I hope everyone's holidays were fantastic in one form or another, especially if you were lucky enough to spend some of the time with family and friends. Christmas week was an interesting experience for our family; an experience which provided a challenge, but also pulled us even closer together for the holidays.

Several days before Christmas, mother nature sent us rain, sleet, snow, wind and sub-zero temperatures. Our area had as much as twenty inches of snow, then we got a strong dose of sleet and freezing rain. The ice accumulation on our trees and power lines was devastating. Thousands of trees and power lines were partially or entirely down because of the weight of the ice. Many of the power lines that didn't fall victim to the ice were taken out by the falling trees. Trees and power lines fell on cars, on houses and across the roads. Hundreds of thousands of residences and business were affected. The area was declared a disaster and virtually everything was at a stand-still. There were no street lights, no traffic lights, no business lights - at night, everything was totally dark.

There was no travel for a couple of days, no heat or electricity for several days, and no communications unless you still had phone lines and an old analog phone. Even cell phones were tenuous apparently because of affected microwave cell towers. Our cars were totally entombed in ice. They resembled very large, clear-acrylic paper weights sitting in our driveway. Our yard is a mess with tree limbs and debris. It was treacherous just attempting to step outside. But the worst part was the sub-zero Fahrenheit temperatures amidst all of this. We had actual temperatures down as low as ten degrees below zero with wind chills far below that.

Luckily, we had disaster provisions in storage. We keep portable kerosene heaters, kerosene hurricane lamps, a propane cook stove, and lots of kerosene jugs and propane tanks in our storage shed. We also store plenty of blankets, batteries, candles, water and food, and battery operated radios and TV. Once we gathered the family together and checked on our neighbors, we broke through the ice on the storage shed and began setting up our provisional living quarters.

We kept warm enough, were able to cook certain foods, talked minimally on our old analog phones, and kept up with the news on our battery TV and radios. Except for candles and hurricane lamps, Christmas was celebrated in the dark. But the important thing was, we were together and safe. When the power returned to most of us a few days later, we were able to run extension cords to the cars and thaw them by means of a hair dryer. We're still clearing tree limbs and shoveling away snow, but we survived. And as bad as it seemed at the time, it obviously pales in comparison to the current disaster in the Indonesia area.

I'm afraid I would not have been a very good pilgrim in the early days of the U.S. colonies. Our recent conditions were mild compared what they lived with day in and day out. A demonstration of how spoiled I've become is just how badly I missed my computer for the better part of a week. A non-functioning computer left me with a feeling of being totally out of touch with the world. Considering all of our missing conveniences, strangely enough, I missed my computer the most. We take so many things for granted in our modern world, but I never realized just how much I depended on my computer every day until it wasn't available.

I came across a bit of trivia in our local newspaper, The Columbus Dispatch, which seemed sufficiently interesting to share. It seems that when the Dutch settlers were first making their new homes in the area of New York now known Manhattan, they found it necessary to construct walls to keep the roving wild pigs off of the main street. That area, in the heart of the new Dutch settlement, quickly became known as Wall Street, and is now the home of the New York Stock Exchange.

The short reference in the newspaper did not go on to say whether the area is still plagued with wild pigs today.

As most of you are aware WINS had a committee working on a flyer for club and/or member use. I am happy to report that the flyer is completed and available for use. The committee chairman, Ken Hughes, has this to say. -

"Some weeks ago, there was a suggestion on the mailers that we create a promotional flyer or brochure to advertise WINS. Well, thanks to the hard work of our Brochure Committee, we now have something our members may use for advertising the Club and inviting participation. More on that in a moment, but first a big WINS "Thank You" to Susan Thornton, George Depner, Doug Prather, JD White and Chairman Ken Hughes for their hard work to put this together, and giving us another way to spread the word about WINS."

"The brochure is a single-page trifold with color illustrations suitable for printing on white or colored paper. The front panel displays the winning medal design from the contest held a while back. Inside is information about the Club and how to join. Although it is designed to be a handout, the back center panel is blank, so it can also be used as a mailer. It is available on the WINS web site - WINS FLYER - with a link that allows members to download a copy in Adobe Acrobat PDF-format and then print as many copies as needed. A permanent link to the flyer can also be found on the "ABOUT US" page."

2005 ... it's here already. That's really hard to believe. The year 2005 still seems so "futuristic" to me. Having lived through half of the twentieth century, any year that begins with a two in the date seemed very far away. As a kid, I remember reading the book "1984" by George Orwell. The future technology described in that book was fascinating and scary. But, at that time, 1984 was so far away yet. I wondered if the year or the technology would ever arrive. Well ... 1984 has come and gone - by more than two decades. And thankfully some of the technology described in the book still doesn't exist, or isn't in use, today.

2004 was generally a very good year, especially in numismatics. Speaking of technology, the computer and internet have done wonders for our hobby this century. The internet seems to have brought many new coin collectors into the fold, and has awakened many of the older, dormant collectors. Coins and information about the hobby are available like never before. That likely portends well for the future of numismatics. Hobby predictions for 2005 are positive and upbeat.

My wish for all WINS members is for 2005 to be an enjoyable year in numismatics, and for the year to be happy, healthy and safe for our members and their families.

Best Regards,

Ralph J. Huntzinger
WINS President