Category Archives: Holidays

Independence Day Fireworks courtesy of Patrick Henry

Independence Day fireworks are a staple of our 4th of July celebrations.

The real *fireworks* started with the founders of our country, the ‘radicals’ of the 1770s American Revolution. Patrick Henry was among the most radical. Henry did *not* approve of the United States Constitution, because he found it too restrictive. That view led to the addition of the Bill of Rights.

From Apple Podcasts: In honor of Independence Day, Mike Rowe chews up the scenery with a recitation of what may be the most important speech ever delivered, by Patrick Henry, the man historians call “The Forgotten Founder.”

Many of you may know Mike Rowe as the host of Dirty Jobs. I was surprised to learn more about him.

Michael Gregory Rowe is an American television host, narrator, and former opera singer. He is known for his work on the Discovery Channel series Dirty Jobs and the series Somebody’s Gotta Do It originally developed for CNN. Wikipedia

The podcast episode above is episode 162 of The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe. Rowe possesses a great voice and a knack for narration. He reminds one of the late, great Paul Harvey.

Fireworks are a great way to celebrate the ‘fireworks’ of speeches like the one Patrick Henry gave, narrated in the podcast we’re sharing. His speech, given ad hoc, ended in one of the most well-known phrases in American history, just seven words: Give me liberty or give me death.

We wish everyone a happy, healthy, fine Independence Day weekend, and hope you and yours get to enjoy some extra-fine Independence Day fireworks.

Regards,
Keith and Your Team at OnYourMark, LLC

p.s.: Learn about Mike Rowe’s mikeroweWORKS Foundation at https://www.mikeroweworks.org/about/

Thanks to Mark Mullarky of Great Lakes Tech Services for the 4th of July post suggestion, and to Gerard I. “Jerry” Schritz of Intelegist, LLC, for turning me on to ‘Dirty Jobs’ a while back.

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Memorial Day 2021 – Please Remember & Honor

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Happy Memorial Day 2021.

A reminder – Memorial Day honors those who died while serving in our military. Veteran’s Day honors all veterans. Armed Forces Day honors those presently serving.

Our family will garden and barbecue on Memorial Day Weekend. That includes planting a fresh flat of annuals around the base of the flagpole in our front yard, and adding another solar light to the top of the flagpole. I’ll be thinking of my great uncle, Harold Lloyd, who was killed in battle in WWI – “the war to end all wars.”

Waukesha has an event at Frame Park: Memorial Day Observations | Waukesha, WI (waukesha-wi.gov) featuring the Moving Wall, a half-size replica of the Vietnam Wall in Washington DC.

If you’re busy enjoying the holiday and can’t make one of these events, that’s ok. It’s ok to have fun! Those we honor on Memorial Day gave their lives serving America and defending our freedoms and way of life. Spending time with friends and family on a beautiful Spring day is part of that. Just take some time on Monday to think of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice and maybe lift a glass in their honor.

Have a great Memorial Day 2021 weekend!

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Thank you…

Thanks to Mark Mullarky of www.GreatLakesTS.com for his original post of this heartfelt observation for Memorial Day 2021. Mark plans to spend Saturday and Sunday at Great Lakes Dragaway with the Nostalgia Super Stock club. He is a car-less member. If you’re curious what it’s about, visit NostalgiaSuperStock.com. On Monday, Mark and his wife, Anne, will be at their local American Legion’s Memorial Day service to pay their respects. They are proud parents of an active duty service member. It is worth noting that Mark and Anne have always taken time to honor and remember service members, even well before their son entered the military. We join Mark and Anne in encouraging everyone to attend one of these observances in their community – his Legion does a great job. Search for a local event by you, perhaps adding your community to the search, for an extra-fine Memorial Day 2021.

Happy New Year 2021! Great to put 2020 in hindsight!

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Happy New Year 2021, everyone!

The expression “we all have 2020 hindsight” is a favorite since childhood. Now it’s great to say “we all have 2020 in hindsight.”

To paraphrase our friend Paul Haut, at W. Haut Specialty Co., between the virus pandemic, the election, the fires out west, the droughts and flooding elsewhere, the racial turmoil and civil unrest, the economy… It is, indeed, good to have 2020 in hindsight.

This is a time for reflections on the year passing, and good wishes and goal-setting for the New Year approaching.

Thankfully, technology kept many of us in contact even when human contact wasn’t possible. Many businesses pivoted, in some cases leaping forward a decade or two in a single year. Looking further for silver linings, we got to hear and see a bit of life without so much traffic and general busyness.

