Summer Vacation

Dear Members and Constituents,

It’s official. Summer is here and you know what that means.

• Record-breaking heat (yes, today is one of those days slated to approach the high-water mark)
• Action verbs (hiking, riding, climbing, camping, swimming, rafting, paintballing)
• Cars crashing into deer, then bursting into flames (until this morning’s news, I had not thought of deer as highly flammable – could that be the cause of so many brush fires?)
• Kids wondering what to do (dad, I’m bored… -preferred intonation involves the use of long, drawn-out vowel sounds followed by a pout)

I’d like to dwell on this last item a little longer. Why is it not standard practice for adults to take the entire summer off? All through our formative years we are conditioned to anticipate two and a half months of leisure. Then, by the time we finally know what to do with the time, we get cut-off. Hardly seems fair. Granted, I realize that from a practical perspective, having everyone take the summer off would involve food shortages, utility outages and security lapses (not to mention unpaid mortgages). Highly inconvenient. Still, there are probably less disruptive ways to implement such a practice (how about half of us take every other summer off?). Fortunately, it is not my task to solve this problem for society, only for myself. I will therefore be out-of-office the next four Fridays. In my absence, Ed Stocker has agreed to send-out a donut reminder on Friday mornings and ensure no empty donut boxes are left in my office at the end of the day. I, for my part, will be suffering donut withdrawal in Cuenca, Ecuador (a place with no donut shops).

Of course, today none of us need suffer from donut withdrawal today. Nelson Bostrom (donut boy) makes his club debut with four dozen LaMar’s specimens. Come on down and celebrate Summer’s arrival with a deliciously sweet treat. It will take you away to that special place (emotionally, that is).

Happy Friday!

Baskets, Goals and Donuts

Dear members and constituents,
How about them LA Lakers? You Boston fans will have to forgive me, but that was some clutch play. It seems appropriate one of the lowest scoring finals in NBA history would come during the World Cup. Granted, more points were probably scored than in your average Soccer tournament, still, it was a defensive battle (and some dreadful offense). It also seems appropriate, as we begin the seventh year of the Friday Donut Club, it took seven games to finish the final series. Let's hope the USA team (playing right now) gets to play seven games in the World Cup (which would put them in the final game). They’re down 1-0 to Slovenia, but it could still happen. Not a believer?, ask Spain whether they ever expected to loose to Switzerland.

Need more proof you can expect the unexpected? Ask Bryce Christensen (donut boy). After months of alternating between LaMar’s and Krispy Kreme, the perpetual staples of our Friday diet, he decided to go with Winchell’s. I bet it’s not what you expected. So, peel yourself off of the ESPN webcast (if you can), grab your Vuvuzela and come score a donut. You could probably use the exercise.
Happy Friday!

Do-the-nut math

Dear members and constituents
Do numbers hold special meanings, or are they just a vessel to convey quantities? Throughout history, various cultures have attributed different significance to certain numbers. On this, the sixth anniversary of the Friday Donut Club, it occurs to me the number six has gotten a bad rap… probably stemming from the use of 666 as the number of the beast. But six is not 666. Six is a human number. Let me explain. If you add three, the number for the divine (the Trinity, the cardinal virtues) to four, the number of the earth (the four elements, the cardinal points), you have seven, the complete number (hence, It's lucky connotation). If you are one shy of seven, you're incomplete, in other words, human. So, how did 666 become the number of the beast? Simple really, six repeated three times is man trying to be God. But six by itself is not bad at all, in fact, it's great!

So when you see the number 6 emblazoned on half the four dozen donuts here today, don't freak out. It's not an exercise in the demonic; it's just Andrea Pierantozzi (donut girl) going the extra mile to celebrate our sixth anniversary. Of course you should certainly avoid having three (insert evil laugh)

Happy anniversary and happy Friday!

Happy Holidays!

Dear Members and Constituents,
This week we celebrate a very special day. A day of remembrance. A day to appreciate what we have. In honor of this high holiday, I’ve prepared an acrostic as my humble way of honoring this most important of days.

Many years ago
Exhausted from the toils of war
Miserable and downhearted
Over the horizon came a ray of hope
Rising from the ashes
Inspiring everyone
Amazing generosity
Lovely gift to share

Doughnuts fried in soldiers’ helmets
Appeared thanks to the Salvation Army Ladies’ Auxiliary
Years have passed, but still we remember

By now you surely have guessed the holiday in question. So, let me be the first to wish you a happy National Donut Day! This holiday, held the first Friday of June each year, was founded by the Chicago Salvation Army in 1938 to honor the women who served donuts to soldiers in World War I. Now, if you don’t have a Dunkin’ Donuts nearby (so as to have one of their donuts for free), don’t despair. Both LaMar’s and Krispy Kreme have free donut offers to honor the day as well. Better yet, come on down to my desk and celebrate in high fashion. Matt Hawthorne (donut boy) delights us with four dozen Krispy Kremes.

Happy Friday!
P.S. a big thank you to Kelly for bringing this high holiday to my attention this year.