One Year Ago
 

The doors opened up here 365 days ago. Having a family of friends in a virtual world is a concept that probably is foreign to anyone who has not experienced it. Families need homes, for many of us, our old one went “poof” 13 months ago creating a need …. for here. So here became home…. or home became here… or we moved here making it home…. Arrgh whatever, you get the point. Lost some older family members in the process, gained many new ones since the move. Like any successful family there are successive generations who continue the name and replenish the blood and energy to move forward and evolve.

The nature of a place physical, or virtual like here, determines its activity and amount of “regulars”. There is no perfect cigar board. In attempting to cater to all types of smokers we can never make every smoker happy. The key to keeping a healthy community is to attempt to create a friendly place for all to participate. Without members of varying experience willing to share and welcome new folks into the family.. there would be no new members. Without new members curious to learn and explore, the forum would get stale and over time become a closed clique.

Cigar boards are unique places for learning and sharing experience and knowledge. Hang around a bit and over time you are not just a recipient of others knowledge and experience but become a provider of what you have learned to others who are earlier on their journey. It’s the nature and inherently addictive quality of these forums, they bring out good things in each of us, in different ways. We all seem more interconnected in today’s modern world. For me, this was always a false front. It makes us more productive but not really more connected from a human standpoint. Participating and being involved in a cigar community was a dramatic eye opening experience that continues to augment and provide a connection outside of the necessary daily activities to provide and fulfill career responsibilities. I suppose all hobbies do this to an extent, ours just does it on steroids… or nicotine and lithium.

Every Inmate here should take pride in what has been created because we all contribute to what this forum is. There are a few of us… the 11 who did the software set-up and continue to act as moderators for the forum. This won’t last forever. Evolution of experience, interest and available time will require others to step up over time to fill these roles. Each of us experiences these forums in our own unique way. Very few retain high activity in perpetuity.. well maybe Tom but he’s not human.

Comparing cigar boards statistically is not really of any value, unless you are selling something. Since we don’t sell anything except a concept of brotherhood they don’t mean much here. However, everyone should take pride in a couple of them. We had more … posts, new members, new threads than any other cigar board in the past 12 months. No one else was even close. What does that mean? Dunno, probably that we are a bunch of post whores. Possibly that our collective contributions have made a place that people like to visit.

Many may think it is their posts that are their legacy on this forum. I believe that the willingness and culture of passing on experience and friendship is the ongoing and evolving legacy for each of us.

Kudos to everyone who has and continues to make this place… home.

Re: One Year Ago
 

Here, here!! Thanks to the TOE and all the members that make this place as special as it is. Defintely a home for us cigar hounds. :tu :tu

Re: One Year Ago
 

Cheers Dave!

:l

Re: One Year Ago
 

Dave, you sir are a cunning linguist. Very well written.

:l

Re: One Year Ago
 

Well said...and a huge thanks to everyone for their efforts to make this such a great place!

Re: One Year Ago
 

Excellent post Dave, thanks to all of you for taking charge and setting up CA!

Re: One Year Ago
 

Happy Anniversary!

Great post Dave, as always.

Re: One Year Ago
 

Very good post. Happy Anniversary.:tu

Re: One Year Ago
 

Feliz cumpleanos, Cigar Asylum!

Thanks Dave. It is good to be home!

Re: One Year Ago
 

One year ago Poker sent me a link to this place. PNOON has never forgiven him. :r

Happy Birthday guys!!!

:l

(I like the birthday cake in the banner!)

Re: One Year Ago
 

Well said, Dave... I feel very fortunate to have been here from day one. Thanks to you and the other 10 remarkable folks who have created a family here.

What an awesome year! :tu

Re: One Year Ago
 

Happy Birthday!!!

Re: One Year Ago
 

Thank you to everyone who has put their time and effort on CA.

Re: One Year Ago
 

In the beginning it is the cigars that drew us here.

In the end it is the friendship, camaraderie and community that keeps us here.

My thanks to the TOE for doing the right thing at the right time and for keeping a steady hand on the keel for the past year.

My personal thanks to pnoon and icehog3, Peter and Tom lend an ear when things seem to go squirrelly on me around here. Apparently I am high maintenance.

I could stop smoking cigars and I could sell all my gear, I doubt that I could stop coming here.

Re: One Year Ago
 

I just wanna say thank you to EVERYONE who makes this place so great :banger:ss:l:wnr:chr

Re: One Year Ago
 

Happy Birthday/Anniversary!:wo

Re: One Year Ago
 

Many thanks to the people who started this place, those that made places for us between, and most of all - everyone who makes this a great place everyday!

Re: One Year Ago
 

To many more years of good times, good friends and good cigars :tu

Happy anniversary. Thanks to everyone that makes this such a great place :chr

Re: One Year Ago
 

Many thanks to the Team of Eleven for making this place happen. I think we've succeeded in creating a great home on the internet.

