Mardi Gras and groundhogs
• Today is Groundhog Day. Sometimes it seems the same thing happens over and over every day. Nothing changes.
• This past weekend we witnessed a singular event. Ms. Tammy Lamberto was crowned the Queen of the Woonsocket Mardi Gras from her sick bed over a wireless internet connection because she’d fallen ill with “the bug” and could not attend in person. But she was still there, virtually. Her husband dialed up a videoconference app on his cell phone and connected her to the ceremony where her mother, Paulette, accepted the crown and roses on Queen Tammy’s behalf. Life sure has changed here in the 21st century, I’ll tell ya.
• King Jace XXII, the Mysterious Monarch of the Woonsocket Mardi Gras was on hand for the exciting cyber-assisted-festivities and told me privately he was very impressed by the way the committee handled this very unique situation. And it seems, also, that the public is very impressed with King Jace.
Since Helen Nichols handed me the job of finding and escorting King Jace more than 10 years ago, some members of the committee, who will go nameless at this writing, have always told me they “knew” who King Jace was well before he was unmasked. In fact, to hear them tell it, they always have known immediately upon meeting him and reviewing the clues.
Of course, we tell nobody, not even the committee, and after a few years of this crowing it started to bug me a just a bit. So this year I worked even harder to see if I could find a man to play the part who wouldn’t be so easy to guess. I think I have him this time. But all the clues, taken together, will help you discover his true identity. And one clue in particular is very telling. But I won’t tell you which clue that is. Here are all 10 clues:
King Jace XXII
1 – Shares his name with a famous person. 2 – Works with water. 3 – Likes to swim. 4 – Has a unique quality which sets him apart from previous King Jaces. 5 – Will tumble for ya. 6 – Knows how to play ball. 7 – Hates fried foods. 8 – Loves seafood and ice cream. (not together) 9 – Hides in plain sight. 10 – Holds a Master’s Degree.
Residents who think they know the true identity of King Jace XXII are encouraged to join in the King Jace Quest. Simply place a dollar bill in one of the specially printed King Jace Quest envelopes and fill out the front with your contact information and your guess. Envelopes are available at the offices of The Call, 75 Main Street, and both Woonsocket radio stations…………WNRI, 786 Diamond Hill Road, and WOON, 985 Park Avenue, all during regular business hours. Envelopes will also be available at the Mardi Gras Ball Saturday, Feb. 6.
• Today is Groundhog Day. Sometimes it seems the same thing happens over and over every day. Nothing changes.
• I recently returned from a trip which took me to a number of small island nations. Vacations are wonderful because they can give you a “time-out” from daily cares and worries and restore a fresh perspective on life in general. This one was no exception. After suffering the usual air and sea travel indignities in the name of U.S. national security to get there, our group enjoyed a truly relaxing atmosphere from locals who clearly worked very hard plying the tourist trade in a most sincere and professional manner. I really enjoyed myself. It’s nice to feel like somebody “special” for a little while. But then reality steps in.
Our last of five ports of call was our first under the U.S. flag, St. Croix, of the U.S. Virgin Islands. Walking into the tiny port town, I was immediately reminded that our country is “at war.” Security, which was treated with a gentle kindness in the nations we had just left, was now in disturbingly clear evidence with heavily-armed police officers lumbering around casting a suspicious eye on passersby. These people were obviously not in a friendly mood. I don’t blame them, either. How could they be in a friendly mood wearing bullet-proof body armor and a fully-stocked weapons belt in the intense island heat?
It just struck me at that moment that it was only upon returning to my own beloved country that I would see this kind of display. The officers didn’t interact with us, but they were obvious and an unsettling reminder to this traveler of how life has truly changed for all Americans in the 21st century.
I do need to say before going any further that our port of final destination to fly back home, San Juan, Puerto Rico, was well and efficiently run, and though most of the officials still carried weapons, San Juan featured the most courteous and professional Customs and Border Patrol officers you could want. It’s always chaos when 2,500 passengers exit a ship at once into a terminal building to retrieve their pre-screened luggage and then try to carry it through customs to the ground transportation system. But in San Juan this fine day there were plenty of porters to offer assistance and a CBP staff in all the right places cheerfully pointing out the shortest lines to you to aid your exit and whisk you on your way.
Everywhere in the U.S. territories and the mainland were the guns and often also body armor. I was not alive during World War Two, so I never really saw the U.S. at war from a defensive aspect. During my lifetime, it’s been mostly the police actions of Korea and Vietnam or Desert Storm which, though in every way a war where the fighting was, didn’t affect the day to day lives of all citizens back home the way this “war on terrorism” is affecting us.
At first the “War on Terrorism” was viewed with the same skepticism as the “War on Drugs.” But no more, folks. A trip to other countries proves it is real and it must be respected.
• Today is Groundhog Day. Sometimes it seems the same thing happens over and over every day. Nothing changes. But that is only a momentary illusion. The world is changing every day and in very big ways. You just need to open your eyes to it.
Thanks for reading.