The coloring contest...

My mother shopped at Loblaws. Anyone remember that grocery chain? Actually, I saw a Loblaws from the train window on my way to Toronto recently. Maybe they're now completely Canadian.

At any rate, back in 1952, at the age of nine, my older sister convinced me that I should enter the Jamestown, NY Loblaws coloring contest. Cynthia, may her soul rest in peace, was always agitating me to heights of glory. Since she was an idol of sorts, I took her challenges very seriously.

This is the way it unraveled. One picked up the coloring book and colored away like crazy! There would be 10 winners. Thinking back upon the experience, I have no idea what constituted the grand prize. I was simply challenged by the event. Cynthia, in her own inimical way, simultaneously enchanted me into either carrying the day or suffering inconsolable defeat.

I did color away like crazy! I submitted my entry. I was like Ralphie, daydreaming of glory against Black Bart.

Cynthia entered the contest too, but I don't think her heart was in it. I worked very hard at staying within the lines. And I used unusual color combinations. Maybe I was just dyslectic...

Drum roll please. I won third prize!! My sister finished 10th. It is the only contest I've EVER won, although I once won $25 in the NYS lottery for having four numbers.

So guess what my award was? A trip to Hawaii? Hardly. How about a gift certificate for a gallon of ice cream? Enough of such dreaming...

Third prize was a Kodak Brownie Camera with accessories! It's the only major award I've ever won. And can you imagine? My own camera at the age of nine? It may even have been my 15 seconds of fame. It was even marked FRA-GILLE!

The whole package came in one big box. And it was a brazenly epic event. Cynthia remained gracious. She was not one to hold grudges. But for me it was an introduction to a whole new world.

I think I wore out my Kodak Brownie camera. And even my dad used it on family vacations. Our shoebox, snapshot collection is extant to this day. And frankly, I think it was the beginning of my  lifelong affair with the art of photography.

Today, Kodak is filling the news. As a young adult, I used their mainstay products, Kodacolor, Tri-X and Kodagold. And Rochester, NY was not that far from where I grew up. My high school's brightest and best became employees at Kodak. It was a blue chip stock and worth every penny spent on it.

In the news tonight I learned that Kodak's stock is under 50 cents a share. And the New York Stock Exchange is about to delete Kodak from the big board. Alas, they have tried. They even have patents valued at a little over a billion dollars sitting out there for auction. There aren't even any takers. Kodak is about to go into Chapter 11 proceedings. In Rochester, it is the end of the world.

I'm not going to offer any insights or explanations. Quite simply, we don't use film anymore. And unlike the tobacco industry -- that re-adjusted to selling alcohol in foreign markets, Kodak tried entering the market against SONY and Samsung. And then they tried making ink jet printers. It is a sad demise.

One can only project that Kodak is at the end of a long and prosperous run. It is sad, but it is, likewise, the dawn of a new era. Think digital...

Carry on,

Paul in Potsdam
http://www2.potsdam.edu/loucksap
smugmug.com/loucksap
madstop68.blogspot.com/