Next moment (don’t really know how many minutes) there was I sprawled on the kitchen floor, opening my eyes on the bowl broken nearby, the bloody scrape on my right elbow and arm…and a smarting feeling on the right side of my head!

I had completely crashed!

Struggling back on wobbly feet with the help of a nearby kitchen chair, possibly the cause of my scraped skin, I sat down and (yes, tried to clear the proverbial cobwebs) and get a handle on reality of what had happened … and what would happen next.

I knew that I was in trouble!

Living alone in my condo, I also knew that I needed help.

My phone was the nearest source. But I got my daughter’s message service response, asked her to call me ASAP and waited ten or twelve minutes before I reached out to 911.

The West End Fire Co. Ambulance and Phoenixville Police cruiser arrived at about the same time seven or eight minutes later, took my body vitals, hitched me onto a gurney, hooked me up to an IV and off we flew: no team of reindeer in this scenario) only professional first responders speeding through the late January night to the nearest ED at Phoenixville Hospital.

During the short trip from condo to hospital my attending EMT was warily watching dials showing my BP, O-level and most important (I later learned) my plummeting heart rate while speaking on his phone with someone at the hospital as we neared the facility.

Bypassing the ER entrance, we headed directly into the bowels of the Cath lab to a waiting team of doctors, nurses and technicians that took my body handoff, and its attached paraphernalia, to diagnose my condition more definitely.

The diagnosis was unanimous: I had experienced a Stage 3 heart block!

There is no Stage 4.

I needed a pacemaker…ASAP!

“You’ve got to be kidding me “came my startled reply.” “What are my options?”

“Do nothing and wait for another crash, and…” a sober voice came from the assembled lab coats.

“That’s it?” I weakly asked. Lab coats’ nods filled the room.

‘I’ll sign the papers. Let’s do it,” I said.

At that time of the evening, (between 9:30 and 10), a “temporary” pacemaker was the best procedure to invoke (A temporary transvenous pacemaker placement is an invasive, lifesaving and emergency procedure to help manage unstable cardiac dysrhythmias {abnormal and irregular heartbeats}.

In layperson’s language, two wires were inserted into veins of my heart near my left collarbone.

Procedure complete and with daughter, her new husband-to-be and granddaughter now on the scene, we learned that the “real” pacemaker would be scheduled for insertion Wednesday morning.

The “temp” device would be “fine until then” we were assured.

But nobody mentioned the “gathering ghosts” that would be visiting “my space” in the meantime!

Those ghosts (some may call them hallucinations) appeared abruptly into my Cath lab surroundings.

While I was fully awake.

Eerie spirits, some somberly attired in black mourning robes, some festively adorned, one carrying a scythe, all with zombielike gazes were penetrating my perimeter.

Another apocryphal figure (sometimes a man, sometimes a woman) periodically sat at a desk across the hall in a glass enclosed office.

Primitive symbols hung over their heads. Often there was another grim apparition standing near the desk. Sometimes not.

A gaunt man- figure stood inside a glass-paneled door peering down the hall into my semi-closed curtained surroundings. Nobody ever spoke.

Bells were tolling a largo tempo “O, Holy Night” in the distance. Then everything was gone.

Several hours of fitful sleep gave way to a dawning of pre-op-prep and transport to a tomb-like lower level of the OR where the surgical team partially sedated me (typical for this type of procedure) placed a fibrous shroud over my head so that I couldn’t see. but hear, removed the temp wires from the veins and implanted a small Medtronic pacemaker to my heart at my left collar bone.

I answered a couple of questions and could hear the team talking to one another.

In fact, I could hear two teams talking. The ghosts had returned!

And they were speaking in Spanish!

Soon upon returning to my Cath lab ‘home,” I casually mentioned my auditory experience to a nurse who surprisingly responded, “wouldn’t surprise me if you did; lots of paranormal experiences seem to haunt this town.”

Wow!

For the next couple of days (and nights) in the hospital I clearly saw and heard those “otherworld sights and sounds” occur again and again.

Frankly, recovery from my real “near death” experience was almost taking second place to my growing obsession with (please forgive me, Rod Serling) my personal “Twilight Zone.”

Prior to transferring to rehab at Shannondell, I spoke with my discharge physician about my recurring “visions.”

In his best Marcus Welby, M.D. impression, he patted me on the shoulder and said “nothing to worry about. You’ll most likely leave them here.”

What’s that supposed to mean? I thought.

It didn’t take long to find out.

(To be continued next week.)

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Finally, nobody asked, but it is difficult to disagree with Ralph Waldo Emerson when he said, “society is a hospital of incurables” and also “you can’t do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.”

The Last Word: Good day, good luck, and good news tomorrow!

Ray invites your comments to mainlinebanter@verizon.net.

Thanks.

When Banter was “born,” its purpose was to shine a light on news and muse about people and things in and around Berwyn, ergo its natal name, Berwyn Banter.

That was June 1997, yes, more than a quarter of a century ago!

During the column’s print infancy and upbringing (the Internet then being a mere wisp of its current omnipresent behemoth) it most often appeared bi-weekly in The Suburban & Wayne Times, eventually expanding its scope to include occasional opinions, also about the people and things in and around Berwyn.

In early 2009, The S&WT merged with another local weekly, Main Line Life, and the newly minted paper became Main Line Suburban Life.

The column was repurposed to cover a broader area of the Upper Main Line and appear weekly.

And its emphasis shifted to a combination of news and opinion, with its name changing to Main Line Banter.

The King of Prussia News and the Main Line Times joined Main Line Suburban Life then as a part of Main Line Media News.

A couple of years ago, the Main Line Times and Main Line Suburban Life were consolidated to become the current Main Line Times & Suburban, both in print and online publications.

Such is the way of today’s newspaper business.

Why, this historical ramble of what seems light years ago and a galaxy apart?

Blame it on the coronavirus!

For the first time in more than two decades, Banter’s “beat” has become “the world as we think we know it, at least until it isn’t!”

It seems everything that is happening, or isn’t, along “The Line,” keeps morphing into a surreal salmagundi that changes as abruptly as the scientific and political players (and their opinions) on the world’s CV gameboard.

With that in mind, here are a few observations and opinions to consider about people and things on Banter’s new “beat:”

News from only three years ago:

The historic General Warren Inne, Malvern, is now open for take-out orders Wednesdays through Sundays, 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Daily menus and information are available on its web site, generalwarren.com.

