Mark’s Musings – August 8, 2012

| August 8, 2012
Mark Fortune

Mark Fortune

Leave town for a few days and – lookout! Gas prices increase by twenty cents per gallon at least. Paid only $3.29 in South Carolina on Sunday – arrived back in town to see prices at the pump of $3.79. Jeez. Further, the Palmetto state has a state sales tax of only 6%. Of course, you do pay a personal tax on vehicle purchases and just about everyone pays something on income tax.

This past weekend in the state of South Carolina was a “no sales tax weekend” on purchases related to back to school supplies, clothing, accessories and more. And the state of Virginia was doing the same. Now, where is the great state of Ohio in all of this? Are we truly a forward thinking and visionary state? I am not picking on the Governor, but wouldn’t it seem logical to you that these Governors’s would learn about these innovative ideas to boost the economy at their “Governor” meetings, etc.? Share those ideas. Of course, when you are competing for jobs, research and federal dollars, perhaps the whole concept of sharing seems a bit “schoolyardish”. Not sure.

I finally had an opportunity to catch a bit of the 2012 Summer Olympics – the runner with the “springy” legs is truly an inspiration. It is also cool to see athletes that just a few short Olympics ago would have been “one and done” type athletes. Meaning, compete in one Olympics and you are done. You just couldn’t compete with the younger athletes. Now, with progressive coaching, safe and approved energy and muscle repair fuels, athletes can compete in two, three and even four Olympics before their age catches up to them. Case in point, the American women’s volleyball duo. Gosh, one of these women is a mom! That’s cool. Hope they win the gold.

The medal count as of August 6 stands as follows; China leads with 64 total medals, the U. S. is second with 61 total medals, Great Britain is third with 38, followed by Russia with 37 and Japan with 27. I predicted last week that the U. S. will win the most overall medals and I am sticking with the prediction. Many of this week’s events will favor our athletes. Let’s go Team U. S. A.!

This weekend is the Coshocton Canal Festival with the Grand Parade slated for Saturday afternoon at 5 p.m. followed by the Mistics at 7 p.m. And of course, the crowning of a new Canal Festival Mini Queen and Queen and court will take place on Thursday evening and Friday evening, respectively. Join in the fun and help support your community!

Did you know you can follow The Beacon on Facebook? Yep. We’re keeping up with all of this social media stuff in the best way possible – the pages of each issue of The Beacon are always available in an electronic format (for free I might add) via our website at www.thebeaconbuzz.com. Watch for upcoming improvements. Meanwhile, thanks for making The Coshocton County Beacon Coshocton County’s most widely read newspaper. We appreciate it and please be sure to support the advertisers that help make the paper possible.

Category: Mark's Musings

About the Author ()

I live with my beautiful wife Nancy on a small farm just outside Coshocton. We have been married for thirty two years and have two grown children, Jessica and Jacob. Jessica is married to Aaron Mencer and they are employed with Coshocton City Schools. Jacob is a sophomore at Kent State University. I graduated from River View High School, have a Bachelor’s Degree from North Carolina Wesleyan University and am actively involved with the Roscoe United Methodist Church, serve on several local committees and am a member of the Coshocton Kiwanis Club, having served as Past-President. I love reading, especially military thrillers, the Civil War and history in general. My goal is to write a novel. My wife and I are also AdvoCare distributors and encourage anyone wanting to lose weight, gain energy and better health to explore AdvoCare at our website; www.fortunes4advocare.com. I love the media field, innovative technology and have worked in newspapers for over 30 years – in fact, my first job was delivering newspapers. The Beacon is a dream made possible by the support of this community and a great team. I hope to continue serving Coshocton County for many years.

Comments are closed.