Ding-dong, Pizza's Here!

For Halloween this year, I imagine a lot of little girls will be dressed as Elsa from Frozen and other favorite characters, and little boys will be Ninja Turtles or some other crime-fighting hero. What does my eight-year-old want to dress as? Not Ironman, nor a cowboy, nor a skeleton.

This year, Michael is going as a pizza delivery guy. The idea came about during a conversation he was having with his grandpa, and Michael became excited about the prospect. He said he plans to ring the doorbells and instead of saying, “Trick-or-Treat,” he will say, “Pizza Guy!”

As I’m writing this, I’m on the hunt for a uniform for him to wear, along with an empty pizza box he can carry. He anticipates people putting the candy in the pizza box instead of a bag, for the full effect. I’m excited to see how it works out for him, and I’ll be sure to include a picture next week.

He mentioned it would be cool if he could give every house a pizza, and I told him that would just get too expensive, as the return on the investment wouldn’t be that great. He also informed me that I’ll need to be close by with a bag to dump his candy in, as it might get awkward carrying a heavy box around all night.

I’m excited for my son this year, because Halloween is on a Friday night. Which means, he can stay out a bit later than he’s been able to do in the past. He’s excited to make people laugh, and there’s no greater joy in life than laughing with people. Happy Halloween!

To The Naysayers

Print is dead. I can read my news online. That’s a great hobby, but what are you going to do when people don’t read the newspaper anymore? These are all things that I hear on at least a weekly basis, and a lot of times they are unwanted opinions from complete strangers. If I truly believed that people weren’t reading my newspaper, why would I even be here doing what I love to do?

This week is National Newspaper Week, and though there’s no parade or celebrations planned, I’m celebrating in my own little way. Being celebrated in newspaper offices across the country, this week is the 74th year of honoring newspapers big and small that continue to serve their communities. I have a passion for serving my community, and I have no plans of going anywhere anytime soon.

I take what I do seriously, and I thoroughly enjoy every day that I come to work. I have the opportunity to meet and mingle with some extraordinary people in our community and beyond. I am humbled to be able to see and do things that I can then write about and share the experiences with my favorite audience. I believe wholeheartedly that community newspapers, like the one you’re reading now, will have a place in our lives for many years to come.

To all the naysayers out there who might not agree with me, I say, nowhere else can you get the scoop on what’s going on in your city hall like with Mayor Jones’s column, or stories about local citizens who have a museum-worth of memorabilia in their garage. We’ll continue to produce the stories and promote our community for as long as we have readers. We’re not going anywhere.

Celebrating My Heritage

President Ronald Reagan first proclaimed October 6, 1983, just a few days after I was born, as German American Heritage Day, and it was officially commemorated four years later in 1987. This day honors the 300th anniversary of the arrival of 13 German families who established the first German settlement on American soil. This community on the northern outskirts of Philadelphia later came to be known as Germantown.

As a kid, I grew up hearing about Germany from my family. My grandparents met when my grandfather was stationed in Germany, and my dad graduated high school there. Over the years, I became more interested in where my family was from, and I decided to take the language in high school.

As my graduation present, my grandparents funded my trip to visit Germany. I set out with my grandma on the adventure I’d waited my entire life for. With passport in hand, I eagerly jetted off to the familiar, yet unknown.

During my trip, I saw as much of Germany as I could, and even stayed several days in nearby Austria. I had the opportunity to spend some time with a girl who was four years older than I, and she took me to places that young people liked to go to: a swimming pool, a dance club and even McDonald’s. She also took me to a barbecue with her friends. They were fascinated with the way I said things, and I was equally fascinated by them.

I also remember sitting with my grandma in local pubs, while she drank her mulled wine and I sipped on my Coca-Cola with two ice cubes. Just listening to her talk with her cousins and their families was worth the miles. I understood what they were saying more than I thought I would, and I delighted in the fact that they included me in what was going on.

The memories I have with my grandma while over there are priceless. She was completely in her element, and I could tell that she loved sharing her heritage with me. They are memories that I hope to one day share with my own child when he’s old enough to travel there with me.