December 27, 2017 The Skanner Page 7
A Look Back at 2017
Solar Eclipse, Loveable Baby Hippo Warmed Hearts in 2017
MINNEAPOLIS — It
wasn’t all doom and
gloom in 2017. The year
was also filled with
awe-inspiring moments
that united us and
warmed the heart.
The first total solar
eclipse to cross the U.S.
in a century bought mil-
lions together in what
some could only describe
as a primal experience.
Thousands of immi-
grants took the oath of
citizenship,
realizing
their dreams of becom-
ing Americans. And one
adorable baby, Fiona the
hippopotamus, became a
story of survival as she
overcame the odds and
tumbled into the world’s
heart.
The stories provided
some lighthearted mo-
ments amid a series of
deadly mass shootings,
terrorist attacks, hurri-
canes, wildfires, sexual
harassment scandals and
other tragic news in 2017.
Here’s a look at a few of
the moving, unifying and
just plain fun moments
of 2017:
“BLACK COWBOYS” / ALBINA MURAL PROJECT OF 1978 /PHOTO: DARRYL CLEGG
Yay, Science!
It
seems
nothing
brought Americans to-
gether more than the
first total so-
lar eclipse to
move across
the U.S. in a
century.
For
one
moment
in
the
middle
of an August
day, millions
of
people
stopped what
they were do-
ing and gazed
upward
in
wonder as the
moon slipped
In this Sept. 18, 2017 file photo, 35 immigrants from 23 countries recited the Oath
over the sun
of Allegiance, during the naturalization ceremony in Jackson, Miss. It wasn’t all
— leaving a
doom and gloom in 2017. The year was also filled with awe-inspiring moments that
path of to-
united us and warmed the heart. According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
tal darkness
Services, 603,825 people became naturalized U.S. citizens in the first nine months
that stretched
from Oregon of 2017. The ceremonies can be huge moments for those involved.
to South Caro-
about nature, about this
#TEAMFIONA
lina. Some eclipse watch-
phenomenon that was
This little one wasn’t
ers sang, some danced
happening,” said Mam- expected to make it.
and some were moved to
ta Patel Nagaraja, who
Fiona, a Nile hippopot-
tears. Kids thought it was
works on public engage- amus, was just 29 pounds
pure magic, and people
ment for NASA. “It didn’t (13 kilograms) when she
traveled to remote sec-
matter what color, creed, was born prematurely
tions of the country to
race, economic ladder in January. After early
get the best glimpse.
health scares, she’s now
A study by the Uni-
thriving at more than
versity of Michigan,
600 pounds (272 kilo-
requested by NASA, es-
grams). This sassy girl
timated that 215 million
has become a symbol of
American adults — or
survival — and the star
88 percent of the coun-
attraction at the Cincin-
try’s adult population —
nati Zoo & Botanical Gar-
viewed the eclipse either
you were on, people just den.
directly or electronically.
went out and enjoyed it.
Fiona has captivated
That’s 104 million more
“It transcended all the the masses and the Team
than the 2017 Super Bowl.
other things,” she said.
Fiona craze isn’t slow-
“People were really just
ing down. She stars in
her own internet vid-
eo series. Tens of mil-
lions have gone online
to watch her take a bot-
tle, splash in the pool or
learn to run.
T-shirts bear her im-
age. She’s the subject of
children’s books. An ice
cream flavor and local
brew are named in her
honor. She gets so many
cards and letters that she
has her own mail bin.
Grown men will lean
over the pool in their
suits and ties to get close
to her, said zoo director
Thane Maynard.
“It’s Fiona’s world, and
AP PHOTO/ROGELIO V. SOLIS FILE
By AMY FORLITI
Associated Press
“
It’s Fiona’s
world, and
we’re just
living in it
AP PHOTO/MEAD GRUVER, FILE
AP looks at the bright spots in a year of tragic and difficult stories
In this Aug. 21, 2017 file photo, Jack Kvenild, 5, of Laramie, Wyo.,
watches the eclipse onset at Glendo Reservoir in near Glendo in
east-central Wyoming. An economic analysis of last summer’s total
eclipse found that nearly 192,000 people traveled to Wyoming to
view the event. In addition, the study released Monday, Dec. 11 by
the state Office of Tourism estimated that the celestial event boosted
the state’s economy by an estimated $63.5 million.
we’re just living in it,”
Maynard said.
In her early, most
vulnerable days, Fio-
na received letters and
pictures from kids who
were preemies them-
selves, urging her to stay
strong. After nurses at
Cincinnati
Children’s
Hospital Medical Cen-
ter helped care for the
hippo, the zoo sent Fio-
na-themed onesies to the
preemies there.
“We are working with
Fiona and her story to
spread a number of mes-
sages — one is a message
of not giving up,” May-
nard said.
Inspiring Generosity
Out of cash and out of
gas on an interstate exit
ramp in Philadelphia,
Kate McClure found help
from an unlikely source:
a homeless man who told
her to stay put, then used
his last $20 to buy her
gas.
Johnny Bobbitt Jr.’s self-
lessness was not lost on
McClure. She set up a Go-
FundMe page for the mil-
itary veteran and former
paramedic, and raised
more than $400,000.
Now
Bobbitt
has
enough money to buy
a home and his dream
truck — a 1999 Ford
Muralist Henry Frison Gets First
Solo Show
Local African American painter Henry Frison exhibited close to 20 in his first solo show, which
opened at the end of July at greenHAUS Gallery and Boutique. Frison’s intimate portraits of iconic
Black figures – President Obama, Rosa Parks and Michael Jackson among them – will be on display
until the end of summer. At 77, Frison is primarily known as a Portland mural artist and one of seven
Black painters that collaborated on the Albina Mural Project from 1978 – a work of five 20 foot by 20
foot murals, spearheaded by artist Isaka Shamsud-Din.
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Ranger. An attorney and
financial adviser helped
create a plan that will al-
low him to collect a small
monthly salary and have
some money for retire-
ment.
Bobbitt has said he’s
overwhelmed. He told
“Good Morning Amer-
ica” he plans to pay the
generosity forward by
donating some of the
money to organizations
that will help others.
“Everybody out there
is facing some kind of
struggle, so if I can touch
their life, the way mine
was touched, (it’d be) an
amazing feeling,” he told
“Good Morning Ameri-
ca.”
“Yes!” Over Roast
Chicken
From a simple propos-
al over roast chicken to
plans for a royal wedding,
news that Prince Harry
is engaged to American
actress Meghan Markle
has many cheering.
The story drew people
in for many reasons. For
one, it’s fun. The happi-
ness exuded by the cou-
ple as they announced
their engagement was
contagious, while details
of their courtship read
like a fairy tale.
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