VOA – CONNECT
EPISODE #133
AIR DATE 07 31 2020
TRANSCRIPT
OPEN ((VO/NAT))
((Banner))
A Family Tradition
((Eric Dinger, Powderhook Outdoorsmen App, Founder))
The gun is a symbol of an entire way of life, an entire set of
experiences that are very, very valuable.
((Animation Transition))
((Banner))
A Life Change
((Daniel Arden, Unemployed Bartender))
I think us, as a world and as Americans, I think it's not going
to take us down. I think it just made us stronger and kind of
closer together.
((Animation Transition))
((Banner))
The Chalk Life
((Ellen Chow, Mother))
Every week, the stay-at-home Chalk Fest had a different
theme. So, a week ahead, we were looking to ideas about
what we would like to do.
((Open Animation))
BLOCK A
((Animated Banner with Music:
Americans and Guns: Differing Perspectives))
((PKG)) GUNS AND HUNTING
((TRT: 09:37))
((Banner: A Way of Life))
((Reporter/ Camera: Deepak Dobhal))
((Map: Roca, Nebraska))
((Main characters: 1 female; 2 male))
((MUSIC))
((NATS))
((Eric Dinger, Founder, Powderhook Outdoorsmen App))
What else can we do to be safe with a gun?
((Daughter))
Whenever you are not shooting something, then you have to
have the safety on.
((Eric Dinger, Founder, Powderhook Outdoorsmen App))
Safety, yup. So,
there's a lot of ways to be safe with a gun. Number one, if
it's not loaded, it can't shoot. Makes sense?
((NATS))
((Eric Dinger, Founder, Powderhook Outdoorsmen App))
I know the reality. I know the fact that if there is a gun
accessible to a
child, they could absolutely use that for a purpose
that’s not intended. But we are teaching our children and we
have made the calculated risk to have guns in our home and
to
have our children exposed to guns in a way that makes us
feel like they know what they're meant for and that they
would only ever use them safely.
((NATS))
((Eric Dinger, Founder, Powderhook Outdoorsmen App))
I own guns because they are tools that I use to hunt.
Hunting is just, kind of, been a part of our lives as long back
as I can remember.
((NATS))
((Eric Dinger, Founder, Powderhook Outdoorsmen App))
My earliest memories with Dad are outdoors.
((Stills Courtesy: Eric Dinger))
First time I can remember going was probably shoot,
I was probably eight,
walking around, chasing pheasants with Dad and his friends
but I would get to carry my BB gun and shoot at the
pheasants.
((NATS))
((Stills Courtesy: Eric Dinger))
((Don Dinger, Field Sales Representative))
Tradition of hunting in our family actually started with my
grandpa. He was a farmer taking my dad when he was a
young boy.
((Don Dinger, Field Sales Representative))
This one here is a Model
12 that my dad used. It was 1951 when it was made.
So, it's
old and it's a keepsake that he passed to me which I'll pass
to Eric.
((Eric Dinger, Founder, Powderhook Outdoorsmen App))
How about today?
((Don Dinger, Field Sales Representative))
How about today? I guess it's not hurting anything. They
are safe locked.
((NATS))
((Don Dinger, Field Sales Representative))
It's been a fun family tradition and I just hope it keeps going.
See ya. Bye, kiddo.
((NATS))
((Eric Dinger, Founder, Powderhook Outdoorsmen App))
We're going down to my wife's
family's place down by Fairbury, Nebraska.
And today is the second Saturday of the Nebraska rifle deer
season. And so, we're going to go and try and find a deer
for my wife on her family's ground.
((NATS))
((Stephanie Dinger, Commercial Banker))
Kids right now have used their BB guns for a couple of years
. They will legally be able to hunt when they're 12.
I didn't have that opportunity when I was younger and as an
adult learner, while I love it now, it was intimidating to get
into it and to learn as a grown adult.
((NATS))
((Eric Dinger, Founder, Powderhook Outdoorsmen App))
The first time I taught Stephanie how to use a gun, we were
in a turkey blind and, somehow, magically this beautiful tom
turkey,
still to this day the biggest turkey I have ever seen, came
and stood at about 10 yards [9
meters]. And Stephanie had never shot
and she had my shotgun
and she was shaking so bad and so excited because the
turkey would gobble at us. And so, she got the gun
shouldered and shot and then set the gun down and said,
“Oh my God, oh my God, oh my
God.” Not exactly those words, let me tell you. Much, much
more explicit than that.
((Stephanie Dinger, Commercial Banker))
Yeah. Drop. But it was pretty cool.
((NATS))
((Stephanie Dinger, Commercial Banker))
I think it's really neat, specifically that my daughter has an
interest in hunting.
I will fully embrace and celebrate when she's ready to go out
on her own with a gun and have her first solo hunting trip.
((NATS))
((Eric Dinger, Founder, Powderhook Outdoorsmen App))
When a deer comes, you just need to move very, very little.
Very little. Here.
((Stephanie Dinger, Commercial Banker))
Got to watch some birds
but we saw no deer, no doe, no bucks. Right eye.
((Eric Dinger, Founder, Powderhook Outdoorsmen App))
Can you see how far away things are? Push this button up
here.
((Stephanie Dinger, Commercial Banker))
But we still had fun and that's the neat thing about being tog
ether as a family, is the kids were with us. They
got to experience and listen and just see the beauty of
nature.
((NATS))
((Eric Dinger, Founder, Powderhook Outdoorsmen App))
What hunting means to me is,
it's a tie to the people who raised me, the traditions they
taught me, the places I'm from, that I have been.
And you can mash all that up and say, hunting in my family
is great shared experiences that are going to inform the way
our
kids see the world growing up.
