#HatofSummer 2024 Revealed

 Look. I'm sorry that the #HatofSummer has been official for weeks and I forgot to cross post this video from my other social media feeds over here.

Fifteen-years-ago me would be severely disappointed.

But current me is who he is. And that's just how it goes. I encourage you to get over your disappointment and surf back through the WWYG?! archives and feel better about when this was more vibrant and vital and we all had more pep in our step.

None of that, however, takes away from the very satisfying fact that #OfficialHat2024 is out there and the #HatofSummer project continues--even after all this time.

So not everything slowly withers on the vine.

As much as the hat's simple existence, I am happy with the new style and video elements I added this year. No, I didn't experiment as much as I thought I would. But it gives me confidence that I might make another step next Spring when #OfficialHat2025 approaches.

#HatofSummer (2024) Voting Update Number 3

When I started this project in 2012 I didn't know where it would go. And all these years later, it seems evident by the tone of this video that I still don't.

Such are the defining characteristics of the #HatofSummer.

 

#HatofSummer (2024) Voting Update Number 2

Memorial Day weekend is now only two weeks away, so the time you have left to vote for the #HatofSummer is slipping away!

Perhaps this is surprising to you? If so, that might be because I have not done a great job of reminding everyone about the voting progress this year. Regardless #OfficialHat2024 will be chosen very soon and then no more new hats for me until Labor Day weekend!

Voting is open and ready to accept your choices now!

 

#HatofSummer Voting Update #1

 Good day everyone! It has been a few weeks and I've let the #OfficialHat2024 voting proceed at its own, slow pace in the first few weeks.

There haven't been lots of votes yet. But we still have almost two full months for that to change.

I say that not to encourage you to sit on your voting hands and wait, but rather to remind you that you can use these upcoming weeks to vote to your heart's content. Many times! Multiple times! It is still very much anyhat's game to win or lose.

The Temperance Row hat has the bulk of the votes to this point. So, if you like that hat, then keep it going. But if you want to see another choice challenge for the crown (no crown options available), then go forth!

Click on this link to be taken to the Google Form for voting: https://forms.gle/qE3MDu2UM6sQLqx69

On that page, you will see the Rules video that I made this year and your four options.

If you would like to see the videos that have been made for the 2024 #HatofSummer campaign, you can visit this year's YouTube playlist. 

I will start making more video updates soon, I promise! 

Vote for the 2024 #HatofSummer

 You have seen all for hat choices for #OfficialHat2024. (But if you need a refresher on what the four hats are, check out the 2024 #HatofSummer playlist.)

So now you can get busy voting.

Please vote as many times as you want!

#HatofSummer Video #4: Anders Erickson

Today's post features the final option in the 2024 #HatofSummer contest.

The Anders Erickson hat is merch that I bought from this YouTube channel.

Anders makes very good weekly videos about making cocktails and often discusses the history and creators of the drinks featured in each video. As I say in the video, I'm learning more about making cocktails and have started experimenting with spirits and liqueurs and the like. Cocktails always intimidated me as the ingredients always seems confusing and foreign and odd. But, as with everything else in life, if you take your time and think about it, you can learn.

So, please drink responsibly.

But . . . vote irresponsibly!

All of the #OfficialHat2024 choices are now public and the voting sheet is live. Start clicking and voting with abandon! You can start casting votes for your favorite hat here.

I'll start posting update videos to give you progress on voting soon!

 

#HatofSummer Video #3: Temperance Row Brewing Co.

 Here is the third of four choices for the 2024 #HatofSummer.

It's another bit of swag from another local Westerville business--a hat for the Temperance Row Brewing Company, housed within Uptown Deli and Brew.

This is a favorite restaurant of ours. The food is simple, but tasty and I enjoy their locally brewed beers as well. And from a historical point of view, this restaurant is notable for being the first Westerville brewery since the temperance movement hit alcohol sales in the United States back in the early twentieth century.

As you may know, Westerville was a very important headquarters for the temperance movement before and during the Prohibition era in the United States. Westerville once called itself the Dry Capitol of the World. And it mailed information against the sale of alcohol across the globe from this (then) sleep town in central Ohio.

