“Pea-corn. Pop-nuts. Chewing gars. Ci-gum. Magazettes!”

My Dad (and my Grandfather before him) often belted this out as if a food vendor at a ballpark. They were met with quizzical looks trying to piece together why the words seem both familiar and not quite right all at the same time. Pea-corn? Pop-nuts? As we start off 2022, almost 2-years into the COVID-19 pandemic, this seemed like a fitting title for the Newsletter Editor section.

With our former Editor, Bil Ledoux, and the support of our ASB leadership, we have been working to renovate the Newsletter to better fit the needs of our Society, both in terms of communication and documentation. You’ll find that many of the sections are quite familiar, if not unchanged, while others are quite different. We are shifting some content from the Newsletter to the website itself, like the detailed descriptions of awards. Other time-sensitive information will be in monthly e-blasts. We’ll also be including more detail in some sections to capture the past year’s activities, both the facts and the feelings. And overall, we’ll be taking on a new look. We are switching from the page turning format of a paper version to an online format, but striving to keep the flow and hold your attention from section to section. We welcome your ideas, comments, and kudos as we continue the renovations in the coming editions.

As many things in our lives feel both familiar and not quite right, I wish you moments of joy and laughter and many opportunities to share peanuts and popcorn with friends and colleagues in the near future.