Other area restaurants that continue to be open daily for pick-up service only include Frankie’s Fellini Café, Berwyn, San Nicola Paoli, Anthony’s in Malvern, Berwyn Pizza and the historic Kimberton Inn, which, by the way, had 260 orders on Mother’s Day… EmJ’s, Berwyn, is open Wednesdays through Saturdays, from 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and on Sundays, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Berwyn’s 30 Main Bistro across from the train station is open for lunch from Noon to 4 p.m., Wednesdays through Sundays, and for dinner daily, 4 to 9 p.m. Sadly, Alfredo’s also opposite the train station, has closed permanently. ..

Dr. Aaron Ufberg’s Berwyn dental offices, originally set to reopen for all services on May 18, will now be open for emergency care only because of a recent order of PA Oral Health Committee not yet allowing dental hygiene visits … PA State Stores have relaxed restrictions on sales at hundreds of stores throughout the Commonwealth, but not yet in stores throughout the Delaware Valley … The Conestoga High Leadership and Awards were presented virtually on May 13th , and a video of ceremony is being aired daily on TETV (Comcast Channel 14 and Verizon Channel 20 daily at 1 and 7 p.m. In other T/E Schools news, the next meeting of the board of school directors will be held virtually on May 27 at 7:20 p.m.

Churches throughout the area continue to serve their faithful offering virtual worships, Bible studies, prayer groups and other electronic communications, while relying on their web sites, PayPal and Venmo for ongoing financial support … Non-profits hard hit indirectly by the pandemic are struggling to survive while their services are more needed more than ever … Food pantries like The Great
Valley Food Cupboard, located in The Baptist Church in the Great Valley, Devon, the Wayne United Methodist Church, St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, Ardmore, and the Upper Merion Area Community Food Cupboard on Town Center Road all are being overwhelmed with clients while, at the same, time, facing shortages of volunteer workers and food donations … Readers that have news or stories they would like to share about people, places and things in their families or neighborhoods are invited to email them to mainlinebanter@verizon.net.

Opinions from three years ago:

The coronavirus virus may be the catalyst for a new world order … The daily list of the pandemics political and scientific “good guys and bad guys” changes more often than sheets in a cheap hotel … Nobody is perfect when it comes to assessing the virus. Even Dr. Tony Fauci originally (early February) said that it “was not a major threat to the United States.” … Dr. Deborah Birx, a native of Carlisle, PA, by the way, is the best advertisement for wearing scarves, and not sticking your neck out … Dr. Rick Bright, the whistleblower immunologist fired by President Trump for his apocalyptic views of “the darkest winter in modern history,’ had his day testifying May14 to the Health Committee of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. Did anybody really hear the whistle? … Now that we know President Trump is taking drugs (hydroxychloroquine) we still believe he is not hallucinating by feverishly wanting the country to safely reopen as soon as possible.

News from today:

The Phillies have the best win-loss record in MLB! … Auditions are over, and a full rehearsal schedule is looming for “Beauty and the Beast.” Berwyn’s Footlighters Theater Premiere of its 95th Season in September. Also, on the boards in the season are “The Wedding Singer,” “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” and “Urinetown,” among others… Volunteers are needed by T& E Care to sort school supplies for needy students in the TE School District. Dates for the sorting at Beaumont School are June 17, 18 and 20, between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Opinion from today:

May is celebrated as Mental Health Awareness Month, and Berwyn’s Daemion Counseling Center reminds that mental health challenges don’t adhere to a calendar. Let’s all join Daemion in making mental health a priority all year, remembering it’s all a state of mind.

Nobody asked, but it is difficult to not agree with Ralph Waldo Emerson when he said: “society is a hospital of incurables,” and also “you can’t do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.”

The Last Word: Good day, good luck, and good news tomorrow!

Comments invited to mainlinebanter@verizon.net

Those lyrics are in a show-stopping tune in the G-and-S raucous comic opera “The Pirates of Penzance.”

In today’s counterculture craziness of punish-the-police admonitions, anti-police rhetoric seems to have put an alarming exclamation point to those G-and-S words.

Happily, however, there is an abundance of exceptions to that current diatribe!

Like recognizing the “Police Officer of the Year” in Lower Merion Township!

Such recognition for Police Officer Michael Pleasants (shades of coincidence, anyone?) voted by his fellow officers in the Main Line’s largest police department was celebrated by the Kiwanis Club of the Main Line last week at a luncheon at Bryn Mawr’s Flip and Bailey restaurant, in his honor. And deservedly so!

For almost a quarter of a century, the Kiwanis Club of the Main Line has annually honored a Lower Merion Township Police Officer of the Year, so it was that earlier this month (during National Police Week) Officer Michael Pleasants, an 18-year veteran of the largest township police force on the Main Line, joined the list of outstanding officers who have earned the singular respect and distinction of his colleagues throughout those years and the ensuing Kiwanis recognition.

Along with a luncheon in his honor Officer Pleasants received a photo plaque and a cash appreciation award from Kiwanis to celebrate his signature achievement.

Of course, Michael’s wife and parents, senior police officers, including retired Superintendent Mike McGrath (also recognized for his decades of service with the LMPD) and Acting Superintendent Eugene Pasternak, were in attendance, as was a delegation of members of the township’s board of commissioners.

The Kiwanis award, a personal photo engraved plaque and a check of appreciation was presented to Officer Pleasants at the latest in a decades-long Kiwanis annual event to a Lower Merion police officer for commitment, dedication, and service to the community.

Jim Hanna, a long-time club member, reflected that the annual award personifies one of the signature Six Objects of Kiwanis: “To cooperate in creating and maintaining sound public opinion and high idealism which make possible the increase of righteousness, justice, patriotism and good will.”

Officer Pleasants, a 16-year veteran of the department, is recognized for exemplary performance and for his dedication to the Department and the citizens of Lower Merion Township.

And it’s apropos that the Kiwanis recognition came during National Police Week.

National Police Week is a time for police officers to honor their fallen colleagues, ensuring those surviving them are supported, as well as to remember their commitment to keeping people safe.

National Police Week is all about honor, gratitude, remembrance, servitude, and peer support.

