JANUARY 3, 2017

GRAND OPENING

Ahh, the crisp, fresh magazine smell of a newly opened, glossy printed calendar! Maybe it has 12 pages of colorful photos of Nature scenes, puppies, waterfalls, muscle cars, even old tractors or Norman Rockwell classic paintings. Doesn’t matter the theme, there’s a nut for every bolt, and a niche for every obsession. The beauty of them is that they grace your living space 24 hours a day, and 30 days at a time, long enough to really get to know them individually. Yes, I know, your new space-phone will tell you, to the nanosecond, what time it is in your world, as well as the day, date, who your facebook friends are bashing today, how much better your life would be if you used the McDonalds App more often, and even pay the Verizon bill that you incurred in the process. Still not the same. I want to see those 30 day increments hanging on my kitchen wall, where I can ponder them over a steaming cup of Kicking Horse coffee, while Charlie Rose drones, “your world in 90 seconds”, and the Special K slowly emulsifies in my bowl. I want this to happen before I shake hands with the snow shovel. I want it to happen before I find out the car battery has died. I want it to happen before I resolve my granddaughter’s emotional struggle with crooked seams in her socks. I want it to always be there…reassuring me that there’s still some time left. I am uncharacteristically prompt about throwing the old ones out, too. The moving finger, having writ, moves on, and all that. No alterations can be made to last year’s edition, however fond of it you may have been. But that new one, well, that’s just chock-full of promise and expectation. Don’t bother me with how unrealistic my hopes and ambitions are, just get on board with the program. It’s 2017, people! When I was a kid, we marveled at the futuristic novel “1984” !! They don’t even play that crap on the Oldies Station anymore, and we’re well into the next century.

The way I see it, it’s one more chance to do it right, or at least do it better. The same theory applies to both our individual lives and the collective life of our club. Always room for improvement. At our January meeting, we’ll be fleshing out the plans for the big “Gathering of the Orange” feature for 2017, adding a 4^th day to our schedule for the special occasion. Work will begin in earnest on the new Showbook for the year, and we will elect a couple of new officers to help guide us into the future. We will be forced to grapple with the problems of traffic congestion during the show, while we strive to improve what we have to offer our visitors, thereby hoping to attract more of them. Of course, the first duty of those who guide us has to be insuring our survival, which means we have to deal realistically with our financial obligations. I think we are well positioned to do that, thanks to all who have walked before us, but we are always mindful that our well-being is forever entwined with the fickle moods of Mother Nature.

So, once again, from the dusty desk at the MMOGTA Publishing Complex, in Fertile Fergus, we wish you all a Happy and prosperous New Year and hope that during each of the 365 days ahead, you will find the time to have a little fun.

We leave you with a few pics to remember 2016 (click to enlarge)