Sacco’s Snippets: December 2019
December 4, 2019December 2019 Edition: Sacco’s Snippets
All I want for the Holidays is a day without a care in the world.
To have the peace and understanding that for at least a couple of hours so I can just relax, watch some television and keep my phone off and enjoy the smell of what’s for dinner and the laughter and joy of our family.
This, to me, has always been a magical time of the year, and all that is good with being a human being.
Well, this was not always my dream and the dreams of my youth, which by the way has changed during the years, but remain while sitting and watching the look of joy when everyone forgets their problems.
This is what it is truly about and has demonstrably changed through more modern times.
I recall watching my children opening up their presents and having more fun with the wrapping paper and boxes than the actual presents they held. It was all about giving and sharing with those whom you loved and cared for and still remains, with the traditions that my parents started with me and my siblings continues to today with such a huge place in our hearts that it finds its way in everything we do during this time.
I know I have echoed this very sentiment before, but we are very fortunate in many ways even if we do not see it in plain sight, and those Grinch’s and scrooges decide to try to make us as miserable as they may be.
Not only am I pleasant to these grouches during the holidays but extending the sentiment during the entire year because quite frankly, maybe their lives aren’t as pleasant to them as ours are to us.
This year we will celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas at the same time.
I call this ‘ChrismHannukah’ and get to celebrate an extended holiday with our large blood and extended family.
Yes, I’m a bit greedy, but hey, it’s not Ebenezer Scrooge talking here.
This year, like years past, I have had the pleasure of beginner Hockey players give me little tokens of appreciation and love.
Candies, cards, cups of coffee, and smiles that make you appreciate being a coach and remind us that what we do is essential in shaping the players of the future.
This is where the coaches smile and really enjoy teaching the game.
Yes, this is the best time of the year, beside playoffs and championships, but what better way to start the winter off as well as the second half of the season.
I find that the stress level may go up when people see me because they don’t know just exactly ‘what to get the coach that has everything’ and this causes some unneeded angst.
What you can give me is what everyone can surely use, like a smile or a kind word.
As they said in Bill and Ted’s excellent adventure, “Be excellent to each other.”
What is so special about this time of year besides the holidays and all they bring?
So how about a few minutes of reflection on what exactly we have in our lives that is truly special and closest to our hearts and forgets all the bad that happens.
Remember that someone somewhere in the world is standing a post or sitting in their barracks wishing they were home.
Someone somewhere is in the firehouse or Police car, keeping us safe. Medics, nurses, and doctors are keeping a vigil to keep someone alive and well.
We have so much to be thankful for that sometimes we plain forget.
So be excellent to each other this holiday season and remember that the best gift you can give is the one that doesn’t cost anything and can mean so much more than all the money in the world.
Here are some interesting facts and birthdays in December;
– The first day of winter is December 21
– The Zodiac signs are Sagittarius (up to 12/21) and Capricorn (12/22 on)
