ON MY HONOR!

   MONDAY, FEBRUARY 8th, 2021

               ON MY HONOR!

     Happy Birthday to the Boy Scouts!

On February 8, 1910, Chicago publisher William
Dickson Boyce filed incorporation papers in the
District of Columbia to create the Boy Scouts of
America.
   Of course the Boy  Scouts, as an organization, 
was actually formed in England several years
earlier.
    I never made it to Boy Scouts here or in England
but I was a Cub Scout, a Lion as I recall.
    I remember going to meetings at the home of
one of my friends. His mom was our Den Mother.
We did all kinds of crafts and worked on badges.
I wanted one that would make me a policeman
but that wasn't one of the options.
    I even remember making my first trip to New
York City, on a train, by myself, in my Cub Scout
uniform! My Dad met me at Penn Station in New
York. All the attendants on the train watched out
for me. I guess they all liked a guy in uniform!
    We didn't have any girls in Cub Scouts back
then. That may have played a role in my short
scouting career!
    I don't remember a heck of a lot more about my
Cub Scouting days except that I learned the salute,
and our motto, "Be Prepared."
    I always figured that was good advice for
anyone whether they be a scout or not.
    Hope you're always prepared and that all
your NEWS is good!
 

WHO'S THE CHAMPION?

   SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 7th, 2021

       WHO'S THE CHAMPION?

  Well it's Superbowl Sunday,  the day 

we learn who's Champion of professional

football. Of course there wasn't always a

Superbowl! Time was the championship

was determined by the team holding the

best record. Usually. But back in 1925 the

team with the best record was from

northeastern Pennsylvania. It should have

been the NFL Champion, But it wasn't!

The Pottsville Maroons, a team which 

included several players from the same

local fire company. was blowing away

the competition that year. Home games

were played at a High School stadium in

Minersville.  The team was a shoe in for

the championship. But then it agreed to

play an exhibition game with a team made 

up, primarily, with former college players

from Noter Dame University. With a lot

of admission revenue on the line the school

stadium was just too small. So the teams

agreed to move the game to Shibe Park in

Philadelphia. That's where the problem came

in! Philadelphia was within the franchise

area of another team. the Frankfort Yellow Jackets.

The Yellow Jackets complained to the league and

NFL officials agreed, stripping the Championship

from the Maroons. Efforts have been made since 

that time to change the ruling but all have failed!

It;s the story of the Championship that might

have been. Guess, in that case, it;s not how,

but where you plat the game that counts!

Hope you're well and that all your NEWS is

good!

BREAKING THE BIG STORY!

 

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6th, 2021

    BREAKING THE BIG STORY!

  I was a news reporter for most of my 60

plus years in broadcasting. And I'm proud

to say I broke some pretty big stories over

that time period. But breaking stories

isn't easy. Some times you've got to take

some chances! I'm reminded of that fact

because on this date, February 6th, of 1951

a young radio reporter took some very big

changes to test a tip that security was lax at

a top secret nuclear facility just outside Chicago.

The reporter, Paul Aurandt, drove to the

place that night and climbed a ten foot fence.

Unfortunately for him security was not very

lax that night and a security guard caught and   

arrested him. The Korean War was in progress 

and there was a big concern abut atomic spies.

Officials determined, however, that Aurandt

was not a spy but, rather, a reporter out to get

a big story and they released him without filing

charges. Oh, by the way. Aurandt was the name

on his Driver's license. His radio name was....

Paul Harvey. And now you know the rest of his

story! Hope you're well and that all your NEWS

is good. 

MY FRIDAY FORECAST

 

  FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5th, 2021

     MY FRIDAY FORECAST!

   I'll bet there's an 80% chance you don't

know what today is. Except for the fact it's

Friday. And given the recent snowstorm,

chilling winds, and cold temperatures I'd

say there's about a 90%  chance you don't

care. But I'm going to tell you anyway. 

This is :National Weatherman;s Day." Or

to be politically correct, National Weatherperson's

day! More and more women are joining the male

forecasters in tossing the dice.....I mean, checking

the charts. And, to be fair, our local weather

people do a pretty good job considering the

fact they try to cover some 22 counties

where ten miles and a bit of elevation can

make the difference between snow and rain/

So let's give them a tip of the cap today and

say Well done (sometmes at least!) Hope you;re

well, enjoying the weather and that all your

NEWS is good!

SWEATER WEATHER

  THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4th, 2021

           SWEATER WEATHER

  It's February 4th. National Sweater Day!

It's a day that was established to get you to

thinking about the advantages of wearing

sweaters. We have a nice supply of sweaters

around our house. They';re in a cabinet. My

wife's are carefully folded om the bottom

shelf and mine are, well, sort of stacked on

the upper one. Sweaters are especially useful

around northeaster Pennsylvania at this time

of year and they're environmentally beneficial.

When you put a sweater on you can turn the

thermostat down! I've liked sweatehsr for many

years. Always enjoyed seeing them on folks

like Marilyn Monroe and Dolly Parton. I often

wear a blue one myself. Brings out my eyes

you know/ Hope you've got a good supply of

sweaters and that all your NEWS is good! 

AFTER THE SNOW!

   WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3rd, 2021

                AFTER THE SNOW!

  Well the predicted northeaster hit as

expected and didn't disappoint! Nearly

two feet of snow hit in much of our area 

and smore spots actually got more! There

was the expected rush for bread, eggs, and

milk. Roads quickly became slippery and

dangerous and while kids had fun most 

folks spent hours digging out. Sometimes

more than once! I went outside with my

shovel and found two huge mounds of

snow where our cars had been parked. 

Nut for all the problems caused by the

snow I noticed, as I gazed around, the

shear beauty of my surroundings! Who

am I, I thought, to disrupt nature's

beauty? So I pui the shovel  down and

went back inside! Hope you're well and  

that all your NEWS is good.

SHADOW OF A DOUBT

 TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2nd, 2021

        SHADOW OF A DOUBT

             
       Pennsylvania's Punxsutawney Phil is
the man, actually rodent, of the hour every
February 2nd. His shadow, or the lack of
shadow, is said to be a prediction of how
soon we'll see Spring show up.
       But while Phil tends to get most of
the attention, it turns out he's not the
only meteorologist presenting a forecast.
It's kind of like all the guys on our local
TV stations. Each offering their own
take on the weather. One sees it as
partly cloudy while the other calls for
partly sunny.
        I wonder how many of you have
heard of Phil's competition? Let's see.
There's:
 Balzac Billy in Balzac, Alberta,BC
 Chattanooga Chuck in Tennessee
 Chesapeake Chuck in Virginia
 Chuckles in Connecticut
 Dunkirk Dave in New York
 French Creek Freddie in West Virginia
 Gen. Beauregard Lee in Georgia
 Grady the Groundhog in North Carolina
 Holtsville Hall, another New Yorker
 Buckeye Chuck in Ohio
 Malverne, he's from New York too
 Nibbles, another North Carolina forecaster
 Staten Island Chuck from the Big Apple
 and Stormy Marmot from Colorado.
       I've actually omitted a couple more
from Canada since there's some question
as to whether Spring exists there at all.
       As for the others, if Phil doesn't call
it the way you'd like check out his cousins
and take a drive into an early spring. It's
bound to be there somewhere!
       Hope you find it (sooner than later)
and that all your NEWS is good!