Officer Pleasants is serving in his 16th year with this department and is currently assigned to the patrol division. He is an exceptional police officer who consistently demonstrates a solid work ethic and maintains a professional commitment to the police department.

Michael is a veteran Field Training Officer who relies on his experience and sound judgment when training and mentoring new police recruits. He is also a Platoon Investigator, which includes significant additional responsibilities and a heavy workload.

In this role, he is responsible for criminal case management, crime scene evaluation and processing, follow-up investigations and interviews, preparing criminal complaints, search warrants, and other court-related paperwork, and preparing and conducting court presentations for criminal hearings.

Of the 92 investigations assigned to him during 2023, he brought criminal prosecutions for 42 of them, including Thefts, Assaults, Burglaries, Assaults on Police, DUI, Fraud, Arson, and Firearms Violations.

Examples of Michael’s exemplary work in 2023 outlined in his recognition citation include:

He presented a block of training to members of his Platoon. He developed the training “Conducting Complete Interviews” using his years of experience, his training as a Platoon Investigator, and guidance from the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office. It included a training outline, a PowerPoint presentation, and a lecture.

The presentation highlighted valuable information and visual references.

He took time from his busy schedule to develop and present this training to pass along his knowledge to improve his fellow officers’ overall readiness and capability.

Michael is a sworn member of the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Narcotics Enforcement Task Force and the Gun Violence Reduction Task Force. He attended ATF training on identifying firearms violations and ghost guns and has become the chief liaison regarding firearm-related crimes.

He assures us that all firearms are being submitted and tested correctly by this department and within the guidelines laid out by the District Attorney.

Michael was also selected to work in the Special Investigations Unit, which often involves undercover work and surveillance. During that time, he successfully developed and cultivated a relationship with a Confidential Informant; he identified and arrested a drug trafficker, which led to a seizure of a large quantity of illegal drugs and firearms.

Additionally, he assisted with another drug investigation, which has so far resulted in the seizure of several kilos of cocaine, one arrest, with more pending.

Michael has been nominated for Officer of the Quarter five times throughout his impressive career and has won once.

The above highlights the exceptional work that Michael continually produces. This is typical of his daily work product. He embodies the characteristics, work ethic, and professionalism we should encourage all Patrol Officers to strive for.

Because of his outstanding work and accomplishments, it is no surprise that Officer Michael Pleasants was selected by his peers as Lower Merion Township Police Department’s 2023 Officer of the Year.

Finally, nobody asked, but although we are shining a light on a police officer in Lower Merion, let us remember that deserving officers in other Main Line municipalities and police departments throughout the nation step forward every day to protect and serve.

The next time you see a police officer in your community, a friendly “thank you” could make the day for both of you.

The Last Word: Good day, good luck, and good news tomorrow!

The pinnacle of professional pigskin perfection will be played at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada before an onsite capacity crowd of 65,000 pairs of eyes.

Not to mention the mesmerized thousands of NFL staffers, techs, broadcasters, etc. plus the hundreds of millions more watching TV (at least for the opening quarter) around the world.

All those eyes will be focused on the enclosed, climate-controlled striped battlefield stadium where either a wagonload of gold-seeking Forty Niners from San Francisco or a pride of Lions from Detroit will suit up to challenge either an unkindness of clawing Ravens from Baltimore or a tribe of rampaging Chiefs (sorry, PC fans; that’s what they are!) from Kansas City and their head totem, Andy Reid, (formerly Cap’n Andy of an aerie of Philadelphia Eagles) for fame, fortune and the Lombardi Trophy.

In a sideline game (or is it the real game?) deep-pocketed advertisers will nervously wait for Feb. 12 ratings’ reports to learn whether the tens of millions of dollars they have ponied up to promote their brands in this modern Circus Maximus were well spent.

Next week we’ll have more to chronicle about Super Bowls past and present, plus a fearless forecast of who will win LVIII.

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Turning our thoughts from professional sports’ “acme of attention” to more earthy matters (, Feb. 2 is Groundhog Day) to what one could classify as our “Ode to February.”

Ah, February, a rather dismal time of year whose name may be loosely translated to mean “ice or hard frost” or “purification.” Were this month a person, we would most likely call him/her “shorty.” Obviously, an appropriate moniker for a month with only 28 days (excepting 29 every fourth year like this one.)

February’s limited time on the horizon has done rather well throughout the years in the milestone business. Consider its annual: Groundhog Day, St. Valentine’s Day, Presidents Day, and Black History Month, to name but a few.

February also is the month when the 15th amendment of the U.S. Constitution (Black suffrage) was proposed (1869) and the 16th amendment (the now dreaded income tax law) was ratified (1913). And, it was in February that the culture of pop music was changed forever when The Beatles set foot on American soil (1964…and, hey, Jude, that’s 60 years!) and headlined TV’s mega-popular, black-and- white “Ed Sullivan Show” a few nights later.

In the birthday department, many notable personalities took their first breaths in February, including: Norman Rockwell, James Michener, Johannes Gutenberg, Charles Lindbergh, Rosa Parks, Jules Verne, James Dean, William Henry Harrison, Carol King, Mia Farrow, Bob Griese, Ted Koppel, and Morgan Fairchild. One may conclude that, although short, February has recorded its share of tall achievements.

Regretfully, like every other month, February notable occasions and people have been co-opted by a score of “silly observances.” Pay a Compliment Day (6th) to Banana Bread Day (23rd) are included in a frittata of offerings cooked up by Madison Avenue marketing mavens trying to satisfy the cacophony of their clients for more sales. Alas, some things never change.

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This just in:

The Kiwanis Club of the Main Line is accepting applications from local high school seniors to compete for two $2500 Kiwanis Service Scholarships!

Graduating seniors from Harriton, Haverford, Lower Merion and Radnor, as well as private high schools on the Main Line, are eligible to apply. All applicants must be students in good standing that have completed at least 100 hours of community service or volunteer work in 2023.

Application criteria and a formal application are available online at kiwanismainline.com. All entries must be submitted by March 30, and winners will be announced in mid-April.

“It’s our club’s great pleasure to offer these scholarships to support students pursuing higher education,” said Sarah Zulueta, president of the club. “We know many kids need help in our community, and we are pleased that providing these opportunities is a meaningful way we can partner for a brighter tomorrow,” she added.

