Today's Train of Thought- Frosty the Flagman; Dec 24, 2010

What is it about the unassuming western Michigan shortline Marquette Rail that seems to draw photographers to it? Especially in the wintertime.....

For the last few years, Marquette rail has operated an annual Santa Train over its line making stops in Manistee, Sparta, Comstock Park and Baldwin among other towns. The train will stop with Santa on board to help distribute candy and even Christmas trees to children and a few families along the line.

Here, railpictures.net contributor John Ryan caught the Santa Train- powered by GP38-2 #2635- approaching a snowman in the tiny village of Fountain, MI on the night of Dec. 11th 2010 after the sunset hours.

If Frosty the Flagman could talk, I'm sure he'd be saying 'Merry Christmas!'

Contest reminder- extra day given to enter

Just a reminder that tomorrow is the last day to enter the big Christmas contest . I ask that you please only enter if you have honestly and faithfully followed the rules of the contest. The winner will then be announced on DEC 26th. I was going to announce the winner on Christmas but we will be leaving tonight and won't be back until late Christmas day and I will not have computer access during that time SO I'll give everyone an extra day to enter. I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and be safe in your travels!

The Fire Inside is So Delightful.....

I'll be going away for Christmastime- and while unlike last year, I have my own laptop- I suspect the availability of connections to the web will be something of an issue out in the.

Before I ship off, I thought I'd let NANESB! visitors savor some sweet vintage eye candy. While the late, great Gil Elvgren has traditionally been my go-to guy in that department, I thought this undated Freeman Elliot work entitled 'I Hope Santa Won't Overlook These' was fitting for the season.

Elliot was active with Brown and Bigelow in the early 1950s- the same Minneapolis-based firm that also has works from Gil Elvgren, Norman Rockwell and Fredrick Remington in their company catalogue.

Boston's Christmas Tree Arrives from Nova Scotia

I had been pretty busy the last couple of weeks and was starting to feel pretty 'humbug' before I realized that I had completely forgotten about Boston's Christmas Tree arriving from Nova Scotia this month.

For a little background on this tradition between the province of Nova Scotia and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, click here.

The tradition was dormant for several years before being revived by the province and a local association of Christmas Tree growers in 1971.

For 2010, the honors went to a 50ft tall white spruce from the property of Gary Misner of North Alton, NS. Concerned the tree could topple onto his house, Misner offered the tree to Nova Scotia for exactly such an occasion.

BU Daily Free Press

The tree was lit in a ceremony with a concert and fireworks on the night of December 2nd at the Boston Common.

The Contest is no joke and I am dead serious about it!

It has come to my attention from 2 "kindly worded" emails that I received that apparently they think my contest is a feeble attempt at humor and the prizes are a joke and that no one would be willing to give that much. Here's the funny part.....the joke's on them. This contest is a very serious contest. It's about giving to others who don't have. Instead of wasting $85.00 on a box of cards feeding your card habit why not take into consideration what $85.00 could get someone who is perhaps homeless or living in a shelter due to circumstances beyond their control. That lady in the shelter could have been a victim of abuse and has nowhere else to go. That family of four could've had a fire and lost everything. We don't know all of the stories but they're there for a reason. Some people need blood transfusions and blood supplies are low. Blood donors are badly needed. What about the mother and father of a family that lost their jobs and have not been able to find employment. There are children who will not be getting presents on Christmas Day due to things beyond their control. There are families who will go without a meal on Christmas Day. The point of the contest is to make the holiday good for someone who may not have it so good and to give some a little bit of comfort or happiness in a difficult time. I take this contest very serious and I'll tell you why in the short form. I'm going to expose a little bit of my soul:

