Wednesday, January 1, 2020

Happy New Year

I've often felt we give far too much significance to the turning of a calendar page, but if the start of a new year helps you get a fresh start on something, I'm not going to rain on your parade.  I'm also okay with moving on from a bad year and starting a new year with hope.

Every day is a new one, and an opportunity for a new beginning.  Don't wait until the first day of a new year.

By the way, it's NOT the start of a new decade.  Purists believe the new decade starts with the "1" years because there was no year "0."

And let me go off on my first rant of the new year.  To me, 1/1 is not a huge deal.  I'm still amazed and disappointed cities the size of Scranton and Wilkes-Barre have no public New Year celebration.  Pottsville raises a Yuengling bottle.  Hershey raises a kiss.  Harrisburg drops a Strawberry.  Dillsburg drops a pickle.  The light bulb was back in Sunbury.  Tamaqua lights up a building.  I know these thing require manpower, plus police overtime.  The job of mayor means you fill the potholes, pick up the trash, keep the streets safe, and make sure a fire truck comes when you need it.  The job of mayor also entails helping citizens feel good about their communities.  Scranton and Wilkes-Barre lost sight of that.  No one thinks big.  Let's change that.

Whether or not you celebrated, whether or not you think the start of a new year is a big deal, I hope the days and months to come are filled with happiness.