Born in Papua New Guinea

Only twenty people from Papua New Guinea live in London and I am one of them.

I was born in Papua New Guinea and even though I am an Australian citizen and a London resident I have always had a real pride and warmth for my birth place. I keep abreast of it's international affairs and when events like the Olympic Games come on I am always flying my Papua New Guinea flag. I flew it down at Clapham Common when the Olympic Torch came near our house and people were looking at me wondering what the flag was!  I do think it's one of the great flags. The background is my parents were Baptist missionaries and my father a linguist. My father translated the Bible into one of the many dialects that exist in PNG called Enga. We grew up in the remote Western Highlands where you can only fly in and out with no road access. My brother lived there as a child so is equally fascinated about our upcoming trip.

Before my honeymoon starts I am going back to PNG with my brother and father for a reunion. I haven't been back since I was 7 ( when I lived there ) so it will be a once off unique trip. We will mainly go to Port Moresby, Madang and the town we grew up in.. Lumusa.

The above started a fun chain of events over the last few weeks.

When I sent my Visa request in to the PNG High Commission in London they phoned me as they noticed I was born there and were curious. I told them my story and they insisted I become a friend of PNG and suddenly we were invited to a special High Commissioner dinner to celebrate their 37th year of Independence  ( from Australia.)  We received a lovely gold encrusted invitation and my brother, wife and myself got booted and suited and off we sent to the penthouse at the New Zealand's Embassy. Breathtaking views over looking Westminster and all of London. It was great to not only spend a great evening with Dwight & Laura but the Papuans were so friendly and fascinated that I was born there. I felt like the prodigal son returning home. They have infectious laughs and a brilliant sense of humour.

In their speeches they thanked New Zealand for letting them use their Penthouse as they don't have the money for such a luxury in London. Apparently the Australian & New Zealand Embassies let them use their facilities regularly which I thought was cool.

The formal proceedings included a family singing the National Anthem and then the high Commissioner gave a wonderful and honest speech about PNG and her role. She seems to be a great lady and was fascinating to talk with afterwards.

After that we just enjoyed meeting those present all with some link to Papua New Guinea including ambassadors. We loved meeting the PNG ambassador to Zambia and a day called OE ( spelt OE) who is the matriarch of the England based Papuans. We met the High Commission staff and overall it was a magnificent experience. We really wish our dad could have been there as he always amazes us with his language skills and can converse easily in both Pidgeon English and Enga. He would have loved it!

Anyway.. I have mainly written this as I know my parents and their missionary friends will enjoy the story. We are now in the loop and look forward to our next night out with the Papuans.

Some summer reflections...

I thought it was time to for a summer blog. London seems to be running smoothly over this Olympic period and I hope you have enjoyed the whole crazy energy.

First I wanted to welcome the many new dancers who have taken the plunge and are immersing themselves in the world of Lindy Hop. It's an exciting adventure and I hope every new step is a great experience for you.

We have a lot to be thankful for at Swing Patrol so I thought I would list my top ten summer highlights so far for this 2012 summer.

1. Lindy Hop in the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics.
2. Lindy Hop as part of the Olympic celebrations.
3. Lindy Hop at the many Summer Festivals
4. The London Swing Festival
5. Herräng Dance Camp  - Sweden
6. London social dancing
7. Our teachers & our venues
8. Hawaii - Sibhe - O
9. The Elusive Ball challenge
10. I got married


1. Lindy Hop in the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics.
Wasn't that amazing?! I don't think any of us ever dreamed Lindy Hop would get such exposure at the largest show on Earth. It was such a buzz for every Lindy Hopper all over the Globe and of course even more of a buzz for the dancers actually involved like Simone, Tessa, Asif, Lisa C, Lisa B, Keith, Barry, and so many others I don't know. It was brilliant!

2. Lindy Hop as part of the Olympic celebrations.
The Olympic Bid we submitted has paid off in many ways. On Thursday August 30th we are dancing in Trafalgar Square. Our daily BT Live Site gigs have been a great experience and for me personally it has been brilliant getting to know some of the dancers better.  How amazing that in the middle of summer we can still find two anchors (usually teachers) and so many dancers every day of the Olympics.

