By Dan Irvin

Sometimes finding a forum topic is easy. There are half a dozen things I could talk about, but in the spirit of ‘T was the Tuesday before Thanksgiving…..

I’m thankful…again….for our public works folks around here. They were out in my neighborhood collecting leaves at six on Saturday morning, so the streets would be clear when they came by later to clear the snow.

I’m thankful that the selection committee saw fit to give the Redbirds that #2 seed. This means three more home games at Hancock before the trip down to Frisco, Texas on January 9^th.

I’m thankful for Georgia Bouda, retiring as director of the Bloomington Public Library. She oversaw a transition from a collection of books to a modern community information center and gathering place.

I’m thankful for Greg Koos, who’s retiring as executive director of the McLean County Historical society. He oversaw a transition from what was basically your grandmother’s attic, to a true tourism destination for our community.

I’m thankful for our local businesses I encourage everyone to join me in shopping locally over the coming weeks. And that said, why can’t we pay local sales tax on internet purchases? If my phone and computer know my location to give me the weather forecast, it should be able to figure out where sales tax on my purchases should go.

And though I don’t know their names, my heart goes out to the folks who will work this Friday, early, and in fact many of them Thursday night. In my opinion, Black Friday is stupid. What’s the rush? Oh, and use your computer and find out the origin of the term Black Friday. It’s funny that we’ve turned it into a ubiquitous marketing tool.

And now that I’ve started a roll, I’m really, truly thankful for the Statue of Liberty; for the universal welcome the lady of liberty extends to refugees from religious, political, and ethnic oppression. If that’s not who we are anymore, just take her down.

Dan Irvin is Vice-President of the Bloomington Public Library Foundation Board, and a member of the Heartland Community College Foundation Board.

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