Playing with plates.....

I do get a kick out of license plates on cars that are "personalized". I know Connecticut does have some, but it seems to me (personal opinion) Maine and other states sure do a lot more. Here are a couple I come across in recent months.....

The "Riley" plate above, from Connecticut, seems like a natural for around these parts.
 I saw in in Maine. I think there is money to be made with the personalization plates for the states. Perhaps Connecticut's rates are too high. Maybe if they were lower, more folks would do the plates, and help with a few sheckles for the state till. I think New Hampshire allows more letters as well, allowing for more choices.

 Anybody got any connections to the state to suggest this??

country classic

We found ourselves in near-bye Stockbridge, Mass., on our way to a wedding reception this past Sunday evening.  Stockbridge to me has always been about four different things: The town you went thru to get to the Lion's Gate at Tanglewood. The town you went thru to get to the Mass Pike. The town from Alice's Restaurant Massacree. And the town with The Red Lion Inn and all the other storefronts found in Norman Rockwell's famous Main Street Christmas Scene, of which we have a print over our mantle.

On Sunday, we had time to kill before the reception (the wedding was in July in Utah) so we stopped and I had my camera in hand, looking for a shot that meant something to me. Below you see my choice of what I captured that day. The christmas tree in the upstairs window is just, well, the glue of the whole scene that Rockwell portrayed in his art.

Stockbridge is user-friendly. I need to visit again sometime soon, and take a look around, for there is much to see. We went to the new Rockwell museum a few years back. Need to go there again too....So much to do. So little time.

Sledding anyone?

Sure would have been easier last week. What a difference a week makes! Last week, it was howling and snowing and just goin' it big time about now. Today. Forty-eight degrees. Sprinkles early. Sunny mid-day. Grey the rest of the afternoon. Snowbanks disappearing everywhere. Typical southern New England weather. Can't seem to decide what to do.....

Sharon Person of The Year---2010

I thought a few weeks back about naming a person or persons whom I felt made a difference in Sharon this past year. It could have been as a coach, or as a nurse, or a doctor maybe. Perhaps as a bus driver or town road crew employee. I had numerous "possibles", and isn't that the great thing about our town? That many people do make a difference to ALL of our lives. It speaks volumes, that we all should be proud of.


Enough delay. To my pick. This year, my pick for Person of the Year in Sharon is


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none other than Chris Choe, owner and the man behind The Sharon Farm Market! Chris and his wife Annie, and their children came to Sharon, saw an opportunity, saw the need, came up with a plan and step by step they put together an incredible FRESH, CLEAN and FRIENDLY place to shop. They moved from Long Island, and have just been so welcomed into the community. Chris oversaw the whole transition from a closed, worn-out and ugly storefront to the extremely active place we have today. They started their renovation in March and said they thought they would be open by Memorial Day. Then late June. Then by the 4th of July. But the more they dug into the former market, the larger their renovation nightmare increased. Next to nothing was fixable, and things that were promised to work, didn't. It was enough to have crushed many a strong businessman. But Chris just kept digging in, and kept his "eye on the prize". He had a vision, and he wasn't blinking. October 4th, the wait was over. The "Soon" we were all waiting for finally got here. The SFM opened for business! And what business they did! And that was just their "soft" opening. Two weeks later they did their Grand Opening..........Holy Smokes! It was amazing the way people turned out. And continue to turn out to this day!


SFM has been off and running for almost two full months and all of Sharon, for the most part is smiling. We have a store. And it's also become a destination store too, with shoppers coming from all directions and miles away. And those shoppers are breathing new life into other businesses here in Sharon. My business has increased, and the pharmacy, and Becky's are all seeing new customers, for the first time in years!


So, for his vision, his commitment, and his perseverance, and for all the other things that he is plain and simple, just doing right, I salute Chris Choe. He is my Person of the Year for Sharon! Great job Chris, and continued success to you and all the gang at Sharon Farm Market!