Travis Apollo Haage and Tasha-Rose Hodges are proud to announce the arrival of Gabriel Liam Blue Haage, who was born on September 2 at 3:43am at their home in St. Paul.
Gabriel, who weighed 8 pounds and was 20 1/4 inches long, joins excited siblings Grace, Zoe and Degory-Rune.
If you have a birth, wedding/handfasting, initiation or other personal announcement you’d like to make, please send them to schulzcaral@gmail.com
The Pagan Newswire Collective – Minnesota Bureau is two years old! The Minnesota bureau first posted Community Notes from TCPagans on July 28th, 2010.
So how have we done?
Here are some of the stats for our first two years. We have had over a quarter million page views, averaging 250/day or 4000 -10,000 a month. Twelve of the last 24 months averaged over 7000 readers. On our best day we had over 28,000 readers stop by. We have written 488 posts, an amazing number in two years! We have tripled direct subscribers to 223, added 1800 twitter subscribers and another 750 who follow our Facebook page for posting notices. All of our posts get a fair reading, especially over time. We learned the power of Facebook when one of our top posts went viral on Facebook and we had over 45,000 visits in just a few days. I have to credit Cara for covering many of those stories which skew our stats upward. She has a long background in finding compelling stories that interest Pagans! As the editorial editor, I am really satisfied that over 25 of our editorial articles and interviews have over 500 views. Our content is used as a resource for other news and religious writers across the internet.
A memorial fund for PNC’s Dave Grega, who died earlier this week at age 27, has been set up.
David left behind a girlfriend and child he dearly loved. We have setup a memorial fund to help them with expenses and make sure they are well taken care. – from the memorial fund page
Dave’s girlfriend Kat DuPash had this to say about the fund: “Whatever’s left from his mom coming down will likely go towards helping me become a lactation consultant so I can support Mallory. We really appreciate all the support. Dave was an awesome father and the best guy I’ve ever known. We love him so much…and while Mallory may not remember much, I will always miss him.”
PNC-Minnesota would like to express our profound condolences to the family and friends of Lonestar Pagan‘s, the Texas bureau of the PNC, David Grega.
Yesterday, word quickly spread that David Grega, perhaps best known for his prominent role on the Pagan Centered Podcast, passed away after a sudden cardiac arrest. In addition to co-founding PCP, an irreverent podcast that garnered a large and appreciative audience for its no-holds-barred style, Dave also helped in the running and development of the Proud Pagan Podcasters, was an important early voice in the formation of the Pagan Newswire Collective, and co-founded Lonestar Pagan, the Texas bureau of the PNC. Dave was a key figure in Pagan new media, constantly tinkering, trying out new ideas and technologies in order to more effectively do the work at hand. He had a personality and energy that was almost impossible to ignore, and we are all poorer for his absence. – Jason Pitzl-Waters, The Wild Hunt
It happens that last Friday I posed this question on G+, “If you knew this weekend was to be your last weekend, what would you do?” Little did any of know that last weekend, when Dave posted this answer, was his last weekend.
I already live every weekend like it’s my last. Being in a car accident in 2003 that should had been fatal taught me that… now living with 2 unrelated diseases known to make people keel over and die at some point (and just put me in the hospital for a bunch of weeks) just re-enforces my mortality.
It’s an interesting week when one is saved via surgery from a close brush with death and then a week later is given a confirmed diagnosis of a disease many take to be a death sentence… and realizing my emotional reaction is more about “okay, what’s the treatment going to involve” rather than “ZOMG, there’s so many things I should have done with my life.” Not because I’m an excessively results-oriented individual (which I admittedly am) but mostly because I manage to live without regrets, even if that means having a few bridge burning parties along the way.
If there’s something you’ve been meaning to do for a while, start planning to get it done. If there’s something you don’t want to do – find an honorable way to stop doing it. If someone needs something and you like them and you can more than afford it (and they’re not a needy do-nothing)… give it to them. And for gods’ sake – don’t forget to tell people how much you value them before they keel over and die. Funerals are not a particularly useful time to tell someone how much they meant to you.
I notice most people’s fears about death have more to do with regrets than anything else. – Dave Grega
You can read, and post, more tributes to Dave on his facebook wall or on The Wild Hunt. Dave was only 27 when he died. He is survived by his wife, Kat DuPasht, their baby daughter, Mallory, and his mother. Friends have informed us that they are hoping to raise funds so Dave’s mother can attend his funeral. Once we have more information on how to donate funds and when his memorial will be held, we will update this post.
May Hermes guide you gently and may the Dread Queen receive you with honor.
All next week Nels Linde, Heather Biedermann, and Cara Schulz of PNC-Minnesota are attending Pagan Spirit Gathering at Stonehouse Park in Illinois. Wi-Fi permitting, expect stories covering what happens and interviews with interesting people during next week. Wi-Fi not permitting, we’ll publish them upon our return. The hashtag for the event, for both twitter and G+, is #PSG2012.
For our second announcement, please join us in wishing Shea Thomas, the fantastically talented artist who creates the Sunday cartoon featured here, a blessed marriage and a joyous honeymoon.
Pagan Newswire Collective - Minnesota Bureau 