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Dave Richards for February 5th….…………

--With the Super Bowl behind us, it’s full speed ahead to Valentine’s Day and, in Woonsocket……..Mardi Gras!

  Yes, those fun-loving folks at the Northern Rhode Island Council of the Arts are at it again with Woonsocket’s version of New Orleans’ (a.k.a Party City U.S.A.) winter festival.  We have a few comments to make about Woonsocket’s Mardi Gras history, but before that, let’s look at the 2020 edition.  Here are the facts, directly from the script of the radio announcements heard on all Woonsocket frequencies.

“Do You Know King Jace?

King Jace the 26th, the Mysterious Monarch of The Woonsocket Mardi Gras is a man from the area who is well known.  Here's are the clues to the King's true identity.

King Jace XXVI Clues

1.  2 degrees separate him from others.

2.  Is Woonsocket born and raised.

3.  Is a cruiser who loves opera.

4.  Is impatient with impatient people.

5.  Supports those who support their community.

6.  Hates seafood, loves the big apple.

7.  Loves it when he and ‘things’ work out.

8.  Serves those he works with.

9.  Will someday return to Paris.

10. Not used to this much hair.

If you think you know the name of the man playing King Jace, place a dollar in an official King Jace Quest envelope, available at both Woonsocket radio stations, and The Woonsocket Call newspaper offices on Main Street.

King Jace will be unmasked by the Queen of the Mardi Gras right after she is crowned at Savini's Pomadoro Restaurant on Sunday February 16th. 

After the unmasking, a drawing will be held from all correct guesses and the winner will receive 2 free tickets to the Mardi Gras Ball on the following Saturday, February 22^nd, at the St. Ann Arts and Cultural Center Hall.  Tickets for the Coronation, Unmasking and Ball are available by calling Lorraine Cloutier at 762-9072 or from any Mardi Gras Queen contestant.

Do you know King Jace?”

--Public Service Announcement over.  Now a few words on how Mardi Gras has changed over the years.

  In 1954, the Woonsocket Jaycees thought it would be a great idea to put on a Mardi Gras celebration here.  After all, at that time there were more French-speaking people per capita in Woonsocket than any other city in North America.  The first year it was a wonderful, fun time.  But the second year, 1955, was completely ‘over-the-top’ and out of control. 

  Now, if you’re working your tail off to have a great event it is hard to believe there could be a down-side to it being a great success.  But, as the Jaycees of 1955 learned, there is a down-side.

  Reading from newspaper coverage in the February 17, 1955 edition of The Call, not only were the various events well attended, but several had to be broadcast over our local radio station because venues were at full capacity and more people still wanted to attend.  Now that is a good definition of success for sure, but then………….

    Four days later, as Woonsocket’s Mardi Gras wrapped up it is reported in The Call that more than 150,000 people watched the half-mile Mardi-Gras parade.  Yes, you are correct, it is virtually impossible to fit that many people into a half-mile stretch of downtown Woonsocket.  They were on top of buildings, hanging out of windows, clinging to fire escapes, and using any vantage point to see the parade, which was a ‘hum-dinger’ by all accounts.  But there was a ‘story behind the story’.

  A similar number of people never saw the parade because they were stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic on all roads leading into the city.  Woonsocket’s police force (of 36 members in 1955) was augmented by civilian auxiliary members within the city, but pandemonium was developing in the outskirts.  The Rhode Island State Police were called and dispatched from the Lincoln barracks to assist.  But the “Staties” couldn’t get to Woonsocket due to the miles of traffic jams and were forced to drive north to Woonsocket in the southbound lanes of Louisquisset Pike (Rt. 146) to reach their deliver their assistance. 

  Additional help was even requested from the Civil Air Patrol, whose airborne members reported the automobile grid-lock extended more than 8 miles out from the city. 

  Reading the actual accounts reported at the time in the local newspaper clearly give one a sense of utter…………….WOW. 

  The explanation for this huge problem was simply that February 21, 1955 was an abnormally warm and nice weather day with a high temperature around 50 degrees.  The weather was so nice that on that day over 300,000 people thought it would be a lovely day to take in a parade.

  In subsequent years, normally cold weather for the month put an end to the reveling until the Centennial Committee brought it back in 1988 with native son Noel Pincince serving as King Jace.  Noel will be at this year’s ball, greeting attendees, by the way.

  It’s funny how when we reminisce about “The Good Old Days” we forget what they were “really” like, isn’t it?  So, to those who say……..”it ain’t like it used to be”…….I say…GOOD!

--That's what I think. What do you think? Comments to: dave@onworldwide.com or postal mail to Dave Richards, WOON Radio, 985 Park Avenue, Woonsocket, RI 02895-6332.  Thanks for reading.

--30--

Dave Richards for January 22nd….…………

--I’ve fielded a number of questions from listeners and readers asking me to comment on the recent news that thousands of people have been let go by one of the huge corporate broadcasting companies.  I’ll repeat my answer here.