On my 10th birthday my parents divorced and my Father chose to leave me out of his life. He paid hardly anything in child support and chose to leave at the worse of times. So I had lived with my mother who had Cancer at the time and I chose to help her since my Father wouldn't. My mother could not work a full time job due to her illness. I know what it's like seeing the opening up of Christmas gifts of others and yet knowing it was ok that my mother did not get me anything because she couldn't and I understood but yet she felt so horrible about it. Between Mom going back and forth for chemo treatments and holding my mother's head in my hands at time because she was puking so much I kind of never got to do most things kid did. I had to be an adult at a young age. My mother is a cancer survivor but she is also Diabetic. She has lost her right leg from the knee down due to infection and just recently had half of her right middle finger removed due to infection settling into the bone. This is another reason why I have listed as giving a donation to Cancer Research or Diabetes research.
I know what it's like to be at the bottom of the barrel. I know what it's like to have nothing. Am I angry? No. Am I sad? Yes. I'm sad because someone would think that giving to someone else would be a joke. Better yet here's my thought:

To Randy & Glenn P. who so kindly wrote me: I'd be willing to bet that you two gentlemen are pack searchers. I'd be willing to bet that you would probably take a 1987 Donruss Greg Maddux rookie and sell it on Craigslist for 100.00 gem mint status. I'd be willing to bet that you when you were kids you stole money from your Mom's purse. I'd also be willing to bet that you don't wash your hands after peeing or wiping.....EVER. I'd be willing to bet that you two are the kind of idiots who praise Beckett and shun EBAY values. I'd be willing to bet that once santa finds out your address you're gonna get more than lumps of coal.

So yes the contest is very real and it is true to my heart.

Tis the Season to be GIVING AWAY!

It's giveaway time here on "Enough Already". This contest is a special contest. It will require a little work on your part and a little thing called "Honesty and integrity" and little thing called "consideration of others". In order to sign up for this contest you must follow these rules that I have layed out before you-NO EXCUSES:

CONTEST RULES

1. Leave your first name and a comment of any type promoting your blogsite or whatever you feel like letting the world know.

2. Tell your friends and other bloggers about the contest and mention it on your blog.

3. Please pick and do any one of the following letter choices to be entered into the contest:
A. Take 15 canned goods to a food/homeless shelter and donate them.
B. Take 15 canned goods and donate them to a church's pantry for people in need.
C. Take 15 good toys and donate them to the Toys for Tots program.
D. Take 10 good warm wearable coats and donate them to a shelter.
E. Take 30 good presentable wearable clothing items to a shelter.
F. Take 15 Baked good items and Donate them to a food/homeless shelter.
G. Make a donation to the American Diabetes Association
H. Make a donation to the American Cancer Society
I. Donate a pint of Blood or make a donation to the American Red Cross
Here's where it can get fun with a Christmas Bonus: If you do one of these events and include a photo of you doing the event you chose to do you will then be entered for a secret surprise Christmas Bonus prize. If you have a pic then please contact me first and I will send you my email/contact info and then you'll be entered for the Christmas Bonus.

The giveaway prize package will consist of a surprise autographed official mbl baseball player (hint: member of the 500 HR club -no not Gary Sheffield as I will say that much-lol) and 2 other Hall of Fame autographed 8x10 pictures. (HINT): One player is the "most linkable" player in all of baseball history! (HINT 2): Both players are on the 100 Greatest Players of Baseball by The Sporting News. Also included is a package of 100+ varieties of refractor cards of various baseball and football stars and rookies. HOT rookie cards from Football and Baseball. A special Tim Tebow Topps Chrome rookie refractor card and a few other Christmas surprises (we're not telling you everything that's included cause it's CHRISTMAS for pete's sake! As Rod could tell you as he was my last contest winner, here at Enough Already- we like to give generously and surprisingly! Dave from First and Goal can attest to this as well! So can Marie from her blog! By the way...the Prize package....it will be shipped UPS.

Things to remember:
1. Follow the rules of the contest to be officially entered!
2. Deadline for Entry is December 24, 2010 @ 11:59pm
3. Contestants will be listed in no particular order and Random.org will select the winner.
4. Contest winner will be drawn on the afternoon of Christmas Day.

We enjoy giving things away here at "Enough Already". With a little help from you and me let's give to those who need a helping hand.

It would be nice if Reps from the card companies (UD, Topps, Panini) would take place in the card contest by donating additional prizes or matching to the charities!