Statehood

100 years ago yesterday, Arizona officially became a state.  As you can imagine, there's been a bit of celebration here with new signs on the highways and lots of random trivia. A few weeks ago we had a big staff meeting with an Arizona trivia game as an icebreaker activity.  We were divided into teams of three and challenged with several questions.  Now normally this is the type of thing I would do good at and my colleagues would love being on my team, but unfortunately I was mostly worthless when it came to Arizona trivia.  After all, I took Idaho History in grade school, so I know things like the fact that the Idaho state bird is the Mountain Bluebird, or that the Idaho State Flower is the Syringa, and the Idaho state horse is the Apaloosa.  I didn't however know that the official Arizona state neckwear is the bola tie, that AZ is known for its copper mining, or that the Saguaro cactus flower is the official state flower.  But while I'm certainly not an Arizonan at heart, it has been fun to see the state pride of so many and fondly recall the Idaho Centennial that I experienced as a kid.

Idaho became a state in 1890, so the centennial celebration happened when I was 8 years old.  My big family went and camped out at this huge scouting jamboree in honor of Idaho's statehood.  It was quite fun, especially for us little kids who just got to tag along by virtue of the fact that the majority of the family were actually involved in scouts at the time.   There was another family in our ward who had brought most of their kids too and I remember developing a bit of a crush during that trip on their boy who was just older than me.  I remember being in awe of how many people there were when we all met together in the big ampitheatre and how many scouts there were. Even though I didn't get to go to all the scouting things that my big brothers did, it was fun to feel involved in a bit of the scouting stuff the rest of the family seemed to always be doing (with 3 older brothers and 2 scouting leaders for parents, you can't blame the 8 year old me for sometimes feeling a bit left out). They also had some special kids crafts and activities that were fun in and of themselves. 

One funny story is that at one of the kid's activities, they were leading us in singing a bunch of songs when they asked for any kids who knew the actions to the "Pizza Hut Song" to come forward.  I turned to my mom and asked if I could go up and was a little upset when she told me I couldn't because she didn't think I knew the song.  I remember thinking "of course I do, we sing it in the car all the time".  Disappointed I sat back down to hear the rest of the lucky kids whose parents actually let them participate sing the pizza hut song.   Boy was I surprised when they started singing a strange tune with a line that said, ". . . Kentucky Fried Chicken and a Pizza Hut, McDooonalds, McDooonalds, Kentucky Fried Chicken and a Pizza Hut. . ." complete with flapping wings and golden arches for actions.  My mom was right, I'd never heard the song and would have made a complete fool of myself had she let me go up there.
You see, my siblings and I had this song we used to sing in the car that basically just went "Piiizzzaaaa, pizza, pizza, pizza, pizza, pizza."  during which you would bring your hands together, then fling your arms out to either side smacking the poor souls sitting next to you during each of the last 5 "pizzas". 
It's hard to explain in writing without the aid of a melody, but basically, our "pizza" song was nothing more than an excuse to hit your brother(s) or sister(s) sitting next to you during a long car trip.  It was especially interesting if you got stuck in the middle  of our 3 abreast van seating because then you got to hit both sides, but of course, you also got smacked from both sides too.  (The things we do as children).  In any case, I'm sure I would have created quite a scene had I gone up on stage during the kids' song activity and started smacking the children standing on either side of me.  Sometimes moms really do know what's best.