if you would open up your heart to some one that had children that you can love and grandchildren that you can love and that they can love you back, someone like me and other people would just say you know your son would want you to go on. And just go on and I would be like you just don’t understand what I’m going through. But he was so different and so compassionate that I decided to start dating after all that time. He was at the drawbridge that night and he never left my side; the whole time I was having brain surgery and transferred to another hospital he never left my side. And God will put people in your life and use those people as angels to carry you when your wings can not fly.

TODD: Well it didn’t take a lot of convincing you. I remember I thought it was going to be a shot in the dark meet you on the website with this lady but you were just…an immediate embrace. I think we’ve become life long friends immediately.

SHERRY: Absolutely. Absolutely.

TODD: Eric what do you think of this one? Don’t she, she has a lot of faith.

ERIC: You know something, if I can help strengthen you any…

SHERRY: Yes sir?

ERIC: What you’re doing for others and this is just a small passing, God is not unrighteous, as difficult as some things can be and as difficult as other things may be, I found out that between difficult and impossible one just takes a little bit longer than the other. But you will get to that point where ok I can live and I can deal with this and I can deal with everybody and I hate that it had to happen all like this but it opened up another life for you. It may have been years before you would have gotten to this point but all things be to God. And you’re hanging in there. You are doing a wonderful job of hanging in there. I think that your energy with wanting to stay with this and finding a solution helps also. It really does.

SHERRY: And where I was working at the time was at the hospital at a rehab unit where February it’ll be 17 years, but at that time it had been a lot of years that I had worked there when I lost my son and those doctors and those nurses and the therapists that were my co-workers and my friends, they literally my first day back to work which took me a while to be able, they literally one friend met me and took me over to a walking path where we walked in circles because I wasn’t facing reality to go back to work. All the news and everybody…and I could hardly do that. So she met me there to let me get some of those tears out and then I went in and that support system that I had through my co-workers and I had patients because in therapy I had patients during that time that said oh we just saw you on TV about the loss of your son, I lost my child and they learned through that on how to little memory pages of their child on the computer. And now I also worked besides just at the rehab unit, I also worked for home health and cover three adult day centers to where these people don’t need to be in a nursing home but they may need care like the family is with them at night but maybe their family has to work during the day and so they are with us during the day and they have nursing care there but I do all the therapy and fitness programs with them there. And I have people that watches it and prays for me even when I’m not there. They know when its going to be aired and God has blessed be with a career since I was 20 and I’m 46. Since I was 20 to be able to work in the field to help people that are injured to regain their independence. And then also for the motivational aspect to teach them to reach out to God. But I babysat when Bo was born and didn’t get back into my line of work until he started kindergarten and so I had that gap when I took care of children during that time but I know that there was like 3,000 people…all I remember is standing at my sons casket and crying and that was the worse thing you’ll ever want to see. And I just couldn’t leave his side even though God was just like shaking me he’s not here, he’s not here, he’s up here in heaven. And I knew that and that’s why I didn’t…that’s how I survived, get this far, but during that time someone had said…because they had to have it at the school because they knew the funeral home couldn’t hold it and they had it in the gymnasium with the casket there and all I remember is standing there by Bo and people was lined up all the way down the gym, all the way out the gym door, and all the way out in the parking lot for hours and after 3,000 people the quit counting. And this was a tiny little town. But where he had played all sports in different counties and had done so many different things with his sports he knew a lot of people from a lot of areas and the community support was absolutely wonderful and the community still tries to help by if they hear leads to let us know. But with the things like the website being on that big billboard and the detective number being on that big billboard, if somebody hasn’t made a tape of what’s on TV or had a newspaper cut out and they wouldn’t have access to those numbers if for whatever reason, hopefully it will be God speaking to their heart. But you never know when someone could be facing life casualty like having something wrong with them to think ok before I leave this world I need to tell this. So you never know why but you just hope, the high hopes that through the access that people have they could see the big billboard, they can drive by it get the website address or get the detective’s number. So what it is I felt so helpless that I just I had to ask God to lift me, to hold me and that fighting back keeps you from feeling so helpless.

TODD: Now a lot of the families have been involved, I know Ryan’s family they’ve done things. His sister’s written a poem that we’ve put on the website up and your ex-husband, his father Harold, he has been very supportive. I don’t think anybody has been quite put in the effort that Sherry has put in on this.