3.Lindy Hop at the many Summer Festivals
Latitude, Wyndstock, Secret Garden Party, Love Box, Camp Bestival were all amazing experiences and we still have Greenbelt, Bestival, Wilderness and Boomtown to come. Isn't that mad? Using a team of now over 80 dancers we have been partying, making new friends and sharing this dance of ours all over the place. The teams have been a combination of our most experienced dancers and many of our up & coming dancers. It has been a really inclusive programme and a great experience for so many.

4. The London Swing Festival
Deserves a mention as it was the start of summer and it was such a special weekend. The teaching line-up for 2013 London Swing Festival is off the hook, with the final teaching team to be announced soon. I am really proud of the team (a large team) and all their work to make this event so special. www.londonswingfestival.co.uk


5. Herräng  Dance Camp  - Sweden
I love this camp and love what it means to the world Lindy Hop community. I have been amazed this year how many Londoners attended and how many are still away. Even on Tuesday when I anchored the BT Live Site team I was so fascinated that half the team had just arrived back from Herrang. Some said it rained the whole time, others had the Herräng flu, some were bitten half to death by mosquitos but in true Lindy Hop fashion…they all loved it.  I think it's the coolest thing that the London crowd are investing in their dancing and getting so involved. We can't wait to have all the team back and hear all about it.


6. London social dancing
Even through summer the dancing continues and this was really highlighted last Sunday. We had to relocate venues at the last minute and after a few phone calls were given permission to run a trial night at the Bedroom Bar. With 4 days notice almost 70 people attended with Sibhe managing her first Sunday evening social. Sibhe raved about the support she got from the teaching team and thanks to the numbers the Bedroom Bar have offered us another evening on Sunday September 9th. Of course I am biased but I think this is all a stunning effort in the middle of summer. I was teaching in Durham so I was sorry to miss the night, especially after the rave reviews.

7. Our teachers & our venues
With so many of our teachers away on holidays or enjoying the Herräng experience we have had to close a couple of venues this summer. But to the credit of the remaining teachers we have kept the classes running professionally & smoothly. I am really proud of the team for this and can't thank them enough. The class planning, admin and teaching efforts is colossal as a group and I just wanted to acknowledge the hard working SP teaching team.


8. Hawaii - Sibhe - O
Sibhe has been supporting me over summer as the main point of contact for Swing Patrol with Fiona on leave. Sibhe has had lot's to learn but her whacky London humour entwined with her gritty determination for excellence has made summer a lot of fun and we are all very fortunate to have Sibhe involved. Behind the scenes Jackie, Kat, Ranall, Jody, Pippa (BBB)  and Laura are also playing important roles for SP.

9. The Elusive Ball challenge
Well we can't have a perfect summer. The slight frustration has been that we had to cancel the Swing Ball. We still have a lot of work to do on this area but never fear…we are on it and enjoying the challenge!

10. I got married
Ok so it's indirectly related to Swing Patrol but I have been quite distracted with getting married just over a month ago. Laura & I have been seriously overwhelmed by the brilliant well wishes from so many of you. I am grateful to the teachers who have been covering extra classes as a result. Naturally my focus has been away from Swing Patrol for a bit so I feel very grateful for the amazing team in London.

So that is my 2 cents written on a train. With troupe starting again soon and dancers starting to arrive back in London it's an exciting few months ahead. If you have read all this guff this far… thanks!

Keeping our scene fresh and accessible.

The word "blogger" embarrasses me as I write something just every few months. Hardly a blogger but since I am on a plane to Australia.. I have time!

So my fiancé Laura and I went up to Leeds for a little get away weekend recently. The arcades and shopping were great but we coincided our weekend away to support Alex Parker and the night he was managing as part of the Leeds University swing dancers. I left the dance completely inspired and it reminded and enforced my vision about what I want for our amazing London Swing Patrol dancers.

This is what I loved about the evening in Leeds:

First of all it had a really friendly vibe. People smiled as you walked past them and people were not only dancing -they were on the sides having a laugh. Was this because it was in the friendly North? I wasn't sure but I was super impressed by the leadership and how they conducted themselves. I watched as they greeted, shook hands, thanked people for coming and took beginners for dances. Any scene is shaped by the leadership.. and this was a positive energy that I loved being in the presence of. It reinforced that our teacher training should always talk about leadership as that is the role our teachers play in so many ways. I see any senior dancer at a social night as a leader. NO it doesn't mean you have to dance with new strangers all night.. but wouldn't it be great if we all made a commitment to ask some newer dancers for a dance at each event.

