Thanksgiving 2021

It was time for all to pause to think about our blessings. Our country and the world is in such turmoil now that one wonders if it will end somehow. We all live on a blessed, sacred planet floating in space. Yet we seem to want to do terrible things to each other and have throughout human history. We live in the greatest country the world has ever known, yet there are forces that want to destroy it. We must not let that happen.

Marcia and I have a wonderful home and are blessed beyond measure by our relationship. What one would usually call “family” decided some years ago that she and I did not fit into their family. Both of us do have extended family through our brothers and Marcia’s sister but they live rather far away. Getting together for Thanksgiving was not possible due to both distance and China Virus restrictions.

Our Thanksgiving Table

Marcia encouraged us to celebrate Thanksgiving at home in our own way. She prepared dressing, cranberries, rolls, an apple pie, a jello dish, and more. I did the mashed potatoes. Our turkey was range fed locally. I did manage to carve the turkey. And we had wine: Chablis. We sat down to beautiful table she had set using our family china and crystal. But first, we bowed our heads, held hands, and Marcia said a prayer to thank God for all we have been blessed with and to pray for the healing of our country and world. Then like the first Thanksgiving, we feasted!

Full bellies and our hearts overflowing with love; does it get any better than this?

God bless us one and all.

Tom’s Note Books

There is man from Richmond, Virginia, who has had an enormous but quiet impact on the lives of reporters across the country and, subsequently, on the stories told to readers and viewers everywhere. The man’s name is Tom Edwards.

Tom was the proprietor of a shop called, The Stationers Inc. It was from that shop that Tom manufactured and sold wire bound writing pads called the Reporter’s Note Book. It was 4 inches wide by 8 inches tall; the perfect size to fit into a purse, hip pocket, or jacket pocket. It was in these note books that reporters wrote the information they needed to eventually write their stories.

I have no idea how many note books Tom sold over the years. It had to be thousands. I only know that I have saved in my desk drawer note books from 1995 which is 13 years after I left the Kokomo Tribune behind me for a while. I remember having Tom’s note books with me during the 20 years between 1961 and 1982 while there.

I talked on the phone with Tom in 2015 when I ordered 2 dozen note books. He told me he was the grandson of the original owner. So, only Lord knows how many note books have come from the Stationers, Inc over many, many decades. I ordered 2 dozen to keep some and to hand out to some journalism students at Indiana University Kokomo. They loved them.

I tried to order more a few months ago only to learn that Stationers Inc no longer existed. Tom had died at the age of 66 in December 2020. The store was closed. So, an era has passed.

Tom’s little Reporter Note Books will forever be remembered by hundreds if not thousands of reporters. In his own way, Tom and his family have helped to make freedom of the press in our country real.

God Bless and Rest in Peace, Tom.

Kent H Blacklidge Ph.D.
Past Publisher, The Kokomo Tribune

Senator Kennedy Wisdom

Senator John Kennedy often comes out with some words of wisdom. What follows are some of his most current observations….

“We all know President Biden is in trouble… and, therefore, America is in trouble. Measure it any way you want…

The debacle in Afghanistan which has emboldened Russia and China and Iran
The unbridled inflation
Gas prices
Open borders
Crime
A Justice Department that thinks parents are dangerous ‘domestic terrorists’
A Treasury Department that wants access to the checking account of every American that has a job

No wonder the American people are so angry. It’s no wonder that so many Americans think this administration does not care about them or their lives or their future.

Now, I say this with respect… with all the respect I can muster, but my advice to the President is this…

Mr. President, you just got to try harder not to suck ……”