But those days are over. Prohibition ended in the 1930s, but Westerville remained dry until the 2000s. Now there is a museum for the movement in the local public library and information about the Anti-Saloon League. As well as a memorial statue on Main Street outside of City Hall. 

But we also have alcohol sales and many good restaurants and wine bars up and down that same Main Street. And if you look, you might see me on a summer weekend with a glass in hand, wearing the Temperance Row Brewing Co. hat--if it wins the most votes, that is.

Watch the video and cast your vote!

#HatofSummer Video #2: Whits Frozen Custard

I bought this hat a few weeks ago.

I was in Delaware, attending Grace's latest concert band performance at Ohio Wesleyan. It was a rare opportunity to get the whole family together to see Grace's concert. Sarah and her boyfriend drove up from Columbus. Jay didn't have a Friday night conflict of some kind. And even though it was (maybe?) the worst snow storm of this winter, we all made it there and back home again.

After the concert was over, we drove in the snowfall and trudged through the sidewalks of downtown Delaware to have a quick late night dessert at the Delaware Whits. And there, beside the counter, was this hat.

It looks bright and nice and I decided then to buy it!

So, will it be this year's #HatofSummer?

 

#HatofSummer Video 1: Seersucker

Today, the Google Form opened to receive votes for the 2024 #HatofSummer.

So, I'm posting video number 1 here to start publicizing the choices for #OfficialHat2024.

And, to peek behind the curtain a bit, I have a bit of dilemma. You see, I make the videos and I don't open the voting until all of the videos are ready. But when I have all of the videos ready and I open up the official voting, I am reluctant to post all of the hat videos in a block. Because I want to tease out the time period of new videos to try and draw people in. (You see I still labor--after all these years of evidence to the contrary--under the delusion that I will ever be able to generate any sort of Internet interest in the things that I do.)

So, I have videos ready. And I want to time delay video presentation. BUT . . . the Google Form already tells you what the hat choices are--even if you don't have all of the videos to watch yet.

But does it matter?

Untimately, no. I doesn't matter.

So I guess what I will do is this--

I've posted video 1: Seersucker now. Here. And you can start voting now. Over on this linked Google Form. But you will also see the other choices, even if you don't have the full context. But I'll be releasing those videos in a sort of accelerated pace over the next few days. It won't matter or make any difference. But that is what I've chosen to do.

Happy voting!

 

#HatofSummer 2024 is Coming Soon!

Even though there is snow on the ground outside the window as I type this, Spring is soon to arrive. And that means that the videos for the 2024 Hat of Summer are in preparation now.

And so, I spent some time this weekend working on the ins and outs and I got this teaser trailer put together.

I hope that you like it.

And I really hope that you keep your eyes open for the other videos that are to come.

Next up will be a rules video, separate from the hat-specific videos. (It's odd that I haven't made a rules only video in the past, but I'm excited to put it together.)

The hat videos and the Google form for voting are soon to be made and will be live soon. As always, I thank you for your attention and your interest in this weird little annual project of mine.

Goodbye . . .

 . . . forever?

Accidentally, maybe. But also no. That title was only an eye-grabbing tease. Did I tease you?

Actually, this is just goodbye to #HatofSummer2023.

See below (please click as Jeb Bush might tweet).

(I apologize for sounding like Bilbo after the barrel ride to Lake Town.)

#HatofSummer Voting Update

 

Sorry that I have not created a voting update video in a few weeks. 

But Memorial Day is approaching very fast and so I wanted to give you an update on the voting for #OfficialHat2023 at this point.

(Remember that you can still vote for a few more days. The Google Form will close at 9 pm on Sunday, May 28th. The form is available here: https://forms.gle/SM3eh3m6HKtvr4Fz7) 

I will do my best to announce the winner--in either video or written fashion--on Memorial Day, Monday May 29th.

Here are the totals as of this blog posting:

#HatofSummer 2023 Week 3 Update

No text today. Just letting the video do the talking.

#HatofSummer 2023 Week 2 Update

 It's been another week of voting for #OfficialHat2023.

Here is the video for this past week's results.