The jam session was long, entertaining and full of thrills and spills. The dancers were queueing up to jump in and people were grabbing anybody randomly. It was a really organic jam session, and I saw arrange of beginners and top kids involved and it was awesome in terms of raw energy and passion. Some flashy moves and lifts were attempted and not everything was executed as planned.. but that was what made it so cool. Dancers just having a crack with no pressure to be perfect and no concerns in the world that anyone would care. This is how a jam session should be so if you read this and are a new dancer.. a jam session awaits you. Talking to the team up there I learnt later that Cat Foley teaches what a jam session is really early on so it's part of the learning culture for beginners. I love that.

The tranky doo.. did anyone in the room NOT know it when Dipsy Doodle came on? It was a rare sight to see so many jump up for this. Was a cool moment.

The first band was tight and the second group offered variety, dance floor brilliant and seeing friendly faces from Sheffield,  Nottingham, Durham, and so forth was great.

So it steeled my resolve to ensure our social nights have a certain openness and friendliness and that jam sessions are accessible for all and more than anything.. fun! They may not get a million hits on YouTube.. but it will be great for those actually in attendance.  As scenes develop so along comes the preciousness.. I have seen it a few times. So let's look out for the new kids and make sure they feel like the y are in the bubble and not on the outside looking in.

If you have read this far.. I am amazed so thanks.
Scottie :)

History, Frankie and reflections...

So it's almost Christmas which means we started Swing Patrol in London almost three years ago. I am always reflective around this time of year and what a year it has been. We will bang on about the highlights of the year at the end of the year but  the question on my mind is whether we are doing a good job? When we first started Swing Patrol we had a very clear idea about our focus as a school. Taking our inspiration from the history of the dance, we wanted to ensure our teaching captured the joy of the dance, while instilling great technique. We also wanted to build a community of dancers that was a fun, supportive and exciting place to be part of. 

We get accolades for introducing so many new people to the London swing dance community and for staying out of the politics that can arise in any community. We have a pretty strict rule that none of our team say anything negative about other groups, other dance styles, artists and so forth.  Of course what individuals say privately or amongst themselves is well outside our influence…we only ask this when they are representing Swing Patrol, they remain positive.  We get teased and get called " Swing Control" sometimes for things like this but we kind of like this tag. We may not be everybody's cup of tea.. but we do have a certain culture and we like that culture. 

Anyway….focus… back to the main thought… Are we prepared for the year ahead? Well, we are not the group of three years ago. Back then we were thrilled if we just had ten people at a class…now with much larger classes and more venues, our focus needs to be spot on as we move into 2012. I am enjoying the challenge of ensuring our amazing community of dancers are equipped for the great journey ahead. 

We do some things really well…but we could write a long list of things we need to improve on. I am glad to have a team are fully supportive of our vision. The relentless desire to continually review, amend and experiment. I do get a little paranoid at times though and hope our team have enough understanding of the history of the dance. It's so key that all we do. Did I emphasise this enough at teacher training? Perhaps I should have made each teacher read my Frankie Manning book and all my books about the great artists of the day. I have geeked out on books about Lionel Hampton and Duke Ellington. Having said that .. was cool to meet Tanya recently and she was reading her Frankie Manning book on the tube, and without prompting I see our venues teaching Frankie Manning nights, or Harvest Moon themed classes…a great indicator that the team are serious about the history of the dance. Maybe I have no need to worry. :) 

Have I prepared the team well? Do we teach with the right balance of fun, joy and good technique.. and foster a real community spirit at the same time? It may sound cheesy but I wonder what Frankie Manning would think if he were to walk into one of our classes?  I have been fortunate enough to perform in front of Frankie a few times and he was always so affirming…he even made me promise to go and compete in the USA once… so I did. I was driving Frankie around Melbourne once and I will never forget the great insights he gave me and the fascinating things he said. I was amazed about his reflections on how we run classes.. he thought it was a great idea and wondered why that didn't think of running classes like this back in the day. Yes I could barely believe it.. of course back in the day you watched, copied, experimented without the structure we have today… but Frankie liked it! Sort of incredible. Maybe he was just being polite but he was pretty frank about other things that bothered him so I have no reason to assume so.  Ooops. Focus…So would Frankie have liked the classes we run in London? Would he have thought our teachers competent and being great ambassadors of the dance? I think so, but I am naturally biased. I think Frankie would have easily seen that we have a team with a variety of talents. Some are such great community builders and others are the inspiring and world class dancers that make us all want to work harder on this dance we love. 

