Well, the World Series didn’t go the way I hoped; the Dodgers got the trophy. But I will say that I am happy for Freddie Freeman, who certainly deserved the MVP award.
He not only had a tremendous postseason, he persevered through injuries and – more importantly – was at home with his family for a time during the regular season as his youngest son went through a major health crisis. It was wonderful to see the joy with which he played the game during the World Series and when you hit a home run in every single game you play in the Fall Classic, it has been a good year.
In other news, since the title of this column includes the word ‘potpourri’ I can really touch on a lot of bases. No pun intended.
My dad sent me a couple of newspapers recently, the paper I worked for back in New York. One featured a story about the publisher, Jim Poole (who was originally my editor and then purchased the newspaper during my tenure there) selling it, with plans to keep the local publication intact but also expand it to include a larger digital footprint. My old boss is staying on as a reporter and will continue to do many of the things he has done for years; cover town council meetings, high school sports, community events, take photos, etc., etc.
It was interesting to read the story and reminisce a bit about the years I spent working with Jim; back when we used film cameras and did our own developing and printing of photos in the darkroom. When Jim became publisher, he brought Patsy Nicosia aboard as editor; Patsy had worked for one of the other papers in the newspaper group we were all a part of and when he bought the paper and broke off from that group, he got her to come work for him. It was a good newsroom; we all worked well together and even though he was the publisher, Jim was also still writing stories and taking photos; you do it all at a small paper. Glad to know that selling the paper now doesn’t mean he’s just going to retire; I’m not sure he could just leave it all behind.
People still ask me about retirement but I tell them “Not yet.” Someday, but that day hasn’t arrived.
However, it was enjoyable – though it still felt a little strange – when my daughter, granddaughter and I went to the Oct. 30 Trunk or Treat event hosted at Escalon High School and I left my phone in the car. I was planning to just get a few general photos while we were there. I didn’t realize I’d left it behind until we were in the midst of the festivities; my daughter wouldn’t let me go back and get it.
At one of the many games set up, my granddaughter was enjoying the ring toss and the person running the game said how nice it was to see me just being a grandma, just enjoying spending some quality time with my granddaughter at a fun event without a camera or a notebook.
And then, there was Halloween itself, when I had the opportunity to go trick-or-treating with the family. My son-in-law got into character as Oscar the Grouch, my daughter was Abby and my granddaughter was Rosita; all from Sesame Street. Well, yours truly lagged on getting a costume so I didn’t get to be a part of the whole Sesame Street theme. I ended up being a rocket ship instead, which my granddaughter thought was pretty cool anyway.
“Mimi going to the moon?” she asked.
“Not today,” I told her.
Nope, just enjoying a little down to earth Halloween holiday.
Marg Jackson is editor of The Oakdale Leader, The Escalon Times and The Riverbank News. She may be reached at mjackson@oakdaleleader.com or by calling 209-847-3021.
