thethetheViewViewView Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau

NOVEMBER 2012

THE JUNIATA VALLEY WINERY Y o u r

hosts at the area’s newest winery are owners George & Colleen Hazard, having just opened the businesses to the public on August 9th, 2012. The mansion is an amazing 200 year old stone house that was part of the Monongahela Farm, once owned by George C. Wilson family. The Hazards have a history of association with farming, having lived on a small farm south of Port Royal and having worked in and around agriculture for the past 15 years. They developed a deep understanding of all things related to self-sustainability. Being an outgoing young couple with four young sons, they saw a great opportunity to merge many of their loves into this new family business.

The mansion has five rooms available for overnight stays and their chef has twenty years of experience as head pastry chef at one of Philadelphia’s premier country clubs. Her name is Karin

Fitzgerald, Colleen Hazard’s sister. The five locally flavored wines currently being offered were developed with assistance from several fellow Pennsylvania wineries. Offerings will soon be developed on site. Come to the Juniata Valley Winery to taste the five special wines available, meet & greet the family and experience a stay in the Wilson House and enjoy the culinary art of a veteran celebrated pastry chef.

LIVE Ice Carving, Ice Sculptures and Displays by

First Night State College Ice Sculptors

Children’s Activities & Pony Rides

Santa’s House at West Side Gallery

Live Nativity by the Embassy Theatre

Craft, Artisan & Food Vendors

Old Fashioned Star Country Carriage Rides

Mifflin County Railroad Club Train Display

Parade of Wreaths in the Historic Courthouse.

LIVE Entertainment inside the Historic Courthouse Thursday: Lewistown Community Band at 7:30pm.

Friday: Chris Ruble at 6:30pm

FRIDAY NIGHT - Annual Kiwanis Christmas Parade

@ 7:30pm

Juniata Valley Winery & Wilson House Bed & Breakfast

19175 Rt. 35 South Mifflin PA 17058 (717)527-9914

George & Colleen Hazard

Request Info

LOOK for the Tab in The Sentinel on November 28th!

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RECURRING EVENTS Belleville Sale & Livestock Auction -

Wednesdays – All year (unless a holiday) in Belleville, PA. 7am-3pm. Amish & Mennonite baked goods,

produce, quilts, antiques, livestock, & wares. Large flea market & food

vendors. 717.935.2146

Dairyland Flea Market - March thru December on Wednesdays (weather

permitting.) Beside the Dairyland Complex in Reedsville, PA.

November Events

Nov 1 - Homespun XXVI Craft Bazaar @ First United Methodist Church. 4-8pm. 3rd & Dorcas

Street, Lewistown PA.

Nov 2 - Fall Wine Tasting Dinner hosted by the Seven Mountains

Wine Cellars at Lewistown Country Club. Cocktails: 6pm, Dinner: 7pm $50/person Music by JT Thompson Blues. Make reservations by calling

Cindy 717.242.2545 or cindy@lewistowncountryclub.com

Nov 6 - Farm City Banquet. Held at the Harman Center Milroy, PA. 6pm

Start. Featuring: Presentation of both Farm & City "Family of the

Year" Awards. City: The McCardle Family, Brothers Harv &

Gyke. Farm: Michael & Marie Yoder and Vernon & Nancy Yoder Guest Speaker Dr. Larry Schardt Entertainment by the Vdov Family Mifflin County Dairy Princess and

MC, Peter Ort. Tickets: $15/adults or $10 children 12 & under.

717.248.6713

November 9 & 10—Christmas in the Park held at the Reedsville Youth

Park. 717.935.9965 or www.visitbigvalley.com

Nov 10&11 - Squire Brown’s Holiday Annual Open House. 10-5 (Sat) 1-

5 (Sun) www.squirebrowns.com

Nov 12th - Veterans Day @ Hoss’s. Veterans & Active Duty Military Eat

FREE. Valid ID Required.

Nov 15th - Business After Hours @ Brookmere Winery & Vineyard Inn. Belleville, PA. $5 Members RSVP

to 717.248.6713 or jvacc@juniatarivervalley.org.

Nov 15th - “Introduction to

Government Contracting” 10am - 12Noon, held at the MCIDC Office. FREE– Presented by SEDA-COG

Click HERE to Pre-register.