((NATS))
((Eric Dinger, Founder, Powderhook Outdoorsmen App))
Neither Stephanie nor I shot a deer this weekend but our
friends did.
((NATS))
((Eric Dinger, Founder, Powderhook Outdoorsmen App))
Yeah, see that right there. They're pointy still. So, that deer
right there, is probably one-and-a-half.
We had deer camp this weekend at our house
and what that means is that everybody's welcome to come
hunt. If you shoot a deer, we're going
to bring it back and we're going to make meat together.
All right, fresh deer tenderloin.
((NATS))
((Eric Dinger, Founder, Powderhook Outdoorsmen App))
We're confirmed that’s empty,
yeah? I'm so sticky about that.
((Woman))
I know, right.
((Eric Dinger, Founder, Powderhook Outdoorsmen App))
You know how many times he yelled at me as a kid?
Don’t you point that gun…..
((Don Dinger, Field Sales Representative))
I do that to everybody that I teach how to hunt.
((Stephanie Dinger, Commercial Banker))
It was a housewarming gift which was a unique gift.
It was just kind of odd that it just showed up in our kitchen.
((Eric Dinger, Founder, Powderhook Outdoorsmen App))
Frankly, I'm not as comfortable around pistols in social
situations, especially, you know, a new one that nobody
knows about. So that's why I was squeamish with it.
I don't own a pistol. She owns the only handgun in the hous
e and that's because I don't really go shooting. I go hunting
and you don't really hunt with a pistol.
((NATS))
((Man))
Did you shoot yours with a rifle?
((Man))
Yeah.
((Man))
You did?
Oh, you shot one time and it dropped.
((Eric Dinger, Founder, Powderhook Outdoorsmen App))
I think it's important for people to separate the gun debate
from hunting. Hunting is a way of life or avocation or sport.
((NATS))
((Eric Dinger, Founder, Powderhook Outdoorsmen App))
What frustrates lawful gun owners is that we get lumped into
this heap in the media with people who are breaking the law.
You know, somehow because we own guns, we are
complicit in those things happening.
A good way for me to describe how I feel about guns
is, the gun my dad is holding and this gun right here,
are the two things I want in the will. I don't want anything
else from my dad other than his gun. And it's not because I
am this giant Second Amendment [gun rights] advocate.
It's not because
I think that all guns should be legal and then we should just
have no gun laws or regulations. But it's because these are
the things that have tied us generationally together.
((NATS))
((Eric Dinger, Founder, Powderhook Outdoorsmen App))
Gun conversation that has me caught up is the suicide
conversation. If someone wanted to hurt themselves with th
e tools in our home, they could do that,
whether that was with pills or with guns or whatever it may
be.
It just so happens that guns are the most lethal way to do
that. And so, that part of it is the only part that gives me
pause.
And frankly as a gun owner,
I don't know what to do about the fact that people use guns
to kill themselves.
((NATS))
((Eric Dinger, Founder, Powderhook Outdoorsmen App))
Where the gun debate bothers me, as a hunter, is when
we're
teaching people that guns are dangerous or that guns are
something that you should fear to the extent that that
becomes the way our culture thinks
instead of teaching them to respect them and to teach them
how to lawfully use them. And it makes it hard to imagine a
world in which hunters are as common as they used to be.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Animated Banner with Music:
Next time on Americans and Guns
((MUSIC))
((SOT))
I can say in this cemetery, it’s quite a few people that I know
that have lost either their sibling, their child, their uncles,
aunts, even aunts to gun violence.
((MUSIC))
TEASE ((VO/NAT))
Coming up…..
((Banner))
The Pandemic Economy
((Daniel Arden, Unemployed Bartender))
Everyone is helping one another. So, I think, everyone's
going to be okay in that aspect, but I don't see it going back
to complete normalcy for a couple years.
BREAK ONE
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
BLOCK B
((PKG)) HARDSHIP BARTENDER
((TRT: 03:02))
((Banner: An Economic Adjustment))
((Reporter: Carolyn Presutti))
((Camera: Mike Burke))
((Adapted by: Zdenko Novacki))
((Map: Washington, DC))
((Main characters: 1 male))
((NATS))
((Daniel Arden, Unemployed Bartender))
It started actually before all the COVID stuff happened. I
was working at a restaurant, 21-Great American Bistro in
Fairfax City. And we were doing really good. And then after
Valentine's Day, we noticed a steady fall. And then the
COVID hit in March and we waited it out a little bit and we
decided to close and so we closed from there. So, I went
from, you know, making enough money to live on my own
and provide for my daughter and not live lavish, but you
know, well, you know, not poor. And I went from that to no
job within about a week.
((NATS))
((Daniel Arden, Unemployed Bartender))
My name is Daniel. I am from Burke, Virginia.
((Photos Courtesy: Daniel Arden))
((Daniel Arden, Unemployed Bartender))
And I'm trying to support myself as well as my daughter.
I didn't get my stimulus or my tax return yet till this day. And
basically from there, it kind of spiraled. Luckily, I have a
good friend at the vape shop that I work at, Vapor Theory,
and I was able to find a job right away. But he's doing the
best he can. But the income compared to, you know, a fine
dine-in restaurant is, you know, about one-third of what I was
making and maybe even one-fourth dependent upon. So,
it's been, you know, a huge, humbling event. And since
then, it's kind of been digging out of the ditch, just trying to
survive day by day, you know, week by week.
((NATS))
((Daniel Arden, Unemployed Bartender))
I was expecting a certain amount of money to cover my rent,
at least. When I got the check, I forgot about taxes. And so
that made me a couple, you know, about four or five hundred
dollars short of rent.
