Father Time is about to bid farewell to 2024

On New Year’s Eve, as the clock strikes midnight, Father Time will pass the torch to Baby New Year, who welcomes the world to 2025. That’s the way it has worked since the beginning of time.

Father Time is usually depicted as a gentle, elderly, bearded man who is dressed in a robe and carrying a scythe and an hourglass or other timekeeping device. (The scythe represents the harvest, which is emblematic of the cycle of life.)

 

Baby New Year is usually shown as a diapered infant wearing a sash with the new year printed on it. Father Time and Baby New Year thus serve as metaphors for the passing of one calendar year and the birth of a new one.

The child immediately begins the aging process to emerge as Father Time 12 months later.

In Greek mythology, Chronos played a significant role; he was the leader and youngest of the first generation of Titans, who is the “personification and keeper of time.” One of his main jobs was to make sure time moved forward at a constant rate. Chronos turned the zodiac wheel. His image may have evolved into Father Time.

 

Other historians, including Kim Berkley of Fort Myers, Fla., believe Father Time descended from the Holly King, a character in Celtic mythology who ruled over the winter with its cold air and darkness. The Holly King is involved in a constant tug-of-war struggle with his brother, the Oak King, who preferred the warmth and long days of summer.

 

The red holly berries that adorn the Holly King’s crown symbolize the plant’s ability to not only survive but thrive in the depths of winter. The holly has been granted magical properties during the holiday season,” Berkley said.

Oak trees, on the other hand, take a “botanical leave” during winter, going through a period of dormancy or hibernation, to reawaken in the spring.

There are other symbols that are also associated with New Year’s holiday, according to Carrie McBride of the New York City Public Library.

“Vintage holiday postcards from the early 20th century, are rife with good luck symbols – four-leaf clovers, horseshoes, pigs and mushrooms,” she said.

“Because of their relative rarity compared to the three-leaved shamrock, it has long been considered lucky to find a four-leaf clover, and having one is thought to protect against bad spirits.”

“The association of horseshoes and good luck may be tied to their original material, iron, which was thought to drive away evil, or may be tied to their crescent shape symbolizing pagan moon deities,” McBride noted.

“In many cultures, pigs are a common symbol of good luck and represent prosperity and wealth. Mushrooms have many connections to the winter solstice,” she added. The best ones seem to grow under conifer trees and are a symbol of good fortune and blessings at the New Year.

Other more contemporary New Year’s images and symbols include mistletoe, a good luck charm that is also a catalyst to encourage kissing among partners.

Candles are another traditional symbol of New Year, as the smoke from the candles would rise and reach the heavens above. This would ensure that God will answer their secret prayers said over flames of the candles, which spread light, cheer and warmth around.

Better yet, build a bonfire and invite the entire community for dancing and singing.

The tradition of consuming grapes on New Year’s Day originated in Italy. The popular saying goes: “Eat grapes on New Year’s Day and you’ll be counting money the rest of the year.”

It’s time to raise our voices for ‘Auld Lang Syne’

Every year, we gather on New Year’s Eve waiting for the stroke of midnight to sing – or mumble through – a few verses of the ancient tune “Auld Lang Syne.”

Give credit to famous Scottish poet Robert Burns for creating this global tradition in 1788. That was the year he put words on paper, capturing lyrics from a folk tune “he had heard an old man singing.” Burns made some modifications to add his personal, poetic touch.

 

Loosely translated, “auld lang syne” means “old long since,” and we’re advised to cherish our memories from “the olden days,” remain close to good friends and share a “cup ‘o kindness” with them…while approaching a new year with a fresh, positive outlook.

Burns shared his poem with James Johnson, who paired it with an existing Scottish tune for the song’s original publication in Scots Musical Museum in 1796.

Later in 1799, publisher George Thomson changed the composition somewhat for “Thomson’s A Select Collection of Original Scottish Airs.” This is the version of the tune which has prevailed over time.

“Auld Lang Syne” was popularized by Guy Lombardo & His Royal Canadians. “From 1929 until 1976, first on radio and then on television, American audiences tuned in to the New Year’s Eve broadcasts by Lombardo’s big band,” said Matthew Yglesias, a contributor to the Vox online news media service.

 

The song has attached itself to American pop culture through its use in three major motion pictures, reported Natalie Schumann and Terri Robertson of Country Living magazine.

The first film is “It’s a Wonderful Life,” a 1946 American Christmas classic produced and directed by Frank Capra. The film stars were James Stewart and Donna Reed.

 

“When Harry Met Sally,” released in 1989, was a romantic comedy drama directed by Rob Reiner, starring Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal.

