make this your first resolution
TRANSCRIPT
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7/30/2019 Make This Your First Resolution
1/1
Imust say, I never had a Christmas that I didnt
enjoy. As a kid, I was always happy on Christmas
morning. Santa Claus always came through with
the toys I wanted.
As a young boy we had a real t ree festooned with bub-
ble lights , ornaments of all sorts including the long tear
dropped shaped type with swirls like a candy cane cov-
ered in sparkles,
ovals with recessed
centers, regular
round ones, and
later homemade
ornaments made by
a neighbor that my
father still owns and
places on the tree
each year.
Yes, there nothing like a real Christmas tree, but one
year the unimaginable happened. My parents bought a
fake tree. Not your typical fake tree, but the most God
awful fake tree of them all , an aluminum tree. It had nee-
dles made of highly reflective material and it came with
a spotlight and colored rotating wheel that you placed on
the floor. As the wheel rotated the tree changed from red,
to green, to blue, to orange. It was 1967, the only year
we used that tree. It was a novelty item that thankfully
was abandoned.
During the day that tree looked as cold and uninviting
as a frozen lake. When my mothers parents came to visit
that Christmas, her father took one look at that tree and
bellowed, What the hell in Gods creat ion is that?
The next year we bought a green artificial tree that
lasted well into the early 2000s before it was retired in
favor of a pre-l it t ree my sister bought as a present for
my parents.
Probably the only Christmas morning on which I suf-
fered any kind of disappointment came in 1972. I was 14
and I had asked for a mini bike for Christmas. These
were popular in the early 70s. A type of mini motorcycle
powered by a lawnmower engine on a steel frame on base
models, and more expensive models that actually looked
like a shrunken motorcycle.
When I went out to the t ree, no minibike. Dread swept
over me. That dread intensi fied as I heard the sounds of
a minibike coming from a neighbors backyard. I looked
out the sliding glass door and sure enough, a neighbor
living catty-corner to us, was out in his backyard zipping
around on a red minibike. Then another neighbor, two
doors down came bombing down the sidewalk on a high
dollar Rupp minibike. Then his neighbor raced by, alsoon a Rupp.
I was devastated. It couldnt be! And yet i t was t rue. I
was the only one without motorized wheels.
Ah, but there was a conspiracy afoot! My aunt and
uncle and two cousins arrived mid morning from
Michigan.
My cousin Danny, one year older and I, peered out the
windows as my friends raced by on their minibikes hoop-
ing and hol lering and having the t ime of their l ives in the
frigid December air.
About two hours went by, and then it happened. My
father called me out into the living room. I dragged
myself off the bed and away from the window where I
had been sitting envying my friends, and like a death row
inmate made my way up the hallway wondering what tor-
ture awaited me next in the presence of the adults.
As I entered the living room I nearly fainted. For there
sat a Trail Cat minibike with a dark blue metallic frameand a white, 3 horsepower Tecumseh engine in front of
the tree.
A wave of joy washed over me as my eyes nearly
popped from my head. I thanke d my parents and raced
for my coat and gloves, but my mother made sure I put
on the crash helmet that they bought to ensure I wouldnt
kill myself.
Yeah, I can hear my readers now. Helmet? That guy
doesnt need a helmet as hard headed as he is.
Whatever.The mystery remains as to where my father
had hidden the minibike.
He must have conspired with one of the neighbors to
keep the minibike hidden in their garage. Our house was
too small to conceal such an i tem, so i t must have been a
plot.
So off my cousin and I went dragging the Trai l Cat
outside, firing it up and taking turns riding around the
yard. My friends rode over to check out my ride and inthe days to come we were soon racing down trails in the
woods, up steep hills and through creek beds going as
fast as we could go.
It was the best Christmas present ever and provided
me with years of fun .Thanks Dad. I had the t ime of my
life on that Trail Cat.
Just call me, Easy Rider.
OPINIONCongress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of
speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
- The First Amendment to the United States Constitution
4 Thursday, December 27, 2012 Springboro Sun
1836 West Park Square, Xenia, OH 45385 - 937-294-7000
www.SpringboroSun.com.
.ng
To contact the Springboro Suncall the extensions or
numbers listed below.
LOUISE D. PHELPS
Acting Group Publisher, Ext. 101
DOUG SKINNER - Editor, Ext. [email protected]
BILL DUFFIELD
Managing Editor, Ext. [email protected]
LINDA SKINNERBusiness Manager, Ext. 157
ADVERTISING POLICYNo responsibility is assumed by the publisher for
omission or errors occurring in advertisements, but
correction will be made in the next issue following
when attention is directed to them.
