Mark’s Musings – Dec. 30, 2015

Mark Fortune

Let’s hope this finds you recovering from Christmas Day – it was all that you wished it would be – and that you’re looking forward to a Happy and blessed New Year.

We thought the front page photo would give you a chuckle. Sometimes we need to reflect on what The Beacon is all about. We can be serious when we need to be, humorous when the opportunity presents itself, and counted on to focus on the positive happenings in our community. As you can tell from each week’s content, there are a lot of positive events that occur in Coshocton County. We make a solid effort to cover as many as possible knowing that we miss some.

We published more pages in 2015 than ever, a testament to our hard working content team and indeed, everyone here at The Beacon. Like you, we don’t know what 2016 will bring for our community. And perhaps, the word “bring” is not the right word to use. It is really more about what WE do to make things happen right here in Coshocton County in 2016. The opportunities are there. It’s up to us whether we grab on and go for the ride.

We dedicated this issue to the employees of WestRock. These men and women served our community in many capacities besides the obvious economic ones. They were the top giver of the local United Way campaign for several years, and their people were deeply involved in the community. Whether they coached youth sports, helped at school functions, were involved with their church or any combination of these and more, our community will miss those that have accepted positions outside Coshocton County and will be relocating. Others may accept positions in neighboring communities and continue to reside in Coshocton County.

The Buckeyes are headed to a big game against the Irish as if you didn’t know that already. I think this game will be a challenge. Let’s hope the team that played against TTUN shows up.

Okay, let’s move to some cool stuff. The Unusual Junction has the mechanical Santa from “A Christmas Story”! I CAN’T BELIEVE IT! A genuine artifact from one of the greatest movies ever made has landed in our own backyard. I will have my photo taken with this! I triple dog dare someone to stop me.

Ten hours, ten minutes and a few seconds on the reindeer’s nose until the start of the annual 24 hour marathon! I typically manage to catch it all the way through at least one time and many, many snippets throughout the 24 hour marathon.

A lot of folks in our community have stepped up in a big way to help those that are less fortunate this holiday season. Their efforts to give something back will help make someone’s season a bit brighter.

I think we should always think of those that have to work on holidays but in particular on Christmas Day. You can’t compare the day of the Savior’s birth, to another holiday. We thank you for your sacrifice and time away from your loved ones to keep us warm, safe and secure.

Category: Mark's Musings, Opinion