 

The third movie of note to use the song “Auld Lang Syne is “Elf,” a 2003 Christmas comedy film directed by Jon Favreau. Principal actors were Will Ferrell and Zooey Deschanel.

 

As a matter of Scottish national pride, the New Year’s holidays in the major cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow have become four-day celebrations known as Hogmanay. Revelers crank it up from Dec. 29 through Jan. 1, 2025, for festivals that are filled with parades, concerts, street theater, Highland dancing and fireworks.

Dr. Tori V. Martínez, an American freelance writer, said: “The exact origin of Hogmanay is unknown, but it was probably introduced by invading Vikings between the 8th and 9th centuries. It’s possible the word ‘Hogmanay’ originated from the Scandinavian term meaning ‘Holy Month.’”

“The Hogmanay tradition first involves a thorough housecleaning, including removal of the ashes from the fireplace, and repayment of all debts – all of which must be done before ‘the bells’ at midnight on Dec. 31,” Dr. Martínez said. “With a clean house – both literally and figuratively – the celebrations can commence with a light heart and a clear conscience.”

She said fire ceremonies are common throughout the smaller communities of Scotland – “designed to ward off evil spirits and ensure a prosperous new year.”

 

Visitors may want to tour the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum, which pays tribute to Scotland’s National Bard who “sits proudly atop the pantheon of Scottish poets.” The facility in Alloway, South Ayrshire, is located on the River Doon, which flows into the Firth of Clyde on Scotland’s west coast.

Burns penned the epic narrative poem “Tam o’ Shanter” as well as hundreds of songs and lyrical poems before he died on July 21, 1796, at age 37, due to complications from rheumatism. 

College football bowl game season is upon us

Welcome to college football bowl game season. Traditionally, the day after Christmas is the kickoff to a slate of football games that match teams with comparable records. “Bowl season” stretches over about a fortnight.

The landscape has continued to change in 2024, requiring that 11 rather minor bowl games be played prior to Christmas…in order to fit them all into the television schedule.  

The expanded College Football Playoffs (CFP) system has mucked things up even more in 2024, claiming four of the major bowl game sites for quarterfinals contests.

Let’s go there first. On New Year’s Eve (Tuesday, Dec. 31), Boise State and Penn State square off at the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz.

On New Year’s Day (Wednesday, Jan. 1): Big Ten Conference foes Oregon and Ohio State tangle at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.; Texas and Arizona State do battle at the Peach Bowl in Atlanta; and Notre Dame and Georgia go head-to-head at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.

 

(CFP semifinal sites are Jan. 9 at the Orange Bowl in Miami and Jan. 10 in the Cotton Bowl at Arlington, Texas. The championship game is set for Jan. 20 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, home field of the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons.)

Adding to the confusion swirling around this year’s college football bowl picture is the “transfer portal” that allows athletes to move about like free agents. Marshall University notified officials that it had to back out of an Independence Bowl appearance, because it didn’t have enough qualified players left to field a competitive team.

So now, Louisiana Tech has replaced Marshall as the opponent for Army in the game that will be played Saturday, Dec. 28, in Shreveport, La.

It seems that more and more premier players are opting out of participating in bowl games, to avoid risk of an injury that could be damaging to their future careers as professional players.

The proverbial coaching carousel has sidelined a few head coaches who won’t be at the helm of their bowl-bound teams. One of note is Mack Brown, who was swept out as head coach of the University of North Carolina, effective at the end of the regular season.

Freddie Kitchens (shown below), who was North Carolina’s run game coordinator and tight ends coach, will be in charge when UNC plays the University of Connecticut on Saturday, Dec. 28, at the Wasabi Fenway Bowl, played at Boston’s historic Fenway Park.

 

(Incoming Tar Heel coach Bill Belichick has announced that he is retaining Kitchens on the coaching staff for the 2025 season.)

UConn compiled an impressive 8-4 record in 2024 as an independent, while Carolina was 6-6 as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The game should be competitive with the Tar Heels picked as slight favorites.

 

Another important bowl game being played on Saturday, Dec. 28, is the Military Bowl at Navy-Marine Corps Military Stadium in Annapolis, Md., which pits North Carolina State v. East Carolina. It’s a curious pairing of in-state rivals being played about 310 miles north of Greenville, N.C. The stadium seats about 34,000 people, so it will be interesting to see what kind of crowd shows up.

 

N.C. State, also of the ACC, finished at 6-6, while East Carolina of the American Athletic Conference posted a 7-5 record. Oddsmakers give the Wolfpack of N.C. State a one-touchdown edge over the ECU Pirates.