As an aside,, the Main Line Club is one of the oldest Kiwanis organizations in the nation, being chartered on November 12, 1926. It meets regularly at various sites and conducts annual fund-raising and other events (a social hour was held last Thursday at Azie at Main, Villanova, for example) to recognize its legendary Six Objects of Kiwanis.

The “six pack” of platitudes dating back more than a century may seem like passé ancient axioms to some, but in our opinion, they truly constitute a platform worthy of performance.

Decide for yourself.

The Objects are: 1) to give primacy to the human and spiritual rather than to the material values of life, 2) to encourage the living of the Golden Rule in all human relationships, 3) to promote the adoption and the applications of higher social business and professional standards, 4) to develop by precept and example, a more intelligent, aggressive and serviceable citizenship, 5) to provide a practical means to form enduring friendships, to render altruistic service and to build better communities, and 6) to cooperate in creating and maintaining that sound public opinion and high idealism which make possible the increase of righteousness, justice, patriotism and good will.

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Finally, nobody asked, but what meteorological misfit devised the “temperature feels like” table noted on every TV weather show? It’s only our opinion, for example, that if it’s 15 degrees F (or the Celsius equivalent of -9.4 degrees) that’s just what it is! What it may “feel like” to one person may differ widely from another.

Chill out on that, Frosty!

The Last Word: Good day, good luck, and good news tomorrow!

Comments invited to mainlinebanter@verizon.net.

That done, how about looking “way back” with me to some icons of yesteryear… then, stay tuned for a few local shortcuts?

It seems that it was only yesterday that you’ve worn out a lot of Levi’s if you can remember washtub wringers and a neighborhood jungle of clotheslines that would make Tarzan envious.

You’ve put a highway full of pedals to the metal if you put down the window of your Hudson Hornet to let a carhop place a tray with your 15-cent burger and a five-cent Coke at the drive-in … just after you’ve filled your tank with 20-cents-a-gallon gas.

You’ve also laid a lot of rubber to the road if you recall reading queues of Burma Shave signs while tooling through the countryside, and you certainly have whiled away many hours (take a deep breath here) with your Tinkertoys, erector sets, gum-wrapper chains and packs of Topps baseball cards while playing with friends on the braided area rug while keeping an eye on the seven-inch TV test pattern waiting for “Captain Kangaroo” to appear.

You’ve marched more than a few miles if you remember having a fluoroscope of your feet at the shoe store to determine if the new Buster Brown’s or Thom Mc An’s fit properly.

And, while thinking podiatric thoughts, you spilled a lot of popcorn while stomping your feet on the movie house floor when the film broke at the Saturday morning kid show.

You’ve chilled out often if you remember placing a triangular cardboard sign in the window that you need a 50-pound or 100-pound block of ice to put into the family icebox, and you’ve stoked a bin of memories if you recall having a few tons of anthracite delivered by the neighborhood coal man.

You’ve snapped a lot of shutters if you remember having your picture taken by a traveling photographer while sitting in the back of a cart harnessed to a real pony, and you’ve licked sheets of three-cent postage stamps and pasted them on requests for your Captain Midnight or The Shadow glow-in-the-dark ring you heard about while listening to your Stewart-Warner radio in the living room.

What’s more, you’ve twisted a volume of radio dials if you waited on Sunday evening to hear Walter Winchell greet “Mr. and Mrs. North and South America, and all the ships at sea.”

You’ve seen a lot of calendar pages fly by while you’ve waited for the local newsstand to rack up the latest editions of your favorite Marvel and Archie comic books, and lastly, you watched a lot of turntables spin if you just couldn’t wait for the deejay to play that “last dance” 45rpm of “Good Night, Sweetheart” so that you could walk home with the girl (or boy) of your dreams.

Ah, yes, those were the good, old days!

Although yesterday, as Sir Paul McCartney immortalized in song more than 60 years ago, seems so far away, a dizzying kaleidoscope of events has made the world a far different place than that of our childhood.

Ironically, many still believe that truth still reflects in French novelist Alphonse Karr’s circa 1800s proverb: “the more things change, the more they stay the same.”

Shortcuts around town

A unique “Theatre Festival” to put on your calendar will be held Feb. 2-3 at Berwyn’s Footlighters Theatre.

Over the course of 24 hours, six short plays will be conceived, written, rehearsed, and performed for a live audience.

The public is invited to attend a 7 p.m. performance on Saturday, the 3rd at Footlighters Main Avenue stage.

The community theatre also is looking forward to presenting its annual “Broadway in Berwyn” song and dance fundraisers the weekend of March 8-10. This year’s performances will be at 7:30 p.m. that Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. that Sunday, themed as “Toast to the Tonys,” featuring hit tunes from Tony nominees from 1945 to today.

Should be great fun! Learn more by visiting footlighterstheater.com.

In other unique local theatre news, “Everybody,” a reimagined medieval morality play titled “Everyman” will be presented Feb. 22-25 at Ursinus College Blackbox Studio Theater, featuring a different lead actor at each performance.

Directed by Ursinus Professor of Theater Domenick Scudera, the play is said to be a hilarious take on the modern world. Please visit ursinus.edu/tickets for more information.

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Congratulations and best wishes to Rev. Paul J. O’Donnell on his upcoming installation as the pastor of the Church of St. Monica, Berwyn.

Father Paul’s installation mass will be held on Sunday, February 4 at 11:30 a.m. with the Most Reverend John J. McIntyre, auxiliary bishop of the Philadelphia Diocese presiding.

A reception will follow in the parish center.

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Marilyn Baker, of Malvern, shared a trove of 24 miscellaneous trivia to ponder with family and friends to start off 2024. Here half of them may find interesting. If so, we’ll send you the others. If not,

1) Months that begin on a Sunday will always have a Friday the 13th.

2) The Interstate highway network (initiated by President Eisenhower) requires that one mile in every five must be straight (to be useful as airstrips in time of war or other emergency).

3) The average lifespan of a Major League baseball is seven pitches.

4) The sale of vodka provides 10 percent of the Russian government’s income.

5) Debra Winger was the voice of E.T.

6) Pearls melt in vinegar.

7) The highest point in Pennsylvania is lower than the lowest point in Colorado.

8) They’re called Hershey’s Kisses because the machine that makes them looks like it’s kissing the conveyor belt.

9) The airplane that crashed and killed Buddy Holly was named “American Pie,” ergo the inspiration for the Don McLean song.