  It’s true.  One of the two largest publicly-traded radio companies having just emerged from court-supervised re-organization under federal bankruptcy laws has taken advantage of recently-passed FCC rule changes to cut human staffing of their radio “properties”, as they call them.

  To explain, with the advancement of computer-controlled equipment we use in radio these days, the FCC, the folks who regulate the broadcasting industry, were persuaded that maybe nothing bad would happen if we broadcasters were allowed to run our stations by machine and not even have someone in the office to answer the phones when staffing was tight.  After all, phone calls could be forwarded to another phone electronically. 

  It made sense for small broadcasters who had small staffs and who had to visit with advertisers during the business day, that maybe the door could be locked for part of the business day to allow staff to tend to out-of-station business if they were short-handed due to sickness or such as that. 

  But to our large corporate broadcaster with thousands of radio stations, it meant that five or six of their stations could run with no staff at all and be controlled by a seventh station group in a large city hundreds of miles away.  The temptation of that kind of cost savings was just too much to ignore for them.  The result as we have seen is thousands of hard-working people, some who have worked at their stations for decades, are now unemployed.

  While the actions of one greedy and selfish radio owner seems to give all broadcasters a ‘black eye’, and while some have pounced upon the opportunity to predict that ‘radio is dead’, the truth is radio is still doing just fine.  I am happy to report that both Woonsocket radio stations are serving their audiences with fully-staffed studios and fully-staffed offices.  While we don’t speak to each other directly of such things, I feel confident in saying that neither of us have any intention of failing in our service to the community we are licensed to serve. ……

  Because we are broadcasters. 

  There are many differences between Woonsocket’s two radio companies.  But the one thing that we share is that we are radio broadcasters.  Professionals, all our lives in this business because we love it.  We are not stock manipulators.  We are not impersonal corporations who accumulate hundreds and thousands of radio stations.  We are local people who love our neighbors and are grateful to serve them in the craft we’ve loved since we were kids.  And, may I say, this difference is precisely why we are here today and why we both have staffs who have been with us for decades.  And audiences who have been with us just as long.

  I’m proud of what I do for a living.  I’m grateful I can do it.  Please, don’t paint lifelong family broadcasters with the same brush as huge publicly-traded corporations who just happen to work in the same business. 

  Do you remember the corner drug store?  Wouldn’t it be a shame if your local radio station disappeared the way they did?  We are in this business for a different reason than the large, corporate broadcaster. 

  We are here for you.

--Up to now I have never been a fan of large, sweeping changes in public governance.  I was concerned that experience is a valuable thing and we shouldn’t change out too much of it at one time.  I’m more of an “evolution” instead of “revolution” guy.  But recently I’ve been persuaded that even in a revolution…….little actually changes in the long run because the people who actually do the work of government, the bureaucrats, just keep things going in SPITE of changes in leadership. 

  If you elect a good leader who can get along and govern with care and concern for all, things go along great.  If you elect a jerk who has drunk their own Kool-Aid and cares little for anyone else but themselves, the bureaucrats will keep the place stumbling along until another choice is made.  In this respect, I have great faith in the ability of our republic to survive well beyond our own years.  And with that faith comes a new perspective.

  I noticed yesterday that a friend of mine is becoming stressed-out about the impeachment drama now unfolding in Washington.  I tried to calm him, but I don’t know how successful I was.

  My advice is if all this impeachment foolishness is getting you down, just ignore it.  Impeachment, trial, conviction or not, it’s just a lot of people who think they are important mis-behaving.  The people who really count and who really keep this world spinning are the so-called ‘working stiffs’ who keep the all essential systems working in SPITE of the leaders. 

  I think in actual fact, government leaders have very little to do with whether you’re happy or not.  You do.  Remember, life is 10 percent what happens and 90 percent how you take it.  So, impeachment?  Take it with a grain of salt…….

  Will it matter if every member of the RI General Assembly, the Governor, and all the other state government officers are replaced?  Nope.

  Not one little bit…………….Have a nice day!

--That's what I think. What do you think? Comments to: dave@onworldwide.com or postal mail to Dave Richards, WOON Radio, 985 Park Avenue, Woonsocket, RI 02895-6332.  Thanks for reading.

--30---

Dave Richards for January 15th….…………

--Now that we are firmly set into the new year, let’s have a holiday!  Yes, nobody planned it this way, but Monday is the holiday we commemorate the birthday of a man who sacrificed much to change much.  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  A dedicated committee of caring individuals has been working to put on four full days of events, beginning this Friday the 17^th and concluding on Monday the 20^th.  For a full listing, check the news section on the front page of our website, www.WoonsocketRadio.com.

--After MLK Day is Superbowl Sunday.  And though our Patriots will be watching the game along with us, you just know whichever teams are playing will be the top teams in the league.  Yes, they say that on ‘any given Sunday’ any team can beat any other team.  But the teams who actually do it, (win) can only be described as ‘special’.  Or, in this case, “Super”. 