((NATS))
((Daniel Arden, Unemployed Bartender))
As much as that sounds, I don't know what, arrogant? But
it's the sad truth, unfortunately. Before at the restaurant job,
I didn't really have to worry about it, you know. I wasn't rich,
but I didn't have to worry about paying bills on time or, you
know, scheduling from a month from now and stuff like that.
And I never had to worry about, you know, buying cheap
food. I would just get what I want and then go.
((NATS))
((Daniel Arden, Unemployed Bartender))
Everyone is helping one another. So, I think, everyone's
going to be okay in that aspect, but I don't see it going back
to complete normalcy for a couple years, just for the simple,
until there's a, you know, cure.
((NATS))
((Daniel Arden, Unemployed Bartender))
I think, us as a world and as Americans, I think it's not going
to take us down. I think it’s just made us stronger and kind
of closer together.
You know, if someone can't find toilet paper, you go on a
Facebook group. Hundreds of people would tell you where
to get toilet paper.
((Photos Courtesy: Daniel Arden))
((Daniel Arden, Unemployed Bartender))
If you need help, like you found me just off that post and I
wasn't asking for anything. You know, I was like, “Anyone
need work done? I’ll work.” So, there is a lot of good people
in it. It is humbling as an event, but also makes you realize
how good the world is.
((Photos Courtesy: Daniel Arden))
((NATS/MUSIC))
TEASE ((VO/NAT))
Coming up…..
((Banner))
More to Birding
((Larry Meade, President - Northern Virginia Bird Club))
The connotation of bird watching is that all we do is watch
the birds. Not only do we look at them, we study them. We
do scientific surveys.
((NATS: Jessica Bowser))
Looked like a juvenile to me because I saw an adult fly to the
right.
BREAK TWO
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
BLOCK C
((PKG)) CHALK ART
((TRT: 03:16))
((Banner: Chalk Art))
((Reporter: Faiza Elmasry))
((Camera: Mike Burke))
((Video Editor: Lisa Vohra))
((Map: Reston, Virginia))
((Main characters: 1 female))
((Sub characters: 2 female))
((NATS))
((Olivia Snyder, Rising 7th grader))
I'm Olivia Snyder and I am 12 years old.
((NATS))
((Olivia Snyder, Rising 7th grader))
My mom draws the sketch with the plan and then we tape
out how we want it to look.
((NATS))
((Ellen Chow, Mother))
For today's project on our turtle, we took a style that I found
online, which is from stain, like a fake stained art but with
chalk where you tape out what you want to paint and then it
gives you nice, clean, crisp lines.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Olivia Snyder, Rising 7th grader))
And then we like to color it in and make it look nice.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Ellen Chow, Mother))
We wanted to do something with the manhole to make it
prettier and make our neighborhood look nicer and bring a
smile to people's faces.
((NATS))
((Ellen Chow, Mother))
I first heard about the Stay-At-Home Chalk Art Festival by a
neighbor who posted it on our HOA Facebook page.
((Ellen Chow, Mother))
But I actually didn't have any chalk, so I sort of dismissed it.
Just by coincidence a neighbor had, was cleaning out her
house and found a bunch of extra chalk and asked if we
would like it.
((NATS))
((Ellen Chow, Mother))
She was so generous to offer us the chalk. So, we were
grateful for that. Because it started right when the lockdown
was pretty serious and, you know, we didn't go anywhere.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Ellen Chow, Mother))
Every week the Stay-At-Home Chalk Fest had a different
theme. So, a week ahead, we were looking to ideas about
what we would like to do.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Anne Delaney, Executive Director, Public Art Reston))
Ellen Chow and her daughter submitted drawings every
week.
((Stills Courtesy - Ellen Chow))
((Anne Delaney, Executive Director, Public Art Reston))
And they were very creative and had quite a range of
drawings.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Stills Courtesy - Public Art Reston))
((Anne Delaney, Executive Director, Public Art Reston))
So, we receive drawings that really range from kids or, you
know, parents and kids teaming up to create drawings, as
well as professional artists who also submitted stunning
drawings. We had participants also from California and from
Mexico, in addition to artists from this area. So, you know, it
really was an event that was, went beyond, you know, the
territory of Reston.
((NATS: Ellen Chow))
A happy turtle.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Ellen Chow, Mother))
As you can guess, my daughter is 12 and really into her
video games like most girls her age. And so, this is a nice,
the chalk art was a nice break from the video games or
screen time. And I did like collaborating with her and
everything from starting to research and brainstorming ideas,
all the way to the finished product.
We had a lot of positive response from friends, one even
saying that they saw something and said, “Thank you. I
really needed that today.” So, that made us really happy
that we can spread some joy during this time.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((PKG)) BIRDING
((TRT: 03:34))
((Banner: Birding))
((Reporter: Faiza Elmasry))
((Camera: Mike Burke))
((Map: Alexandria, Virginia))
((Main character: 1 male))
((Sub character: 1 female))
((NATS))
((NATS: Larry Meade))
There is a Bluebird.
((Larry Meade, President, Northern Virginia Bird Club))
I am Larry Meade. I am President of the Northern Virginia
Bird Club.
((Stills Courtesy: Northern Virginia Bird Club))
((Larry Meade, President, Northern Virginia Bird Club))
I’ve always been interested in birding, but I’ve been seriously
birding, keeping track since 2002.
((NATS))
((Larry Meade, President, Northern Virginia Bird Club))
The connotation of bird watching is that all we do is watch
the birds. But birding is more of an all-encompassing
concept because not only do we look at them, we study
them. We do scientific surveys.
((NATS: Jessica Bowser))
Looked like a juvenile to me because I saw an adult fly to the
right.
