Belated Happy Birthday wishes, Tyson, and congrats on the Porch posting milestone!
Not an entry for me, since I already have a red celidor Minichamp that's a literal EDC for me. So I can certainly vouch for the usefulness of the generous prize you're offering. This is also my favorite kind of GAW, where participants are required to take part in a "community building activity" of some kind, usually by sharing some info about themselves.
Even though I'm not entering the GAW, I'll share a "best birthday" story, although it's a challenge for me to choose among 3 very memorable ones, all very long ago.
• My 16th birthday was certainly memorable, since right after school my Mom went with me to the county seat and we arrived in time for me to take the written test, the eye test, and the driving test necessary to get my first driver's license. Afterwards, my parents apparently trusted me, my driving skills, and my judgment enough to let me take the family car (a 1965 Dodge wagon) and drive myself 30 miles to and from a high school basketball game that very night. Wonderful trip to the game, radio blasting (I heard the Beatles' "Hello, Goodbye" and the Monkees' "Daydream Believer" several times that night). Don't remember anything about the game, but the trip home was essentially in a blizzard - pretty challenging first time on the road by myself.
• I was the oldest child in my family and have 6 younger siblings, and it turned out that I was the first to experience what became many family traditions. Birthdays in our family usually involved various relatives showing up for some cake and ice cream, but for our 10th birthday, we got to host a "regular party" attended by kids from school (I think only boys attended parties for me and my 2 brothers, and only girls attended parties for my 4 sisters). What made that birthday especially relevant to me (and The Porch) is that I got my first pocket knife, a Colonial Forest-Master scout knife, as a gift. I still have that knife, carry it periodically, and have posted pics of it here many times.
• But I think my all-time most memorable birthday was my 7th birthday, when I received my first 2-wheeler. It became a family tradition for my Dad to find used bikes he could tune up and give to his kids on their 7th birthday. I got mine in December, so I basically could only look at it sitting in a drafty old enclosed porch for 4 months. But in April, my Dad helped me learn to ride it, even though for the first couple of months, I had to find something to stand on (5-gallon bucket, roots of a maple tree that stuck up quite a ways right next to the dirt driveway, outer stairs at school) in order to get on the bike.
Thanks again for the generous and fun GAW, Tyson, and best wishes to all the entrants shooting for that superb Alox Minichamp!
- GT
