Good Morning All & Happy Wednesday!
Well, May 6th is always a big day in the Newbold family…it’s my brother Matt’s birthday! Here’s to you, Matt…husband, father, special education teacher/mentor, track coach, outdoor camper/hiker/adventurer, lover of dogs and humanitarian extraordinaire! I hope you enjoy the attached pictures of one of the true “good guys.” I’m blessed to be his brother. I always thought he was the lookin’ one (he was a cute little guy too, don’t you agree?)! Have fun on your special day of celebration, Matt!
May 6th is a great day to have a birthday it seems…not only is it my brother Matt’s birthday, it’s our family friend Kellie’s birthday (a lovely woman inside and out, for sure!) and my all-time favorite baseball player Willie Mays’ 89th birthday today! Not to mention it’s the birthday of singer/musician Bob Seger, who is 75 today; T.V. personality Tom Bergeron of “Dancing With The Stars” fame, who turns 65 today; actress/producer Roma Downey of “Touched By An Angel” T.V. fame, who is 60 today; and actor George Clooney of “Brother, Where Art Thou” movie fame, who turns 59 today. Here’s to all of you, too!
Speaking of celebrations, did you know that this Saturday is the 70th Anniversary of “Smokey The Bear”? On May 9th, 1950 a group of firefighters narrowly escaped disaster near Capitan, New Mexico, by taking refuge on a rock slide as the fire burned over them. Afterward, they found a bear cub—his fur singed and his paws badly burned—clinging to a charred tree. Named “Hotfoot Teddy,” the cub was nursed back to health by a New Mexico game warden and his family. On June 27th, 1950, the now famous cub is flown to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. to become the living embodiment of “Smokey Bear.” The U.S. Postal Service eventually give Smokey his own ZIP code when he begins receiving up to 13,000 letters a week. A song, “Smokey The Bear,” is recorded in 1952 and on May 23rd of that year Congress passed the Smokey Bear Act, taking Smokey out of the public domain and preserving the trademark for the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. More important, the move earmarked revenue from sales of Smokey toys and memorabilia for wildfire prevention efforts. And as they say…”the rest is history.”
Here’s the culinary “restaurant food to go” tip for the day:
Give Ambrosia Bistro in the Spokane Valley a call and order their pork shank and their curry apricot cashew chicken. We included an order of their “margaritas to go” in honor of “Cinco de Mayo” day and they were fantastic! Truly one of our favorite restaurants in Spokane. I imagine that many of you have been doing your part to help our restauranteurs get through the coronavirus challenge. Ambrosia Bistro is certainly a terrific restaurant to support. Let me know what you think!
Here’s the funny comic strip for the day, courtesy of one of my favorites, “Dilbert”:
Dilbert: “I need a quick decision on this. But I don’t have time to compile the relevant facts.”
Dilbert’s boss: “Without the facts, I would just be guessing.”
Dilbert: “It won’t affect your career average.”
Dilbert’s boss: “Why wouldn’t it?”
Dilbert: “Let’s change the subject.”
Here’s the word definition for the day:
Opsimath (AHP-sa-math): “A person who begins to learn or study only late in life.”
Here are some thoughts for the day, provided by one of today’s birthday celebrants, the legendary baseball player and one of my sports heroes, Willie Mays of San Francisco Giant’s fame (I have an autographed ball from him!):
“I was fortunate to play sports. All the anger in me went out. I had to do what I had to do. If you stay angry all the time, then you really don’t have a good life.
“Every time I look at my pocketbook, I see Jackie Robinson.”
“If you can do that—if you run, hit, run the bases, hit with power, field, throw and do all the other things that are part of the game—then you’re a good ballplayer.”
“They throw the ball, I hit it. They hit the ball, I catch it.”
—Willie Mays (The “Say, Hey Kid”)
Here’s to a great Wednesday and lots of love & good wishes always!
Press on,
Papa ‘a (Dad, Uncle Mark, Mark, etc.)