JOYCE KIRBY
Advertising, Ext. [email protected]
TAMMY TOOTLE
Classified Advertising Director866-212-7355 or 937-372-4444 press 2
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located at 1836 W. Park Sq. Xenia.
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Copyright 2012, all rights reserved
Published every Thursday 50 weeks a year, except New
Years and Christmas days.
Periodicals postage paid at Dayton, Ohio. Postmaster:
Send address changes to Xenia Gazette, 1836 W. Park
Square, Xenia, Ohio 45385.
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errors in advertisements beyond the amount paid for
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bility for non-insertion of any advertisement beyond the
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the letter writer.
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Opinions of letter writers or
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management of the TimesCommunity Newspaper Group.Send letters to 1836 West Park
Square, Xenia, OH 45385 [email protected].
Letter to the Editor Policy
Acouple of weeks ago, Lucy
and I stopped for a sandwich
at a local restaurant. Wewere chatting about the weather being
so unseasonal at 60 degrees in the
middle of December.
A lady came in with three chi ldren.
The ages Im guessing were 11, seven
and about two years. Mom ordered soft
dr in ks fo r her self and the two older
girls and milk for the little one.
Everyone seemed happy and glad to be
there . Orders went in and then i t hap-
pened . Mom pulled out a cell phone ,
the 11-year-old had one, too, and
grabbed i t with both hands and started
texting, then the seven-year-old pulled
out a video game. The baby was all
alone, no one was paying any attention
toher. She was part of the family, but i t
appeared no one was home. I wanted togo over so bad and start a conversation
with that l it tle girl, but didnt want to
interfere or get something started, so I
minded my own business and decided
Id write about it instead.
Right now make a new years resolu-
t ion to never use a cel l phone or v ideo
game while eating with your family or
friends. You should be sharing conver-
sation with them, not texting, reading
email, checking the weather or reading
the news. Make it a habit you dont
change. My smar t phone has a text
message that tells a caller that I am
driving and will respond later. Nothing
is that important that it cant wait until
after your meal.
Next resolution: Lets all star t eatinghealthy, exercising and losing weight.
All those fast food feel good items that
send us in to la la land after eating
them need to be sent over the physical
cliff with your waving bye, bye as they
disappear out of sight. Dream it, think
it and make it happen. Lets get healthy
in 13.
The January /February edi ti on of
45066 , the TV n ews maga zine of
Springboro begins airing Saturday, Jan.
5 at 11:30 a.m. Other dates are Sunday,
Jan . 6 a t 2 :30 p .m. ; Monday, Jan . 7 a t
1 :15 p. m. and Su nda, J an. 13 at 8 :30
p.m. The show will air 30 times during
i ts two-month run and is avai lable onthe World Wide Web anywhere in the
world by enter ing: www.mvcc .net ,
click on Archived Video, then click
on Springboro, view all city features
then click on Springboro 45066
January/February. The show is avail-
able to watch and/or DVR in the
Dayton South areas of Oakwood,
Kettering, West Carrollton, Moraine,
Miamisburg, Miami Township,
Centervil le, Washington Township,
Clearcreek Township and Springboro
o n Cha nnel 6. On the f ir st edition of
2 013, we che ck in with Spr ing boro
C om mu ni ty S ch oo ls ; t he C offma n
Fa mi ly Y; t he S pr in gb oro L ib ra ry ;
Heatherwoode Golf Course and meet
with new businesses in our area,Johnny Rivera, owner of Johnnys New
York Style Pizza, next door to Saxbys
Coffee; Erich Schmidt, owner of
Schmidt Auto Care, next to GAC
Fitness; we meet local resident Renee
Glenn, wh o traveled to Ne pal a few
months ago who has an excellent pres-
e nta tio n th at yo ul l e nj oy ; a nd t he
mayor int roduces us to another great
resident on the Meet Your Neighborsegment.
This notewas sent to mefrom one of
my wacky friends that lives on the
funny side of the street.
Merge, with New Years Eve com-
ing up next Monday night, I d li ke to
share a personal experience with you
and others about drinking and driving.
As you may know, some of the old
gang have been known to have brushes
with the authori ties from time to t ime
on their way home from being out with
their buddies. Last New Years Eve day,
I was out for an early evening with the
ga ng and h ad several c ock ta ils fol-
lowed by some pretty expensive cham-
pagne during one of the bowl games we
were watching on a 90-inch flat screen(by the way, it was just like being at the
game, only bet te r and a lo t cheaper).
