©Kirton News 2014

The Editors Letter

Well. That about wraps it up for another year. As said in November, I reckon many would like to see the back of 2014.

On a national scale, many in Scotland with the failed referendum. Those who have had loved ones in the Middle East who have been publicly butchered. Those on the African continent struggling with the Ebola crisis.

Many locally; with, only recently, the ram-raid at the Co-Op, and Mr. Wilson’s tragedy at his business premises on Willington Road. The lovely girls from the closing NatWest. And I must wish Merv Hayward God speed.

We will be losing Father Gary, perhaps not everyone’s ‘cup of sacrement’ but, I doubt if anyone wouldn’t recognize him as a colourful and persistent character. And one who will be sorely missed.

So Christmas looms large. Full of false sentiment, greed and over indulgence.

We’ll get up to our necks in credit card debt again to “boost the economy”; rant and rave with folks we don’t see from one years’ end to another and lose sleep over whether or not everyone has enough to eat.

But the waste we generate over eight days would keep Bob Geldof’s ‘African Pantry’ full until next mid-summer. If Bob Geldof could REALLY be bothered about things other than growing his own 32 million pound fortune! But I’m not bitter.

I have my own lovely family, most of whom will be gathered around the Festive Feast and enjoy a game of cards, trivial persuit or labarynth as we do - once a year.

Why does it take a pagan mid-winter festival to make us realise that we do really love each other, for a short time at least? And we can get on.

This year’s centenary of the start of the Great War with the legenday Christmas Football match should be highlighted over everything else. If any of you out there are conscious of that one incident you will know that it came about because ‘ordinary’ people just wanted to get on... with life. Their lives. And didn’t want to die tragic and pointless deaths for their ‘King and Country’. But (they and) we don’t get the choice.

I’m not sure what the answer is; but it needs to be debated. And debated by people who don’t have outside interests in stuff that makes life so hard. Arms manufacturers; oil producers; folks who run the world’s banks (who, constantly seem to let us down); folks at the top growing their fortunes but not giving stuff back like the Cadburys’ and Salts’ of the past.

Easy to say.... [perhaps] impossible to do. Why bother. No one takes notice.

Happy Easter

Sam x

Merry Christmas
to all in Kirton!

Gordon's
Adventure
concludes