OLD NEW YEARS!

   SUNDAY, DECEMBER 31ST., 2017
              OLD NEW YEARS!

      Monday will mark the 76th New Year's
Day I've celebrated! I can honestly say I
don't remember a lot of them! It's not
because I celebrated too much.  It's because
there's not a lot of difference between one year
and another when you're just a little kid.
      As I grew older the beginning of a
new year became a much bigger event
for me. I think it's because I was allowed
to stay up late.
       Our family celebration usually
consisted of a big dinner and, as Midnight
approached, listening to Guy Lombardo
and his Royal Canadians on the radio.
As the new year officially began his
orchestra struck up "Auld lang syne!"
Everybody started kissing, a tradition
which didn't much appeal to me until
I got a little older!
       Guy Lombardo was still doing his
New Year's Eve thing when we finally
got television. To millions of Americans
he was Mr. New Year.
       In the mid 1970's the Royal Canadians
began to face some stiff New Year's
competition from a fellow named Dick
Clark. The younger crowd, including me
back then, favored the television DJ who
championed rock and roll over ballroom
dance music.
       Whoever you watched the strains of
Auld lang syne were still heard as the
ball fell at Times Square signaling the
beginning of the new year.
        The melody still takes me back
to the days when my Mom, Dad, my
brother and I stayed up late listening to the
radio as the new year showed up.
         Each new year carried with it the
possibility of better days ahead. Each
still does. But each also causes us to
look back as well......for Auld lanf syne!
May your memories be pleasant!
         And as 2017 comes to a close I wish
all of your a very Happy New Year filled
with love, health. happiness, and good
NEWS!