 

Some fans think the Military Bowl committee should have looked ahead. The Pirates travel to Raleigh on Aug. 30 to play the Wolfpack in the 2025 season opener for both teams.

Duke University (9-3) of the ACC is set to play Ole Miss (9-3) of the Southeastern Conference at the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla., on Thursday, Jan. 2. Ole Miss is a double-digit favorite, because Duke’s star quarterback Maalik Murphy entered the transfer portal and has committed to Oregon State.

The Duke Blue Devils are expected to start backup quarterback Henry Belin IV.

We cherish memories of ‘Christmas Past’

Some Christmas collectibles bring back pleasant memories from years gone by. I especially treasure three holiday notes penned by a former colleague whose desk abutted mine in the busy newsroom at The State Journal in Lansing, Mich., during the early 1970s.

We were young, eager reporters who covered our respective beats like badgers.

I’d lost track of Stan Morgan many moons ago, but I Googled him recently and learned that he had died in 2020 at his home in Dover, Ohio. He was a good man who was full of boyish mischief.

After his newspaper career, Stan became a social worker and a published poet.

I’m always moved when I re-read three Christmas messages that he wrote and sent to me while we had remained in contact.

 

“Snow, drifting gently earthward, a cool, white blanket, enhancing…the serenity of this time. May peace, beauty and love be constant companions for us all, and not obscure, lofty ideals take from some shelf of mankind’s conscience and dusted off each Christmas Eve.”

 

 “This year, kindle not only a yule log in the hearth but strike, also, a spark of love in your heart. Vow to capture the pure, innocent joy of a child on Christmas morn and keep it thereafter a glowing ember of happiness and caring that will warm your being forever.”

 

“This Christmas, let joy touch your spirit with the gentle grace of the snowflake. Smile, be tender, and let your eyes laugh with love.”

 

 

Merry Christmas 2024 and let there be Peace on Earth.

PNC says ’12 Days of Christmas’ items will cost $49,263

For the past 40 years, The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc., based in Pittsburgh, Pa., has calculated the cost of the 12 gifts from the classic holiday song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”

Developed on a lark in 1984, PNC’s annual Christmas Price Index has become a whimsical holiday tradition.

 

So, if one were so inclined to purchase all the “gifts” mentioned in the lyrics for one’s true love – ranging from a partridge in a pear tree to 12 drummers drumming – the price tag in 2024 is a hefty $49,263.

According to the PNC bankers, this represents a price hike of 5.4% over Christmas 2023, when the total bill was about $46,730.

“It’s fun to look back at the index over the years and see what has changed and how closely that has mirrored consumer behavior and the economy,” said Rebekah McCahan, PNC senior investment and portfolio strategist. “Clearly, we’ve seen a shift over time to an index that is more heavily tilted to the entertainment sector.”

The PNC index noted that the individual groups of 12 drummers and 11 pipers are each commanding fees that are 15.8% higher than a year ago, so the tab for a performance by the drummers is nearly $4,017, while the pipers are charging about $3,715.

 

Additionally, the 10 leaping lords upped their fees to roughly $15,580, a bump up of 7.2%. More modest is the 3.0% increase to a company of nine dancing ladies who will perform for $8,557.

The middle of the song always eats up a big chunk of money, with the cost to attain six geese a-laying ($900) and seven swans a-swimming ($13,125.)

A mother swan glides along with three of her cygnets aboard.

Maintaining seven swans is not the best idea, however. Chris Fritzen, owner of Grand Swan Farm in La Porte, Ind., told Mother Earth News that males pair up with females and mate for life. As a breeder, he always sells swans in pairs.

“A lone swan is a lonely swan,” he tells prospective customers.

“Their natural food in the wild is ‘subaquatic vegetation.’ In simple terms, that means the ‘weeds’ that grow in the pond,” Fritzen said. “The average mute or trumpeter swan ranges in weight from 20 to 40 pounds; it will eat five to eight pounds a day to get enough protein to sustain life.”

Most ponds don’t have enough subaquatic vegetation, however, so Fritzen recommends that swan owners add supplements year-round to make sure the swans are “kept happy, and they stay where they’re supposed to.”

PNC fails to mention that a pair of swans will eat between $300 and $400 a year in dietary supplements. Fritzen said there is also an additional cost to install an aerating system – “something that goes to the bottom of your pond and basically blows air out and it brings warm water up from the bottom of the pond to the top so that it doesn’t freeze.”

