Hi Everyone,

Hope that you all had a very Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year celebration somewhere with the one's you love. Ginny and I wound up in Lancaster with family; then travelled to LA to spend the day with our son who happened to be born on the 1st of January. They have a big parade in Pasadena for him every year but as close as we were we couldn't make it to it this year. Happy Birthday Andrew.
You may be wondering what you are reading and why this guy is writing this stuff. When I worked at the Taft Chamber before I retired, I sent out a weekly Chamber news release once a week, letting the membership know what's was happening around town. Some people actually told me that they enjoyed reading them and looked forward to receiving them each week. Well, what a surprise that was. The publisher of the Independent asked if I'd write a column once in awhile in the same vein to let you readers know what is going on in and around Taft. I don't want to steal any of the Chamber's thunder; the things you will find reading here will be my personal observations and perspectives. I will leave all the political stuff to the Westside Watcher.
As you'll find, I'm not a journalist. I was a straight "C" student in bonehead English when I went to high school and college. I'll rely on spell check for spelling and formatting, but I'm on my own when it comes to the facts. I'll ask for your indulgence and for your critiques in this endeavor. I'm not Pete. I'm using the new Word 2007 and this is taking some getting used to. I'll try to not get too opinionated, and the editor will rein me in if I get to far out, but this paper just wants to give you the facts and the truth, even if it sometimes hurts. So on with the show.
This past Monday the 4th, members of the Oildorado Board met at the four local barbershops for some picture taking and promotion of the upcoming Wiskerino Contest. I hope you recognize me as I have shaved off my goatee and left only a small remembrance of my moustache. This will be my seventh time I have shaved and started growing a beard for the contest in October. The best I can hope for is a 2nd or 3rd place for the most unusual beard entry. If the past is any indication, my beard will be unusual alright in its scraggy look and color. So you men out there; if you don't want to be arrested by Sheriff Billy White and if you're too cheap like me and don't want to buy a smooth puss badge, get down and register at your local barbershop. It's free to enter. It has to be long enough for the Sheriff to hang an oversize clothes pin off your beard to pass muster. Besides, this is the 100th anniversary celebration, why not get into the spirit.
I want write about the good things going on in Taft like the above story. I think we in Taft underrate ourselves and don't think we have much to offer living here on the Westside. If you are thinking that way, then you are the reader we want to talk to. Don't you find it strange when some people complain about living in Taft, you find out they have been here all their lives? Something doesn't add up somehow. They have to learn how to live in Taft not just reside here. I'll be working on that theme over the coming columns.
I need your input, so drop me a line sometime at RandyMiller@TaftIndependent.com if you have an interesting story or you spot something around town that you want mentioned or looked into. We have a lot of good stories to tell and we want you to know "What really is going on around town". Maybe you are like me, I really don't know everyone in Taft, but I do know some interesting people and I want to know the rest.