Contest Winner, and notes.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading through all of the responses for the July 4th contest.  Kirk commented, "This year the 4th means another family member deploying to help protect his country."  To me, this highlights an integral part of July 4th.  July 4th was not the day that we finished fighting for Freedom.  It was the day we

realized that freedom truly is worth fighting for.  Kirk, a big thanks to your family member(s) who are serving, as well as all the troops.

I'm Your Average Card Collector summed up several sentiments well, with "God bless America. God bless Oscar Mayer. God bless THE HOBBY ." 

My personal favorite, though, was from Hiflew: "the greatest upset in world history" 

All of the comments really resonate with me, and a few really hit home because of what my family experienced this weekend.  Many of the comments talked about hot dogs, family, barbecues, and swimming.  Some others commented that the day is about the people who work so hard to ensure that we are safe.  I met some of those people this weekend.  On Sunday, my parents were having a cookout for family.  While several of us were in the pool, my uncle had a seizure and possibly a stroke.  We were able to get him to the end of the pool by the steps and able to keep him above the water.  My sister-in-law, a nurse, managed the situation incredibly well, and kept him stable until the ambulance arrived.  The speed with which the EMTs and firemen responded was amazing, and they were able to get him out of the pool and into the ambulance.  My uncle is still in the hospital, but only as a precaution.  He is recovering well as they try to determine what the cause was and what the extent of the episode was.  Once he was at the hospital and becoming aware, the firemen and EMTs joked with him that he is one strong 65-year-old man because it took 5 of them to restrain him for the IV.  My family was quite a sight to see, too, as 8 of us were in the waiting room still dripping wet from being in the pool.  I want to thank the EMTs and firemen of the Chesapeake Fire Department Station 5, for their swift and able response this weekend.  It's people like that that make me proud to live in America. 

Well, hopefully I haven't killed the mood too much.  Here's what you've been waiting for.  As I said in the original post, the 4th name in the 7th randomization is the winner.



Congrats dominicfdny!  Gotta love the irony of someone with "fdny" in the name winning. dominicfdny, send me an email (adam.l.cowling at gmail) so I can get your address.  I see that you are a Red Sox fan, so some Sox cards may sneak into the package along with the two USA National Team Jersey cards.   

Again, thanks, everyone, for your comments.  Oh, by the way...now seems a great time to let out the first hint that there may be a contest here in a couple of weeks.  That one might be much, much bigger than this one, and may have multiple winners.