SHERRY: Well where he was my only child and we were so close and for your child to just go to a school event and then he leaves for a few minutes and he’s murdered…and he was the light of my life, God first of course. But my child was…it was always centered around Bo has a ball game or Bo’s having friends over or you know and then for that to just be gone and ripped out from under you. I can not, can not have any, well I don’t know if it’s called closure or not because there is no closure to losing a child. You’ve lost them forever. But I can not put this part behind me until this part is solved and that’s who did it.

TODD: Well you’ve become a mother to many in so many different ways when you weren’t a mother any longer. You’ve managed to take care of a lot of things. Now this last bump up to $25,000.00, now that was a big jump.

SHERRY: Yes.

TODD: Now what sparked that last event that brought it up to that?

SHERRY: We had been able to come up with the $10,000.00 reward which like I said we wanted to say a million or $100,000.00 but…

TODD: And that was you guys that was the family.

SHERRY: Yes. You have to show what you have. And so we were able to, Bo’s father, we were able to know that we were able to come up, Bo’s father and I with $10,000.00 so we did $10,000.00 because you do have to show what you have. Which I never could figure how other people could go around putting up a million or 100,000 unless they had that cash on hand but I’m happy for them that they could but we had to show we had before they could publicize it. Then we did a thing at the race track in a nearby area that raised some more money and it when up to $12,000.00. Then I was just looking at some more things that I could do, I didn’t care what it was I just prayed that God would give me the insight to maybe have just some kind of big event where it was all centered around more money being put into the reward fund so that the reward money would be more. And I was praying so hard about the right thing to do and had several idea options on what I could do to bring in more money and I got the call that this man who had already talked about it had decided to do it. He was a local business man is Sanford, he felt like that if the reward money was more and he knew that we didn’t have it and he knew that at that time he did and he knew if the thought if the reward money was more and since they keep saying they’re getting close that maybe that would be all it would take to bring in the final answers to this and solve it. And he said I can’t imagine what your going through and he said I will donate $10,000.00 and so we were able to put in enough with that to make it go up to $25,000 and he is in the area and he is tired of murders being out there and not being caught and was willing to help so that we could get answers. Because this is totally publicized on the news, on the news panels, like out of the Lexington area, it’s on the news, its in the newspaper a lot, and he says they’re going to know that you want answers and most people just don’t know what to do to help but we want to help and maybe this will help.

TODD: He just pledged the money; I mean he’s not had to spend the money unless the crime is actually solved.

SHERRY: Well I didn’t really actually about that. What we did because at one point we did a little fund raiser to go into the Bo Upton scholarship fund so that some kids could go to college since Bo didn’t get to use his scholarships; to start a scholarship fund so that each year someone could go to school in Bo’s memory and have a scholarship to give out, a Bo Upton scholarship. His father wanted to do that which I thought, and still think is wonderful but my main goal is getting the reward money up enough to where somebody will tell. And so with the initial $12,000.00 we let it be known because some people had…the scholarships weren’t huge but there were nice little Bo Upton scholarships to help people with college. One was given each year since we lost Bo. But with the raising the money for the reward money we made it very clear in the paper and everything, anybody that has donated because when it was $12,000.00 you know that race track had helped us out and some people had donated a little bit of money, not a lot but we just made it known, I don’t care if it was $5.00 if this is solved through police detective work, not through a lead that someone came up and gave them for the reward money the police will let all that out and let it be known and then if it’s solved without someone’s lead and we didn’t need this rewards money that, but mostly we’ve put it all in but that gentleman donated $10,000.00 at that point it became an enormous donation and so we said that it would go into the Bo Upton scholarship fund.

TODD: Ok

SHERRY: Now with this last gentleman that donated the $10,000.00 I was just wanting the media to know that he’s out there thinking that by this time, when this anniversary date came up when this time we would have answers. And I didn’t think to ask him that. As far as that $10,000.00 we’ll probably just give it back to him unless he just says go ahead and put it in the Bo Upton scholarship fund. But so far if the money is not used for reward money due to them solving it otherwise it will go into the scholarship fund. But every time the news comes on and saying about an update on the Bo Upton/Ryan Shangraw case the reward money has been up or they’re doing a billboard go look at it to get the website, here it is on TV and here is the detective’s number on TV but if you happen to not to get to write it down you can see it on the billboard. And with the news media being that supportive, that has been…I mean it was so hard at first because the only reason I should be on TV is if they seen me in a crowd jumping up and down because he got a home run or something and so this has totally changed my life forever. But I’ve got to where I could handle the news media because ever single time, every time, the news media coverage to say reward money or billboard or no matter what it was, they would get in more leads; every time.