((NATS: Larry Meade))
We study their behavior.
The one behind me in the pine tree.
We travel to see them.
((NATS))
((Larry Meade, President, Northern Virginia Bird Club))
We are at Huntley Meadows Park. What is really unique
about this is it is a freshwater wetland which is unusual. It’s
got the nice boardwalk. It’s pretty unique in that way and
that you can get really pretty close to the birds and other
wildlife.
((NATS: Jessica Bowser))
Now, the Great Crested Flycatcher is back.
((Larry Meade, President, Northern Virginia Bird Club))
Jessica is a member of our club.
((NATS: Larry Meade))
Here’s another. Here’s a Tree Swallow right here.
((NATS: Jessica Bowser))
I hear him singing.
((Larry Meade, President, Northern Virginia Bird Club))
It’s nice to be able to share experiences.
((Stills Courtesy: Northern Virginia Bird Club))
If I'm by myself, I like to post my photos on Facebook and
get reaction from people that way. But when we’re with a
person, number one, it's another set of eyes, like she spotted
some Cedar Waxwings I probably wouldn't have seen. And I
spotted some stuff she probably wouldn’t have seen. So,
you've got more chance to see the birds, but you can also
discuss the birds and just catching up with friends too. It's
just a social thing.
((Jessica Bowser, Conservation Advocate))
Being outside is always rewarding regardless of the weather,
regardless of what it is that we get to see, because the
outdoors is always a surprise. You never know what you're
going to find. Back in 2013, I was playing around on the
Internet and found an app that I could download on my
phone that was a birding app. And so that kind of piqued my
interest. And then I went and got a book about birding and
realized just how intricate and detailed it really is.
((NATS))
((Stills Courtesy: Northern Virginia Bird Club))
((Jessica Bowser, Conservation Advocate))
Birding kind of became like a scavenger hunt. And Larry
mentioned earlier that birders keep a life list, which is a list of
all the birds that they've seen. And so, when you start out
and everything feels new, you’re sort of, you know, adding to
that life list and it's growing and it’s growing and it just
becomes addictive.
((NATS: Bird Singing))
((Jessica Bowser, Conservation Advocate))
It's good for your health to be outdoors. It's a very calming
experience. But personally, as a former educator, I believe
that everybody should be connected to nature because we
have to conserve nature. The birds are diminishing. The
research shows that we've lost over 3 million birds over the
past few decades and that's really scary. And I think that
people aren't going to be aware of that, if they're not
connected to it.
((NATS: Nature Sounds))
((Jessica Bowser, Conservation Advocate))
In many places, the only legitimate place to go other than the
grocery store and the hospital, is the outdoors. And it's a
safe place to be right now as long as you keep your distance
from other people. And so, people are going outside in ways
that they never have before. And they're noticing things that
they hadn't noticed before. And they are making that
connection. And they're finding that birdwatching or birding,
as we like to call it, is very relaxing.
((Larry Meade, President, Northern Virginia Bird Club))
The basic tools for a birder are binoculars and some kind of
field guide so you can figure out what the birds are. I really
like the Red-headed Woodpecker. That's one of my
favorites.
((NATS: Nature Sounds))
((Larry Meade, President, Northern Virginia Bird Club))
I would encourage people to pay attention to birds. There is
a whole worldwide community of birders. I mean it's not just
here. It's everywhere. It’s just a lot of fun.
((NATS: Nature Sounds))
((PKG)) PROMO: AMERICANS AND GUNS
((MUSIC))
Americans and Guns
Differing Perspectives
((SOTs))
This is a fight for our way of life and our freedoms as
Americans.
The United States constitution says the right of the people to
keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
((MUSIC/NATS))
((SOTs))
Got to be some regulation, stop somewhere.
Guns take on a different meaning when you have to kind of
recognize that they are not just one thing.
Hunting has just kind of been a part of our lives as long back
as I can remember.
((SOTs))
I was shot eight times.
My older son, he was murdered.
People think it’s only a city problem or it’s only a domestic
problem or it’s a gang problem and that is absolutely not the
truth. It hits families from every walk of life.
It’s an attempt to demonize the tool. It’s not the tool that
kills. It’s the person.
((MUSIC/NATS))
((SOTs))
Easy access to a gun turns an impulse into a tragedy.
((MUSIC/NATS))
((SOTs))
What frustrates lawful gun owners is that we get lumped into
this heap in the media with people who are breaking the law.
So, there’s a lot of ways to be safe with the guns.
((MUSIC/NATS))
((SOTs))
We live in different realities, you know. If you have been
affected by gun violence, what guns are is one thing. And if
you have never been affected, you can kind of blithely go on
with your life never really confronting that.
((MUSIC))
Next episode coming soon on VOAConnect
((MUSIC/NATS))
CLOSING ((ANIM))
voanews.com/connect
((PKG)) FREE PRESS MATTERS ((NATS/VIDEO/GFX))
((Popup captions over B Roll))
Near the Turkish Embassy
Washington, D.C.
May 16, 2017
President Erdogan’s bodyguard attacks peaceful protesters
“Those terrorists deserved to be beaten”
“They should not be protesting our president”
“They got what they asked for”
While some people may turn away from the news
We cover it
reliably
accurately
objectively
comprehensively
wherever the news matters
VOA
A Free Press Matters
BREAK THREE
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
((PKG)) FREE PRESS MATTERS ((NATS/VIDEO/GFX))
((Popup captions over B Roll))
We make a difference
When we unmask terror
When we explain the impossible
When we confront an uncertain future
When we give voice to the voiceless
The difference is Freedom of the Press
We are the Voice of America where
A Free Press Matters
CLOSING ((ANIM))
voanews.com/connect
SHOW ENDS
EPISODE #133
AIR DATE 07 31 2020
TRANSCRIPT
OPEN ((VO/NAT))
((Banner))
A Family Tradition
((Eric Dinger, Powderhook Outdoorsmen App, Founder))
The gun is a symbol of an entire way of life, an entire set of
experiences that are very, very valuable.
