A Happy Holiday Season to All from Niagara At Large!

A Brief Message from Niagara At Large reporter and publisher Doug Draper

Posted December 22^nd, 2017 on Niagara At Large

Following the antics of politicians and others in Niagara, Ontario and outside of what I would call the sane zones of Buffalo, New York where one enters ‘Trumpland’  left me feeling so disheartened  over the past 12 months, I sometimes wondered if I had it in me to keep Niagara At Large going until the end of the year.

I would sit there at a meeting of Niagara’s regional council or of the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority’s board of directors, watching bullies eviscerate any other member of the body or the public they viewed as a threat, or you turned on the cable news to the multi-ring circus from hell that is the Trump presidency, and wonder if there would ever be enough people out there, ready and willing to stand up and stop this.

Yet here we are. We’ve made it to the end of the year and there are some signs out there that growing numbers of people on both sides of the border are ready to stand up against the bullies and when they get a chance to vote (on the Ontario side of the border there are provincial and municipal elections in 2018, and on the U.S. side there are congressional elections), more of us than possibly ever before in the past three or four decades, will vote for positive, progressive change

So on that note of hope (and with much more to come that front on Niagara At Large later), here is wishing all of our many readers and supporter on both sides of the border in our greater Niagara region, a happy and peaceful holiday season.

Here at Niagara at Large, we could not have made it through the year as well as we have without the unqualified love and support of some of our favourite furry friends, including one of Niagara, Ontario’s most beloved celebrities in the cat world, Tigger, pictured immediately below, who you can find greeting customers (when he’s not busy napping) at the Pet Valu store at the plaza on Pine Street in Thorold. If you are lucky, they may even have a copy of Tigger’s 2018 calendar left. It is full of purrfect pictures of him, taken by his friend Joe Krawchuk, and that you can have for $20 in cash that goes to non-profit animal assistance organizations.

Seasons Greetings from Tigger

Photo by Joe Krawchuk, courtesy of Pet Valu at Pne Street plaza in Thorold/Niagara where you can go say hi to Tigger

Dylan, the white guy, and Dexter, Photo by Doug Draper

Now Tigger may enjoy more celebrity across the region, but we at Niagara At Large also want to share our best wishes for the end-of-year holidays with our home friends, Dylan, the one in white, and Dexter, who is in rub-my-belly mode here. There is not enough we can say about the support  we have enjoyed from them when they have not been caught walking across the keyboards of our computers.

Last but not lease, there is Pinky, our trusted mascot from afar  who spends most of her time living in Florida with the snowbirds and is the first canine we know who declared support for Bernie Sanders when he ran for U.S. president in 2016.

Our mascot Pinky, still ‘Feelin’ the Bern’ down in Florida.

Pinky turned down a chance to do Taco Bell commercials to help us in our ongoing efforts to build Niagara At Large as a vital alternative news and commentary voice for our greater Niagara region.

So from all of us, we wish you and your loved ones some peace and joy during this Holiday Season.

Catch you all on the flip side where – at long last and here’s hoping – some change for the better is in the air.

NIAGARA AT LARGE encourages you to join the conversation by sharing your views on this post in the space below the Bernie quote.

A reminder that we only post comments by individuals who also share their first and last names.

For more news and commentary from Niagara At Large – an independent, alternative voice for our greater bi-national Niagara region – become a regular visitor and subscriber to NAL at www.niagaraatlarge.com .

 “A politician thinks of the next election. A leader thinks of the next generation.” – Bernie Sanders