The Ole Seagull

Will Branson shows and attractions be knocked out of the “ole marketing ball park?”

Branson, Opinion / /

Is it possible that those in power in Branson have watched the movie “Field of Dreams” one time too many? Have they forgotten the concept of “Dance with the one who brought you?” Do they really believe that marketing funds spent trying to develop yet another demographic to allegedly bring more people to Branson will bring more people to Branson than spending that same amount of money in “efficiently” promoting the shows and attractions that are the lynchpin of Branson’s success? In an Ole Seagull’s opinion, “It appears so.”
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Will Branson shows and attractions be knocked out of the “ole marketing ball park?”Read More »

Will Branson shows and attractions be knocked out of the “ole marketing ball park?” Read More »

Mothers Are God’s Special Gift

General / /

How important are Mothers? Without them natural life as we know it could not even begin and the course of most people’s lives, after that beginning, is dramatically influenced by the person they call “Mom” or “Mother.” There are some, including an Ole Seagull, who believe that by age eight, or earlier, the mold of a person’s future has been cast and, to a very large extent, Mother’s form and shape that mold.

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Mothers Are God’s Special GiftRead More »

Mothers Are God’s Special Gift Read More »

The gift of Christmas fulfilled, “He has risen!”

Branson, General, Opinion / /
The "Lily of the Valleys" has risen!

To Christians, Christmas is both a commemoration and celebration of the fact that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” If however, that first Christmas was all there was, there would be little reason for anyone to believe in Jesus and the promise of eternal life would be lost to all. But that’s not all there was. …

The gift of Christmas fulfilled, “He has risen!”Read More »

The gift of Christmas fulfilled, “He has risen!” Read More »

Branson’s Happy Birthday Spirit

Branson, General, Opinion / /

Somehow it just seems so fitting that the start of Branson’s 100th year and Centennial Celebration coincides with Palm Sunday and the spirit of what it represents. During its first year in existence the city of Branson had a fire with the potential to wipe it out and during the last year of its first century it experienced a tornado with the potential to wipe it out. Yet, as we celebrate the 100th birthday of the city we love and that many of us call home, Branson’s light burns brightly as a beacon of unique family entertainment for millions of visitors annually, natural beauty, fun, patriotism, and a place where the spirit of the One who rode a donkey into Jerusalem those thousands of years ago is honored.

Halleluiah and Happy Birthday Branson, Happy Birthday!

Branson’s Happy Birthday Spirit Read More »

Carpetbaggery in store for the Taney County Commission elections?

Branson, Government, Opinion, Taney County / /

It seemed surreal, almost as if the Ole Seagull wasn’t actually in the crowded room in Branson filled with some of Branson’s biggest power brokers and a sprinkling of others. Although, it was as if they didn’t even notice him, he was surprised he was there because lowly Seagulls are not normally invited to the meetings where the “Condors roost” unless they want something from them. …

Carpetbaggery in store for the Taney County Commission elections?Read More »

Carpetbaggery in store for the Taney County Commission elections? Read More »

Are rights without responsibility and a “free lunch” destroying America?

General, Government, Opinion / /

Although the Ole Seagull listens to Rush Limbaugh on the radio, much of the time he loses the benefit of his tremendous intellect and logic because of the “noise” of his self-aggrandizement. During a recent broadcast however, Limbaugh blasted through the noise and caught his attention when he defined “the Democratic Party base” as “The  poor and the disadvantaged and the put-out and the put-upon” and asked the question, “Why isn’t it proper [to] point out that the Democrat base is made up, for the most part, of the nation’s losers?” …

Are rights without responsibility and a “free lunch” destroying America?Read More »

Are rights without responsibility and a “free lunch” destroying America? Read More »

Can there be Christmas without CHRISTmas?

General, Opinion / /

This column was originally written over 14 years ago and is modified and republished each year as an Ole Seagull’s testimony as to what Christmas means to him. The political correctness of “Merry Christmas” may change but the true meaning of CHRISTmas will never change.

The “Grinch” never came any closer to stealing the true meaning of Christmas than has trying to be “politically correct.” In recent years there has been a strong move to change the traditional Christmas greeting of “Merry Christmas” to the “politically correct” terminology of “Happy Holidays” or “Seasons Greetings.” …

Can there be Christmas without CHRISTmas?Read More »

Can there be Christmas without CHRISTmas? Read More »

Could Branson marketing math of 2 + 1= 2 lead to a Humpty Dumpty marketing fund?

Branson, Government, Opinion / /

The short and quick of it is, “That’s the indication.” Normally one establishes a precedent that starts them on a gradual slide down the “slippery slope.” A discussion at the November 22 meeting of the Branson Board of Aldermen about that precedent happening using City Tourism Tax marketing funds to pay off airport bond indebtedness under an agreement with the Branson Airport didn’t stop there however. The statements of two aldermen, Mike Booth and Rick Todd, made during the meeting indicate, at least to an Ole …

Could Branson marketing math of 2 + 1= 2 lead to a Humpty Dumpty marketing fund?Read More »

Could Branson marketing math of 2 + 1= 2 lead to a Humpty Dumpty marketing fund? Read More »

Thanksgiving is all about to whom the “Thanks” is “given!”

General, Opinion / /

Common sense tells an Ole Seagull that something celebrated as “Thanksgiving Day” should be a day of “giving thanks.”  Generally speaking, who among us says “thank you” to “no one?” When thanks is given it is for something and is “given” to the person or entity believed to have provided that something.

Yet, even as some would take “CHRIST” out of CHRISTmas they would take the “Giving” out of Thanksgiving. To whom are we giving thanks? From Coronado’s 1541 Thanksgiving in Palo Duro Canyon, in what is now West Texas, through the 1600 Puritan Thanksgivings in New England, history testifies to the fact that our modern day Thanksgiving is rooted on giving thanks to God for blessings bestowed. …

Thanksgiving is all about to whom the “Thanks” is “given!”Read More »

Thanksgiving is all about to whom the “Thanks” is “given!” Read More »

Is it time for Branson to change the name of “Ozark Mountain Christmas” to “Ozark Mountain Holiday?”

Branson, Opinion / /

With as little effort as Branson’s leadership, including elected, appointed, businesses and organizations within the community are putting into promoting America’s traditional Christmas is it inappropriate to suggest that it would be more honest and less deceitful to change the name of “Ozark Mountain Christmas” to “Ozark Mountain Holiday?” Were it not for most of Branson’s shows; Silver Dollar City; the Adoration Parade, which was a Branson tradition well before Ozark Mountain Christmas came into being and a few of its other attractions and businesses actual promoting and celebrating “Christmas,” Ozark Mountain Christmas would be nothing, but the same generic politically correct “Holiday” people can get anywhere else. …

Is it time for Branson to change the name of “Ozark Mountain Christmas” to “Ozark Mountain Holiday?”Read More »

Is it time for Branson to change the name of “Ozark Mountain Christmas” to “Ozark Mountain Holiday?” Read More »