  My pick?  Well, I don’t really know enough about the game to have a real pick, but I know I want the Tennessee Titans to win.  The reason is simple.  The Titans beat the Patriots.  And I don’t want my team to have been beaten by just another team.  No, if I have my way and if my team loses, I would much rather to have been beaten by the best team in the league.  There’s no shame being beaten in the early rounds by the team who takes the Championship Crown.

--Right after the big football game will come Mardi Gras festivities in Woonsocket.  The Northern Rhode Island Council of the Arts is hard at work organizing two great events in February.  King Jace, the Mysterious Monarch of the Woonsocket Mardi Gras, has been selected and you’ll be seeing clues within the week and getting your chance to take a guess which well-known man is playing the part this year.  The prize is different this year, the winner will receive two free tickets to the Mardi Gras Ball on the 22^nd at St. Ann Arts and Cultural Center.

  But right now as King Jace romps around the valley taking pictures at familiar landmarks to go along with the clues we’ll publish, the real heavy-lifting is being done by a group of young women who are selling hundreds of tickets to everyone they meet.  These are the women competing to become Queen of the Mardi Gras in a ceremony to be held the Sunday before the Ball, February 16^th at Savini’s Pomodoro restaurant in Woonsocket.  There are prizes to be won, and in addition to reigning over the Mardi Gras with King Jace and riding with him in the Autumnfest Parade this fall, the Queen’s first duty after being crowned that day will be to unmask King Jace and find out who he really is.

  It’s all great fun!

--We certainly have enough going on to distract us from the vicissitudes of winter weather, that’s for sure.  Speaking of which, an increasing number of my friends and neighbors are wintering in warmer climates like Florida these days.  But the winters here in Rhode Island are becoming more and more tolerable, in my view.  Really.  Don’t you seem to remember who we lost sight of the grass sometime in December and the storms just kept coming and coming until Spring came in March when ‘mud season’ began.  I’m certainly not complaining that we’ve had a number of comparatively mild winters in this century.  I’m just hoping Mother Nature doesn’t try to make up for lost time over the next couple of months.

--Regardless of what the weather brings, I can always recharge myself with my Winter Mantra……….

C’mon, April!

--That's what I think. What do you think? Comments to: dave@onworldwide.com or postal mail to Dave Richards, WOON Radio, 985 Park Avenue, Woonsocket, RI 02895-6332.  Thanks for reading.

--30--

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Dave Richards for January 15th….…………

--Now that we are firmly set into the new year, let’s have a holiday!  Yes, nobody planned it this way, but Monday is the holiday we commemorate the birthday of a man who sacrificed much to change much.  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  A dedicated committee of caring individuals has been working to put on four full days of events, beginning this Friday the 17^th and concluding on Monday the 20^th.  For a full listing, check the news section on the front page of our website, www.WoonsocketRadio.com.

--After MLK Day is Superbowl Sunday.  And though our Patriots will be watching the game along with us, you just know whichever teams are playing will be the top teams in the league.  Yes, they say that on ‘any given Sunday’ any team can beat any other team.  But the teams who actually do it, (win) can only be described as ‘special’.  Or, in this case, “Super”. 

  My pick?  Well, I don’t really know enough about the game to have a real pick, but I know I want the Tennessee Titans to win.  The reason is simple.  The Titans beat the Patriots.  And I don’t want my team to have been beaten by just another team.  No, if I have my way and if my team loses, I would much rather to have been beaten by the best team in the league.  There’s no shame being beaten in the early rounds by the team who takes the Championship Crown.

--Right after the big football game will come Mardi Gras festivities in Woonsocket.  The Northern Rhode Island Council of the Arts is hard at work organizing two great events in February.  King Jace, the Mysterious Monarch of the Woonsocket Mardi Gras, has been selected and you’ll be seeing clues within the week and getting your chance to take a guess which well-known man is playing the part this year.  The prize is different this year, the winner will receive two free tickets to the Mardi Gras Ball on the 22^nd at St. Ann Arts and Cultural Center.

  But right now as King Jace romps around the valley taking pictures at familiar landmarks to go along with the clues we’ll publish, the real heavy-lifting is being done by a group of young women who are selling hundreds of tickets to everyone they meet.  These are the women competing to become Queen of the Mardi Gras in a ceremony to be held the Sunday before the Ball, February 16^th at Savini’s Pomodoro restaurant in Woonsocket.  There are prizes to be won, and in addition to reigning over the Mardi Gras with King Jace and riding with him in the Autumnfest Parade this fall, the Queen’s first duty after being crowned that day will be to unmask King Jace and find out who he really is.

  It’s all great fun!

--We certainly have enough going on to distract us from the vicissitudes of winter weather, that’s for sure.  Speaking of which, an increasing number of my friends and neighbors are wintering in warmer climates like Florida these days.  But the winters here in Rhode Island are becoming more and more tolerable, in my view.  Really.  Don’t you seem to remember who we lost sight of the grass sometime in December and the storms just kept coming and coming until Spring came in March when ‘mud season’ began.  I’m certainly not complaining that we’ve had a number of comparatively mild winters in this century.  I’m just hoping Mother Nature doesn’t try to make up for lost time over the next couple of months.