10) 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12.345.678.987,654,321.

11) Tommy Lee Jones and former Vice President Al Gore were roommates at Harvard.

12) It’s possible to lead a cow up the stairs, but never down.

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Finally, nobody asked, but if life is like a bowl of cherries, which could be the reason so many of us feel “in the pits.” (Can anyone say “Eagles?”)

The Last Word: Good day, good luck, and good news tomorrow.

Comments invited to mainlinebanter@verizon.net

Last column we polished our rear-view mirror and crystal ball to look back and forward as we were bombarded with the thoughts of babbling bloggers (where do they all come from!) and optimistic and odious observers spreading their views of what was and what will be.

As Tevye sang. ‘it’s tradition!”

Last column we also recalled some of the people, places and things that were illuminated in Banter’s spotlight during the first half of 2023.

Today we swing the gleam to highlights of the final six months of the year, repeat the accounting of our 2023 predictions and offer fearless forecasts for 2024 (in the event you missed reading last week.)

Spotlights July through December 2023

July started with a bang remembering and celebrating the reasons that July 4th is still a flagstaff event for Americans after all these years. We also pondered the value of keeping cool when the “three H’s” – haze, heat and humidity – envelop us, and reminisced about those “hazy, lazy, crazy days” of summers gone by.

And readers wrote about “cat controversy” in the dog days of summer, and our commemorating a personal upcoming Leo birthday by looking back into how things once were.

Moving ahead to August, readers were asked to share their favorite restaurants and let us know why. There were columns looking back and ahead to Little League Baseball in the area, and shortcuts around town about happenings in Tredyffrin and Easttown.

September columns lamented the loss of what Labor Day used to be and included a seasonal serving of appropriate trivia, as well as personal reflection on childhood “memories in the rubble” of a backyard shed that once was a monument to coming of age.

Lest we forget, there was an up-close and personal column of the hands-on journey of Berwyn’s Tom Wolter, the executive chef of the historic Kimberton Inn.

October came in from out of nowhere (eerie month that it is) as we mused about the tenth month’s past and present and local upcoming events, the still clattering “Missiles of October’ that put the world at the tip of nuclear war, looked ahead to the upcoming elections and the grim state of the world around us, and, of course, scared up thoughts about the origins of Halloween.

November found Banter revisiting “Project Greek Island,” the code name for a Congressional cold war top secret bunker built into and under The Greenbrier resort in West Virginia and the role he played unveiling it to the public, a myriad of musing about Thanksgiving traditions, tidings and side dishes, post-election opinions and a pre-Christmas season question of what the holiday means to individual readers.

In December, we again raised the alarm to keep fire from destroy your holidays, reviewed People’s Light unique production of “A Christmas Carol” and opined about the monetary sea change in Major League Baseball as The Phillies (and every other MLB franchise) are wheeling and dealing in advance of the 2024 season.

(Note: In the event you may have missed reading some of our spotlights, please let us know. We’ll email you a copy of the column(s).

2023 Predictions’ Scorecard redux

There will be more chaos in the local restaurant business than in the last decade. (Certainly, was true.) More small retail shops along the Main Line will shutter. (Sad, but true.)

Decline in membership and attendance will continue in houses of worship of all denominations. (Do I hear an “Amen?”) Local non-profits will find it more difficult to raise funds for their worthwhile causes. (Again, sad but true.)

Main Line public and private schools will continue to rank high nationally. (Yes, they did.) New and younger faces will emerge on the political scene. (Just look around.) The Phillies will repeat as National League Champions. (Can anybody hiss Diamondbacks?) The Eagles will win the Super Bowl. (Leading most of the game … but no Lombardi!)

Forecasts for 2024 redux

Picking up our crystal ball for these next 350 days or so of our lives, we divine that: 1) Active membership will continue to decline in Main Line churches.

2) Price wars will heat up in sale of homes along the Main Line with an uptick in the spring that will continue throughout the year. 3) The problem of drugs and guns in local schools and neighborhoods will increase. 4) The Phillies will win the World Series. 5) The Eagles will fall short of the Super Bowl

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Shortcut around town

Realizing that there is no such thing as “a sure thing.” (just ask the Eagles and the Phillies!) the closest locally is the upcoming final approval by the Tredyffrin-Easttown School Board of Directors authorizing the building of a new elementary school in the district.

A special meeting will be held Wednesday, Jan. 17 at 7:30 p.m. at Conestoga High School to discuss the proposal that the district has been evaluating for several years.

The new school (to be the sixth elementary building in the district) will be on a 15.2-acre property at 1200 W. Swedesford Road which contains an 86,000 sq. ft. building. The property is adjacent to a residential area. Purchase price is $15.9 million. Residents of the district will be given opportunity for comment at the meeting.

Finally, nobody asked, but it’s hard to disagree with Thomas Jefferson when he said: “if the condition of man is to be progressively ameliorated, as we fondly hope and believe, education is to be the chief instrument in effecting it.”

The Last Word: Good day, good luck, good news tomorrow … and (one more time) Happy New Year!

Comments invited to mainlinebanter@verizon.net.

Neither goblets, nor flutes, but a pair of reflective prisms, one for looking back, the second for looking ahead.

You guessed it. We’re referring respectively to the rearview mirror and the crystal ball!

Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa (remember them?) are now in the embers of holiday history.

The “new normal” news cycle already is cranking out social media posts and grams and “breaking news” of instant “political conspiracies and investigations” and a plethora of information and disinformation at Mach 1 speed.

We already are being bombarded with the thoughts of babbling bloggers (where do they all come from!) and optimistic and odious observers espousing their views of the best and worst of the year just passed as well as forecasting the trials and trepidations of what 2024 will bring.

Banter is not one to let those acerbic academicians, chattering columnists, pompous pundits, and self-anointed soothsayers make spectacles of themselves all alone.

Not on your new deck of tarot cards, by golly. Let the cacophonic couriers crow and clamor all they want, but when it comes to retrospection and prognostication about our local neighborhoods, the ball drops here.

Join us now in recalling some of the people, places and things that were illuminated in Banter’s spotlight during the past year, and a flickering flashback into the way some things were just a century ago.

Stay tuned for an accounting of our 2023 predictions and a few fearless forecasts for 2024.

