By Liz Beavers
lbeavers@newstribune.info
managing editor

T  he Honorable C. Reeves Taylor, retired Circuit Court Judge, said he  remembers very well the first time he voted in a presidential election.
“At that time, you had to be 21, and I was in college,” he told the small crowd gathered in the courtroom of the Mineral County Courthouse Friday morning for the county-wide observance of National Constitution Day.
“It was 1956, and I came back home to vote,” he said, noting that he had cast his vote for Adlai Stevenson, the Democratic nominee from Illinois
who was defeated twice by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Four years later, Stevenson again sought the nomination for his party, but was defeated by John F. Kennedy.
Taylor said the right to vote is just one of the rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.
“There are two different thoughts about the Constitution,” he continued. “Some people believe it's the absolute word ... and other people feel it is a changing thing; an evolving thing.”
Some of those changes, he said, he has witnessed over the years.
Brandon James Hoover, who currently serves as law clerk for Chief Judge Phil Jordan, noted that, although it is the foundation of American government, the Constitution is often overlooked by the majority of U.S. citizens.
According to a recent study, he said, “more Americans can name the three judges on 'American Idol' than can name the amendments to the Constitution.”
Many Americans are also not exercising their right to vote, he said.
“It doesn't matter what party you join, or what president you vote for,” he said, “it just matters that you exercise your right to vote.”
Two Mineral County residents who have exercised their right to vote consistently for many years – Reva Shirley and Mary Jane Lindsay, were honored during the brief program. Commission President Wayne Spiggle and Commissioner Janice LaRue presented them each with a patriotic flower arrangement.
While Shirley told the crowd she felt it had been “an honor and a privilege” to vote, Lindsey urged them to “get to know their background before you put them in office.”
The Rev. Ernest Poland gave the invocation and benediction for the program, and Stacy Pase sang the National Anthem and led the crowd in “God Bless America.”
Life Scout Brandon Harris and Star Scout Craig Westfall, of the local Boy Scout troop, presented the colors and led in the Pledge of Allegiance.