TODD: And the media has been good to you. I know a lot of the media…

SHERRY: Extremely good and at first I understood why I couldn’t handle it but then once I learned it was bringing in leads, yes I’ll do it. I don’t care where you meet me at, my house, at work, they was at Bo’s grave, and that was so hard, but it brought in leads and you never know which one of those leads will get us the answers that we need and get the murderers behind bars.

TODD: I think a lot of it was just amazed at your strength in this, making that part of the actual story. It’s like this woman still got all of this energy and still maintaining it and I’ve said this in shows before, I don’t know if I would survive this. You have.

SHERRY: Well the biggest part of survival was those first days. I mean the pain was so great that I can’t describe it to you in words. My heart…you know like these broken bones I had will heal from the wreck but my heart felt like it was being ripped out of my body and twisted. It was this pain that, there was not one second in any part of any day that would ease up because my child was not only killed which unfortunately so many people have lost children in wrecks and I feel for them and pray for them and I know it hurts so bad but where mine wasn’t an accident. Someone killed him, the pain was so great that I couldn’t do anything but literally scream up to God and say help me because the pain was so intense and the more hours spent on my knees the more I could feel God lifting me and then the last time when I got up off of his grave, just a few months after it happened when I said ok they’re not going to solve it by themselves because I think it’s not enough in the budget to get enough manpower spent on the case because I was actually told that by one of them over there. I said I will do everything that I can. I will…I just got to focus and I will fight this until justice is served.

TODD: Well you know the squeaky wheel gets the grease, you know that and that’s true. I really want everybody in the world that’s listening to this tonight has got out of this is a little bit of your faith and your strength. I think the answers to this case lie in Kentucky. Obviously this is a local event, its something that happened there, its rooted in that community. These people are walking among people in the community that know what happened. They might be afraid to tell. We are speaking to those people as well as the world. Maybe everybody can reflect on the strength and the efforts that you’ve taken globally but I’m hoping that people locally will do what they can whether it’s to raise the reward money; obviously it’s not going to be misspent in any way.

SHERRY: Right, right we will…well most of it is ours that we have been able to save and borrow but what was donated like that $10,000.00 that was the biggest amount, if he wants it to go to the scholarship fund we will and if he wants that back then we will give it back to him if its not used for reward money, meaning they just solved it with some forensic stuff and it didn’t come from anything that anyone…

TODD: And that goes for anybody else out there that might hear us tonight that decides to donate some money to the reward fund. I mean its up to them however they choose to donate it. If they decide to do that.

SHERRY: I feel like that if it would just be solved then I could work on having little fund raisers to raise money for the Bo Upton scholarship fund or that maybe something that I can save back a few dollars each paycheck to put in the Bo Upton scholarship fund. That is something that I can work on to keep his name alive for the rest of my life and his father feels that way to. We want do the Bo Upton scholarship fund as long as we can…

TODD: Well the website is going to be there for you forever.

SHERRY: …right now the reward money because I want answers.

TODD: Well the website will be there forever for you and I’m hoping it’s a place you can go to and know that he’s still with us in so many ways.

SHERRY: Yes he is. And when I cried out to God…well I wrote…we talked a little bit about…because fighting back kept me from feeling so helpless and as a love in music when its in the middle of the night and you can’t sleep I write songs. At first I was singing gospel songs about how beautiful heaven must be and then I did them about him being in heaven and God helped me by letting me have that…by letting me see those things. Be it in my dreams or whether I was a wake trying to go to sleep God…I know that he is with God. But I write a lot of songs and if I could just sing a little piece of it here I think that it might mean something to other people as well that have lost children and anyone that I know or even that I don’t I pray for people all the time; anyone that has lost a child I know the pain and if you cry out to God that he can help you.

TODD: Eric will it carry well?

ERIC: Please go right ahead.

TODD: Ok.

SHERRY: I had done this at Christmas last year, this particular song. And then this past spring the baseball team wanted me to speak because they were dedicating a game in memory of Bo and these boys would have been in the 8th grade when Bo was killed and he was a senior in high school so they would have been in the middle school. So most of them just a memory and the player that he was and some of them had actually got to play with him if they were bumped up to the high school team in the 8th grade like Bo had got to. But the majority of them hadn’t got to but they wanted to do a game dedicated in memory of Bo and asked me to speak. And I did but when I walked out on that field oh I could just…it just broke my heart to not see my child out there on that pitcher’s mound or out there on that field and to be at the place that was his favorite play spot in the world.

TODD: Well you stood in his place that time, you know.