So I reflect upon our teaching and recently we asked for some feedback from the student base about what they would like to learn and focus on in 2012. I was so pleased to see some history based topics being requested. As we plan and move into the next year.. be assured we are really in tune about our responsibility as scene leaders to ensure our students get a really great historical focus on all we do.  It is a fun thought though that as a community we are indeed part of the history and part of the Lindy Hop story in this modern age. It is the modern day Lindy Hoppers who are dancing, sharing and loving this dance to ensure the legacy continues. I mean the amount of effort to create awareness about this dance is beyond belief. It is a herculean collective team effort and I am proud to be the leader of my team and the chapters we are creating. I should point out that other groups do an amazing job also. Some scene leaders, dancers, individuals inspire me by their love of swing dancing, music and the people in the scene. London is blessed with many many truly great people who dance and work with a variety of Lindy Hop related groups. 

Watch out world.. London is making history.. now.

The unofficial mission statement

The mission statement

I emailed the teaching team the other day with a summary of our mission statement and so many of them commented that it was great to read and useful as well. I thought it might be a good idea to add some things in here also.

1. Once this Dec/Jan/Feb push is over.. we will slow down the opening of new venues and focus on really building what we have.

2. In general our teaching team have some new teachers and teacher training is key and part of the reason that I ( sadly ) relinquished Old Street recently. We have had two teacher training sessions i the last month and another one planned for early December.  There is much still to learn as a collective teaching team and creating an amazing team of teachers is a wonderful and exciting prospect. 

3. Training will also be created for outdoor gigs. We work hard to secure these events so we want to ensure more of our team are equipped to manage and enjoy a public speaking and teaching role. 

4. Once we kick off the new year with our ambitious plan to open 5/6 venues.. and if that goes ok.. we will then work on managing our venues and … creating a stronger dancer at Swing Patrol. The standard is growing no doubt but know we can move the standard more efficiently with the structure we now have.  This will involve more intermediate and advanced workshops including more guests from abroad. 

5. We are still intent on better systems. We have done a lot in 18 months but trying to automate as many systems as possible while still ensuring we offer the great personal relationship through our teaching team. This involved things like scanning registrations at workshop entry and so forth. 

6. Troupe will be a higher standard next year as the general pool of people is higher to choose from. Troupe will play a role in pushing the standard of the dance. 

7. More focus in Balboa ( more than nothing will be easy..:) 

8. More focus on the history of the dance. We already are in contact in what we consider history experts and having them run some guest seminars in 2012 as we really link the new buzz with the original charm. 

9. Streamline our systems. We want to ensure our door staff and volunteers and better supported and this includes better training for them.

10. Risks. This is about a great journey.. and as always we will take some calculated risks and see where that lands us. More on this later.

11.  A continued focus on working with the many great groups around England that think like us and love sharing this dance. We have a wonderful network of groups that we love co-sharing ideas with and that is a great encouragement for all parties to learn from each other. 

Anyway.. these are just a few thoughts to keep you in the loop of where we are heading . I hope they assist or are of interest. 

Scottie :) 

Just feeling greatful.. for an extraordinary team.

What a crazy weekend and one I can and should reflect on. I don't consider myself a blogger .. and certainly wouldn't expect anyone to read my fluff but for me it's a record of my feelings and experiences and I wish I wrote more. 

I taught in Durham all weekend. The dancers in the North are fantastic and a pleasure to work with. They love their dancing and was a really great experience as always. 

Feeling just so grateful and proud. 

I write this on the long train road home on Sunday night. I am missing Red Rhythm and today was an important day for Swing Patrol London. What amazes me is that we have such an extraordinary team to achieve so much this weekend..,. with Fiona ( my admin manager ) in Australia and myself away since Friday. 

First thing on my mind is the troupe auditions. In a packed hall in Angel we had a block buster amount of people try out for troupe. FInding a date for these auditions was impossible. With BBB next weekend and then Ben & Tanya abroad.. this was the best weekend so I made the decision that troupe auditions should proceed without me. I have put a lot of trust in Ben & Tanya and I knew that would do a great job and they cleverly asked Loz, Cam & Erin to assist in the adjudication.  I haven't really heard much at the time of this train trip but I know that Ben & Tanya are very capable organisers and leaders and would have done a super job. 