Feeling happy andcool (my team won),
I still had the sense to know that I
might be slightly over the limit. Thats
when I did something Ive never done
before. I took a cab home. And would-
n t you know it on the way I ra n i nto a
police roadblock. Since I was in a cab
they waved me through. I arrived home
safely without incident. What a sur-
prise it was having never driven a cab
before. I dont rememb er where I got it
and now that i ts in my garage, I dont
know what to do with i t. (LOL) Dont
l isten to this guy, l ike I said he l ives on
the funny side of the street.
NEVER drive while under the influ-ence. You could end up in jail or
s eve re ly i nj ur e yo ur se lf o r o th er s.
Designated drivers should be selected
early in the evening or cal l someone to
pick you up. Rreal frien ds will.
Make 2013 your best year ever.
Make this your first resolutionMERGE WRIGHT
By Don Wr
ight
Times
Columnist
Remembering
the fun ofChristmastime
Good communication is
important, and poor commu-
nication can be costly.Unfortunately, miscommunication
between Washington and Ohio could
cost families in Wilmington and
Orville up to $3,700 next year.
As the New Year quickly app roach-
es, its critical that Ohio families are
aware of the unclaimed tax refunds
that may be owed to them by the
Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Often
times, inaccurate addresses have
caused these funds to be returned by
the U.S. Postal Service.
And in fact, last year, more than
2,000 Ohioans were eligible to claim
tax refunds.
In 2011, undelivered refund checks
were worth more than $1,500 on aver-
age.Ohioans have always worked hard
and played by the rules. But every
year, millions of Americans dont
receive their tax returns because of
posta l er rors .
Taxpayers deserve to easily receive
the money that the government owes
them, and
shouldnt lose money just because
their checks got lost in the mail.
Fortunately, claiming a tax refund is
an easy process if you are eligible.
According to the IRS, if a refund
check is returned to the IRS as unde-
livered, taxpayers can generally update
their addresses with the Wheres My
Refund? tool on IRS.gov.
The Tool also enables taxpayers tocheck the status of their refunds.
A taxpayer must submit his or her
Social Security number, filing status,
and amount of refund shown on their
2011 return.
The tool will provide the status of
their refund and, in some cases,
instructions on how to resolve delivery
problems.
Ohio taxpayers checking on a
refund over the phone will receive
instructions on how to update their
addresses.
Taxpayers can access a telephone
version of Wheres My Refund? by
calling 1-800-829-1954. They can also
go to the Wheres My Refund? online
tool to check the status of their refund
by cl icking on
https://sa1.www4.irs.gov/irfof/
lang/en/irfofgetstatus.jsp.
Ohioans can also take two simple
steps to avoid the risk that their refund
could get lost in the mail.
They can start by signing up to have
their tax returns directly deposited to
their bank accounts, eliminating the
poten tial for posta l er rors .
Next, they can fil e their taxes elec-
tronically. In addition to reducing the
poten tial for miscommunica tion, e-f il-
ing reduces errors on tax returns and
speeds up the refund process. But
while ensuring Ohio families receive
the refunds they are owed is impor-
tant, its also crucial that we fight to
guarantee middle class families across
the country dont see their taxes rise
altogether.
Right now, taxes will au tomatically
rise for all Americans on January 1
unless Congress acts.
Both the President and I cam-
paigned on maintaining tax rates for
99 percent of Ohio families, and on
Nov. 6, you str ongly suppo rted this
posit ion.But, more than a month later, some
conservative politicians in Washington
still havent gotten the message. They
are still protecting the wealthiest one
percent, at the expense of t he middle
class.
In July, the Senate passed the
Middle Class Tax Cut Act, which
would prevent 99 percent of Ohio
families and all Americans making
less than $250,000 per year from
paying higher taxes.
Under the bill, the median income
Ohio households would save an aver-
age of $2,200 on their taxes next year.
Leaders in the House of
Representatives have failed to sched-
ule a vote on the bill in part,becau se i t ask s the wealthiest two per-
cent of American households to pay
the same tax rates they paid during the
Clinton years, when our economy
added 22 million jobs.
Its time for the House of
Representatives to stop holding
hostage middle class tax cuts and pass
the bill.
Its our duty to ensure that taxes
will not go up for the millions of
Ohioans who wake up early, send their
children off to school, keep our
assembly lines productive, tend to our
vast agricultural areas, and stand up
behind a counter s erving cu stomers
for eight hours or more each day.
Lets move forward with our eco-nomic recovery and ensure that
Ohioans have the resources they need
to support their families.
By accessing unclaimed tax credits,
and providing tax cuts that bolster
middle class families, we can continue
to make our country stronger.
SherrodBrown
(D) Ohio
Claiming tax refunds
Ron
Nunnari
CommunityNews Staff