Nov 19 @ 5:30pm - Lights of Love for Hospice & Grief Services Tree Lighting Ceremony. Please visit www.homenursingagency.com or

call 1.800.992.2554

Nov 29th & 30th - Festival of Ice - downtown Lewistown, PA. Kick-off

the Holiday Season and come to the Festival of Ice and watch as the downtown Lewistown streets are

transformed into a winter wonderland of seasonal delights!

Thursday 5-9pm & Friday 5-10pm. www.juniatarivervalley.org

December Events

Dec 1 - Kiwanis Pancake Festival at the First United Methodist Church

on Dorcas Street. 7-am - 1pm.

Dec 2 - Holiday Brunch at Lily Manor. Reservations available from

11am-2pm. $40/person. BYOB 717.436.588 or www.lilymanor.com

Dec 8-Jan 4 - Light Up Derry Park at

Derry Township Park. 5-10pm.

Dec 8 - Holiday Four Course Dinner at Lily Manor. Reservations

available from 6pm –9:30pm. BYOB $55/person. 717.436.588 or

www.lilymanor.com

December 31 – Great Chip Drop held in downtown Lewistown. 7pm

– Midnight. 717.248.4901 or www.chipdrop.com

January Events

Juniata Valley Boy Scout Council Annual Klondike Derby – Held at the Seven Mountains Boy Scout Camp. www.jvcbsa.org or 717.248.0321.

Schedu le of Event s ( C o n t i n u e d o n P a g e 6 )

A d d y o u r E V E N T t o o u r c a l e n d a r !

Juniata River Valley Wine Tour! Pennsylvania’s growing wine industry is becoming the driving force behind tourism as more and more interest is building in regional wine tours and trails, as well as, visitor attend-ance at festivals hosted at the wineries. Take advantage of a beautiful November Saturday and plan a tour for you and a few friends. Easily doa-ble in a few hours, you can enjoy four of the ar-ea’s finest wineries. Two of them offer overnight accommodations at their own historic bed & breakfasts on site. Let’s start our journey at Brookmere Winery and Vineyard Inn, located near Belle-ville on Route 655. Cheryl and Ed Glick will help you chose some favorites from their many award winning varieties. Be sure to walk next door to check out the beautifully restored mansion that serves as a bed & breakfast.

Next stop on the tour is Seven Mountains Wine Cellar, located just off of Route 322 West near Potter’s Mills, say hello to Scott & Mary-Ann Bubb and ask to see Pennsylva-nia’s only in ground wine cellar. The newly expand-

ed tasting rooms may be the perfect place to sit near the fire-place and enjoy a bottle of wine and some cheese & crackers. Heading west on 322 to Route 144 at potter’s Mills and on to Old Fort where you will turn east on Route 45 for a scenic drive to Mifflinburg. Turn onto 104 South towards Middleburg, Shade Mountain Winery will be on the left at the top of a knoll, you can’t miss it. It is surrounded by acres and acres of grape vines, a huge and beautiful vineyard. They grow more grapes than any other producer in the state. Be sure to pack your camera. Your hosts will be owners, Carl & Carolyn Zimmerman. Continue through Middleburg on 104 South to Route 35 South at Mt. Pleasant Mills. Travel 35 South across Juniata County through McAlisterville, Mifflintown and Mif-flin on your journey to the brand new Juniata Valley Winery & the Wilson House Bed & Breakfast. Situated on proper-ty in close proximity to Lily Manor, home of Olga Lembesis A&A Designs.

The entire tour is ap-proximately a one hundred mile round trip through some of the most scenic countryside anywhere. To further enhance your tour, consider booking a limo from Curry Limousine and forfeit the driving to Jeff. Discover Our Good Nature! …

be it the mountains and streams or the good nature of our wonderful members.

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Please join us in welcoming our newest member by patronizing their businesses! Just as the Chamber is important to our community, they are important to the Chamber. Their invest-

ment means an investment in our community. Their membership reflects their integrity as a responsible business owner and demonstrates their commitment to the area.

Stefan Russell 9 Summit Manor

Lewistown PA 17044

Heller’s Gas, Inc.

(717)250-6549

srussell7@hotmail.com

AAA Central Penn Automobile Club

American Cancer Society (Mif/Jun)

Angelo's Hollow Inn Inc.

Barr Funeral Home, Inc.

Boyer & Ritter Brookmere Winery

& Vineyard Inn Burns Associates

PC Calkins Pontiac-

Buick-GMC Trucks-Subaru

Guerrini Vending Machines Inc.

