Ying to the Yang

Greetings from the end of the rainbow. Hope you all had fun St. Patty's Day celebrations. No Pot 'o' Gold from me but plenty to report on the two community events that happened on Saturday. I'm a little upset though. I took pictures at the two events but I can't find the cable thingamajig that plugs into my camera/phone and then plugs into the computer. And they don't even sell that camera here in the USofA so a replacement USB thingamajig is going to be hard to find (serves me right for trying to be an elitist and purchasing a camera in Argentina). Now that I think of it, I could probably go to CVS or some other place with the memory card and pull the pics from there. But I digress.

I first headed out to the MBVEC Chinese Auction/Fundraiser with a guest to the area. I knew I was going to have a good time there when my stingy behind did not have to pay the $5.00 admission because I was part of "the press". People, if I knew I was going to get these amazing perks I would have pretended to be part of the press a long time ago. They gave out raffle tickets when you paid and were selling those ERTH stickers I had mentioned before. Some nice tables were set up with pastries and other things (I can't really tell through the little window on my camera exactly what it is). There was also a stock car parked outside the center. We first met up with Paul Breschard who just seems like a really cool person. He's a retired teacher and seems to me like the type of teacher who would say hello to you in the hallway even though he knows you skipped his class earlier. P Breedy introduced us to the rest of his crew Steve and Chris (I forget their last names because it was way too early for me and I was still tired but if you're reading this and know who I'm talking about do tell in the comments section) and this other big guy who looks like he would be undefeated in the Man v. Bear Wrestling Federation.

They're all pretty nice individuals, you can tell they're committed to the village incorporation of Mastic Beach and that they're united in this endeavor (insert foreshadowing here). And although I don't know them well and they may have people that don't like them personally, they seem genuine which is something you can't really fake. We, obviously, had a conversation about what was going on in the area and why the MBVEC is working on incorporation. You can read more on their site (which you should have gone to a long time ago). They've basically gathered all the money ($30K! Jealous, Jerry Lewis??), and are on their census part of the process. They're hoping to have everything up for a vote before the end of the year. And all they would need is a 50%+1 return from those who show up for the vote (note: you must be registered to vote in Mastic Beach in order to take part in the process). I couldn't stay long as I had to show my guest around the area quickly before he left and I headed over to the SPVEC meeting.

The second community event of the day did not ... uhm ... go so well. The SPVEC has been working hard since they've formed to get the word out about their first meeting and they were pretty much ambushed by enemy combatants conspicuously hidden in the crowd. OK, they weren't really hidden and everyone knew they were there. You couldn't miss Delia McKernan and her wife -- eh, husband* -- with the home-made signs that read "We've Been Working On This For 2 Years And Have Gotten Nowhere But You Should Still Support Us Anyways", or something like that. The meeting started with a brief introduction followed by a Q&A (which essentially killed the meeting from the start). What should have been a meeting about what this group would do turned into confusion, finger-pointing, and airing out of past grievances. Now, someone at the meeting stated that everyone should "forget the past and move on" and I sort of understand that sentiment. But the past is prologue. The past tells you why one group has been working for the same amount of time as the MBVEC and has gotten essentially nowhere (mentioning that you've collected slightly over $10K in 2 years is nothing to brag about). The past tells you why that group has no support from the community. The past holds the answer to how you can move on in the future. Now, I have no doubt that certain people perceive what they're doing to be for the good of the community. But eventually there should come a time for self-reflection and you have to wonder why it is that you've gone nowhere as a group; and it's easy to point fingers but it takes a real person to look within and see if maybe that's where the problem lies.

Nothing was accomplished in that meeting but the SPVEC is not giving up and still plan to move forward. They're holding another meeting which they've posted on their site and they've ensured that what happened on Saturday will not happen again. I can't say much about that but it involves Roman centurions and swords. I kid ... maybe.



*Mrs. McKernan's faux husband was going around taking pictures and I think he took mine. That's a little creepy. Now I'm a good looking guy -- and I know this because my mother tells me all the time and she almost always tells me the truth -- but I don't want my pic ending up on some dudes shrine that reads "TriHamlet Hotties". That's not good because we all know that the natural progression is that someone will end up in a hole in a basement with someone yelling at them that "it rubs the lotion on it's skin or else it gets the hose".