Hold your glasses high and read about them again in the following reflective Banter of the New Year.

Banter Spotlights in 2023

Chronologically, last January our “jerk-o-meter” registered high marks for 10 specific and general types of “jerky people” in our area, learned about St. Monica Parish’s 125th celebration, reviewed fearless forecasts from a previous decade (clocked nine, missed two and scored an “iffy” on one) and rambled about the constant tumult in the restaurant business and patrons taste.

Among February’s highlights were the “continuing love affair “with antique cars, new and views of Super Bowl LVII and its attendant hyperbole and lavish costs, more about local restaurants and a review of a rollicking, raunchy, revelatory memoir of life in the restaurant business: “Your Table is Ready” by Michael Ceechi-Azzolana, musings about Lent and a new Zane Kalas cover album, “High Hopes.”

March spotlights included our annual Big Lebowski Awards, the Oscars, the march of the stinkbugs in the area, our “pothole blues,” thoughts of the COVID-19 pandemic after three years, and an advance look at the origin of April Fool.

In April, readers shared the content of “Ye Olde Miscellaneous Box” of news, views, trivia, and remembrances of memorable April events in history, as well as thoughts about Easter and a review of the Wayne Oratorio Society’s sterling performance of Beethoven’s “Mass in C” and Will Todd’s “Mass in Blue” concerts at Wayne Presbyterian Church.

May featured Officer Jeffrey Sullivan’s recognition by the Kiwanis Club of the Main Line as Lower Merion’s Police Officer of the Year, applauding Daemion Counselling Center (Berwyn) more than five decades of helping individuals and families with challenging mental health issues, and documenting a merry menu of local celebrations.

June was busting out all over with news of local people, places, and things of interest, as well as a “cautionary tail” about cat adoptions and Banter musings of 26 years of shepherding this column.

(Note: In the event you may have missed reading some of our spotlights, please let us know. We’ll email you a copy of the column(s).

Meantime, July through December 2023 spotlights will be recalled in next week’s Banter.)

About 100 years ago …

While reflecting on the past, consider a few things that were “au current” just about a century ago in the United States: Only 14 percent of all homes had a bathtub. Only eight percent of homes had a telephone. There were only 8,000 cars and 144 miles of paved roads. The average US wage was 22 cents per hour. A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year, a dentist $2,500 per year, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year, and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year.

Sugar costs four cents a pound. Eggs were 14 cents a dozen. Coffee was 15 cents a pound. The American flag had 45 stars. Two out of every 10 adults couldn’t read or write, and only six percent of all Americans were graduated from high school.

Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at the corner drugstore.

Nobody asked, but it’s best not to think back to those good old days, nostalgic as they are. Just remember that today is the tomorrow we worried about yesterday, and that takes a full lobe of brain cells to process as it is.

2023 Predictions Scorecard

There will be more chaos in the local restaurant business than in the last decade. (Certainly was true.)

More small retail shops along the Main Line will shutter. (Sad, but true.)

Decline in membership and attendance will continue in houses of worship of all denominations. (Do I hear an “Amen?”)

Local non-profits will find it more difficult to raise funds for their worthwhile causes. (Again, sad but true.)

Main Line public and private schools will continue to rank high nationally. (Yes, they did.)

New and younger faces will emerge on the political scene. (Just look around.)

The Phillies will repeat as National League Champions. (Can anybody hiss Diamondbacks?)

The Eagles will win the Super Bowl. (Leading most of the game … but no Lombardi!)

Forecasts for 2024

Picking up our crystal ball for these next 358 days or so of our lives, we divine:

1) Active membership will continue to decline in Main Line churches.

2) Price wars will heat up in sale of homes along the Main Line with an uptick in the spring that will continue throughout the year.

3) The problem of drugs and guns in local schools and neighborhoods will increase.

4) The Phillies will win the World Series.

5) The Eagles will fall short of the Super Bowl.

The Last Word: Good day, good luck, good news tomorrow … and Happy New Year!

Comments invited to mainlinebanter@verizon.net.

The Philadelphia Phillies’ baseball cauldron of concrete and steel is like a slumbering crater of a volcano that will soon erupt from its off-season dormancy.

Its 43,661 seats are empty, its $10 million HD scoreboard is dark, and its blocks of surrounding parking lots are only sprawling asphalt slabs in a vast uninhabited wasteland.

Most passing pedestrians and drivers of vehicles of all kinds go their way, not even glancing twice at this $500 million slice of South Philadelphia that is full of “things.”

It was those “things,” the essentials of professional baseball,” that captured the interest of a lifelong Phillies fan and former longtime manager of Tredyffrin Township so intently that he decided to author a book about them.

More precisely, make that Norman Mawby decided to invite a group of his baseball fan friends to join him in authoring a book about those important things at the ballpark.

And, so “Balls, Bats and More!” came to print 10 years ago in both hardcover and soft cover versions.

The “and More” topics in the book, in addition to balls and bats include gloves, uniforms, hats, shoes, tickets, scoreboard, video room, bases, collectables, and the list goes on.

The eclectic group of friends that contributed chapters are Paul Hagan, winner of the 2013 J.G. Taylor Spink Award presented annually to a sportswriter “for meritorious contributions to baseball writing;” Michael Rellahan, Daily Local News reporter; Bruce Mowday, retired Daily News columnist and reporter, and still active author of many historical and general interest books, including “Richie Ashburn … Why the Hall Not? The  mazing Journey to Cooperstown,” (As an aside, Mowday is now working
on a new book about the Danelo Cavalcante prison escape and capture.)

Other contributing BB and M friends are Jim Salisbury of Comcast Sports Net, Lou Beccaria, retired president and CEO of the Phoenixville Community Health Foundation who once played with Reggie Jackson on an American Legion team in Cheltenham, and now principal of Beccaria & Associates, a consulting health care and non-profits firm ; Hench Murray, first head of school at Strafford’s Woodlynde School, educational consultant and the radio voice of Penn football, (he also played American Legion ball
with Reggie Jackson;) John Bochanski, Associate Professor of Computer Science and Physics and Chair of Rider University‘s Department of Computer Science and Physics; his sister, Michelle, a physical therapist in Media; Terry Dougherty, former executive director of Philadelphia City Rowing; Jessica Corry, former communications specialist for the Chester County Intermediate Unit; Michael Fortney, formerly of the Chester County Book and Music Co.; Bruce Leith, The Phillies Director of Concessions Development; Leslie Small, former Delco Daily Times copy editor/sports; John Hollnger, The Phillies Coordinator of Retail Merchandising, Tom Burgoyne, the Phillies Phanatic, and (in the interest of full disclosure) this columnist.