Juniata Valley Bank Lerch's Outdoor

Center Nittany Oil

Company Smeltz & Aumiller

Real Estate, LLC Johnson Plumbing

and Heating Co. Kauffman

Insurance Agency,

LLC Children of the Ark

Daycare Square One

Clubhouse Lewistown Hospital Sarge Engineering

and Surveying Mifflin County

Prothonotary Ernest Hill Kennel Mifflin County

Communities That Care

DelGrosso's Amusement Park

Aurandt-Lawhead House

Wilt's Vending Service

State College Spikes

Juniata Valley Tri-County Drug & Alcohol Abuse Com

SCORE Association, Central Pennsylvania Chapter #618

TAZ Fitness Seven Mountains

Wine Cellar Alta Woodbridge

Cabin Rental Home Nursing

Agency Healthcare Salvation Army VNA, Private Duty,

Inc. WHVL-TV Channel

Communications, LLC

Sky View Video Central Novelty Juniata Junction Miss Stephanie's

School of Dance

PA CareerLink

Career Fair On Thursday, Octo-ber 25th the PA CareerLink Mifflin County held a Fall Job Fair from 1-6pm. The Career Fair had 258 at-tendees and many employ-ers that are members. The employers that participated were: K Mart, Combined Insurance, Nitta-ny Paper, Jarden Plastics, Capperella Furniture, First

Quality, NHS Human Services, UPS, Lowes, Conestoga Wood Spe-cialties, MERF Radio, Skills, Mountain Pure Water, US Army, Geisinger, Spherion and Express Personnel. Schools attending: South Hills, Penn State and Central PA Diesel Institute. The career fair was sponsored by the EAC (Employers Adviso-ry Committee.)

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D I S C O V E R O U R G O O D N A T U R E !

Pa Cleanways of Mifflin County, an

affiliate of Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful, was

formed in 2001 with the support of residents

concerned about illegal dumping in the coun-

ty. Their main focus is on cleanups of illegal

dumps, special collection events for disposal

of hard to recycle items, and educating the

public on the detriments of illegal dumping and

littering.

Mifflin County also participates in an an-

nual friendly rivalry with neighboring counties,

Juniata, Huntingdon & Perry, for the “Golden

Rim Award”. This award is given to the affiliate

who collects the most tires at a specific collection

event. The Affiliate Coordinator for Mifflin

County, Pam Sechrist, reported that this year’s event was held in Lewistown on Saturday, September 15th at the Lewis-

town Borough’s Public Works Facility on Washington Avenue. The day turned out to be a bright and sunny one and the

official total for this year’s challenge in Mifflin County was 1077 car tires, 71 tractor trailer tires, and 14 tractor tires for

a total of 1162 tires collected in just 4 hours.

The group also joined an International Coastal River Cleanup in August. They had volunteers working at Victo-

ry Park and the Granville Fire company launched their rescue boat

at the Granville boat ramp and cleaned up that area. There was

also a group working from the Newton Hamilton boat ramp with

the Newton Wayne Fire Company rescue boat in the water with

them. In all there were 34 volunteers who collected 1.23 TON of

trash and 1.88 TON of tires in just 6 hours.

A big thank you goes out from the Chamber and Visitors

Bureau to Pam, her advisory team and group of volunteers for do-

ing their part to make Mifflin County a more beautiful place for

our residents, visitors and wildlife. They are always looking for

volunteers so if you are interested contact Pam Sechrist at

717.899.6701 or e-mail her at pammiff@verizon.net. You can

also check them out on the web at www.keeppabeautiful.org

PA Cleanways of Mifflin County An Affiliate of Keep

Pennsylvania Beautiful

PO Box 63

Mattawana PA 17054

(717)899-6701

Pamela Sechrist

Request Info

2012 After Hours: November 15th:

Brookmere Winery & Vineyard Inn December 13th: Holiday Gathering

hosted by… The Dutch Pantry & Gifts and Smitty’s Bar & Grill

2013 After Hours:

January: Brandon Aumiller &

Associates February 12th: Sacred Heart of Jesus

Parish March 27th: Stone Arch Real Estate

April: First National Bank of Mifflintown at the Lewistown Office

May: Business After Hours Expo June-Brookline

July-Capperella Furniture

August– The Wireless Center September-Hartman Center

October-South Hills Business School November 20th – EXTRAVA Market &

Rich Coast Coffee December 18th - Holiday Gathering hosted by… Seven Mountains Wine

Cellars

The Octo-

ber Chamber Busi-

ness After Hours

event was held at

the Main Street Market

in Reedsville. Craig

Rupert and his staff cer-

tainly know how to throw a great party and the market stocks everything

you need to do the same. The atmosphere takes you back in time reminiscent

of the local corner store, a place where friends meet and life is simple.