--Regardless of what the weather brings, I can always recharge myself with my Winter Mantra……….

C’mon, April!

--That's what I think. What do you think? Comments to: dave@onworldwide.com or postal mail to Dave Richards, WOON Radio, 985 Park Avenue, Woonsocket, RI 02895-6332.  Thanks for reading.

--30--

Dave Richards for January 8th….…………

--It’s been awhile, my friend.  With the major holidays occurring on a Wednesday, I’ve been absent, sorry.  Let’s see if I can start the new year with something to think about.

--A day or so ago I read this news headline, “President Trump made the first move of his re-election campaign Saturday when he launched “Evangelicals For Trump” in Miami.”  Huh?  Are these reporters so close to the drama and nonsense of national politics that they cannot see that the first move of Mr. Trump’s re-election campaign happened a very long time ago?

  Here’s one example.  I am sure the president knew he could not trust North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un to simply capitulate on the offensive missile issue.  Still, the president ‘made nice’ with him and received a sizable dollop of criticism at home.  It seems clear now to both sides that his demeanor was all a negotiating tactic.  He knew eventually Kim would pull a temper tantrum and North Korea would look like the bad guy and he the good guy for trying to be nice.

  Trump also knew he could afford to tick-off anybody in the House of Representatives because he wouldn’t lose an impeachment trial in the Senate.  He had Speaker Pelosi right where he wanted her and she knew it.  That’s why she wanted to wait on impeachment when other Dems were crying for the president’s head on a pike.  Pelosi rightly figured a failed impeachment could be the downfall of her party and lead to the loss of seats in the House in an election year.

  Pelosi also knew that she’d already probably lost because her party was already being torn apart by the radical elements which had infiltrated it.  She’s still dragging her feet today on impeachment, which I don’t quite understand because it only makes the Dems look even worse in the public eye.

  There are so many other examples, but for the sake of brevity let’s look at the latest ‘outrage’ the Democrats are accusing the president of, the recent fatal drone air-strike. 

 The so-called “Gang of Eight”, the people in congress who previous presidents have taken into their confidence before using their Commander-In-Chief powers to launch military actions, are outraged that they were not taken into Mr. Trump’s confidence this time.  I shake my head.  The fools.

  First of all, the over-used word ‘outrage’ is getting a little thin when these people each day consider it an ‘outrage’ that Mr. Trump is still president for one more day.  But word choice aside, no sane leader will confide their plans to their enemies.  And the Democrats in Congress have clearly chosen to make themselves an enemy of this president.  Further, why would any president give his sworn enemies the sensitive information they need to propel themselves from “fool” to “traitor”?

  The members of the opposition party should have known this would be a consequence of their partisan actions, but they proceeded as if it were not important to them.  Okay.  But now it’s too late to take back that partisan impeachment vote.  Consequences. 

  We can all wish these ‘leaders-in-title-only’ would work together for the good of us all.  But that is not reality, apparently.  The reality is that pettiness and political gamesmanship have always been a tool of people in high office.  Used correctly, they are a way of being ‘passive-aggressive’ and affecting the behavior of others without really controlling them.  But today’s politician, unskilled in the art of compromise and as selfish as a two-year-old rejects the fine art of leadership and makes it a death sport. 

  Back to re-election talk, the other thing nobody seems to be saying out loud is that this air-strike and the loss of human life it caused could easily be seen to be a part of Mr. Trump’s re-election strategy.  To my knowledge, no sitting president has ever been replaced by election during an actual ‘shooting war’.  I don’t mean a symbolic ‘war’, like the “War on Drugs” or the “War on Terrorism”.  I’m talking about the kind of war where if you lose ‘you and your family will be killed by your enemy with pleasure’ war.  Only a very few of us have ever lived through one of those.  And the few who have are all in their 80’s and 90’s now and nobody seems to be listening to them anymore.

  We should be.  It sometimes seems that few of our leaders have ever cracked open a history book.  You cannot change the past.  You can only change the future.  The wise leader should seek the advice of those who erred in the past.

  And let me say just one more thing.  Some of what we’ve discussed up to now can be accepted regrettably as “business as usual”.  But one thing disturbed me more than all the other horrible details about last Friday’s air-strike.  Afterward, a high-ranking member of our own federal government was quoted on the radio as saying, “nobody should shed a tear over the death of this man”, referring to the Iranian General Qasem Soleimani.  I say this to you and to all the world’s people, “this official does not represent me”.

  I do shed a tear over the death of all humans, even my enemies.  If I must kill to defend myself or my family or my country, I will do what I must do.  But I will never rejoice in the death of another.  I may be relieved the threat is over.  It may have to have been done.  But to be happy my enemy is dead is, to me, absolutely and always wrong.  And that, I believe, is what differentiates me from my enemies.  I’m good with that.

--That's what I think. What do you think? Comments to: dave@onworldwide.com or postal mail to Dave Richards, WOON Radio, 985 Park Avenue, Woonsocket, RI 02895-6332.  Thanks for reading.