– The birth flower is Narcissus
– Birthstones are Zircon, Turquoise, and Tanzanite
– Kwanzaa is on 12/27
– The numerous meteor showers all month. Check local areas for viewing
– December is the 12th and final month in the Gregorian and Julian calendars
– December from the Latin word Decem meaning ten
12/1 – 1835 Hans Christian Anderson publishes the first book of Fairy Tales
2004 Tom Brokaw anchors his last Nightly News
Birthday – 1933 Lou Rawls
1935 Woody Allen
12/2 – 1982 First artificial heart permanent transplant
2005 Microsoft launches Xbox 360 in Europe
Birthday – 1863 Charles Ringling
1983 Aaron Rogers
12/3 – 1775 the U.S.Navy ship Alfred the first to raise the Stars and Stripes
1818 Illinois becomes the 21st state
Birthday – 1948 Ozzy Osborne
1968 Brendan Fraser
12/4 – 1619 the first Thanksgiving in America
1783 George Washington’s farewell to the troops
Birthday – 1949 Jeff Bridges
1964 Marisa Tomei
12/5 – 1932 Albert Einstein granted a U.S. Visa
1955 Martin Luther King jr leads Montgomery bus boycott
Birthday – 1839 George Custer
1901 Walt Disney
12/6 – 1968 the 13th Amendment ratified
1884 the Washington monument completed
Birthday – 1642 Johann S. Bach
1962 Janine Turner
12/7 – 1941 Pearl Harbor Hawaii attacked by the Japanese Empire
1995 Galileo arrives at Jupiter
Birthday – 1887 Vito Corleone
1935 Peter A. Sebastian
12/8 – 1941 the U.S. declares war on Japan
1980 John Lennon killed in NYC
Birthday – 1542 Mary Queen of Scots
1943 Jim Morrison
12/9 – 1718 France declares war on Spain
1965 A Charlie Brown Christmas debuts
Birthday – 1934 Judy Dench
1942 Dick Butkus
12/10 – 1817 Mississippi becomes the 20th state
1901 the first Nobel prizes awarded
Birthday – 1852 Susan Dey
1957 Michael Clark Duncan
12/11 – 1816 Indiana becomes the 19th state
1941 Germany and Italy declare war on America
Birthday – 1725 George Mason
1931 Rita Moreno
12/12 – 1915 Yuan Shikai declares himself Emperor of China
1963 Kenya gains independence from the U.K.
Birthday – 1745 John Jay
1915 Frank Sinatra
12/13 – 1769 Dartmouth College founded
1978 first Susan B. Anthony coins circulated
Birthday – 1818 Mary Todd Lincoln
1948 Ted Nugent
12/14 – 1819 Alabama becomes the 22nd state
1959 Berry Gordy founds Motown Records
Birthday – 1503 Nostradamus
1946 Patty Duke
12/15 – 1290 BC Ramses II becomes Pharaoh of Egypt
1991 THE U.S. Bill of Rights becomes law
Birthday – 1832 Gustave Eiffel
1933 Tim Conway
12/16 – 1773 the Boston Tea Party
1915 Einstein publishes the Theory of Relativity
Birthday – 1770 Ludwig van Beethoven
1962 Tyler ‘the Fridge’ Perry
12/17 – 1843 ‘A Christmas Carol’ published by Charles Dickens
1989 ‘The Simpsons’ airs for the first time
Birthday – 1946 Eugene Levy
1978 Manny Pacquiao
12/18 – 1932 the first NFL game
1961 Wilt Chamberlain scores 78 points in one game
Birthday – 1943 Keith Richards
1964 ‘Stone cold’ Steve Austin
12/19 – 1732 Benjamin Franklin publishes ‘Poor Richards Almanac’
1984 Way Gretzky becomes youngest player to score 1000 points
Birthday – 1906 Leonid Brezhnev
12/20 – 1958 Elvis gets drafted
1803 the Louisiana purchase
Birthday – 1868 Harvey Firestone
1976 Aubrey Huff
12/21 – 1620 Pilgrims land on ‘Pilgrim Rock’
1913 the first Crossword puzzle published
Birthday – 1954 Chris Evert
1957 Ray Romano
12/22 – 1937 the Lincoln Tunnel opens
1990 Lech Walesa elected president of Poland
Birthday – 1858 Giacomo Puccini
1917 Gene Rayburn
12/23 – 1947 the Transistor is displayed by Bell Laboratories
1954 the first successful kidney transplant
Birthdays – 1805 Joseph Smith
1946 Susan Lucci
12/24 – 1818 Silent Night composed by Franz Xavier Gruber
1893 the Ford Motor Company completes the first production gas motor
Birthday – 1905 Howard Hughes
1922 Ava Gardiner
12/25 – 1776 General Washington crosses Delaware
1939 Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer introduced
Birthday – 5 BC Jesus Christ
1878 Louis Chevrolet
12/26 – 1776 the British defeated in Trenton
1933 the FM radio is patented
Birthday – 1921 Steve Allen
1951 Ozzie Smith
12/27 – 1904 the play Peter Pan debuts
1932 Radio City Music Hall opens
Birthday – 1502 Johannes Kessler
1939 John Amos
12/28 – 1065 Westminster Abby consecrated
1945 the US Congress recognizes the ‘Pledge of Allegiance’
Birthday – 1954 Denzel Washington
12/29 – 1824 Texas becomes 28th state
1891 Edison patents the Radio
Birthday – 1808 Andrew Johnson
1938 John Voight
12/30 – 1953 the first color Television goes on sale
1981 Wayne Gretzky scores 50th goal in 39th game
Birthday – 1865 Rudyard Kipling
1935 Sandy Koufax
12/31 – 1904 first New Years Eve in Time Square
1991 the Soviet Union is dissolved
Birthday – 1937 Anthony Hopkins
1947 Tim Matheson
So now you are wondering what to do with yourself and your family during the extended holiday break.
Well, there’s Ice Bumper cars, Public Ice sessions, Sticks and Pucks, Adult open Hockey for the ice in your veins Player.
Brunch with Santa for the kids, the Arcade, the Sky jump for the adventurer. Art and acting classes for the creative person inside of you.
Open Basketball, Indoor Soccer, and the sports lounge in the mezzanine to eat have an adult beverage and watch the games that are on that day. www.aviatorsports.com for the dozen or so happenings that I am missing here.
Walk in the door and make the magic happen to give you and yours a memorable holiday.
“There is something for everyone and everyone for something.”
Aviator Sports and Events Center
3159 Flatbush Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11234
(718) 754-7500
John Sacco
AC NY Aviators
Premiere/Elite
USPHL
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