The Market features soups, hoagies, dinners,

sandwiches and sides to eat in or to go. They are

most well known for their fresh meat and seafood

selections; with the star of the show being their

Steamer Pots. These all-in-one meals are easy to

prepare, fresh and delicious. Why not WOW the

guests at your next event with a customized pot; they

come in two convenient sizes.

Just on the horizon is a new wine bar area

that is currently under construction in the rear of the

building. Seven Mountains Wine Cellar’s wines

will be featured at this 9 X 9 bar area and an expand-

ed menu will be launched to correspond with the

bar’s opening. For updates and daily specials, check

out their Facebook page.

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H o s t e d b y :

B r o o k m e r e

W i n e r y &

V i n e y a r d I n n

T h u r s d a yT h u r s d a yT h u r s d a y N o v e m b e r 1 5 t hN o v e m b e r 1 5 t hN o v e m b e r 1 5 t h

5 : 3 05 : 3 05 : 3 0 --- 7 : 3 0 p m7 : 3 0 p m7 : 3 0 p m

The Vineyard The Vineyard The Vineyard

Inn is ready to Inn is ready to Inn is ready to

host your pri-host your pri-host your pri-

T o u r s o f t h e V i n e y a r d I n n f r o m 5 : 3 0 - 6 : 3 0 p m

W i n e r y O p e n f r o m 6 : 3 0 - 7 : 3 0 p m W i n e S a m p l i n g M u s i c b y J o h n W h i t e D o o r P r i z e s C a t e r i n g b y A b e ’ s C a f é

F e a t u r i n g S a u s a g e & C h e e s e S t u f f e d M u s h r o o m s , M i n i R e u b e n ’ s w i t h h o u s e m a d e

S o u r K r a u t & D r e s s i n g , R o a s t e d S w e e t P o t a t o C o i n s w i t h l o c a l G o a t C h e e s e ,

C r a n b e r r i e s & W a l n u t s , C h e e s e S e l e c t i o n s , i n c l u d i n g h o u s e m a d e B l u e C h e e s e a n d

W a l n u t C r a c k e r s !

Pennsylvania Highlands Community College For the past ten years there has been energy

invested in the effort to establish a local community college opportunity for the citizens of the Juniata River Valley. This process originated with a collective of business leaders who formed Team Mifflin County to push economic development in the area. It has since been disband. A community college was identified as the number one priority and the Tuscarora Intermediate Unit # 11 was established as a key partner. Funds were pledged and an application submitted to the Pa. Depart-ment of Education. It was rejected; a hold was in effect pertaining to any additional community college initia-tives in the state. Harrisburg area Community College was contacted and they made an attempt to establish some classes in borrowed space four years ago but didn’t dedicate enough time or money to fully explore the pos-sibilities. The search continued. Discussions have been going on with Pennsylvania Highlands from Johnstown, the smallest community college in the state, for sever-al years. They were establishing a branch in Somerset, and more recently, Huntingdon. Both branches are now successful financially and the school is ready to expand further east. Our demographics match their criteria and the process is underway to fully determine the possibilities and to raise funds accordingly. On Wednesday, October 10th, 80 community leaders gathered at the Lewistown Country Club to meet with Dr. Walter Asonovich, President of Penn Highlands. The T.I.U. was instrumental in planning the gathering and the attendees left with a clear picture of what the col-lege would bring to our area and the budget necessary to implement the plan.

Further information will be forthcoming; earliest classroom presence will be fall of 2013. The lead person assigned to the project lo-

cally is Dr. John Czerniakowski from the T.I.U. #11, headquartered in McVeytown.

