Today was John Lennon's birthday. Had he lived he would have been sixty-five years old. Yeah, Lennon was a jerk. But he had a great sense of melody and wrote some wonderful songs. It was his vision that originally created the Beatles. His songwriting partner, Paul McCartney, continues to be a vital, rocking creative force and I'm sure that had he not been cut down at age 40, Lennon would be the same today.
This past week, I attended the Midwest Regional Leadership Conference of the Boys and Girls Club of America. (I'm board vice president of the Boys and Girls Club of Clermont County.) The Club movement is definitely worthy of your involvement and support. They make a difference in the lives of young people. Wherever there are clubs in this country--in cities, small towns, or rural areas, youth crime goes down, youth crime victimization goes down, and youth pregnancies decrease and kids perform better in school, complete their educations more, attend and complete college more, and stay out of trouble more.
The keynote speaker for our conference was former Dodger and Padre great, Steve Garvey. For ten years, Garvey played for the Dodgers, back when they were in the same National League division as my beloved Cincinnati Reds. For eight of the ten years of the 1970s, either the Reds or the Dodgers won the divisional title and Garvey, with his lifetime .296 average was always in the thick of things. Before he spoke, I approached him at the table where he was seated by himself, awaiting the beginning of the luncheon. "I just had to introduce myself to the guy who made my life miserable as a Reds fan," I told him. Garvey stood and graciously spoke with me for about five minutes. In his speech and in his interactions with people later, Garvey was absolutely a class act.
Yes, I'm disappointed tonight that my Buckeyes were unable to beat Penn State's Nittany Lions last night! The defenses of both teams were spectacular.
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