PNC is America’s seventh largest financial institution with assets of $559.7 billion and branches in 27 states. You would think some branch manager in a farming community would raise the question about the eight milkmaids in the “The 12 Days of Christmas.”

The PNC index ties the milkmaids’ compensation of $58 to the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, which hasn’t changed since 2009.

 

In actuality, because dairy maids have a unique skills set, their competitive wage rate should be about $42 per hour, according to human resources experts. Then, there’s the matter of purchasing or leasing the dairy cows as well as their care and feeding.

‘Grandma Got Run Over…’ may be the people’s choice

What is the “worst Christmas song” of all time?

Many music historians give the nod to the 1979 novelty tune “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer,” performed by Dr. Elmo Earl Shropshire and released independently on the record label Elmo & Patsy, which was owned by Elmo Shopshire and his wife at the time, Patsy Trigg.

 

Dr. Elmo

Ray Glier, a freelance writer in Atlanta, commented: “How blasphemous that Grandma has hoof marks on her nightgown…and how uproarious!”

The lyrics tell the story of a family celebrating Christmas Eve, when Grandma got snockered on spiked eggnog. She leaves to retrieve her medications and gets trampled by Santa Claus’ reindeer.

Grandpa shows little concern over his wife’s apparent demise and spends the holiday watching football on television, drinking beer and playing cards with Cousin Mel, while the rest of the family wonders if Grandma’s gifts should be opened or returned?

In the music video, Grandma recovers from the attack and makes a triumphant slide down the chimney…before the family digs into a goose dinner.

Interestingly, the songwriter of “Grandma Got Run Over…” is Randy Brooks, a nephew of the late Foster Brooks, a famous comedian who was nicknamed “the loveable lush.”

Among Randy Brooks’ other noteworthy, tongue-in cheek novelty songs is “Will You Be Ready at the Plate (When Jesus Throws the Ball?).”

 

Dr. Elmo (right) and Randy Brooks

Dr. Elmo Shropshire, who’s now 88, may have been a “one-hit wonder” in the music industry, but he’s an American superstar, according to Glier.

While growing up in Ocala, Fla., Shopshire worked as an exercise rider at a thoroughbred horse farm, managed by his father who was also a trainer.

“One of the horses in the Ocala stable was Needles, a sickly colt that got his name because the vets were always trying to find a remedy for his ailments, which meant shots,” Glier said. “It was 18-year-old Elmo Shropshire who broke Needles as a yearling in 1954, getting the horse to settle down, ease into his powerful frame and learn from a firm hand on the reins.”

 

“In 1956, Needles stormed the grand stage of horse racing, winning the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes, two legs of the hallowed Triple Crown. He finished second to Fabius in the Preakness, which meant he was one position away from claiming the Triple Crown,” Glier said.

 

“Elmo Shopshire graduated from the University of Florida, then went to veterinary school at Auburn (Ala.) University. Dr. Elmo was the racetrack veterinarian at Aqueduct and Belmont Park in New York before moving to San Francisco to open his own hospital, Arguello Pet Hospital.”

His second wife, Pam Wendell, a distance runner, introduced Dr. Elmo to the sport of competitive racing when he was 55. Although he has completed marathons, Dr. Elmo specializes in shorter distances, ranging from 400M to 5K.

 A favorite training ground is Costa Rica, where the jungle humidity is taxing. He is accompanied by Pam, “to make sure I don’t get lost or eaten by a jaguar,” Dr. Elmo adds.

The Shropshires live on a secluded ranch in Novato, Calif., a community in Marin County that borders San Pablo Bay, north of San Francisco.

 

But, every year, between Thanksgiving and Christmas, members of the news media come clamoring for interviews and cameo performances. Dr. Elmo gladly obliges, wrote Clark Mason of The Press Democrat in Santa Rosa, Calif. Dr. Elmo may schedule up to 20 interviews a day.

The song “Grandma Got Run Over…” made him “a millionaire five times over, something the ebullient Shropshire does not dispute,” Mason said.

Beaufort’s interest in historical preservation began in 1960

The semiquincentennial anniversary in the Town of Beaufort, N.C., came and went in 1959, with no fanfare.

(The community of Beaufort was settled in 1709 and claims to be the third oldest settlement in the North Carolina colony, after Bath and Edenton.)

 

It was duly noted that Ruth Barbour, who was the editor of the Carteret County News-Times, may have been the only one around who could spell the word “semiquincentennial” and knew that it was the proper term for a 250-year anniversary. (She is shown below.)

 

The oversight was finally brought to the attention of one of the pillars of the community – the town’s official historian as well as its former mayor and past local school board president – Grayden  M. Paul. (Below is a photo of Grayden Paul when he attended Wake Forest (N.C.) College in 1919.)