I am also grateful to the many dancers who put themselves on the line. This is a tough day as many will miss out and not being accepted for something you want can be tough to hear. I am flattered that people want to be in a troupe that our group runs and think it's a testament to the current members and the leadership of the Rhythm Rascals. 

We also had a DJ seminar/workshop and many who really care about the music were involved. Chris Gammie and Loz plus a lot of other well established and up & coming DJs attended and I also can't wait to hear how this went. 

Red Rhythm is on as I write this ( slightly sad ) but  I am completely relaxed as Chris Gammie is in charge and  we have great door and bar staff. This is an epic event to manage as we run the bar and have to abide by some very clear venue guidelines. There was a time where I would not have trusted the reputation of Swing Patrol with anyone else but me.. but this is a ridiculous notion nowadays as truth be told.. event managers like Chris and David Clarke are more thorough than me and always ( without fail ) do a sterling job. I am extremely grateful for this. 

So these are the obvious things that tick.. but what you don't see is the myriad of other things that are going on. I really sit here feeling very fortunate and blessed by the team around me. While I can't confirm any of the following I would place a bet that the following happened this weekend: 

1. Pippa. Blues Baby Blues is this coming weekend so I will bet that Pippa is consumed in the preparations.. all with me not much help in Durham

2. Laura. Our graphic designer has a long list of jobs we have and she will have spent some time this weekend producing draft art work for me to sign off on.

3. Richard. Richard Warner manages our asset register and would have spent time researching and ordering a new system for one of our new venues.. and for us to use at BBB

4. Our teachers.. every teacher would have updated their diary notes, inputted email addresses, loaded You Tube clips and kept an eye on the admin relating to their venue.

5. Our troupe.. had troupe. Despite auditioning .. it was business as usual for our troupe. What a massive day for them. 

6. Gordon. Gordon is working with Asif on the marketing of Putney Bridge. I saw the email exchanges.. lot of planning took place this weekend. 

7. Fiona. You can get that Fiona was still working for Swing patrol at the air port and when she landed in Australia. You will find it hard to meet someone so dedicated as Fiona. 

8. Blues baby Blues team. Janet, Sibhe, Gemma, Laura, David, Robyn etc. 

I haven't listed all the names.. but the team is now in full swing with little time for anything else now. It's 5 sleeps till show time. This Festival simply wouldn't run without these guys. 

9. Two of our teachers danced at an event in Brixton this weekend. Massive thanks to Chris G & Laura. I have no idea what the details were. 

10. Erin and the Sunday afternoon Spitalfields class - 22 people this weekend.. a record for Sunday afternoons. 

11. Social dancers.. Red Rhythm always has 50-90 people. Swinging out on a Sunday night. I love the London scene for their love of social dancing. These dancers make Red Rhythm an awesome night. 

Can you believe all this energy.. and I am out of London. So I am sure you can see .. why on this train trip from Durham to Kings Cross I am feeling very grateful for an amazing team that due to their collective energy create a community that has a buzz and always has a crazy weekend of activity. 

Not sure if anyone will read this.. and ( in my tired state ) after three nights of dancing and two full days of teaching.. I am sure I have missed a few things.. but I am extremely proud, grateful and inspired by the Swing Patrol team.

Scottie 

* currently this train is being held at York until further notice due to signalling problems in Doncaster. Thank goodness for my Kindle. 

Reflecting on the crazy SP network..

Proud of the crazy family. 

I notice that blogging has hit the swing dance community in a big way. People have been blogging for years and I love following some peoples blogs.

I don't really see this as a blog.. just my ramblings really and when I get the urge about something,, I write it down. 

I am on the train from Bristol to London and has an amazing evening of dancing as part of the Bristol Swing Festival.  Laura & I mainly wanted to support David & Stephan who have both been super people that I have enjoyed getting to know since I arrived in London.  Both lived in London when I first moved here.  David asked to meet up with me before he started his swing dance community in Bristol and we shared ideas. He is a natural leader and was great seeing him on stage last night. When I arrived in London Stephan asked me for lunch and the first thing he said was " I am so excited Swing Patrol are here.. what can I do to help." I will always be grateful for this endorsement and to have the support of " millionaire Stephan " as he is known behind his back was super. He is a great mate of Dax and the three of us always have a round of golf or hang out when we are all in town. 