Personally, I was gratified by the conduct of my family during times of crisis and strain. Professionally, it was gratifying to be able to help so many via internet technology that helps us maintain contact when human contact was constrained.

Now’s a great time to reassess what is important to us. We tend to take things for granted when we’re all healthy in the status quo. When the norms shift seismically, as they did in 2020, it’s a good time to take stock and to plan the lives we want.

Reading has always been one of my mainstays, personally and professionally. My personal annual goal of reading/listening to 50 books a year was easily attained in 2020. I read for knowledge and understanding. I believe we could all use more knowledge, and more understanding. I’ve found myself stocking up on books to last a lifetime in the last couple of months – thousands of them. Now I hope to write more of what I learn to share knowledge and understanding I’ve gained with others.

Goals are great when they’re common goals. I will do my best to establish goals with the people I work with and the people we serve, as well as with friends and family – all of whom we hope to see much more often, in person and virtually, in 2021.

We thank everyone who made 2020 bearable, even enjoyable. We extend our best wishes for a Happy New Year, too.

Tomorrow is the first page of a blank 365-page book. Write a good one! Happy New Year 2021!

Regards,
Keith Klein
OnYourMark, LLC

This post first appeared at https://www.onyourmark.com/happy-new-year-2021/

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Merry Christmas 2020

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Merry Christmas 2020

Dear Friends,

It’s December, and the end of the year cannot come soon enough. 2020 definitely has been a year that we won’t forget. The pandemic, the election, the stock market, social unrest, all in one year. Masks… I am tired of wearing a mask. My blood pressure is getting higher just by talking about it. Yet it’s Christmas, a season of celebration, time to think about the birth of our Savior and King. Our world may seem to be falling apart, but be assured that because of the love of our God, and the birth of His Son Jesus, through faith, things will be alright. Psalm 46: says to “Be still and know that I am God.” In other words, Relax, God is in control. One way or another He has promised to take care of us.

Our Christmas wishes we send to you. To our friends we thank you for your friendship; to our customers, we thank you for your business; and to our vendors we thank you for your support and knowledge. We value our relationships with all, and pray for peace, prosperity, and harmony in the upcoming year.

Merry Christmas 2020 from all of us at OnYourMark, LLC

Sincerely,

Keith Klein & the Team at OnYourMark

Thanks to our friends at W. Haut Specialty Company for posting this originally, and sharing it with us – to share with you.

A few more thoughts about a Merry Christmas 2020

We thought we’d share some good reading with you. Here are a few articles from The Atlantic Monthly – in my opinion, the most well-written magazine I’ve known for over forty years:

Have Yourself a Million Little Christmases

Christmas will look a little different this year, but everyone is still jonesing for a tree all their own.

This is a timely article about vendors running out of Christmas Trees this year.

Don’t Isolate Yourself This Holiday Season

The pandemic makes it dangerous to gather in person, but for the sake of your well-being, find connection however you can.

“How to Build a Life” is a biweekly column by Arthur Brooks, tackling questions of meaning and happiness.

Measuring Your Happiness Can Help Improve It

Are you a Mad Scientist, a Cheerleader, a Sober Judge, or a Poet?

Another good article from “How to Build a Life” by Arthur Brooks.

To quote the tales of Lake Wobegon (pronounced Woe Be Gone) ‘signature’, “Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.” And Merry Christmas to you and yours.

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Happy Veterans Day!

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For those who’ve served, “Happy Veterans Day!”

Some vets bristle a bit when people thank them for their service on
Memorial Day, because that’s not what the day is for.
However, that’s exactly what Veterans Day is for.

From the US Department of Defense:

“Veterans Day is NOT the Same as Memorial Day.

A lot of Americans get this confused, and we’ll be honest — it can be a little annoying to all of the living veterans out there. Memorial Day is a time to remember those who gave their lives for our country, particularly in battle or from wounds they suffered in battle. Veterans Day honors all of those who have served the country in war or peace — dead or alive — although it’s largely intended to thank living veterans for their sacrifices.”

So when you see a vet, be sure to say thank you, or welcome home.

I’ve written about the history of Veterans Day before, so how about something fun? Take a quiz about Veterans Day here: https://www.defense.gov/Engage/Quiz/Article/1988530/test-your-veterans-day-knowledge/

Unlike Facebook quizzes, it’s NOT full of click-bait.

Happy Veterans Day to all the vets out there – and thank you!

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Thanks to our friend and vendor, Mark Mullarky of Mullarky Business Systems for posting this originally, and sharing it with us – to share with you.