((Animation Transition))
((Banner))
A Life Change
((Daniel Arden, Unemployed Bartender))
I think us, as a world and as Americans, I think it's not going
to take us down. I think it just made us stronger and kind of
closer together.
((Animation Transition))
((Banner))
The Chalk Life
((Ellen Chow, Mother))
Every week, the stay-at-home Chalk Fest had a different
theme. So, a week ahead, we were looking to ideas about
what we would like to do.
((Open Animation))
BLOCK A
((Animated Banner with Music:
Americans and Guns: Differing Perspectives))
((PKG)) GUNS AND HUNTING
((TRT: 09:37))
((Banner: A Way of Life))
((Reporter/ Camera: Deepak Dobhal))
((Map: Roca, Nebraska))
((Main characters: 1 female; 2 male))
((MUSIC))
((NATS))
((Eric Dinger, Founder, Powderhook Outdoorsmen App))
What else can we do to be safe with a gun?
((Daughter))
Whenever you are not shooting something, then you have to
have the safety on.
((Eric Dinger, Founder, Powderhook Outdoorsmen App))
Safety, yup. So,
there's a lot of ways to be safe with a gun. Number one, if
it's not loaded, it can't shoot. Makes sense?
((NATS))
((Eric Dinger, Founder, Powderhook Outdoorsmen App))
I know the reality. I know the fact that if there is a gun
accessible to a
child, they could absolutely use that for a purpose
that’s not intended. But we are teaching our children and we
have made the calculated risk to have guns in our home and
to
have our children exposed to guns in a way that makes us
feel like they know what they're meant for and that they
would only ever use them safely.
((NATS))
((Eric Dinger, Founder, Powderhook Outdoorsmen App))
I own guns because they are tools that I use to hunt.
Hunting is just, kind of, been a part of our lives as long back
as I can remember.
((NATS))
((Eric Dinger, Founder, Powderhook Outdoorsmen App))
My earliest memories with Dad are outdoors.
((Stills Courtesy: Eric Dinger))
First time I can remember going was probably shoot,
I was probably eight,
walking around, chasing pheasants with Dad and his friends
but I would get to carry my BB gun and shoot at the
pheasants.
((NATS))
((Stills Courtesy: Eric Dinger))
((Don Dinger, Field Sales Representative))
Tradition of hunting in our family actually started with my
grandpa. He was a farmer taking my dad when he was a
young boy.
((Don Dinger, Field Sales Representative))
This one here is a Model
12 that my dad used. It was 1951 when it was made.
So, it's
old and it's a keepsake that he passed to me which I'll pass
to Eric.
((Eric Dinger, Founder, Powderhook Outdoorsmen App))
How about today?
((Don Dinger, Field Sales Representative))
How about today? I guess it's not hurting anything. They
are safe locked.
((NATS))
((Don Dinger, Field Sales Representative))
It's been a fun family tradition and I just hope it keeps going.
See ya. Bye, kiddo.
((NATS))
((Eric Dinger, Founder, Powderhook Outdoorsmen App))
We're going down to my wife's
family's place down by Fairbury, Nebraska.
And today is the second Saturday of the Nebraska rifle deer
season. And so, we're going to go and try and find a deer
for my wife on her family's ground.
((NATS))
((Stephanie Dinger, Commercial Banker))
Kids right now have used their BB guns for a couple of years
. They will legally be able to hunt when they're 12.
I didn't have that opportunity when I was younger and as an
adult learner, while I love it now, it was intimidating to get
into it and to learn as a grown adult.
((NATS))
((Eric Dinger, Founder, Powderhook Outdoorsmen App))
The first time I taught Stephanie how to use a gun, we were
in a turkey blind and, somehow, magically this beautiful tom
turkey,
still to this day the biggest turkey I have ever seen, came
and stood at about 10 yards [9
meters]. And Stephanie had never shot
and she had my shotgun
and she was shaking so bad and so excited because the
turkey would gobble at us. And so, she got the gun
shouldered and shot and then set the gun down and said,
“Oh my God, oh my God, oh my
God.” Not exactly those words, let me tell you. Much, much
more explicit than that.
((Stephanie Dinger, Commercial Banker))
Yeah. Drop. But it was pretty cool.
((NATS))
((Stephanie Dinger, Commercial Banker))
I think it's really neat, specifically that my daughter has an
interest in hunting.
I will fully embrace and celebrate when she's ready to go out
on her own with a gun and have her first solo hunting trip.
((NATS))
((Eric Dinger, Founder, Powderhook Outdoorsmen App))
When a deer comes, you just need to move very, very little.
Very little. Here.
((Stephanie Dinger, Commercial Banker))
Got to watch some birds
but we saw no deer, no doe, no bucks. Right eye.
((Eric Dinger, Founder, Powderhook Outdoorsmen App))
Can you see how far away things are? Push this button up
here.
((Stephanie Dinger, Commercial Banker))
But we still had fun and that's the neat thing about being tog
ether as a family, is the kids were with us. They
got to experience and listen and just see the beauty of
nature.
((NATS))
((Eric Dinger, Founder, Powderhook Outdoorsmen App))
What hunting means to me is,
it's a tie to the people who raised me, the traditions they
taught me, the places I'm from, that I have been.
And you can mash all that up and say, hunting in my family
is great shared experiences that are going to inform the way
our
kids see the world growing up.
