Same Ship, Different Day

Have always enjoyed The Who. They were actually the LAST live rock show I saw (a very long time ago), after Keith Moon had killed himself (wow. talk about an awkward sentence, eh?). I was standing in the Festhalle in Frankfurt am Main, Germany (actually back when there was a West Germany and an East Germany) along with 11,000 close, personal friends (okay, maybe just close physically) as they went into "My Generation" during the encore. I realized the foot soldier in the Blue Jean Army in front of me, singing along (at the top of his lungs) with every word, wasn't even alive when they released what I have always regarded as an anthem for my generation. Yeah, thanks for that.

That, possibly more than anything else, was the start of my 'what's the point of all this history?' position that has stood me in such good stead for all these decades since. Thus it was interesting to attend the informational session on the Norwich Semiseptcentennial (350th anniversary) slated for 26 June through 5 July 2009. The presentation was informative for both what was shared and what was not shared.

Civic pride and enthusiasm are wonderful and contagious. I wish everyone involved much success, but I'm confused as to where the estimated (at least) Seven Hundred and Fifty Thousand Dollars to support these ten days will be coming from. That's a lot of commemorative label wine sales at ten dollars a bottle, or community car washes, or glass bottle and soda can collection drives. It's a lot of everything to raise that kind of money. As the co-chairwoman outlined, there's a plan to host ten 'tall ships' in Norwich Harbor, at about $25,000 a ship (I tried numbers instead of words this time to see if it looks like less money; it doesn't, at least to me). Imagine collecting half a million soda cans and redeeming the deposit-that pays for one of the ten tall ships (sort of). And, FWIW, the co-chairwoman did NOT mention car washes or bottle and can collection drives; I'm making that up which is why my friends, if I had any, would call me Pinocchio.

The presentation spoke of New London's 1997 350th anniversary (New London is at the mouth of the Thames River along the Long Island Sound whereas Norwich is a bit nearer the alimentary canal, so to speak.) with a cost of 250K (keep reducing the format and it does start to look like less money, y'know?) and I honestly have no recollection of that event at all. Just proves a quarter of a million doesn't go as far as it used to, and in light of the absence of any information on how much money has been raised already causes me to return to fretting about default sources.

Considering how concerned so many were, with reason, about Monday's council deliberations on bonding almost eight hundred thousand dollars for fire fighting equipment, I'm wondering if there's any truth to the rumor about a money tree in the Botanical Garden at Mohegan Park. I was hoping to get a new car this Spring, so I'll have to stop and see if the winter winds knocked any of the branches to the ground so I can cash them in (does anyone have change for two twigs?). I used to smile when I'd outline to people the six phases of any project (large of small)-it's more of a grimace this morning and suspect it'll be around for some time to come.
-bill kenny