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Farm/City Banquet - November 6th

Once again the farm harvest is over and it’s time to celebrate the relationship that exists between the town dwellers and the rural neigh-bors who grow the crops, raise the livestock and supply our food. This year the banquet will be held at Hartman Center in Mil-roy on Election Day, Tuesday, No-

vember 6th at 6pm. A fast moving, exciting program has been planned by the partnership of Penn State Extension, the Mifflin County Farm Bureau, the Lewistown Kiwanis Club and the Juniata River Valley Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau. A farm family will be honored as Farm Family of the Year and a town family likewise selected as City Family of the Year. The process is complete and the McCardle Fami-ly, brothers Harv and Gyke, owners of the Boulevard Carwash in Burnham, are the recipients of the City Family Award. The farm families are Michael & Marie Yoder and Vernon & Nancy Yoder. The program includes a family style country meal with all the fixings, music by the Vdov Family of McVey-town, a presentation by the Mifflin County Dairy Princess, a welcome from the Kiwanis Club, presentation of the awards, an exciting motivational speech by professional speaker, Dr. Larry Schardt and the master of ceremonies will be Peter Ort. Come join us for a networking opportunity to break bread with our farm neighbors and to extend a warm thank you for all the energy and effort they invest in the on- going challenge to supply our food needs throughout the Juniata River Valley.

FARM/CITY BUSINESS FAMILY 2012:

THE MCCARDLE FAMILY The McCardle Family has been around cars for a very long time, for three generations as a matter of fact. In 1936 Ike McCardle opened a gas station on Logan Boulevard in Burnham. Son Guy McCardle worked at his Father’s station and following World War 11, he opened a body shop on the same site. In 1955 Guy opened a Lincoln/Mercury dealer-ship in Burnham. In 1966 he added Saab, in 1967 he add-ed a four bay carwash and in 1984 he added Winnebago. Guy’s two sons, Gyke and Harv were both involved in the businesses. In 1989 they sold all of the franchises and started plans to build a brand new automatic carwash across the boulevard. In 1996 the plans were finalized and the touch less

automatic carwash opened to the public in March of 1997. The unique design was branded the Boulevard Sta-tion and received front cover position on the industry magazine, National Carwash Magazine, plus a prestig-ious national award. An expansion took place in 2004 which added two additional automatic bays and six hand wash bays. The brothers state, “Our community involvement begins with the pride we take in having our facility be an asset to our home town of Burnham and Mifflin County”. “We donate many car wash tokens each year to fund raisers held by elementary schools spring events and to various churches, not to mention many benefit washes for county sports teams”.

Congratulations to our Business Family of the

year, the McCardle Brothers, Gyke and Harv!

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February Events FEB 2-3 24 Hour Dance Your Heart

Out Marathon at the Rec Park Community Center. Ages 6th Grade

and Up. Benefits the CHF Congestive Heart Failure Program at

Lewistown Hospital. Visit: www.lewistownhospital.org/dancemarathon or call Julie

717.242.7486 or Phyllis 717.242.7365

Saturday, February 9, 2013

(Snow Date Saturday, February 16, 2013) 10AM – 3PM. 7th Annual

Batfest at Lincoln Caverns. Warm up in 52° cavern comfort. Observe

our favorite furry friends. Workshops for All Ages.

PLUS a visit from Robyn Graboski, wildlife rehabilitator, and her big

browns, Betsy & Buffy. Games, Crafts, Fun & Pizza Lunch

too! Special pricing on a great selection of Bat Gifts.

Pre-registration/pre-payment required. SPACE IS LIMITED…

REGISTER ONLINE TODAY! Visit www.lincolncaverns.com

Annual Chocolate Festival – held at

Belleville Mennonite School. 717.935.2184 or

www.bellevillemennonniteschool.com.

Miss Central Pennsylvania Pageant

& Miss Central Pennsylvania’s Outstanding Teen Pageant. Contact : John R. Metzger,

Executive Director at Phone (717) 248-5576 for Entry or Ticket

Information.

March Events Belleville Civic Club Annual Antique Show & Sale – held annually at the

Belleville Community Hall, 11 Walnut Street, Belleville, PA the 1st or 2nd

weekend in April depending on when Easter Falls. Friday 10am-7pm &

Saturday 10am-4pm. 717.935.2550

April Events Kid Connection. Free Fun and

Activities for Children. Activities and Entertainment all day in downtown

Lewistown, PA. 717.247.5255

May Events Kish Creek Trout Tournament.

Tagged trout tournament along the Kish Creek. Registration at Mifflin County Youth Park in Reedsville,

PA. 717.667.6829 or www.kishcreektrouttournament.com.

Country Memories Day.

McVeytown, PA 9:30am-4pm. 717.899.7450

June Events

Lincoln Caverns Events in June: KIDS CAVE KAMP June 2013 A unique & exciting educational day camp! With adventure caving for

grades 3+ Entering Grades 6, 7, 8, 9: June 12 - 15, 9 - 12 Each Day and All Day Friday—Entering Grades 3, 4, 5, 6: June 17 - 20, 9 – 12 Each

Day—Entering Grades 1. 2. 3: June 24 - 27, 9 – 12 Each Day

Creative activities, crafts, learning, fun and friendship! Learn about caves, bats, rocks, and fossils.

