A Piece of Goldie's Mind: Port Chester's Most Vocal Local Patriot

"She wears nothing but red, white and blue," said a close friend of Solomon's who was waiting with her outside this week's board of trustees meeting at the Port Chester courthouse. Solomon arrives early for the weekly meetings, sometimes up to an hour early.

Everything you need to know about Goldie Solomon can be found written on one of the many buttons she wears on her red cardigan. Some say, 'America the Beautiful', others say simply 'U.S.A.' while others say, 'One Nation Under God.' Altogether, she wears close to twenty-five pieces of patriotic flare, each with a unique slogan and variations on red, white and blue.

Don't let her white-hair and grandmotherly looks fool you. Solomon may be advanced in years, but she speaks with the spirit and conviction of a pugnacious civic leader. She's been a leader in the village of Port Chester since she first moved with her husband from the Bronx.

Solomon ran twice for mayor and once for village trustee, each time for the Common Sense party because, she says, she would never represent a political party that didn't serve the best interests of the people.

Those who frequent Port Chester's board meetings know Solomon well -- whenever someone walks through the door, Solomon springs up from her first-row seat to hand them a copy of the agenda. During pubic comment periods, she's often the first one to take the microphone.

But Solomon's efforts aren't limited to local politics.

She served as president and now vice-president of the Port Chester Historical Society and was grand marshall at the Columbus Day Parade. And she's been an Honorary Postal Employee for special occasions like the 50th anniversary of World War II and the debut of the new stamp of the Constitution, which comes out every five years.

Solomon was also a volunteer nurse at Mt. Sinai Hospital in the Bronx and later United Hospital for 14 years. Her actions show the true heart of a volunteer.

"I've been a volunteer all my life," said Solomon. "My father, who came from Russia, always taught me, 'If you don't have money to give to charity, give of yourself.'"

Solomon's father fled Russia and immigrated to America seeking freedom. He wanted his children never to forget or take for granted the blessings we enjoy as Americans, Solomon said. He took his daughter to every parade in New York City that celebrated our nation's heritage and made sure she understood the significance of the Star Spangled Banner along with every historical marker and monument.

"The young people are not taught in the schools or by their parents about the history of this country" said Solomon.

The "greatest generation" of Americans, those who were alive during World War II, usually have a special kind of patriotism born of experience of having seen -- or dealt with -- much worse. That's something those of us who belong to the younger generations sometimes find hard to appreciate.

So when we hear words that we might otherwise disregard because they sound too far-fetched, or outlandish—because they're coming from someone like Goldie Solomon, we should take note.

In an age of vicious hyper-partisanship, dueling ideologies and screaming heads on network news, people like Solomon worry that America is pulling itself apart.

"We're not united," said Solomon. "Unless we have a new Boston Tea party, or another American Revolution, we're dead."