SHERRY: And so the only time I had been there since I had lost Bo because the baseball field was many, many precious years and times of their lives, was the only time I had been there besides that day when I spoke was when Bo would have been graduating that senior year, the baseball team had a big ceremony. The coach and the team retired Bo’s jersey and they had a big ceremony and the news covered that. And that was the only time I’d been on the field and figured I could never go again but due to the circumstances they were doing a ceremony in honor of Bo and retiring his jersey, I went to that. And that was extremely hard to stand there where Bo had put so much into playing ball but it was an honor to be called back again to be a guest speaker because they were doing something in memory of Bo. And so I did speak and I said my son as everybody knows loved music and so I written a lot of songs about him. And this is just a little piece of one that I was able to do there so I thought it might be able to reach and touch someone else. So I hope that you can hear it well.

TODD: Let’s hope that they all hear it ok.

SHERRY: I won’t play the guitar too so that you can hear the words since I don’t have it recorded right now.

TODD: It’s going out to the world Sherry.

SHERRY: Thank you so much Todd for everything you have done. And a little bit of the song goes: It’s To Bo.

~Sherry Sings~ “I wish the clouds would roll back. I wish the window of heaven could open up so I could see what you were doing now. God covered me with his mercy when I cried out to him, he said he lives in his house now and he’s taking care of him. So I opened up my arms wide open and gave you back to him but in my heart is where you’re always be. So shine your light down on me every now and then. I’ll see you when I get there but until then remember that I love you Bo my son and my best friend”.

SHERRY: I’m about to cry, I’m sorry.

TODD: You did perfect.

SHERRY: But that’s my therapy because I feel so helpless and fighting back is my way of…I vowed to Bo. I will not stop until justice is served and these people are caught but then when you’ve called everybody that was with him one day then everything that you can do in one day and the tears are still rolling down your face the words will come to you.

TODD: Well you’re far from helpless.

SHERRY: And then I was coming down the road, this little itty bitty, tiny, tiny road that leads down to my house and it was like God let me hear Bo in my heart and he said “Mom, if your gonna right songs about me, they better me some upbeat ones.” Because you know he loves the jamming light music.

TODD: Yeah.

SHERRY: And before I got home and it wasn’t a mile away from the house I wrote another song and come in and put music to it and it was about

~Sherry Sings~ “Heaven’s got an angel in baseball cap. Oh but he was so much more that. He taught me how to live, how to laugh, and to love. My greatest gift from my father above.”

SHERRY: And it just goes like that and I cried and…because they were sad songs, I couldn’t help it. And so it was just like God let him speak to my heart he said they better be upbeat songs and I wrote that road song. And so I did a little piece of that one at that baseball dedication game in memory of Bo.

TODD: See you’re far from helpless.

SHERRY: That’s God, absolutely. Without God I would have just lay down and died of a broken heart and thought I was just going to die of a broken heart anyway. And so I’m living proof that God can hold you and the pain is still great but God helps you. It’s not what happens to you that will kill you, it is who you let you help you carry that pain.

TODD: Sherry I’ll always listen to you.

SHERRY: You know, you’ve been so much help and your family has just been so precious to me, your wife and children to be willing to let you spend time to help me solve the case of who murdered my child.

TODD: Eric how do you like her?

ERIC: I love her, I love her.

SHERRY: Well thank you. I bet you he’s thinking I can’t get a word in edge wise.

TODD: I knew it was going to be this way. I already knew it. I knew it because what kind of energy you have. But Eric, we got to give Eric time to say something here.

SHERRY: Absolutely.

ERIC: You know I do want to take this time to let our listeners know that they can access Todd Matthews through the web page, you know just go directly to our schedule and you will be able to go to his web page. Once you see his picture you’ll be able to click on that. And if anybody out there has any details, any leads, any suggestions, if they would just like to say something encouraging, go to Todd’s website and go ahead and let him know. Now if there are any tips forth coming from this show let Todd know, he will know the appropriate people…

TODD: I’ll pass it on or I will show you where to go.

ERIC: Now Sherry we want to thank you for having to come on to the show tonight. And we are going to give you another audience once again sometime down the road so we can get some progress reports from you. We want to keep you up front, in everybody’s face, the media’s face, and everything.

SHERRY: Thank you.

ERIC: So that they can know that there is somebody out there still looking for closure. That’s what this show is designed for.

TODD: Well this launches this year’s media blitz on this particular case. We start every January, you know of the anniversary date, it’s really intense from here on out and we are going to use this to kick start it.

SHERRY: Yes it is and then me being totally alone because me losing my only child and then I went through a divorce, and my father passed away, and my sister was living in England, my brother in Germany, I was totally alone. And I never felt alone, God was always with me.

