Send In The Clones – Escalon Times

How is it that February had one extraday this year and yet it seems like I still lost a couple of weeks out of themonth?

Honestly, it feels as though I missedout on some things because I felt they were still several days away when inreality, they had already happened.

It was Saturday, Feb. 29 which wasfull of events for me to cover in Escalon when I realized that somehow, theRead Across America event to celebrate Dr. Seusss birthday had been observedthe day before, on Friday. I was driving by Dent Elementary School which hadsent me an invitation to be a guest reader when that fact hit me. Having beena reader in the past it would have been fun to do so again, and I always,always get to at least a couple of the Escalon schools to cover the event. Butnot this year.

So what happened? Just too much elsegoing on and not marking the date on my calendar as soon as I got theinvitation to read. It just quietly slid right past me. We also were wrappingup two other outside publication projects on Friday (yes, we routinely work onmore than just our three weekly newspapers) so there wasnt much time duringthe day for anything else.

It left me feeling sad, though, as Ilook forward to many of these school site events.

Saturday, however, was a day ofcelebration for Escalon, as the high school observed its 100th anniversary andthere was plenty of other good stuff happening as well, including home baseballgames and the fun color run first thing in the morning.

Sunday, as I picked up a few groceries,I ran into a friend who said she was surprised she hadnt seen me covering anevent that occurred Saturday in Oakdale. As I shared that I was already busywith three events in Escalon but I would have gotten to Oakdale if I could have,she simply asked: You mean you havent been cloned yet?

We both chuckled over that and I toldher I would check with my boss to see if that is something we should look into.So far, there has been no cloning; I just keep up a pretty hectic pace.

Also on Sunday, I was able to take acouple of hours out of the day to be entertained by the version of ToyStories put on at the Oakdale High School theater by the Drama Department, asort of compilation of all four movies in the series. Their production kept thoseof us in the matinee audience laughing and there were lots of standoutperformances.

Definitely a whirlwind weekend butpacked with plenty of fun and work that didnt necessarily seem like work.

Now we dive into March and personally,even though it would wreak havoc on spring sports schedules, I really hope weget some rainy weather to make up for what was nearly a precipitation-freemonth of February. There has already been talk of the drought word so Im notsure any of us would mind a few rainy days over the next few months if we couldavoid that situation.

We are also now entering the zone wherethings seem to start happening fast. Once the holidays are over and we get intospringtime, it is almost like time itself goes into overdrive, at least in ourbusiness. One day its early March and the next, we are getting ready for highschool graduation ceremonies and people are putting in time off requests forsummer vacation.

Between now and then, though, there willbe plenty to both keep us busy and to fill the pages of the paper from theOakdale Rodeo to Easter egg hunts to the Chocolate Festival and Relay For Life.

And, I am actually already thinking ofgetting away for a bit of a summer vacation this year myself.

Well, if that cloning thing comesthrough. Stay tuned.

MargJackson is editor of The Escalon Times, The Oakdale Leader and The RiverbankNews. She may be reached at mjackson@oakdaleleader.com or by calling 847-3021.

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Send In The Clones - Escalon Times