Happy Halloween and Sadly The Run is Over!

I really appreciate anyone that voted for my nephew Heath in the Mascot Contest. Sadly, his run to the title ended in the Final 4. Our family, especially his Uncle Joe is very proud of him. Pretty amazing for a kid from little East Helena MT to make it that far. He is only a sophomore so maybe he can get another crack at it next year.

I have had a nice weekend. Friday I did my civic duty and voted at our Rec Center. That went smooth. Then later that morning one of Jennifer and I’s mentor, old boss and friend Dave Searle stopped in Mesquite for a visit on his way to the Phoenix area. We had hoped to get together with some other folks from the Butte Pickleball Club and play some Pickleball. Unfortunately Mother Nature had other ideas. We had some pretty heavy rains yesterday and again today and more forecasted for tomorrow. I think we maybe got close to our yearly total in yesterday’s storm.

We made the best of it and went to lunch. Then we went to the Casino’s and sat at the bar and did a little gambling and had a few beers and BS’d. Than we went out for Chinese food for dinner. Then we came back to the house and sat and BS’d for a couple of hours.

Dave was instrumental in getting Jennifer and I hired at Marathon. He came and interviewed us for our intern positions in Cody, WY. He and his wife Barb mentored us that summer. Then he was instrumental in getting us hired for our full time positions. We went to Lafayette, LA for a couple of years and the then Jennifer and I worked for Dave in Midland, TX. Once again Barb abd Dave looked out for us. Then we got transferred to Findlay OH. Once again Barb and Dave helped us with that as well, as they had lived there before they came to Midland. Our career paths crossed several times after that as well and they have been great friends over the years. They moved back to Butte in 2024 and I was lucky enough to catch up with them for dinner this summer. Barb did not make the trip with Dave, she will be flying down to Phoenix with Dave after Christmas. Anyway Dave and I had a enjoyable day and evening catching up and reliving the good old days.

I should also mention that Dave’s and my family (on my Dad’s side) go way back. Dave’s Aunt and Uncle were one of our neighbors up in Elk Park. So we also share a few Elk Park stories as well. His Aunt and Uncle were in my grandparents age group so that is how far back I am talking about. His uncle was Julius Ceasar Vanina (yes that was his real name). We all called him by Caesar.

Dave left early this morning to beat the traffic and rainy weather forecasted. I then went down and helped work our Rotary Halloween Book Sale, that was fun. We had several local authors come to this sale. The rainy weather put a little damper on the day, but we still had pretty good traffic and sold a fair number of books. My costume was wearing a crazy golf shirt that I have, it is a bunch of $100 bills and I put a name tag on it that said Politician. So I was the scariest guy in the room!

I came home and watched some College football. I caught the last couple of minutes of the Montana Grizzly game. I also reflected on past Halloweens. Of course it is quite different here as we don’t get any trick or treaters being in a 55+ community. When we did live in neighborhoods where we got kids. Jennifer left me with the duty of handing out the candy. I would usually set up with a healthy adult beverage and give out the candy. I always enjoyed seeing the kids in their costumes. I enjoyed the real little kids, especially those where it was their first Halloween. Some of the were so cute. I always got a chuckle out of the kids that would want to pick through my bowl picking out the candy they liked vs the candy they did not like. Jennifer would pop in and out and refill my bowl when it was getting low.

Tonight I poured myself a healthy adult beverage and remembered those days ( I will admit I got a little teary) as I watched the Miami vs North Carolina football game. Jennifer’s cousin Bobby Petrino is the offensive coordinator for North Carolina. They ended coming up a little short, but they gave Miami who is the number 1 rated team a scare.

Well I better get ready to turn my clocks back and get ready to face tomorrow. I just might pour myself another drink, and maybe watch a movie. It is Halloween so I mise well give myself a treat since I don’t have any candy in the house!