As always, I hope that you are voting as many times as you desire.

And you can use the link here to cast your votes. (Votes!) https://forms.gle/JKSygnKYGPC8uorV9

#HatofSummer 2023 Week 1 Voting Update

 Is your chosen hat leading the pack this year?

How many times have you voted?

Is your index finger sore from mashing that mouse key, voting, voting, and voting again?

#HatofSummer 2023: Your Three Choices for This Year

 The #OfficialHat2023 campaign has already been underway for a few weeks, but I have neglected to post any of the videos on the old WWYG?! platform.

So, here are the three choices available for your voting pleasure.

As always--you can cast your votes on the provided Google Form to select the ONLY hat that I will wear all summer long: from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend. When I wear a hat, it will only be the one that is chosen to be this year's #Hat of Summer.

CHOICE 1

CHOICE 2

CHOICE 3

Happy voting!

COV74D-19--#OfficialHat2020 Revealed

Placing this here for complete-ness and posterity. (You are welcome future historians.)

COV70D-19

Memorial Day weekend is right in front of us, so that means there are only days left to vote for this year's #HatofSummer.

Watch today's video that exists only to make you get off your couch and put your voting fingers to work.

As always, you can vote frequently--an obscene amount of voting is to be expected and should be required. If you feel that you have voted enough, I am here to tell you that you are incorrect. You should be voting while you eat dinner--unless you somehow need both hands to eat your dinner. (Maybe you are eating ribs or a hamburger or a sandwich. But even so, use voice recognition on your smartphone to tell the phone to set a reminder to vote as soon as both (or even one hand) is free from dinner consumption.

And then, once dinner has been digested . . . guess what? Vote some more.

Where should you be voting?

Go here and click, click, click away. You only have mere days left.

COV67D-19

True story . . . I knew that I hadn't posted about the #HatofSummer voting in a while. But I hadn't realized how much time remained before the voting officially closes for this year.

And, my friends, it is only a few more days to be honest! Because when I opened up the Google doc and checked the calendar, it dawned upon me that Memorial Day is NEXT MONDAY.

And that means you only have one more week to cast your vote that determines #OfficialHat2020.

I realize that this is not the most important thing occupying your mind these days. Heck, as you can clearly tell, it is not the most important thing occupying MY brain these days. But we cannot let these important rituals fall away during this time of crisis. If I cannot turn to you, my digital faithful, and ask you to spend your off-hours time mindlessly clicking away to determine my hot weather head gear . . . well, then what are we all fighting for in the first place? What joys and pleasures remain?

So, please . . . take some time today, tonight, tomorrow, and every day between now and next Monday clicking away. You can choose between the current leader--the often overlooked Ireland hat--or this year's upstart challenger--the Martin BBQ Joint hat.

Go here (https://forms.gle/1oJWSpMNh7V66MAY9) to keep on voting.

(Remember that this shows all of the votes that were collected by all of the hats initially on offer this year. Only the top two vote winners remain to be voted on. The Ireland hat has received 41% of the total votes cast throughout the campaign period. The Martins BBQ has is second with just over 29% of the other votes cast.)

COV50D-19

Congratulations that you have made it into May! And with the coming of May--even during a time of bizarre coronavirus concerns, all thoughts naturally turn towards the #HatofSummer. Every year since human memory we have banded together to choose a single hat. A hat that is a celebration of sun, fun, and good times. These are the things that we all want. This is what we need. And I am here to help you get to that happy place.

There are only a few weeks remaining in the #OfficialHat2020 voting. Memorial Day is finally on the sort-of-distant horizon. But when it arrives, a final hat will be chosen. And now, starting today, there are only two hats that remain. The newly-established primaries are done. The top two have been chosen.

It was a close call between choice 2 and choice 3. The Martins BBQ Joint received a total of 354 votes (29.4%) while the NHS Yes! was only 13 votes behind with 341 votes (28.3%). I'm sad to see that the NHS Yes hat didn't clear that bar this year, but I'm sure it will return in future years.

 

As I said, the votes continue. Please click here to visit the Google Form page to cast your choice between the two remaining hat choices.