Whenever I pen a new column, I glance at the calendar and without fail, I comment to myself on how fast time is flying by.
I feel like it was just yesterday when I said I’d hope July goes by very slowly and how I wanted to enjoy each and every day of it. Well, that was a big fail. It’s August and I barely remember July happening at all with the exception of the Fourth of July.
Now I have to hope August crawls by slowly, but I know that won’t happen either. I’ve been preparing articles for the official 2024 Tomato Festival Guide by the Times Leader Media Group over the past week for the festival to start on Aug. 15.
That sort of puts me in a time warp when you have to write and prepare ahead of time.
I know a lot of people are sort of over the heat and humidity and look forward to cooler temps with less humidity and I get it.
When the temperature gets into the 70s, it feels like autumn and I know what is in store right after that. I’m not quite ready for that just yet.
I probably should have been born at the equator instead of Pennsylvania.
Speaking of Pennsylvania, I have a feeling Gov. Shapiro will be chosen to be Kamala Harris’ vice president’s choice. Well, it’s either him or Arizona U.S. senator, Mark Kelly.
I like our governor and I’d hate to see him go, but he’s in a good place. He’s either going to be vice president at the White House or he’ll be back in the saddle as Pennsylvania governor to serve out the rest of his term.
With said, if he is chosen and Vice President Harris becomes President, Gov. Shapiro does not have to resign until January. PA Lt. Gov. Austin Davis would assume the governorship and a new Lt. Gov. would be the Senate President Pro Tempore.
It gets a bit stickier. Right now, the Senate Pro Tempore is Kim Ward. She is a Republican from Westmoreland County.
But, if the Democrats take control of the Senate after November Elections, the new Senate majority president pro tempore would become the new PA Lt. Gov.
Is everyone still following at this point on your scorecard?
My gut tells me VP Harris will choose Shapiro with Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly a second choice.
My main reasoning is, for as popular as Mark Kelly may be as a former astronaut, Harris would be looking to grab the 19 electoral votes over Arizona’s 11.
Another reason is geographical location with Kelly living too close to Harris’ home state of California.
Just like JFK picking LBJ for the southern vote, I believe Harris would choose Shapiro for the east coast vote.
But then again, what do I know? As I always profess, I’m not a political guru and at times, despise politics, but our governorship is at stake here and as I mentioned, I’m a fan of Gov. Shapiro and my selfish side wouldn’t like him to go.
I think Shapiro plays well on both sides of the aisle and for my money; we need that at the national level more than ever.
I’ve also said, I can’t wait until November comes just to get put all the political ads behind us. We are three months away and at least 50% or more of the TV ads are about the presidential election.
Getting back to it being August, the Pittston Tomato Festival is now less than two weeks away and coming up fast.
The official Tomato Festival Guide will be in your Sunday Dispatch next Sunday so keep an eye out for that — it’s your ultimate guide for everything related to the festival presented by the Times Leader Media Group.
The Greater Pittston Santa Squad (GPSS) is gearing up for the 2024 Christmas campaign. They will be fundraising via their golf tournament on Saturday, Sept. 7 at Wilkes-Barre Muni Golf Course. It’s the non-profit’s biggest fundraiser of the year.
GPSS relies on this money to pick up the slack from lack of toy donations so children in both the Pittston Area and Wyoming Area school districts.
On Thursday, Aug. 29, stop by The Red Mill in the evening to join in at the GPSS golf tournament mixer where all the raffle baskets will be on display to purchase raffle tickets. You do not need to be a golfer in order to win a basket.
On another golfing note, the Flying A Tournament took place this past Friday at Emanon Country Club, Falls.
This event has been taken place since 1962 and it was started by one of the founders, Jerry Zezza, Sr., who owned a Flying A service station at the corner of Exeter and Tunkhannock Avenues, West Pittston. Yes, that building used to be the Flying A garage.
The Zezza family has been instrumental since it’s inception and have been keeping the tournament alive all these years.
Quote of the Week
“There are three things you can do with your life: You can waste it, you can spend it, or you can invest it. The best use of your life is to invest it in something that will last longer than your time on Earth.” – Rick Warren
Thought of the Week
“I believe you make your day. You make your life. So much of it is all perception, and this is the form that I built for myself. I have to accept it and work within those compounds, and it’s up to me.” – Brad Pitt
Bumper Sticker
“Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears.” – Les Brown
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