(Extra inning footnote: Back in 2009, Norman and Vince Carrocci, his Penn State roommate of years gone by, co-authored “Part of the Parade” a book profiling many behind-the-scenes people at Citizens Bank Park who keep these sports” arena operating successfully. This book is still available online at partoftheparade.com.)

Ok, you ask why are you writing about the 10th anniversary of a baseball book in the middle of the Christmas advent season?

The answer is that money has become the primary essential of the game.

When one baseball player, Shohei Ohtani, just became, thanks to free agency and the Los Angeles Dodgers, the highest paid player in the game’s history, at $700 Million for 10 years, or $70 Million per year (Bryce Harper earns “only” $30 million) baseball was bound to capture one’s thoughts … or at least the money has!

When “Balls, Bats and More” was published in 2013, the average payroll of all 30 Major League Baseball teams combined (about 800 players) was a mere $93 Million!

Seems to me, acknowledging that in our free-market world people of super abilities in any profession should be “appropriately compensated,” that mega money like Ohtani will be paid would make a world of difference to a grand slam of charitable organizations that provide life-changing services to countless people in need and benefit us all.

Just saying, that’s all!

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Tredyffrin Library gets $35,000 Donation.

The Friends of Tredyffrin Public Library presented a donation of $35,000 to Tredyffrin Public Library during the Library Board of Trustees meeting last week. The presentation took place in the library’s new Maker Space, which will open in early 2024 with support from the Friends of Tredyffrin Public Library and the McLean Contributionship.

The contribution includes $20,000 to support adult, teen, and children’s programming, and $15,000 for equipment and supplies in the new Maker Space. The Friends also continued their support of the Museum Passes Program which began in 2016 and allows library card holders to visit over 20 venues in the area at no cost.

In the past five years, the Friends organization has donated more than $200,000 to Tredyffrin Public Library.

Members of the Friends also volunteer in various capacities for the Red Fox Book Shop, the main source of the funds it donates to the library.

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Finally, nobody asked, but are you taking a Required Minimum Distribution from your IRA or 401(k)? Sandy Gorman, of T and E Care, reminds that you “may be able to reduce your reported gross income and save money on your Medicare Part B and part D premiums by making a Qualified Charitable Distribution directly to charity.

“Your financial institution can work with you to make this easy contribution to T and E Care (or other local non-profits like Berwyn’s Daemion Counseling Center) in helping T and E Care meet the needs of local families with rent, utility, medical, education and other bills.”

The Last Word: Good day, good luck, and good news tomorrow.

Comments invited to manlinebanter@verizon.net

But People’s Light and Zak Berkman’s original musical adaptation of “A “Christmas Carol” is anything but “bah, humbug!”

Zak and his artistic colleagues at the Malvern regional theater have taken considerable creative license to breathe innovative sights and sounds into this Nineteenth Century (1843, to be eerily exact) “ghost story” on its Leonard C. Haas stage, ironically a former 18th Century stone barn.

Sure, we all know the names of the play’s principal characters and that Ebenezer Scrooge is a miserly man who despises Christmas.

Alone on Christmas Eve, he is visited by the ghost of his late business partner. Jacob Marley, warning Scrooge that, if he does not become kinder, he will suffer a terrible fate after death.

Marley tells Scrooge that he will be visited by three more ghosts that night. Scrooge scoffs at the warning but, as each visit becomes more terrifying …. Well, you know the rest of the story.

But in this adaptation, (a revision of the premier adaption at People’s Light in COVID-plagued 2021) that Christmas Eve and those visits and Scrooge’s transformative aftermath are interwoven through original songs, live instrumental music and interpretive dance.

Not to mention the stark sets and artful lighting that illuminates inspiring nuances of its own.

All the music in the production (by Zak Berkman, with arrangements by Mitch Chakour and additional music/arrangements by Eliot Berkman-Lamm) has origins in 19th century folk music and traditional holiday carols.

Recently reviewed in Broadway World (a leading website for theatre arts) Tony Oriente had this to say about the People’s Light holiday offering:

“This current production features a new director, design team, and cast, with additional songs written to offer audiences a fresh experience this holiday season.

The music is performed and presented beautifully by a live, five-piece musical ensemble supporting a nationally renowned cast of performers.

“Barrymore Award-winning actor Ian Merrill Peakes, who also portrayed Scrooge in the 2021 world premiere production performance at People’s Light, is magnificent. From his commanding stage presence through the transition of Scrooge, Ian melted this reviewer’s heart as Scrooge’s heart melted throughout the story.

“Barrymore Award-winning actor Akeem Davis and Broadway actor Kennedy Caughell appear as Bob and Emily Cratchit. A dynamic pairing of brilliant actors who encapsulate every nuance and emotion of the couple as they face the struggles of their downtrodden times on the home front.

“Broadway actor Jahi Kearse also commands the stage as he creates the beginning of the fantasy as Scrooge’s former partner, Jacob Marley. Maya Jane Lagerstam, whose vocals are stellar, delights the audience with radiance as the joy and hope swirl that comes from the Ghost of Christmas Present.

“A performance not to be missed is that of the Ghost of Christmas Past, stunningly played by the multi-talented actress Anna Faye Lieberman.

“The ensemble is rounded out with Robby Clater as Fred, Max Gallagher as Martha, Madeleine Garcia as Belle, and People’s Light Company Members Susan McKey and Tom Teti shining beautifully as Mr. and Mrs. Fezziwig. ‘A Christmas Carol’ also features two rotating casts of youth performers from the Chester County region.”

Wow, that says it all!

Except it doesn’t.

A couple of thoughts from Zak Berkman and the show’s director, Nell Bang- Jensen go to the heart of their “A Christmas Carol.”

Berkman says that “‘Ahhh. Oooh. Ahhh’ (Tiny Tim’s favorite song) is a tender lullaby that tells the story of people that are lost and find their way home in unexpected ways.

Sometimes we just need to exhale, offer a sound, create a harmony, and experience the grace of feeling something larger than ourselves.