Included are Cavern tours, panning for gems, snacks, T-shirts, Kamp

Photos, etc Pre-registration required.

Saturday & Sunday,June 22–23, 2013 9th Annual Discovery Days Celebrate 80 years of discovery at Lincoln Caverns. Just once a year,

enjoy special historic tours, free workshops and children's activities. Fun for the entire family! At special prices too! 9 AM – 5 PM each day

No advance tickets/registration required. Visit

www.lincolncaverns.com

June 30th - Juniata RiverFEST – 11pm @ Victory Park, Lewistown

PA. River Rampage 5k, Raft Regatta, Community Float,

Rockin’ by the River, Food, Fun, Fireworks at dusk.

July Events

Embassy Theatre Concert - held in front of the Embassy Theatre on

South Main Street with the Lewistown Community Band.

717.248.0321

Schedu le of Event s ( c o n t i n u e d f r o m P a g e 2 )

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Juniata River Valley Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau Historic Courthouse - One West Market Street - Lewistown, PA 17044

Hours: Monday through Friday 8:30am - 4:30pm Phone: 717.248.6713 Fax: 717.248-6714

A friend of mine recently mass emailed a very inter-esting video of an early Johnny Carson Show featuring the Rat Pack and indicated he was in a reminiscent mode. Teetering on that edge myself, this wonderful slice of television memorabilia pushed me right into star gazing and pondering the past, reliving the good, bad and ugly memories of many years. As is usually the case, the best stories are better off untold; although they certainly keep floating to top of the mind. You probably know from whence I cometh; the loves lost, the one too many’s, the “what if I been caught? the “I should have patented that idea”. How many forks in the road did you reach, make a tough decision and second guess yourself for days, weeks or months. Many of those choices are related to voca-tions or educational directions, church affiliations, partnership agreements, relocations, homes, friends; it goes on and on. I have more questions that arise when I reminisce than answers. You know … the what-ifs. What if I followed the direction of my 12th grade senior paper and studied to be a landscape architect? What if I had stayed in the hospital administration field? What if I had relocated to Clearfield or St. Mary’s (I explored opportunities in both) instead of Lewistown to establish or purchase my own business? What if I had moved to St. Louis to work for Brown Shoe Company? What if I had married Roseanna Anna Maria Grandinetti? What if I had fathered the six children I thought I wanted? Enough! Being a former retailer (by choice) I’d rather reminisce of Market Street Lewistown in its prime, when independent retail dominated. Every store front was filled and a rare vacancy didn’t last long. Variety was the spice of life. Shop owners supported community events, not only with donations of financial support, but often volunteering their time. The merchants were found on borough council, on the school board, in leadership positions in their churches, members of service clubs and collectively made up a strong business organization. As a group they hosted parades, Santa Claus house, festivals and street fairs. Much of this was lost as malls came into play, followed by national big box stores. We can’t wish and hope for Mom & Pop’s return. Change ... embrace it or be miserable. Before the electronic age, presidential campaigns were so much different. The platforms were news stories; not advertising campaigns. Reporters allowed skeletons to rest in closets and candidates children were off limits. Personal attacks were minimal and debates were the big deciding factor. Polls didn’t predict the election results in every state days or weeks ahead of time. County campaign headquarters were opened by both major parties and buttons were worn, posters hung and bumper stickers sported. Citizens were proud to display their loyalty to the candidate of choice. The campaigns im-pacted schools where children shared in their parent’s enthusiasm and debated with their friends freely. American flags flew everywhere over the home of the brave and the land of the free. Politics was not an ugly subject. Follow-ing elections, we respected the winners, regardless of whether they were our choice or not. Much of that has changed. We can’t wish it back. Embrace the change! It’s fun to play, “I remember when”, but not necessarily fun to wish things turned out differently “way back when”. Everybody has baggage, the older you get, the higher the pile. Maybe it’s time to start unloading the cart, piece by piece, and put each item in the dumpster. That is what embracing change is all about. Learn from the past, forgive yourself for the bad decisions and get firmly in touch with today. Embrace each moment as it transpires, and move happily along on your way to tomorrow. Oh yes, apply a large dose of forgiveness where ever needed, be it for others or for yourself. See you tomorrow! Be prepared, things will be different. Embrace the change!!