Well, this has been (another) horrible week. TGIF. I finally have a few moments to get back to the time capsule marked "Calendar Year 2016." Here are some more observations and quickie photos, while most of the nearly-decade-old ephemera heads for the trash can ...
1. I'm leading off again with something disturbing and, in this instance, too insensitive to amplify with a photo. But it's historically relevant. I kept a homemade "editorial cartoon" and typed message that was mailed to me in my capacity as sports editor. It's an angry commentary from a Lancaster County octogenarian on the "taking a knee" protests at NFL games originated by Colin Kaepernick. In saving the letter then, I added a post-it note on the front stating "Sigh..." There's a vividly clear line from conservatives' reactions to peaceful attempts to raise awareness of racial injustice in America then and our deeply divided, splitting-at-the-seams nation today.
2. Ashar's order form for York County 4-H coffee cake sales.
3. The last birthday card I ever received from Mom. The front states "If cats could talk, and give a crap, they'd wish you a happy birthday." I can barely imagine what Mom's reaction would be to our household of two dozen cats today.
4. An odd sized card for Steinman Park in downtown Lancaster and LNP Media Group Inc.
5. Part of the box for a Chandler Bing Funk Pop! RIP, Matthew Perry.
6. More printouts of LNP | LancasterOnline sports planning budgets.
7. A flyer for a Halloween sale at Comix Connection on White Street in York.
8. A printout of an email from a student in Arizona (ha!) who was "wandering" about a summer internship "oppertunities" at LNP that would allow him to "get my feet wet in the door." I truly don't mean to make fun, but if you're looking to work in journalism, for heaven's sake, please proof your queries before you send them out.
9. Who remembers Bana al-Abed? She was the young Syrian whose social media account on Twitter (when it was called that) helped to raise global awareness of the terrors for civilians during the Battle of Aleppo. There remain questions about who was actually handling the social media account at that time, but I don't think that changes the importance of the humanitarian message. A book titled Dear World was published in 2017. I found an interview from 2021, when Bana was an 11-year-old living in Turkey but still clearly experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder. And then I checked and found that Bana is still posting on X! (I wish she'd come over to the Bluesky.) On December 31, 2024, she wrote: "Dear friends, As we step into this new year, my heart is filled with hope and gratitude. I am overjoyed to see that the Syrian people, once forced to flee their homeland, can now return to their country, no longer running from war but walking back to the place they call home. For those still in Syria, I celebrate with you the peace that is beginning to take root, allowing families to live without fear. Children, once robbed of their childhood, can now play freely, dream of a brighter future, and receive the education they deserve. I truly believe that this year holds the promise of better days ahead. May it be a year of healing, unity, and prosperity, where peace prevails and the shadows of war are left behind. Wishing all of us a year of peace, love and new beginnings. #Syria #Aleppo"
And then there was this post on January 10:
10. An empty bag of Knorr's Cheesy Cheddar. We still go through a lot of it.
11. A map and other items for Panic at the Ballpark, a Halloween walkthrough house of horrors at what was then called PeoplesBank Park in York. Ashar was one of the actors. Here's what I wrote in the footnote of an October 2016 post: "Ashar, now 16½, is working as one of the scary performers this month at a horror attraction called Panic at the Ballpark in York's downtown baseball stadium. From the brochure: 'York's professional baseball stadium, PeoplesBank Park, become[s] a terrifying den of horrors as a force of vengeance and evil wreaks havoc on fans of the great American pastime.' The different areas are called Head Basher's Hideout, The Dismemberment Shop and Dead Man's Play Land. An obsessed police officer, using his fingers as a gun, runs around trying to catch an evil, undead ballplayer."
I'll have to finish this off in a Part 3 soon.
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