“Feel free (to the audience) to sing or hum along when the time comes, and may this production provide you with a similar sense of grace, community, and home.”

Bang-Jensen says “The journey Scrooge goes on that ultimately makes him reexamine his own behavior, parallels the journey that we, as theater artists, hope audiences enact. We hope that by telling stories that transform the space around us, there may be transformations inside each one of us, building greater empathy and asking each of us to consider ourselves as part of a collective.

“Beyond the narrative, the world we’ve built for this production is full of transformations … objects standing in for things they are not, people playing a variety of roles, often at the same time, and locations that are always in motion.”

The People’s Light production continues through New Year’s Eve and during every performance December 26-31 dialogue will appear on an LED screen placed near the stage to benefit patrons with hearing impairment, as well as English language learners.

Lastly, as Dickens had Tiny Tim declare in his haunting novella: “God bless us everyone!”

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Nobody asked, but in this season of religious celebration, we believe that Thomas Jefferson was spot on in 1802 when he told those attending a Baptist association meeting in Connecticut: “I believe with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach action only and no opinions.”

The Last Word: Good day, good luck, and good news tomorrow!

Comments invited to mainlinebanter@veerizon.net.

Hanukkah (December7-15 this year) and Christmas trappings and preparations are joyfully underway, fireplaces are crackling, decorative lights are sparkling, and aromas of an assortment of goodies waft from bake ovens as the warmth of the season continues to radiate.

For fear of being labeled an icy Grinch, or a pre-enlightened Scrooge in the middle of all that warmth, please remember that there is no better time than during the holiday season to keep fire safety foremost in mind.

The members of the Berwyn, Bryn Mawr, Malvern, Paoli, and other local fire companies throughout the Main Line would be among the last people wanting to dampen your holiday joy.

At the same time, they would be among the first to remind everyone to recognize that the wonderful joys of December and early January could prove disastrous because of the fierce and tragic side of fire. (Just look at what wildfires have done recently in California.)

Not that long ago, Eamon Brazunus (Phoenixville Fire Chief and formerly part of both the Berwyn and Radnor Fire Companies) took to his Facebook page to share a few cautionary tales about the havoc those roaring fireplaces, those glittering electric lights, those goodies producing gas and electric ovens and ranges in so many modern homes could wreak.

We join with Eamon in believing that one can never say enough about fire safety, so being the Grinch and the Scrooge that we are, we’re again sharing those cautionary words:

“A few generations ago, homes were built with sturdy lumber and furnished with natural fabrics and wood. Today, almost everything’s made of petroleum-based fibers, plastics, and glue — and while modern materials might be more affordable, there’s a price to pay for progress. Today, by the time firefighters arrive, the building could be in a flashover state — the hottest point of a fire, the most dangerous moment for occupants and firefighters alike.

“Homes used to seat floors on sturdy 2-by-10-inch or 2-by-12-inch lumber. Now, pre-engineered trusses — often built from a composite of non-wood materials — may burn more quickly. The trusses use glues and resins that can melt at elevated temperatures and allow longer gaps between supports, all of which means floors are quicker to collapse in a fire.

“Modern materials burn more quickly, generate more heat, and emit black, toxic smoke. That means less time for occupants to evacuate a burning home or building. Professional firefighters tell us that when that smoke detector goes off, you are looking at 30 seconds to get stuff together and get out of the fire scene.

“By the time firefighters respond to the 911 call, a burning house is close to the six-minute mark when a truss-built floor could collapse. Adding to the danger is the smoke these fires emit. It’s thicker, darker and pumps poisonous carbon monoxide and cyanide into the air. Fires burn faster and hotter, and there are more injuries to firefighters, and more firefighter deaths related to new building constructions.

“Testing by the National Fire Protection Association has shown that traditional lumber construction will give firefighters a good 18 minutes before a burning floor is likely to give way. Pre-engineered trusses last about six minutes.”

Not wanting to beat a “poor Grinch or Scrooge” into ashes, let’s all remember that throughout the Main Line communities, firefighters are answering more calls than ever and recruiting new volunteers is increasingly more difficult than ever.

Last thoughts about fire to consider in this season of warmth: Practice fire safety. Be sure you have working smoke detectors in place. Don’t overload electrical circuits and keep a watchful eye on a burning fireplace.

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December tunes around town

If live musical entertainment is your pleasure, December is the time to indulge. On the 3rd , consider the Wind Ensemble and Chamber Music Festival at the Bomberger Auditorium at Ursinus College. The 4 p.m. program will include a small wind band, chamber music groups and student vocal and instrumental groups.

From the 8th to the 17th , Footlighters Theater, Berwyn, will be delighting young and old alike, presenting “Once Upon a Mattress,” the topsy-turvy fairy tale musical about a princess and a pea that is guaranteed to keep you awake

On Saturday the 9th , a holiday concert will be held at 7 p.m. at Trinity Presbyterian Church, Berwyn, Craig Bickhardt, Jesse Terry, Hailey Neal, and Sam Robbins. The free concert open to the public will include original tunes and other joyful songs of the season.

From now through New Year’s Eve, theatregoers at People’s Light, Malvern, will be taken through an eerie and innovative world of Ebenezer Scrooge in Zak Berkman’s musical adaptation of Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” (Note: More about this production in next week’s Banter.)

Although they don’t qualify precisely as “live music entertainment,” there are at least two other “special holiday events” worth considering for family fun and delight. “Yuletide at Devon” and “Holiday Light Show” at Yeager’s Farm, Phoenixville.

“Yuletide” the inaugural Christmas Festival on the grounds of the Devon Horse Show through New Year’s Eve, features traditions, tastes and tunes heralding the joyous season. A Ferris wheel, carousel, Himalayan Mountain ride, gourmet food, original contemporary live music, sparkling lights, and decorations (as well as Santa and other North Pole denizens at their merrymaking best) are all part of the nightly show. (There may even be a gallant steed or two somewhere on the grounds.

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Finally, nobody asked, but Fred Rogers was right when he said “I like to compare the holiday season with the way a child listens to a favorite story. The pleasure is in the familiar way the story begins, the anticipation of familiar turns it takes, the familiar moments of suspense, and the familiar climax and ending.”

The Last Word: Good day, good luck, and good news tomorrow!

Comments invited to mainlinebanter@veerizon.net.