Messenger

(Editor’s Note: “Messenger” is an occasional column by RIDE-CT & RIDE-New England editor and publisher Bud Wilkinson on subjects and issues that don’t involve motorcycles.) HARWINTON, CT – After 10 months of the COVID-19 pandemic and four years of extreme political polarization, I’m convinced that most of us are on …

I grew up loving baseball. Played catch with my dad nearly every summer evening. Played Little League. First base. Worshipped the New York Yankees. Hated the Boston Red Sox.  Vividly remember my first trip to Yankee Stadium, a visit that got locked into family lore. My dad had regaled me …

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has been a stressful time for all, causing reactions ranging from fear to reflection. Some people have reacted with brute selfishness by hoarding toilet paper and hand sanitizer while others have shown generosity by handing over N95 face masks to health care workers. Two weeks ago, …

The transition is nearly complete. Fie on college football! Fie on the NFL! Fie on MLB! Huzzah for Crystal Palace! Huzzah for Hartford Athletic! Yes, tastes and likes can change over the years, and that’s certainly true with sports. The teams and sports that I rooted for in my 20s …

It is one of my fondest baseball memories, and now Aaron Judge is going to walk in my footsteps and stand in a batter’s box where I once took some cuts. As Mel Allen would have said, “How about that!” It was 20 years ago that I visited friend Tom …

HARWINTON, CT – Life is full of negativity, annoyances and sometimes outrage. There are keyboard terrorists on social media posting insults (from both ends of the political spectrum), neighbors who leave their outside lights on all night and allow them to rudely shine in nearby windows, and, in summertime, the incessant …

HARWINTON, CT – The newspaper business is damn near foundering. Ad revenue is declining. So is circulation. Some newspapers are even shutting down. More will do so in the years to come as print readers die off. So why do newspapers still foot-drag in aggressively cultivating online readership and revenue? (“The …

FALLS VILLAGE, CT – Lime Rock Park stages its Historic Festival 36 this weekend. The annual event kicked off Thursday evening with a parade of vintage race cars and other memorable models through parts of northwestern Connecticut, ending in Falls Village for a brief show. The featured marque for this …

HARWINTON, CT – Here’s my Super Bowl prediction: This will be the last Super Bowl of any significance. From Monday forward, the popularity of the Super Bowl, of the National Football League, of college football and, indeed, of the sport itself will decrease. My crystal ball is too murky to say whether …

HARWINTON, CT – Some dog stories… It happens regularly, especially if I’ve been away from home for an extended period of time. I pull into the driveway, turn off the ignition, and instantly think that I need to hurry inside, snap on a leash and walk Cosette. You’d think that …

HARWINTON, CT – I’d love to say that I’m starting 2018 with a new attitude. A fresh, optimistic outlook filled with generosity and cheerfulness would make the next 12 months so much more enjoyable, but with a milestone 65th birthday later this year and some body part always aching, it’s not …

HARWINTON, CT – Sorry, CPTV. You can spin it any way you want, but I feel betrayed and ripped off by the shutdown of CPTV4U, and the rebranding of CPTV Sports to CPTV Spirit on Monday. For those who watch TV via cable and have hundreds of choices, CPTV’s closure …

HARWINTON, CT – What’s the penalty for an overdue book? Is there a statute of limitations on a purloined tome? The first question is one that I asked more than a week ago in a Facebook post after finding a copy of the book “Stories for Children” by Elise Reid Boylston …

THOMASTON, CT – It was while visiting the Railroad Museum of New England recently that a volunteer conductor grumbled to me about the use of unnamed sources by those of us who work in news. He’d seen my reporter’s notebook and camera, and knew my profession. I was there looking …

HARWINTON, CT – There comes a time of reflection when one reaches and passes the age where the hair turns gray. For some folks, realizing that time on earth is fast running out, that provides an incentive to compile a “bucket list” of goals yet to accomplish; of places to visit; …