--30--

Dave Richards for December 11th….…………

--You’d have to be about my age, I think, to appreciate just how amazingly beautiful Woonsocket was last Saturday evening.  You’d have to remember how it was in this former mill city between the time the mills shut down, or left town, and now. 

  You see, I was very young in the days when the crowds clogged the sidewalks on Main Street.  I vaguely remember pushing through with my parents to get inside McCarthy’s Department Store or waiting to get a counter seat for a bite to eat across the street.  When I came ‘of age’, the whole place was in decline.  But now!

  Almost any Saturday night of the year when I drive down Social Street and through Monument Square I take a deep breath and sigh with great pride at the lights, the people, and the activity around our Stadium Theatre, Ciro’s Tavern, and Chans.  But this particular Saturday, as I passed by in front of Chans I looked up to see the Polar Express locomotive and all its shiny silver cars parked on the tracks which pass above Main Street and I know good memories are being made there.  People are coming to our city to have a good time.  But it doesn’t stop there……….

  In seconds I’ve driven up to the traffic light at Flynn/ Depot Square where I see a Woonsocket Police cruiser with lights flashing turning around to follow the horse-drawn wagon carrying visitors from one end of upper Main Street to the other during the Holiday Stroll.  The cruiser is there for the safety of the people on the wagon, of course, and though it’s driving very slowly, I decide to follow them both as they meander down Main Street.

  My first impression?  The lights are on!.  Not just on the street poles, but in all the shops!.  Even the Museum of Broadcast History, and I hardly ever see that place lit up!  At the Mullins Parking Lot there are the decorated Christmas Trees the school children decorate all lined up, the recreation of the famous McCarthy’s Talking Christmas Tree, and lots of people and activity.  Even Timmy’s New York Lunch is packed with patrons a little farther down.

  Across Young/Market Square I see the municipal parking lot is full, River Falls, Ye Old English, the new Christophers Kitchen and Bar, Millrace, and even the Museum of Work and Culture are all busselling.  But the best is yet to come……….

  Turning left onto Bernon Street I look to my right into River Island Art Park…..it is ablaze with countless multi-colored lights and Santa’s house!  So beautiful, it truly is a Winter Wonderland…….

  I’m sure you get my point.  What I saw in my city last Saturday was the best representation of what hard work, imagination, and ignoring the negative comments of others can bring.  Those who said years ago what Woonsocket needed was an atom bomb and a bulldozer, well, they were just plain wrong.  What we’ve built is the good that can happen when forward-thinking leaders and many good citizens get together to do the impossible. 

  Indeed, we have.  If I’d have told anyone 30, 40, or even 20 years ago that what happened here last Saturday could happen…….they’d have laughed me out of the room.

  Friend, there is no limit to what we can do if we work together.  Let us reject the hate and devicsiveness we see in our country.  Let us improve what we can improve and let us resolve to work on what we can’t improve today in the days and years ahead. 

  That’s how we got to where we are today.

  And by the way, if you believe in the power of prayer, and you are so inclined, in 10 days the Levitt Foundation will announce their decision of whether Woonsocket will again have Friday night free concerts in the park next summer.  This is a pivotal year for our participation.  We put in a good application, and we showed great community support with online voting.  There is nothing left for us to do now but to hope.  And pray.  We have competition this year.  “They” got our baseball team last year.  Please, God, let us keep our concerts next year.

--That's what I think. What do you think? Comments to: dave@onworldwide.com or postal mail to Dave Richards, WOON Radio, 985 Park Avenue, Woonsocket, RI 02895-6332.  Thanks for reading.

--30--

Dave Richards for December 4th….…………

--The 2019 Milk Fund Appeal is now officially under way.  Auction, events, and the coupons to accompany your donation printed in The Call.  Look for paper Milk Bottles to appear in your local restaurants and stores in a few days.  Our daily Milk Fund Radio Auction has taken to its new afternoon timeslot (4 to 5pm) like a duck to water.  Bid calls are more than double the numbers seen in the previous morning time slot.  We are grateful and enthused.  Stay tuned for further developments……

--Just to finish up on a common topic of the last two weeks, I mentioned that nobody had contacted me to tell me they disagreed with my position on the proposed Massachusetts law, now passed by the state senate, which would outlaw plastic shopping bags and force shoppers to pay a 10 cent per bag tax on all paper bags.  Well, one email did arrive after I wrote those words.

  A well-spoken lady referred me to some videos which show graphically how destructive carelessly discarded plastic can be, bags or otherwise.  I’ve seen them.  Heck I know one of the producers.  And from my work aboard ship sailing the seas, I’ve seen the damage first hand, too.  But I think the point was missed. 

  My point is you can make a case on either side of the issue.  But as usual, the truth lies between the two extremes.  And I am against extremism.  I was taught, and I truly believe that a moderate course will engage more people to act together in a unified effort to solve the really big problems all of us face.  Facing them together is the best way, I say.  Dividing people with extremism is not the most effective way to success.

