Corrections or additions?
This article by Richard K. Rein was prepared for the December 18, 2002 edition of U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights reserved.
On `The Calendar’
It’s too early to be thinking about next year, I
realize,
but I have been forced to by the need to edit U.S. 1’s annual wall
calendar, coming to your office with the delivery of this issue of
U.S. 1.
It’s not even New Year’s and the decision-making process about what
to do on that festive eve has not even begun. My boys — ages 10
and 8 (11 and 9 early in the new year, though it’s way too early to
think about that) and I will make that countdown together this year
and we need to plan a celebration that will please us all (or at least
two out of three).
And it’s not even Christmas. We at Bachelors III haven’t put up a
tree yet — nor have we even decided whether we are going to have
a dead tree or a live tree. That will be a big decision for my boys
and me.
And of course after the installation of the tree — only after
that — I will begin considering my Christmas shopping. It’s too
early to make a list, of course, and in any case I will also need
to decide when to do the shopping. I might not wait until the last
minute — in fact, Monday, December 23, looks like a good time
to do the shopping. Then if I need to I can follow up on December
24.
Of course I will also check the sign at CVS Pharmacy and see how late
it is open on Christmas Eve. That’s last minute and I can’t tell you
how many times I have marked off my gift list with items plucked from
a half-empty shelf just before closing time December 24 at the
pharmacy.
But despite all the water that still has to flow under the bridge
of the year 2002, I have been dragged forward into the year 2003.
It’s that U.S. 1 wall calendar, coming to your office this week, and
for the past three or four weeks we at U.S. 1 have been plowing
through
our events database, figuring out which ones to list in the tiny
squares
to which each day is reduced.
We ended up listing more than 1,100 separate events, and those were
selected from more than twice that number already listed in our events
database. No, I cannot yet tell you whether our tree will be dead
or alive, but I can tell you quite a bit about the year 2003.
If you are a calendar editor your eyes light up at Friday, February
14, not because it’s Valentine’s Day but because there are 16 events
vying for the four remaining spaces in that day’s block. Saturday,
March 8, is a challenge: 17 events vying for five spaces — from
"The Ugly Duckling" at Kelsey Theater to "Carmen"
at Westminster Choir College to "The Countess" at
Off-Broadstreet.
As always the last weekend in April is a challenge, with
Communiversity,
the New Jersey Folk Festival, and Lambertville Shad Festival all vying
for a place on the calendar.
And now consider Monday, May 19 — an ordinary day in most people’s
calendars. Not if you are a golfer. No fewer than four charity golf
outings are scheduled that day: the Foundation Fighting Blindness,
New Jersey Technology Council, Eden Institute, and the Diabetes
Association.
It’s a good thing the Stuart School scheduled its golf tournament
the Monday before, and the Princeton Y two Mondays later, and the
Princeton Chamber three Mondays later.
Last year at this time I was telling anyone who would listen that
I was excited about the arrival of 2002, since I was sure that it
was going to be a better year than 2001. But apart from the fact that
we have kept the terrorists at bay (and it is obviously too early
to make that claim for the entire year), the year 2002 otherwise has
not seemed any better than 2001.
The best thing about 2003 might turn out to be that the holidays fall
on convenient days. Fourth of July is on a Friday this year —
perfect since there is no question about which day offices will be
closed.
Rosh Hashanah begins at sunset on a Friday and Yom Kippur begins at
sunset on a Sunday. That’s good news because lots of calendars list
the Jewish holidays on the following day — causing organizations
to schedule events the night before and only later realize that their
Jewish constituents cannot attend. In 2003, as far as we know, only
the Catholic Charities Guardian Angels dinner is scheduled opposite
the first night of Rosh Hashanah on September 26 and nothing at all
opposite Yom Kippur on October 5.
As for Christmas and New Year’s, 2002, is — or will be — a
scheduling disaster. Those holidays on a Wednesday causes all of us
to pause. If we want to shut our businesses down for five straight
days, we can give everyone the Thursday and Friday off after the
holiday.
If we want to be modest in our approach we can give just one extra
day, but which should it be — the Tuesday or the Thursday?
The dilemma is solved in 2003 with the holiday falling on a Thursday
— let’s all close down Friday as well and have consecutive
four-day
weekends to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. And
happy holidays of all sorts is what I will be wishing all of you —
but not now. It’s too early for that.
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— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
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