Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man. ~ Benjamin Franklin

Happy New Year’s Eve – 2026

Welcome to Amateur Night! My annual New Year’s Eve posts have really become a small homage to my old neighbor Jack Wrigley. Jack was a guy who enjoyed a good party and a beer but he didn’t participate in New Year’s Eve. I asked him why once and he simply said, “I don’t do amateur night.” The quote always stuck with me. When I was drinking, and a full blown alcoholic, I did a few amateur nights and they were always miserable. It’s the one night a year, well maybe two if we count St. Patrick’s Day, where people who don’t normally drink, insist on drinking for hours and getting sloppy drunk. And sloppy drunks means dealing with people vomiting, people saying stupid shit and the inevitable monkey pumped up on liquid courage who is convinced he needs to get into a fight. None of that is fun, so I made Amateur Night a hard pass years ago.

But each year it reminds me of Jack Wrigley. Jack was one of the most laid back humans I’ve ever met. He was the first person I knew with a tattoo, he’d gotten the prototypical anchor tattoo while in the navy. He worked with my father and had a cabin next door to our house and a little pool that he graciously allowed me to use whenever I wanted. Which led to one of the best days of my teenage life, when his smokin hot daughter Renee, maybe the most beautiful woman to come from our county, showed up with a couple of friends to suntan while I was using the pool. It was my first ever experience, I was about 14, them around 19, of having the attention of three gorgeous women all to myself. They thought I was a goofy kid, but it was a glorious hour one summer. So as usual tonight, I’ll raise a glass to the memory of Jack Wrigley.

So whatever you’re doing tonight friends, I hope you have a happy and safe night. Me, I made some pizza, bought some killer brownies and will be watching football and the Stranger Things finale. Should be a chill and good night, hope you have the same. ~ Rev Kane