((NATS))
((Eric Dinger, Founder, Powderhook Outdoorsmen App))
Neither Stephanie nor I shot a deer this weekend but our
friends did.
((NATS))
((Eric Dinger, Founder, Powderhook Outdoorsmen App))
Yeah, see that right there. They're pointy still. So, that deer
right there, is probably one-and-a-half.
We had deer camp this weekend at our house
and what that means is that everybody's welcome to come
hunt. If you shoot a deer, we're going
to bring it back and we're going to make meat together.
All right, fresh deer tenderloin.
((NATS))
((Eric Dinger, Founder, Powderhook Outdoorsmen App))
We're confirmed that’s empty,
yeah? I'm so sticky about that.
((Woman))
I know, right.
((Eric Dinger, Founder, Powderhook Outdoorsmen App))
You know how many times he yelled at me as a kid?
Don’t you point that gun…..
((Don Dinger, Field Sales Representative))
I do that to everybody that I teach how to hunt.
((Stephanie Dinger, Commercial Banker))
It was a housewarming gift which was a unique gift.
It was just kind of odd that it just showed up in our kitchen.
((Eric Dinger, Founder, Powderhook Outdoorsmen App))
Frankly, I'm not as comfortable around pistols in social
situations, especially, you know, a new one that nobody
knows about. So that's why I was squeamish with it.
I don't own a pistol. She owns the only handgun in the hous
e and that's because I don't really go shooting. I go hunting
and you don't really hunt with a pistol.
((NATS))
((Man))
Did you shoot yours with a rifle?
((Man))
Yeah.
((Man))
You did?
Oh, you shot one time and it dropped.
((Eric Dinger, Founder, Powderhook Outdoorsmen App))
I think it's important for people to separate the gun debate
from hunting. Hunting is a way of life or avocation or sport.
((NATS))
((Eric Dinger, Founder, Powderhook Outdoorsmen App))
What frustrates lawful gun owners is that we get lumped into
this heap in the media with people who are breaking the law.
You know, somehow because we own guns, we are
complicit in those things happening.
A good way for me to describe how I feel about guns
is, the gun my dad is holding and this gun right here,
are the two things I want in the will. I don't want anything
else from my dad other than his gun. And it's not because I
am this giant Second Amendment [gun rights] advocate.
It's not because
I think that all guns should be legal and then we should just
have no gun laws or regulations. But it's because these are
the things that have tied us generationally together.
((NATS))
((Eric Dinger, Founder, Powderhook Outdoorsmen App))
Gun conversation that has me caught up is the suicide
conversation. If someone wanted to hurt themselves with th
e tools in our home, they could do that,
whether that was with pills or with guns or whatever it may
be.
It just so happens that guns are the most lethal way to do
that. And so, that part of it is the only part that gives me
pause.
And frankly as a gun owner,
I don't know what to do about the fact that people use guns
to kill themselves.
((NATS))
((Eric Dinger, Founder, Powderhook Outdoorsmen App))
Where the gun debate bothers me, as a hunter, is when
we're
teaching people that guns are dangerous or that guns are
something that you should fear to the extent that that
becomes the way our culture thinks
instead of teaching them to respect them and to teach them
how to lawfully use them. And it makes it hard to imagine a
world in which hunters are as common as they used to be.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Animated Banner with Music:
Next time on Americans and Guns
((MUSIC))
((SOT))
I can say in this cemetery, it’s quite a few people that I know
that have lost either their sibling, their child, their uncles,
aunts, even aunts to gun violence.
((MUSIC))
TEASE ((VO/NAT))
Coming up…..
((Banner))
The Pandemic Economy
((Daniel Arden, Unemployed Bartender))
Everyone is helping one another. So, I think, everyone's
going to be okay in that aspect, but I don't see it going back
to complete normalcy for a couple years.
BREAK ONE
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
BLOCK B
((PKG)) HARDSHIP BARTENDER
((TRT: 03:02))
((Banner: An Economic Adjustment))
((Reporter: Carolyn Presutti))
((Camera: Mike Burke))
((Adapted by: Zdenko Novacki))
((Map: Washington, DC))
((Main characters: 1 male))
((NATS))
((Daniel Arden, Unemployed Bartender))
It started actually before all the COVID stuff happened. I
was working at a restaurant, 21-Great American Bistro in
Fairfax City. And we were doing really good. And then after
Valentine's Day, we noticed a steady fall. And then the
COVID hit in March and we waited it out a little bit and we
decided to close and so we closed from there. So, I went
from, you know, making enough money to live on my own
and provide for my daughter and not live lavish, but you
know, well, you know, not poor. And I went from that to no
job within about a week.
((NATS))
((Daniel Arden, Unemployed Bartender))
My name is Daniel. I am from Burke, Virginia.
((Photos Courtesy: Daniel Arden))
((Daniel Arden, Unemployed Bartender))
And I'm trying to support myself as well as my daughter.
I didn't get my stimulus or my tax return yet till this day. And
basically from there, it kind of spiraled. Luckily, I have a
good friend at the vape shop that I work at, Vapor Theory,
and I was able to find a job right away. But he's doing the
best he can. But the income compared to, you know, a fine
dine-in restaurant is, you know, about one-third of what I was
making and maybe even one-fourth dependent upon. So,
it's been, you know, a huge, humbling event. And since
then, it's kind of been digging out of the ditch, just trying to
survive day by day, you know, week by week.
((NATS))
((Daniel Arden, Unemployed Bartender))
I was expecting a certain amount of money to cover my rent,
at least. When I got the check, I forgot about taxes. And so
that made me a couple, you know, about four or five hundred
dollars short of rent.