  Think of it this way.  You’re driving down the road at average highway speed.  Your car naturally drifts a little to the left and a little to the right.  You gently apply a mild corrective pressure on the steering wheel and the result is you appear to be moving in a perfect line with no loss of fuel or time.  But suppose you twisted the steering wheel to the right sharply when you drifted to the left.  Overcorrection, right?  Right.

  It’s the same way with people.  If you want to correct societal errors and you apply to radical a push in the opposite direction you will increase push-back from those who disagree with you and you’ll fail to gain the assistance of those who might have been persuaded by your cause, but not your rhetoric.  Here’s an example.

  Global warming.  It’s been going on since the Ice Age, thank goodness, otherwise Rhode Island would still be under a huge sheet of ice.  Scientists know the planet is warming up too fast.  They are correct.  But they just cannot get the general public to be as concerned about the negative effects of global warming because they just can’t make enough regular people believe that it’s an emergency.  So they waste time yelling “we’re all gonna die!”

  It’s not that we don’t see or don’t care, it’s that scientists just cannot sell us on working together by clanging the ‘bell of doom’.  Well, most people, anyway.  The people they CAN sell are the radical political people.  It didn’t take much persuasion to get alarmists to join in clanging the alarm.  But most of us regular folks know a con when we see it.  And when radical political people and professional activists get going on any topic, they know no limits of sensibility. 

  And they seem to forget, or never were around to experience the ‘cons’ we’ve had hoisted upon us in the past.  We remember the alarmist movement  of the 1960s and 70s declaring the over-population of the world was at crisis point and will be our short term doom if we didn’t change our lives and follow the activist leaders. 

  Then there was the one where the world was nearly completely out of oil.  Remember that one?  There’s “no more oil in the ground and we’re all gonna die”.  Right.  This time its ‘global warming’ and “we’re all gonna die.”

  Spoiler alert.  We ARE all gonna die.  Sooner or later.  I’m tired of everyone’s political agenda being dramatized as “the end of the world and we’re all gonna die if you don’t agree with me and do what I say”.  That’s where they lose me.  They also lose me when they start pasting labels on me as a retaliation for expressing myself for not agreeing with them. 

  There are answers out there.  Let’s gather them, vet them, debate them, and choose a course of action the majority of us can support and help implement without the activist political drama.  We don’t need drama, we need calm and deliberate action.

  And in case you hadn’t noticed………. 

  The population of the world is no longer at crisis point.  Advances in food production and the general increases in the cost of raising a family have done their work naturally.  The increases in cost of fossil fuels has made it financially viable to harvest the oil which was always there but not cheap.  And the cost of renewable energy is now coming into line with reality.  The masses are embracing it.  Without the drama.

  We will find an answer to global warming.  We’re already on our way.  Emissions limits in cars and manufacturing are already making a difference.  There’s an acceptance and enthusiasm for reusing and recycling materials which can continue their existence in another form or for another purpose.

   Be smart, be engaged, and care.  And remember, the ‘sky really wasn’t falling’, but there really was a ‘wolf’.

   Keep up the good work, America.  And don’t stop now. 

 --That's what I think. What do you think? Comments to: dave@onworldwide.com or postal mail to Dave Richards, WOON Radio, 985 Park Avenue, Woonsocket, RI 02895-6332.  Thanks for reading.

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Dave Richards for November 13th….…………

--I’m not feeling much like writing this week.  A strange thing, when some important event happens which requires action and quick thinking, I’m right on it and I busy myself with what needs to be done.  Yesterday we buried my pal Dave Balfour.  Since his passing last Wednesday evening it has been busy, busy.  But now that there’s nothing else to be done I feel it.  The sadness, the finality of the separation.  We’ve all dealt with it.

It wasn’t a well-known fact, but Dave Balfour and I were very close friends on many levels.  We were not the kind of friends who go on vacations together or attend each other’s family birthday parties, but we quietly, looked out for each other’s interests and comforts.  We were fraternity brothers.  He sponsored my petition.  He always loved his earlier years in radio, I facilitated his return to the airwaves in his later years.  Little things like that, you know.    

As I say, the relationship was special.  When Dave’s wife, Dorothy, passed away and he fought hard to continue living on his own in his home in Cumberland, the temptation was to visit frequently and do things for him.  But that’s not what Dave needed.  He needed the adversity.  He needed someone to talk straight to him and tell him when he was wearing a dirty shirt.  Or to tell him ‘suck it up’ and keep moving when his knees would cause him pain.  That was what he really needed, and that was my role.

You see, Dave was a strong man.  And he was a fighter.  But like anyone,  he needed the encouragement to keep fighting.  It kept him going through three long months flat on his back in the hospital.  We all thought he’d make it out, right up to the last day.

However, in his second bout with pneumonia, the word came of the cancer in his stomach.  Well, Dave knew it was time to fold his cards and exit gracefully.  And that’s what he did.  Hours after the diagnosis which made it clear he would not be leaving the hospital alive, Dave literally said, “Well, I’ve had a good life.”  (he really said that), he sighed, and closed his eyes for good.  On his own terms.  A very strong man, indeed.