TODD: You will never be alone.

SHERRY: I wasn’t afraid and people say you are a brave woman. I say no, if something is going to happen to you it’s going to happen to you no matter where you are at. I’m not afraid but I was totally alone. And then when I met Brad last year at Thanksgiving, I know that God put this man in my life because he is so supportive. He took off work early to drive me to speak at that ballgame in memory of Bo. I never seen so many tears and he was crying with us. And this Christmas I’m now engaged.

TODD: So you got a new life beginning.

SHERRY: It was something that I thought I would just…I thought I would die in my sorrows and like he said and I’ve always said no one can ever take Bo’s place but I was totally alone. So he is supportive like on Christmas I know what we have planned, go to my family and go to your family but I have to go to Bo’s grave and it’s ok and he went right with me.

TODD: Well I want to meet him really soon. But I think we’re out of time tonight.

ERIC: Yes we are. I hate to cut in but I got to cut in we got to keep a schedule. We thank you for being on. The clock on the wall is saying that’s all. So I do want to invite you back again and we’re looking forward to speaking with you again. And our prayers are with you. Todd good night. Sherry good night.

TODD: Good night.

SHERRY: Thank you for your prayers and if I could say one thing if everybody would please look at the website that Todd developed in memory of Bo and Ryan and you will see his big smiling face on the right hand side.

TODD: Well make sure of it Sherry. We’ll make sure of it.

SHERRY: And thank you. And thank you for your time and for your prayers and for all your help.

TODD: Good night now.

ERIC: Good night.

SHERRY: Good night. Thank you again. Bye-bye.

More resources

“Did you really think we want those laws observed?”, said Dr. Ferris. We WANT them to be broken. You’d better get it straight that it’s not a bunch of boy scouts you’re up against…. We’re after power and we mean it …. There’s no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren’t enough criminals one MAKES them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law abiding citizens? What’s there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced or objectively interpreted - and you create a nation of law-breakers - and then you cash in on guilt. Now that’s the system Mr. Reardon, that’s the game, and once you understand it, you’ll be much easier to deal with.” - Ayn Rand, “Atlas Shrugged” 

There was a segment on Fox News today about the gun free school zones act of 1990. It established 1000 foot zones around every school, where someone can be arrested by a federal officer if they have a gun. It carries a potential 5 year federal felony sentence, unless they have Big Brother’s specific permission to carry one, in the form of a concealed carry license. ( which some states don’t allow ) What that does, is shift the RKBA ( the universal individual inalienable human Right to Keep And Bear Arms ) from being a constitutionally recognized human right, into being something that you don’t have without written permission from the government to exercise it. 

But the act also includes peoples’ homes if they live near schools, and their cars if they even drive past a school, so someone who lives 900 feet from a school is a federal criminal if they have a gun in their house. Someone who has a hunting gun or pistol in their car, which is traditionally considered someones mobile home for the purpose of gun laws, is a federal criminal if they drive within 1000 feet of a school, which isn’t at all hard to do. It’s simply absurd and outrageous. 

On Fox news, they also showed some maps that illustrate the overlap from these zones. There are so many schools in many big cities that it makes the entire city virtually a gun free zone, and anyone who owns a gun, a federal criminal. Few people who live near, or drive by schools realize this. 

Of course the proponent of the law on Fox News claimed this is just “too bad”, that we’ve already had the discussion years ago and that’s what democratic mob rule decided at the time, so live with it. But it’s just not right, to criminalize a right protected by the Bill of Rights to begin with, and do so in such a devious way that it makes criminals out of large segments of the population who have no criminal intent, but are just exercising their human right. 

“…this particular right is threatened with misinterpretation to the point of meaninglessness… this is a far easier method of elimination than amendment, being much quicker and not requiring the same rigid consensus and forthright discussion of it’s constitutional relevancy.” - To Keep And Bear Arms, By Dr. Joyce Malcolm, Page 176

The Gun-Free School Zones Act should be repealed. At its very essence it’s useless and redundant, and like so many victimless “crime” laws, it makes criminals out of so many good people. Anyone who wants to commit a criminal act can walk into any school in this country and kill people. No law can stop that, but in Israel they found that the opposite approach worked best, they armed the teachers. That stopped school shootings there. Would you want people teaching your kids who wouldn’t keep and bear the means of protecting your children, or lift a finger to defend them if they were attacked? I wouldn’t. 

The act should be repealed immediately, but of course don’t expect it with the gutless constitution-destroying termites that we now have running our government.