New Years, resolution and goodbye 2025
HodgePodge by Charlie Hodge
We are pleased to kick the year 2025 into the garbage can of negative memories. I am thankful to have survived the year and thrilled with a few of the bright moments, however in the big picture it’s been troubling and occasionally tragic times.
If I could undo a lot of them I would.
So here’s a smidgen of the good and bad of 2025 and a glimpse at what might be in 2026.
2025 started off with a foul taste on the election of U.S. nutcase Donald Trump. The Donald is gleefully back on his commanders’ huge horse, swinging his sharp, shiny, ‘watch me now sabre’, more in love with himself than ever before. Scary. Very scary.
It’s a confident huffing and puffing President Donald Trump whose still back in the Oval Office signing papers on all the spots needed to create legal (and perhaps not so legal) changes that will impact his nation and many others over the next few months.
His administration’s outrageous tariffs between Canada, Mexico and the U.S. and other nations continues to create havoc in early 2026. This is certainly not the positive start to the new year I had hoped for.
On April 28 Canadians voted Mark Carney as our leader for the next four years. It was an ugly election. As usual we face a myriad of issues greatly influenced by the moron to our south and his various decisions including global disruption. Certainly, our new government must find a way to re-unite Canadians.
In his closing victory speech Carney’s key words asked for, “ending the division.”
“I begin with the value of humility, and I have much to be humble about, humility underscore the need to work collaboratively’ in parliament. This is the time to unite, to work together to survive. Show some humility.”
He suggested Canadians need to have the ambition and be ‘bold’ to meet the crisis (Trump) with an overwhelming force of moving forward. “Going forward, I’m convinced Canada’s fate truly is in our own hands with what we have built today. We have the potential to overcome the many challenges if we truly do unite.
“Our greatest threat is internal – not Trump. United we can overcome.”
I believe 2026 can be a good year for Carney and Canada. However, we need all the provinces to work together as one nation. Most important I believe we need Alberta, Quebec… to work with the rest of the nation.
2025 had its high and low points sports wise as well as political. Leaf, Canuck, and other Canadian based NHL teams started off well in 2024-2025 but stumbled late in the year. Within the first months of 2025-2026 our hockey clubs are struggling already, especially Vancouver and Toronto.
Our highly prized World Junior team earned a bronze medal today. The team has now failed to capture the gold medal for three years. Nothing less is acceptable, it seems, to puck pushers.
From a personal, humanitarian level 2025 was brutal.
Like so many other Okanagan residents Tez and I lost a lot of friends this past year. So many of my dear friends in the music industry have joined the giant jam and we miss them dearly. Gentle Bernie Addington was never shy of donating his time or energy to a good cause and was one of the kindest people I had the pleasure of knowing. A very gifted artist Bernie was best known for his skills on the stand-up bass and willingness and ability to play almost any genre of music. His first love was jazz. Many music fans would know him as the always smiling, warm, large man with the large instrument often accommodating jazz singers.
Noone had a more infectious grin than Ken Heatherington. The gifted singer guitar player won hearts wherever he went.
Keith Thom and I were musician friends first before I convinced him to enter politics. Now his Peachland community is missing his gentle, compassionate, firm political decision making. I love his joyful friendship. Don Ross is yet another talented musician taken too soon.
The community lost so many other fine people in 2025 but some special ones for me include
Walley Lightbody – truly a community spirit who loved Kelowna and loved life. For many years Walley and his wonderful partner, Marietta, hosted numerous celebrations and social gatherings on their lovely Abbott Street property, often in a worthy fund-raising cause.
Averil Radke was a marvelous woman with a deep personality and love for life. Former KSS teacher Ian Middler was a heroe to me. Without question Middler was one of Kelowna Secondary’s most popular educators, specializing in English and drama. A man with incredible wit and wry sense of humor Middler was also a stickler for detail and accuracy, in both his English lessons and drama.
Terry Edwards was a talented photographer and sportswriter who loved all venues of the sporting world.
There is very little bad to say about 2026. However, that may be directly and proportionately related to the fact that is only one week old.
Here’s a positive start. The Calgary Stampeders have signed my cousin’s son, Dawson Hodge, as their kicker and punter.
Tez and I look forward to a better year ahead in many ways. We are adapting a positive attitude and look forward to meeting and making new friends. The next year promises many changes. In October I will finish my City Council term and not run again. My goal is to simply retire to write my books and many HodgePodges.