I want to thank all of the many people who have contact me and the staff with an outpouring of sympathy and good wishes.  I have relayed each message to Dave’s family as best I could.  I will remind those who are inclined to do so that the family has designated The Milk Fund for “in lieu of flowers” donations.  Checks can be mailed to the radio station at 985 Park Ave. in Woonsocket.

--Many times we look back and think that things were so much better in years gone by.  I see evidence of the opposite.  Oh, I do agree that life seemed to move a bit slower and simple comforts seemed more abundant, but “better”? 

When I was a lad, many Americans treated the members of our Armed Forces badly.  Not so today.  Yes, it is true that there used to be parades attended by thousands of people we don’t see any more.  But the fact is that there are fewer and fewer veterans able to walk in the parades.  And, if they all passed by in cars…..well, we can see a bunch of cars passing by almost any day, it won’t draw a crowd.  So we honor them in other ways today. 

For instance, the recent Veterans Appreciation Dinner held in Woonsocket packed the hall at the Senior Center, much to the delight of the veterans in attendance.  A 96 year-old veteran of World War Two made the front page of the paper with his remembrances of his time working with General Patton.  And it really wasn’t that many years ago that Rhode Island established the 265 acre official Veterans Cemetery in Exeter.  A beautiful place, indeed. 

All of these are improvements in my view.  They are different.  But ‘different’ isn’t always worse than what came before.

--Father Kiley writes to reminds us in an email about plans for the Annual Ecumenical Thanksgiving Observance which will take place at St. Charles Borromeo Church, 190 North Main Street, Woonsocket on Sunday November 24^th at 3pm.  The general public and church members of all faiths, and even no faith at all are invited to attend.  A free will offering collected at this service and given to the Harvest Community Church Men’s Shelter on North Main Street.  With our early debut of bitterly cold weather, it really drives home the need for shelters of refuge. 

When I was young, I never saw this kind of cooperation among churches.  I am glad I see it today. 

And I’m mindful that there are many people today who do not attend church regularly.  There may be many reasons for this.  There may be a concern that if they attended once someone there would pressure you to make a commitment or expect you to come back again and again.  Perhaps this would make a person uncomfortable.  But I can tell you that this service will have none of that.  If you wish, this can be a ‘one and done’ visit if that is what’s right for you.  But I can also promise you that if you do go, you will feel a benefit.   Give it a try.

--That's what I think. What do you think? Comments to: dave@onworldwide.com or postal mail to Dave Richards, WOON Radio, 985 Park Avenue, Woonsocket, RI 02895-6332.  Thanks for reading.

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Dave Richards for November 6th….…………

--The federal holiday observance of Veterans’ Day is Monday.  Of course, we should honor our veterans all days, but especially when it comes to Veterans’ Day.  Every community, it seems, has scheduled some public ceremony.  Good.  Here in Woonsocket we will gather at the U.V.C. Armed Forces Park on Davison Avenue on Monday, but this Friday afternoon Senior Services will hold a very special Veterans’ Appreciation Dinner at the Senior Center on Social Street beginning at 4:30pm.  In addition to live music and appropriate recognitions, a pot roast dinner will be served.  Linda Thibault is in charge of the program, so you know the event will be run with “military precision”.   She promises you’ll be out by 7pm with a warm feeling in your belly and in also your heart.

--A couple of comments on this past Monday’s Woonsocket City Council meeting.  Councilor Denise Sierra disagreed with a timeline explanation given to the council earlier in the session of what happened ‘behind the scenes’ in the apparently failed attempt to have the TAO group of Pawtucket purchase and put the former Woonsocket High and Middle School at Park Place to a useful purpose.  In fact, Denise went so far as to accuse Woonsocket Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt of telling lies.  The Mayor, in attendance, did not agree with nor did she appreciate that characterization of events, and she told Councilor Sierra so in no uncertain terms.  I think Council President Dan Gendron did an able job of stepping in to quench the heated exchange, but the fact remains, even though there are two sides to the controversy of what went wrong, the city is still stuck with an aging and deteriorating building complex it needs to find a useful purpose for. 

  I think it is right and proper that we all examine failures and disappointments in our lives to learn the lessons they can teach us and to take steps to insure they do not repeat.  But, it is my experience in life that beyond a sober examination of facts, emotions are better left out of the exercise.  The ‘blame game’ siphons off energy which can be better used to turn failure into eventual success.  The city as a whole has experienced a failure, and in the end it doesn’t matter who did what, the game of life continues.  The clock is running.  It is time to come up with another play and reverse our fortunes, I say.

--It was a sober examination of facts which I think prompted Woonsocket’s Public Works Director Stephen D’Agostino to list for the City Council the un-reimbursed expenses his department contributes to the annual Autumnfest celebrations.  For this past year it amounted to somewhere close to $30,000, much of it coming out of his department’s overtime fund.  Director D’Agostino pointed out to the councilors that with winter’s snow removal season yet to begin, the council should not be surprised if, after paying for the Autumnfest costs, he may run short of budgeted monies in the season ahead. 