The Bristol Swing Festival so unique and has a complete circus flavour. The cabaret performance last night featured some amazing swing dancing combined with an array of amazing circus performers. The two are really connected in Bristol with the town a haven for artists and performers. 

Three things happened that made me really proud of the Swing Patrol family - from Sydney, Melbourne to London. If you worry I am going to be biased with the following three stories.. I am and best you close me down. :) 

1)     Loz Because  - Hula-hoopist    ( about London & Melbourne ) 

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Loz is a cool swing dancer but a first class Hula-Hoopist who sent the crowd into a frenzy with a great routine to an electro swing tune. She had that performance x factor that is rare and already we have booked Loz to perform at our upcoming London Swing Festival.  After cheering her on and asking our event manager to book her .. I then met Loz and found this out. 

Loz started dancing because she was inspired by the swing dancing she witnessed at Secret Garden Party. Swing Patrol London had 12 free tickets for this amazing music Festival and we danced our hearts out at a variety of stages and late night parties. Loz then went and lived in Melbourne and became addicted to swing dancing with her favourite classes being those taught by Kieran & Georgia. She loved the whole Swing Patrol Melbourne vibe and all the great teachers and classes. Randomly the routine I just witnessed had been choreographed in Melbourne  -  Noni had assisted in the writing of it. Was fun chatting about the amazing Noni. 

Loz came up and said " hey Scott, Just wanted to say thanks for starting Swing Patrol!" As we were dancing Loz even commented " I feel like I am dancing with history." Hmmm.. I did wind her up about making me feel like a fossil ( which I am in swing dancing terms ) but I know what she meant and it was a cool connection. At that stage I had no idea of the above .. I wish Claudia could have been there. Loz is now back in Bristol and soon off to travel again. Loz is excited about performing at the London Swing festival.. and excited about seeing Shob & Andy ( from Melbourne) who are part of our teaching line up. 

Randomly.. on the same evening a dancer from Morocco registered for the London Swing Festival. I sent Shobbie a message as Shob & Andy will be teaching dancers from so many countries.

2) Random act of Nottingham kindness ( about Sydney ) 

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Laura & I left at about 2am and were one of the first to leave. Having never seen Bristol we weren't doing the after party but instead spending the next morning as tourists. We walked outside and were deciding whether to walk 25 minutes (was a great warm evening ) or catch a cab. A random dancer walked past and before we knew it.. this person was driving us home. Nicci was a Nottingham dancer and was great to chat to her. It was her first swing dancing experience outside her how town & all her fears and nerves had been washed away with an amazing experience in Bristol. 

When I first arrived in London I received a lovely and random email from a Lisa in Nottingham ( who we are now good friend with) who was kind enough to let us know that her love for swing dancing was first created at Swing Patrol Sydney  ( Paddo RSL. )  Lisa had been inspired in Sydney, went back to Nottingham and started a swing community. Nicci was a student of Lisa and they were staying with each other. Is it possible that this random good Samaritan was dancing because of a loose link to Swing Patrol Sydney? Swing is on the move in Europe with scenes popping up everywhere so maybe Nicci would have found swing anyway.. but it's a lovely thought that SP Sydney may have played a role in Nottingham! 

3) The travelling Londoners ( about London ) 

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When you live in England you suddenly realise that there is London.. and everywhere else. Londoners are known as the group of people ( not just dancers ) that don't get out of London much as they feel they have everything at their finger tips.  When I walked in last night the first people I saw were a big representation of our teaching team and troupe members. So many were in Bristol that someone asked me " who is looking after your ship back home." It was a good point as Fiona ( our admin manager), Pippa ( our event manager) Peta ( one of our troupe leaders ) etc etc.. were all dancing in Bristol last night. I thought it was really super that Bristol was so well supported by London. I should point out that it wasn't just SP dancers from London… many from the wider London community were present and was great to catch up with them. 

So it was about good vibes and great energy last night. We certainly don't do everything perfectly but the three stories above made me reflect that I am indeed really blessed to lead such an amazing, talented, joyful and inclusive community.  Sorry for the fluff! ( not really ) … 

Scottie :)