Happy Mother’s Day!

Wait, that was supposed to be next week’s column. Oh well, let’s just roll with the flow here.

It’s easy to understand why I jumped the gun – I’ve been getting Mother’s Day advertisements ever since Valentine’s Day.

My flower purveyor, 1-800-Flowers, has been the most persistent. That’s probably because I gave up on The U.S. Postal Service and greeting card companies several years ago, and started sending flowers to the mothers closest to me.

That’s closest in family connection, as in daughters, daughter-in-laws, wife’s sisters – you know what I mean. But only flowers by wire work when they’re in Colorado, Nevada and points beyond.

Closer to home, our wonderful eateries have been filling my in-box. Mother’s Day is a biggie for them, I know; maybe the biggest.

After all, what’s better than letting mom off cooking duty on a Sunday? That sort of doesn’t work in our house though, because I’ve been in charge of Sunday dinner (on the grill) for years. Mother’s Day usually means an Angel Food Cake (like Maria’s birthday cake) on top of the grilled salmon.

Then there are the store displays. The balloons and flowers at the grocery stores can’t seem to decide whether Mother’s Day or Graduation is the next big spend. They bring in new flowers, I’m sure, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve just recycled the chocolates.

I can see it now – oompa loopas in the back room, taking candy out of the red heart-shaped boxes and putting them into square boxes with Happy Mother’s Day printed on them. Sounds like a made-for-TV movie, doesn’t it?

But wait. Heart boxes signify love, and Mother’s Day is all about love, right? So maybe if we just put Happy Mother’s Day ribbons on the Valentine’s Day boxes, we could cut down on the cardboard use (not to mention the labor costs).

There might be a business opportunity here.

I don’t mean to make fun of Mother’s Day. I am a great fan of mothers, and have had personal interactions with many great mothers (and grandmothers), including Maria.

I’ve even used this space before to argue that we should celebrate people’s mothers on their birthdays, not the people themselves. They’re the ones who did all the work, right?

Siso stop complaining about me writing about Mother’s Day a bit early (it’s on Sunday, May 12). Consider it a wakeup call to start your planning on time, for a change.

Randy Gordon

Talk about on time – the Long Beach Rotary Club is roasting Randy Gordon this Friday, May 3.

How is that timely, you ask? Fair question, since he stepped down as President and CEO of the Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce nearly four years ago, on June 30, 2020.

But after a few years as an auctioneer raising millions of dollars for Long Beach area charities, Randy and his lovely wife Nancy are skipping town, pulling up stakes for new digs in St. George, Utah. That means he is resigning from the Long Beach Rotary Club and will be joining one in St. George.

That’s a big deal because Randy has been a big deal in Long Beach, and in Rotary, for a long time. He was president of Rotary in 2004-05, as the club entered its centennial year. Thus the roast, which will be a fundraiser for the club.

Randy was supposed to have a roast when he stepped down, but it was canceled because of the pandemic. If you know Randy, you won’t be surprised to know that he’s looking forward to this one.

Unfortunately, I won’t be there due to a previous commitment. That’s sad, because I’ve got lots of stories about the man.

Our trajectories in Long Beach matched, although I had a couple of years on either side of his tenure at the Chamber. I watched, and wrote about, his efforts to remake the Chamber, both financially and in terms of influence.

He was a bulldog of a salesman, whether for the Chamber or the many nonprofits he supported. There was more than a grain of truth in the saying that you had to keep both hands on your wallet when you saw Randy coming.

His fundraising was legendary, from launching Chamber lunches where you had to be there if you were a player to poker tournaments where he was a player to campaigns for a new home for Precious Lamb Preschool.

With the help of the late beloved Sean Lamachi, he turned the Long Beach Chamber into an advocacy organization instead of a social business group. He pushed the Chamber into some stands that were less than popular with the powers that be (or were), but he always stuck by his word.

Sort of ironically, my father lived out most of his retirement years in St. George, primarily because of the great golf. If you’ve ever seen Randy play golf, you know that’s not why he is becoming a Utah man. But I know he’s excited.

Randy will still be around – I’m betting he can’t help himself. And that’s a good thing. He was good for Long Beach.

Take it easy, big guy.