MPIGNY Chapter Blog

Week of August 23, 2010 BLOG

CHRIS WHITE (Hotel Beacon NYC)
MPIGNY Chapter "Blog Jockey"

To all you hoity-toity decedents of the Mayflower, I can see how this might not be your “cup of tea.” So let me reach out to the rest of you plebeians.

Now I know that over the next few weeks you are all going to hear a lot about the This is our City event at Ellis Island. There will be many reminders of the meeting and the greeting and the networking and the boats and the food and that babe in the harbor, yeah, it’s all there, and all of it and it is going to be over-the-top good. But there is also Ellis Island, one of the truest and most important fabrics of American history, and I am ashamed to say in all my years in New York City I have never been there. It’s a personal crime for me, and a travesty of citizenship for any New Yorker to have not been to this icon of US history.

You need only to look into the eyes or listen to the deeply emotional story of any immigrant who has worked toward and achieved their US Citizenship and you know the American birthright we so many times take for granted is the “achievement of a lifetime” for may of those that proudly carry announce their ascension to American Citizenship as a seminal moment in their lives.
If you are not a carrier of English “blue” blood lineage born of Mayflower descendants, then you may well trace your family roots to one of America’s most famous portals.
 

For over 12 million people Ellis Island was a stepping-stone like no other. It was where my maternal grandparents entered this country, and the place where many from the tri-state area and beyond can trace their beginnings.  

So really folks, get on the boat, its symbolic, come to the island and be a part of a marvelous evening and extend a thank you to the representatives of MPI chapters from Greater NY and NJ and HSMAI of Greater NY who came together to make this event a reality.
 And for the love of organic handmade peanut butter cookies, don’t you think the New York contingents should carry the attendance torch for this evening? OK nuff’ said, almost.

Now in closing, let me say I am in no way looking down on those of noble descent, I’m afraid of heights anyway. And I must say all of you MPI rogues or royalty have hidden yourselves quite well, because I couldn’t begin to guess who you are. But this is a great opportunity for you too; even the tallest buildings need good foundation.

-Chris