((NATS))
((Daniel Arden, Unemployed Bartender))
As much as that sounds, I don't know what, arrogant? But
it's the sad truth, unfortunately. Before at the restaurant job,
I didn't really have to worry about it, you know. I wasn't rich,
but I didn't have to worry about paying bills on time or, you
know, scheduling from a month from now and stuff like that.
And I never had to worry about, you know, buying cheap
food. I would just get what I want and then go.
((NATS))
((Daniel Arden, Unemployed Bartender))
Everyone is helping one another. So, I think, everyone's
going to be okay in that aspect, but I don't see it going back
to complete normalcy for a couple years, just for the simple,
until there's a, you know, cure.
((NATS))
((Daniel Arden, Unemployed Bartender))
I think, us as a world and as Americans, I think it's not going
to take us down. I think it’s just made us stronger and kind
of closer together.
You know, if someone can't find toilet paper, you go on a
Facebook group. Hundreds of people would tell you where
to get toilet paper.
((Photos Courtesy: Daniel Arden))
((Daniel Arden, Unemployed Bartender))
If you need help, like you found me just off that post and I
wasn't asking for anything. You know, I was like, “Anyone
need work done? I’ll work.” So, there is a lot of good people
in it. It is humbling as an event, but also makes you realize
how good the world is.
((Photos Courtesy: Daniel Arden))
((NATS/MUSIC))
TEASE ((VO/NAT))
Coming up…..
((Banner))
More to Birding
((Larry Meade, President - Northern Virginia Bird Club))
The connotation of bird watching is that all we do is watch
the birds. Not only do we look at them, we study them. We
do scientific surveys.
((NATS: Jessica Bowser))
Looked like a juvenile to me because I saw an adult fly to the
right.
BREAK TWO
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
BLOCK C
((PKG)) CHALK ART
((TRT: 03:16))
((Banner: Chalk Art))
((Reporter: Faiza Elmasry))
((Camera: Mike Burke))
((Video Editor: Lisa Vohra))
((Map: Reston, Virginia))
((Main characters: 1 female))
((Sub characters: 2 female))
((NATS))
((Olivia Snyder, Rising 7th grader))
I'm Olivia Snyder and I am 12 years old.
((NATS))
((Olivia Snyder, Rising 7th grader))
My mom draws the sketch with the plan and then we tape
out how we want it to look.
((NATS))
((Ellen Chow, Mother))
For today's project on our turtle, we took a style that I found
online, which is from stain, like a fake stained art but with
chalk where you tape out what you want to paint and then it
gives you nice, clean, crisp lines.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Olivia Snyder, Rising 7th grader))
And then we like to color it in and make it look nice.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Ellen Chow, Mother))
We wanted to do something with the manhole to make it
prettier and make our neighborhood look nicer and bring a
smile to people's faces.
((NATS))
((Ellen Chow, Mother))
I first heard about the Stay-At-Home Chalk Art Festival by a
neighbor who posted it on our HOA Facebook page.
((Ellen Chow, Mother))
But I actually didn't have any chalk, so I sort of dismissed it.
Just by coincidence a neighbor had, was cleaning out her
house and found a bunch of extra chalk and asked if we
would like it.
((NATS))
((Ellen Chow, Mother))
She was so generous to offer us the chalk. So, we were
grateful for that. Because it started right when the lockdown
was pretty serious and, you know, we didn't go anywhere.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Ellen Chow, Mother))
Every week the Stay-At-Home Chalk Fest had a different
theme. So, a week ahead, we were looking to ideas about
what we would like to do.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Anne Delaney, Executive Director, Public Art Reston))
Ellen Chow and her daughter submitted drawings every
week.
((Stills Courtesy - Ellen Chow))
((Anne Delaney, Executive Director, Public Art Reston))
And they were very creative and had quite a range of
drawings.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Stills Courtesy - Public Art Reston))
((Anne Delaney, Executive Director, Public Art Reston))
So, we receive drawings that really range from kids or, you
know, parents and kids teaming up to create drawings, as
well as professional artists who also submitted stunning
drawings. We had participants also from California and from
Mexico, in addition to artists from this area. So, you know, it
really was an event that was, went beyond, you know, the
territory of Reston.
((NATS: Ellen Chow))
A happy turtle.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Ellen Chow, Mother))
As you can guess, my daughter is 12 and really into her
video games like most girls her age. And so, this is a nice,
the chalk art was a nice break from the video games or
screen time. And I did like collaborating with her and
everything from starting to research and brainstorming ideas,
all the way to the finished product.
We had a lot of positive response from friends, one even
saying that they saw something and said, “Thank you. I
really needed that today.” So, that made us really happy
that we can spread some joy during this time.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((PKG)) BIRDING
((TRT: 03:34))
((Banner: Birding))
((Reporter: Faiza Elmasry))
((Camera: Mike Burke))
((Map: Alexandria, Virginia))
((Main character: 1 male))
((Sub character: 1 female))
((NATS))
((NATS: Larry Meade))
There is a Bluebird.
((Larry Meade, President, Northern Virginia Bird Club))
I am Larry Meade. I am President of the Northern Virginia
Bird Club.
((Stills Courtesy: Northern Virginia Bird Club))
((Larry Meade, President, Northern Virginia Bird Club))
I’ve always been interested in birding, but I’ve been seriously
birding, keeping track since 2002.
((NATS))
((Larry Meade, President, Northern Virginia Bird Club))
The connotation of bird watching is that all we do is watch
the birds. But birding is more of an all-encompassing
concept because not only do we look at them, we study
them. We do scientific surveys.
((NATS: Jessica Bowser))
Looked like a juvenile to me because I saw an adult fly to the
right.
((NATS: Larry Meade))
We study their behavior.