  Councilors individually and collectively responded they found it useful to learn of the actual numbers involved, thanked the Director for the information, and promised him they’d keep his words in mind at budget time.  In fact, it was informally discussed that perhaps in the next budget cycle there should be a separate budget item for the city’s contribution to Autumnfest, to separate it from the DPW budget.  All agreed that the positive good Autumnfest brings to the city was worth the expense. 

  My take on this Autumnfest discussion?  I think it’s a shining example of how municipal government should work.  Concerned people initiate a lively discussion of important issues and then a consensus is reached to address the concerns of all parties.  Well done!

--That's what I think. What do you think? Comments to: dave@onworldwide.com or postal mail to Dave Richards, WOON Radio, 985 Park Avenue, Woonsocket, RI 02895-6332.  Thanks for reading.

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Dave Richards for October 30th….…………

--The words of former U.S. President John Kennedy ring in my ears from time to time.  It just happened again. 

   In case you don’t remember Kennedy’s words, it was during a press conference where reporters were shooting questions at him rapidly.  He’d just answered a question about a decision he’d made when the next question from a reporter was, “But Mr. President, is that fair?”  Without missing a beat, Kennedy replied, “Sir, life isn’t fair.”, indicating there was no decision to be made in which all parties would be treated fairly but he had made a decision which he thought would be best for the country, even though it would hurt some people.

   I remember being stricken by the honesty of that comment.  We’re all used to politicians putting a spin on answers and trying to ‘please everyone’.  My dad taught me that “you cannot please everyone all the time, that’s a fairy tale for children.”   He added, “So grow up, son, and be unhappy.”  Harsh but honest words, I thought. 

   It was circumstances such as these which helped me to adopt an attitude of, “I can deal with anything if I know the truth about it.”  Notice I didn’t say “I can accept anything.”  Accepting and dealing with something are two very different things.

   I bring all this up as a study in honesty.  I was raised to appreciate honesty and to distrust those who do not practice it consistently.  Case in point.  I accompanied The Fabulous Denise on a shopping trip recently.  We noted the price of a gallon of milk had risen at a store we frequent, so we declined to buy it.  Moving on to the next store (we used to visit only one store, but that just isn’t practical these days. ) we noted the price of a gallon of milk was actually higher than at the previous store.  I asked Denise if she wanted to go back to the first store and she, of course, said it wasn’t worth it.  “Milk must have gone up in price everywhere, she concluded.” 

   Up to this point in the story I can imagine you’re asking yourself, “what’s the point?”  Indeed.  You’ll need this one last development to have the story make sense regarding honesty.  When we got to the checkout counter at that second supermarket, the price charged on that same gallon of milk was mysteriously the same as we’d been charged the week before.  Why?  Well, The Fabulous Denise is nothing if not thrifty.  She has one of those store cards they scan before processing your groceries at checkout.  It brought the price of the milk down to the price it was before the increase. 

   Which brings me to the obvious question.  If this store can afford to sell us that gallon of milk for the same price, why did they mark it with a higher price in the first place?  I mean, costs go up, we understand that.  But if they went up, how can they afford to sell it for the same price?  And what about those shoppers who don’t use the store card?  They will be charged more than necessary for the item.  Isn’t that predatory and dishonest?  Perhaps.  Perhaps not.  But I do suppose it is ‘legal’.  Even though I benefitted this time, I am still very uncomfortable with the practice because it invades the privacy, even if voluntarily, and charges you a price for keeping your privacy.

--I’ve been told the reason stores use those little scan cards is so they can track your purchases to you.  They either sell this information to other companies for money or use it to target ads to you, or both.  I find that whole thing rather creepy.

   And speaking of creepy, I was at a Halloween party this past Saturday and met a man who works in computer software named Jim.  We exchanged the usual pleasantries and talked about our occupations.  I asked Jim what project he was working on just now and he told me he was developing software destined to go into one of the popular single-serving coffee makers.  He told me they wanted to know if customers were using the coffee maker’s cups or generic cups and what coffees they were drinking for marketing purposes.  I just shook my head.

   I knew, of course, that your television is sending info on what you watch, when, when you skip past commercials, and when you back the unit up to see something a second or third time.  I always thought that was creepy, too.  I’m told that the newest TVs now have cameras in them so you can take video calls while watching your favorite show using the Internet connection on your TV.  It would not surprise me if that camera were to be used by your provider for some other business purpose. 

   Think I’m crazy?  Okay, if I’d have told you 10 years ago that your cell phone is watching you through its camera, and that you’d own a smart phone which would stop playing you a video when it ‘saw’ you look away from the screen, what would you have said?  That feature has been around for years.

--Honesty and trustworthiness are in short supply these days, folks.  Treasure it when you find it.

 --That's what I think. What do you think? Comments to: dave@onworldwide.com or postal mail to Dave Richards, WOON Radio, 985 Park Avenue, Woonsocket, RI 02895-6332.  Thanks for reading.

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