Just when I was getting over not being invited to Wombat’s induction…
Jerry Freeman’s post count is 2005. Hope the party was a blast! 
Congratulations, Jerry!
Carol
PS And sorry if I’ve missed some hip, hip, hoorays elsewhere.
Congratulations Jerry.
You don’t fool me Carol, I saw you there. 
Hip
Hip
HOP
…erm
Simultaneous to a Brazilian Hound…sigh…
Glauber, wot u at??!! 
H o o r a y !
Oh, right!
Hooray!!!
Happy Tweakin’ Celebration… get out the special smokin’ jacket.
Hi, Jerry!
Grats! (I’ll say it louder when my tweaked Shaw gets here…)
Patience…patience…can’t rush a craftsman…though it seems at least one whistlesmith has just had a whole MONTH’s holiday
Trisha
Oh shoot. I thought the lampshade had me covered.
C
Not when you wear it that way, Carol. 
Congratulations, Brother Freeman!!
(Today is also my one year anniversary since joining C&F.
Party under my rock with diet coke and fritos served. Everybody is invited. 
)
any chance some of the cokes aren’t diet?
Jerry…? You can come out now… :roll:
Well, OK.
I’ve been trying to think of what to say here.
It would be hard to overstate how much this board has changed my life.
When I got interested in the whistle about 15 months ago, I was in the fulltime business of buying, renovating and selling used house trailers.
That was the best occupation I could create for myself here in economically depressed, rural upstate New York after losing my job when the Internet bubble burst.
The last three years were extremely tough. On the one hand, it’s been nonstop white-knuckles scary trying to make ends meet, while on the other hand, I’ve had to try to function in a working environment where a high percentage of people are dishonest and/or undependable.
Then, somehow, in the middle of that, I entered the world of pennywhistles.
I still have four house trailers waiting to be completed, sold, and their various liens paid off. However, I no longer consider myself to be in the mobile home business. That’s just something left over to clear out as I can get it done.
As I mentioned awhile back, recently it dawned on me, I’m the world’s only fulltime, professional pennywhistle tweaker.
And I must say, that’s about as pleasant and satisfying an occupation as I could ever imagine. Every day, I deal with interesting, creative people of high integrity, and virtually every transaction is congenial and satisfying.
Literally, the whole tenor of my life has changed thanks, in large part, to the friends I’ve found here.
Please, never underestimate the effect you can have on other people’s lives. We often discuss one or another aspect of the world’s sorry state, and I think there’s often a sense that it’s all too big and too far out of hand for our individual contributions to make a difference.
But I’m here to tell you, your kindness, your integrity and your concern for other people do make a difference in the world, and I can say that with authority because they’ve made a tremendous, tangible and concrete difference to me.
With my heartfelt appreciation and sincere best wishes,
Jerry
Congratulations Jerry! 