The one behind me in the pine tree.
We travel to see them.
((NATS))
((Larry Meade, President, Northern Virginia Bird Club))
We are at Huntley Meadows Park. What is really unique
about this is it is a freshwater wetland which is unusual. It’s
got the nice boardwalk. It’s pretty unique in that way and
that you can get really pretty close to the birds and other
wildlife.
((NATS: Jessica Bowser))
Now, the Great Crested Flycatcher is back.
((Larry Meade, President, Northern Virginia Bird Club))
Jessica is a member of our club.
((NATS: Larry Meade))
Here’s another. Here’s a Tree Swallow right here.
((NATS: Jessica Bowser))
I hear him singing.
((Larry Meade, President, Northern Virginia Bird Club))
It’s nice to be able to share experiences.
((Stills Courtesy: Northern Virginia Bird Club))
If I'm by myself, I like to post my photos on Facebook and
get reaction from people that way. But when we’re with a
person, number one, it's another set of eyes, like she spotted
some Cedar Waxwings I probably wouldn't have seen. And I
spotted some stuff she probably wouldn’t have seen. So,
you've got more chance to see the birds, but you can also
discuss the birds and just catching up with friends too. It's
just a social thing.
((Jessica Bowser, Conservation Advocate))
Being outside is always rewarding regardless of the weather,
regardless of what it is that we get to see, because the
outdoors is always a surprise. You never know what you're
going to find. Back in 2013, I was playing around on the
Internet and found an app that I could download on my
phone that was a birding app. And so that kind of piqued my
interest. And then I went and got a book about birding and
realized just how intricate and detailed it really is.
((NATS))
((Stills Courtesy: Northern Virginia Bird Club))
((Jessica Bowser, Conservation Advocate))
Birding kind of became like a scavenger hunt. And Larry
mentioned earlier that birders keep a life list, which is a list of
all the birds that they've seen. And so, when you start out
and everything feels new, you’re sort of, you know, adding to
that life list and it's growing and it’s growing and it just
becomes addictive.
((NATS: Bird Singing))
((Jessica Bowser, Conservation Advocate))
It's good for your health to be outdoors. It's a very calming
experience. But personally, as a former educator, I believe
that everybody should be connected to nature because we
have to conserve nature. The birds are diminishing. The
research shows that we've lost over 3 million birds over the
past few decades and that's really scary. And I think that
people aren't going to be aware of that, if they're not
connected to it.
((NATS: Nature Sounds))
((Jessica Bowser, Conservation Advocate))
In many places, the only legitimate place to go other than the
grocery store and the hospital, is the outdoors. And it's a
safe place to be right now as long as you keep your distance
from other people. And so, people are going outside in ways
that they never have before. And they're noticing things that
they hadn't noticed before. And they are making that
connection. And they're finding that birdwatching or birding,
as we like to call it, is very relaxing.
((Larry Meade, President, Northern Virginia Bird Club))
The basic tools for a birder are binoculars and some kind of
field guide so you can figure out what the birds are. I really
like the Red-headed Woodpecker. That's one of my
favorites.
((NATS: Nature Sounds))
((Larry Meade, President, Northern Virginia Bird Club))
I would encourage people to pay attention to birds. There is
a whole worldwide community of birders. I mean it's not just
here. It's everywhere. It’s just a lot of fun.
((NATS: Nature Sounds))
((PKG)) PROMO: AMERICANS AND GUNS
((MUSIC))
Americans and Guns
Differing Perspectives
((SOTs))
This is a fight for our way of life and our freedoms as
Americans.
The United States constitution says the right of the people to
keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
((MUSIC/NATS))
((SOTs))
Got to be some regulation, stop somewhere.
Guns take on a different meaning when you have to kind of
recognize that they are not just one thing.
Hunting has just kind of been a part of our lives as long back
as I can remember.
((SOTs))
I was shot eight times.
My older son, he was murdered.
People think it’s only a city problem or it’s only a domestic
problem or it’s a gang problem and that is absolutely not the
truth. It hits families from every walk of life.
It’s an attempt to demonize the tool. It’s not the tool that
kills. It’s the person.
((MUSIC/NATS))
((SOTs))
Easy access to a gun turns an impulse into a tragedy.
((MUSIC/NATS))
((SOTs))
What frustrates lawful gun owners is that we get lumped into
this heap in the media with people who are breaking the law.
So, there’s a lot of ways to be safe with the guns.
((MUSIC/NATS))
((SOTs))
We live in different realities, you know. If you have been
affected by gun violence, what guns are is one thing. And if
you have never been affected, you can kind of blithely go on
with your life never really confronting that.
((MUSIC))
Next episode coming soon on VOAConnect
((MUSIC/NATS))
CLOSING ((ANIM))
voanews.com/connect
((PKG)) FREE PRESS MATTERS ((NATS/VIDEO/GFX))
((Popup captions over B Roll))
Near the Turkish Embassy
Washington, D.C.
May 16, 2017
President Erdogan’s bodyguard attacks peaceful protesters
“Those terrorists deserved to be beaten”
“They should not be protesting our president”
“They got what they asked for”
While some people may turn away from the news
We cover it
reliably
accurately
objectively
comprehensively
wherever the news matters
VOA
A Free Press Matters
BREAK THREE
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
((PKG)) FREE PRESS MATTERS ((NATS/VIDEO/GFX))
((Popup captions over B Roll))
We make a difference
When we unmask terror
When we explain the impossible
When we confront an uncertain future
When we give voice to the voiceless
The difference is Freedom of the Press
We are the Voice of America where
A Free Press Matters
CLOSING ((ANIM))
voanews.com/connect
SHOW ENDS