 

Barbour reported that Grayden Paul “was not one to let a mere thing like a year deter him.” He believed that the town should go ahead and celebrate the 251-year anniversary in 1960…and act like they planned it that way.

“To finance the celebration, Mr. Paul decided that a thousand dollars would be a good start,” Barbour wrote. “If only 10 people contributed $100, the amount would be in hand. He went before the town board and received its blessing.”

“I knew if we could get $100 from each business in town, we’d have enough money to put on the whole celebration,” Grayden Paul said.

“The money was raised, the celebration was a success, and this was the spark that ignited general interest in capitalizing on Beaufort’s past,” Barbour wrote.

Grayden Paul came up with the idea to reenact the 1747 pirate invasion of Beaufort. He told the newspaper: “The only way Beaufort knew for certain it had ever had any pirates ashore was because somebody had found an ancient bill” from merchant William Moore to cover the cost of beef to feed 10 pirates who were detained in the town jail.

Not much is known about the invasion, other than the leaders of the town militia were hailed as heroes – Col. Thomas Lovick and Maj. Enoch Ward.

We know a bit more about the 1960 reenactment, however. Historian Neal Willis participated as one of the pirates.

He said members of the Fire Department dressed as pirates, wearing bandannas and nautical outfits. They carried plastic cutlasses and guns. “The town defenders were mostly merchants dressed in overalls and straw hats and carrying guns,” Willis wrote.

 

The pirates planned to charge over the breakwater “with blood curdling screams, waving cutlasses and firing guns,” he said. “We had been practicing the landing for a week, mostly when the tide was high. When the real landing came, the tide was low. The boat ran aground about six feet from the shore.”

“The bow was on land, but the rest of the boat was over water about 10 feet deep. We didn’t know the water was that deep until we went over the side and were in over our heads,” Willis said. “Our pirate costumes were wet and coming apart. Our guns were wet, and some didn’t fire. Our plastic cutlasses were floating away.”

“But we still charged the defenders. We put up quite a fight. After the battle, the town defenders loaded us into horse drawn wooden carts and carried us to the jail....”

The Pirate Invasion has beome an annual event, drawing large crowds of spectators each year to Beaufort.

Barbour stated: “Grayden Paul’s small group that started things rolling for the town’s 251st anniversary in July 1960 was the nucleus of the Beaufort Historical Association.”

Welcome to Beaufort. Nautical flags spell out the name of the town.

A natural showman, promoter and storyteller, Grayden Paul dressed in outlandish costumes to conduct guided tours around town. Tourists were thoroughly entertained.

 

In 1968, the North Carolina Department of Transportation named the drawbridge that carried U.S. Route 70 over Gallants Channel into Beaufort as the Grayden Paul Bridge. It featured a “double-leaf bascule span” and had been built in 1957 to replace the original 1927.

 

The Grayden Paul Bridge was replaced in January 2018 with a new 65-foot, high rise, fixed-span bridge – known as the Gallants Channel Bridge.

 

In the 1960s, the Beaufort Woman’s Club, under the guidance of its president Emily Loftin, initiated the development of a Beaufort town crest.

Permission was sought from the College of Arms in London, England, to adopt the Duke of Beaufort’s crest for the design.

Authorities approved a design that preserved the original heraldry in the upper two quadrants of the crest, including the three fleurs-de-lis (also spelled fleurs-de-lys) in the shape of a lilies and the three three golden lions passant with their faces toward the viewer. 

In the lower two quadrants, replacing the three fleurs-de-list are three red roses of Lancaster – the ruling house at the time Beaufort was chartered in 1723 – as well as three fish that take the place the lions.

Primary graphic designers and artists on the project were Will Hon and Richard Thomas.

 

 

The United States observes its Semiquincentennial (250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence) on July 4, 2026. 

A product of the Second Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, Pa., in July 1776 was the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson ws the primary author. 

Here are two versions of possible graphics under consideration:

 Major events are planned in Boston, Philadelphia, New York City and Charleston, S.C.

The federal government intends to issue commemorative coins and postage stamps.

During his 2024 presidential campaign, Donald Trump pledged to throw a “spectacular birthday party” by assembling a White House task force named “Salute to America 250.”

Proposals include a “Great American State Fair” to be held in the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, featuring pavilions from all 50 states.

In addition, Trump said he would create the “Patriot Games” for high school students across the nation to “allow young Americans from every state to show off the best of American skill, sportsmanship and competitive spirit.”