Last week, when we talked about what we would be doing on Thanksgiving, I believe I mentioned that I start my holiday by watching the parade from New York City, once called the Macy Christmas Parade, but bowing to the ever-increasing political correctness, it is now known simply as "Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade". In reality, may as well bear that name as it is on Thanksgiving Day when the floats, balloons, marching bands, musical artist, and finally Santa Clause make their way down 34th Street.
As I watched the parade this year, I was, more than ever, drawn to watching the crowd reaction to the parade, most especially the children. There were literally thousands of children in attendance, and quite a number were behind the main performing area and could be seen by the camera. To watch the excitement in the eyes of those four and five-year old kids was more entertainment than anything on television in years. And the smiles!!! There is just something about a kid's smile that will get me every time. I love to see kids smile and jump with excitement as I witnessed so many times Thursday morning.
After the parade, Ann and I went to our daughter and son-in-law's home for Thanksgiving dinner with them and the three grandsons. As we sat around that table with all the food piled high (most especially on my plate), I not only realized how much I have for which to be truly thankful, but I also realized that my grandsons are growing up much too fast. Andrew is 19, Sam 17, and my almost constant sidekick, Michael, is 12 now. It seems like only last year they had to sit in booster seats for dinner. I'm sure Jeff and Bopper both can identify with how quickly a child seems to grow up these days. Eli is already doing spots on air for the show here on Tuesday night and I have it on pretty good authority that he is in line to replace me as The Legend before too long. But the fact here, with my grandsons, Jeff's Eli, and Bopper's grandson whose name I do not recall (sorry Bopper), they are all surrounded by love of parents, grandparents and others in their lives that make up their worlds. I get a big thrill out of some of my friends, for instance, Dave Fulton, Robin Agner, and Ed Sanseverino bragging on their grand kids on social media. I have many friends on social media who have kids they regularly feature on their pages showing the accomplishments and achievements of those kids. There is something about seeing a less than one year old asleep on the chest of a sleeping Daddy on the couch, or seeing the 17-year-old accomplishing something academically or athletically about which the parents take great pleasure in sharing. That is one reason I am so addicted to the social media page.
I am extremely fortunate and blessed to be involved with kids at church, and though all the friends of my grandsons. Ann says I get along so well with them because I'm just a big kid. A close examination would show there is more truth to that statement that mere supposition. The smile of a child and light up my soul. A tear from a kid can break my heart. I still have nightmares at times, about when little Sam, then four years old, fell in our van and split his lip. Blood was everywhere but it was the tears that were killing me inside.
We all know, and it does make the news from time to time in every city, that there are children that are abused. South Carolina has such laws to cover "Child Endangerment" and even has a special statute on the books to handle punishment of those folks who cause the death of a child by child abuse. I will not express my opinion of the laws enacted here in South Carolina, or the meager efforts of the agencies established to prevent child abuse and paid for by tax money. Those agencies try to accomplish good, but as in all thing bureaucratic, more time is spent on paperwork than on actually helping the kids who need the help.
It seems the volunteer groups put together in several areas do much more for the kids, and for the parents who tend to abuse their children, than the government agencies. Take, for example, the group of which I am honored to be a part for the fifth consecutive year, Stocks for Tots. I will not be here for the show next Tuesday because I will be at The NASCAR Technical Institute in Mooresville, North Carolina for the efforts to raise funds for SCAN, the acronym for "Stop Child Abuse Now". In addition to raising money for the work done by SCAN, toys will be collected for distribution to children who may otherwise have no gifts at Christmas. I truly cannot imagine that, but it happens.
In North Carolina last year, 34 kids died at the hands of their parents, or caregivers. Only 12 of those kids were older than one year. Many were one, two, or three months old. As I read the list, I could not imagine the faces of those innocent victims. You can check out the Stock for Tots website, or even go to www.iredellscan.org and check out all that information for yourself. If you are not touched by what you read, then I would question whether or not you are human.
We have all been made aware over the past few years, of the increasing number of children in the ranks of NASCAR drivers. Jeff Gordon's kids, Kevin Harvick's son, and Kyle Busch's son already have more press time than many of the Republicans running for president. We see the kids on Sunday and they are all such beautiful young people and almost always smiling, or, at the very least, into things like race cars. That's pretty grand in my book.
Stocks for Tots was established in 1989 when Don Miller, then President of Penske Racing South, was approached by a Mooresville businessman about the rampant child abuse problem in and around Mooresville. Don, along with Rusty Wallace, began the Stocks for Tots program that year, and in the period since that first event, Stocks for Tots has raised almost One Million Dollars and provided more than 50,000 toys to children who would otherwise have been without on Christmas morning.
The money that is raised at this annual event, always the second Tuesday of December, is also used by SCAN to support a Child and Parenting Center, Home Parent Aide, Parenting Support Groups and several other endeavors to provide counseling and assistance to parents who may have issues with parenting. There is also the "At Risk Kids" effort, which provides a way for kids who have been incarcerated in the Judicial System to find a pathway back to productive citizenship. When all is said and done, what Don Miller and his group of folks have accomplished, and continue to accomplish, is amazing, truly amazing. And watching Don work the day of the event is a lesson in dedication and perseverance worthy on emulation by the masses. If you don't know Don Miller, check out his North Carolina Auto Racing Hall of Fame page on Face Book. He is truly one of the best ambassadors for the sport of auto racing around.
I was introduced to Stocks for Tots when I got a phone call one day from Bob Hissom. I knew who he was, but I had no idea he knew who I was. When he asked me about appearing in the room for The Legends of the sport for the Stocks for Tots that year, I remember asking him, "Are you sure you know who you're talking to"? Bob assured me he did, and assured me he wanted me in The Legends Room at the program that year. When I walked into the room and more than 50 Legends I had watched most of my life, I felt so out-of-place. Just so happened that I was seated next to Bill Blair, Jr. Even before the program got started that night, I knew that Bill and I would be life-long friends and it appears to be the case, even when he is less than considerate of me on the racetrack. I truly consider Bob Hissom and Bill Blair among my closest friends. Both have shared so much with me and welcomed me into the world of legends of racing where I once doubted I belong.
Please allow me to share one Don Miller story first published, I believe, in an article by Kelly Crandall in the December 10, 2014 edition of "Popular Speed". I am not quoting directly here but the story concerns the very first Stocks for Tots. It was a very cold evening as Don was at the door when this little boy, Don says about 4 or 5, was standing outside shivering in the cold. The kid was wearing a tattered light jacket and shoes with holes plainly visible. Don asked the kid if he was there to see Santa Claus and the kid said he wasn't but he was there to give something to Stocks for Tots. Don said the kid was holding a cloth bag, which he handed to Don, and when Don opened it, it was filled with pennies, nickels, and dimes. The kid told Don that he and his sister had been saving that money to give to the kids that would have no Christmas otherwise. That, folks, is a good plot for a Hallmark Channel Christmas movie, but in real life, it is a tribute to the work Don Miller and the other volunteers put forth for this event.
If you need more information, check out the website "Stocks for Tots" or call The North Carolina Auto Racing Hall of Fame at 704-663-5331. The event is from 5 to 9 p.m. next Tuesday. The list of appearances is on the website. Your chance to meet the stars of today and the Legends from yesterday, the folks who built the sport. I am so honored to be a part of this event and I hope many of you will drop by next week. It is the season!! And we say "Merry Christmas".
