Congrats of a prize-winning and birthday nature…

Profuse apologies for not having the winners of the Sergeant Preston Arctic Odyssey Giveaway up sooner, but I’ve been quite busy this morning celebrating the eightieth natal anniversary of the man who my Mom tells me is my father (and that’s good enough for me), the beloved patriarch of Rancho Yesteryear, Ivan, Sr. (pictured above with his faithful grandson sidekick).  Yesterday, he received a visit from his sister Natalie (“Aunt Nat” to me) and her husband Ted (to your right), and after a delicious dinner (prepared by mi madre) of baked ham, Julienne potatoes, broccoli, baked beans, salad and cornbread, they stayed in our guest room suite and then took the family out to breakfast the next morning before continuing on to Marietta to spend time with their son (“Cousin Emery” to me).  I always enjoy when Aunt Nat and Uncle Ted get together with my parents because a good time is truly had by all—Ted was one of my father’s roommates during his carefree bachelor days in the Windy City in the 1950s…where he of course met Dad’s little sis, and the rest is history.

So as I set aside that little nostalgic excursion, I’d like to congratulate my Facebook chum and Munsters devotee Doc Quatermass on being one of the winners in TDOY’s Sgt. Preston Giveaway…and the other is longtime TDOY supporter Bill “You kids get off my lawn” Crider, renowned pulp mystery author and caretaker at Bill Crider’s Pop Culture Blog.  Bill was one of the very first people to promote my ‘umble little scrap of the blogosphere, a decision I’m sure he wished he could journey back in the WABAC machine and rectify…but as Don Gibson assured us in song, they don’t give gold statuettes for tears and regrets.  Kudos to the both of them, and my only regret is that I couldn’t send a Preston collection (an 8-CD set valued at $31.95) to everybody who entered (and I had quite a few who e-mailed this time).  But there are more goodies to give away just around the corner, so stay tuned to this space for further details.  Once again, thanks to all who participated and congratulations to Doc and Bill!