Eleven thumbs up! :tu

Re: One Year Ago
 

Thank you Team of 11. Happy Anniversary.

Re: One Year Ago
 

Thank you to the ToE for giving us all a wonderful place to be.

Re: One Year Ago
 

Cigar Asylum comes pretty close Dave, due to the moderation of the TOE and the respect and generosity of the rest of the members.

Re: One Year Ago
 

can't say it any better than those who came before....

thank you:l

Re: One Year Ago
 

This board is great, as are the people. Thank you all... :tu

Re: One Year Ago
 

:tu:tu :l

Re: One Year Ago
 

Happy Birthday / 1st Anniversary TOE and everyone. I am proud to call this place home. There is not a day when this place is not a part of my life, whether it's 10 minutes or hours. The draw to come here is phenomenal and obviously felt by many. It starts with cigars and continues with friends.


I Love This Place!!

Re: One Year Ago
 

Love and gratitude always for the Team of 11.

Thanks to all my brothers and sisters who've made this corner of the Interwebs home. I was a member of that other board for a year and didn't meet nearly as many of you as I did in this the first year of CA.

It took a madhouse to make this SOTL blossom. :)

It's been a trip so far and I can't wait to see what the next year brings.

Re: One Year Ago
 

This place makes me happy!:ss

Re: One Year Ago
 

It's been a great year! I feel like a know a bunch of you better than I know some of my co-workers. This is such a great place! Thanks to all for making it happen and to the rest of us who hang around here and enjoy each other's company.

Re: One Year Ago
 

Well said as always, Dave! Thank you to the TOE for creating this asylum, and congrats to everyone for making it a special corner of both the Internet and real life.

:chr Happy Birthday!:chr

Re: One Year Ago
 

Happy Birthday CA! :hb

Re: One Year Ago
 

Great post, Dave, I am proud to call you and 3026 others "friend". :)

'zactly! Happy Anniversary to Us All! :al

Re: One Year Ago
 

Well put Dave!!!

Over the last year, I've met many more people from here and had a great vacation while doing so! E.L.V.I.S. in Vegas made it a complete blast out there, and I enjoyed meeting and hanging out with each and every one of you. It was great to have my wife there to share teh experiences, as well. Through this board, I've made some good friends whom I care a great deal about. I know that those friendships will continue to grow throughout the years and we will all share good times and bad times together. hopefully more good times than bad. :)

Thanks to the TOE for all of their hard work in maintaining this site and keeping an objective mind when it comes to some of the issues that have popped up over time. Keep up the great work!!!

Re: One Year Ago
 

Re: One Year Ago
 

"...the willingness and culture of passing on experience and friendship is the ongoing and evolving legacy for each of us."

Thanks to all who have helped to make this such a great place. Happy Anniversary to the Team of 11 and all my CA brothers and sisters. :wo:dance:

Re: One Year Ago
 

Here! Here! :chr

:l


Much respect to the founding fathers!! :tu

Re: One Year Ago
 

One year ago I was a wet-behind-the-ears noob. Today ..... I still am. :) But I learn something every time I visit this wonderful home we've got here so I'm making progress. :tu

P.S. I really like it here. The nurses are nice to me, no one steals my blanket and I've got a nice view out the window. *sigh*

Re: One Year Ago
 

Happy Anniversary to all and a big thank you to the Team of Eleven that made all this possible. If it wasn't for the asylum I wouldn't need a computer.

Re: One Year Ago
 

Happy Anniversary!

Re: One Year Ago
 

Excellent post Dave! Hard to believe a year has passed since so many of us sought refuge here. And refuge was exactly what the TOE gave us. We owe these guys a big thank you.

And a special thank you to the "other" Dave (68TriShield) for steering me here a year ago, as things seemed to crash and burn.

Re: One Year Ago
 

It's only been a year, but I feel like we've always been here. Home is where the heart is.
Thanks to the Team of 11 and to all the members here as well for making this place so enjoyable.

Re: One Year Ago
 

thanks for the memories and HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to all and a special thanks to the ToE for giving us all a place to call home (even me)
and I finally got to chance to meet in person some great people I've got to know by calling here home:D

Re: One Year Ago
 

Well said Dave. Thank you to the TOE and everyone who has come here to make this the place that it is.

Re: One Year Ago
 

Dave, that was a great summary of the Asylum! :tu

This is one of the most addictive places that I have ever been involved in! I hope it will continue on! :D

Especially when I count the many friends I have made both online and in person, because of CA! And the many good things that have come from here, like our Troop support programs!

Thanks to the TOE and to all the members here!

:l


:dance:

Re: One Year Ago
 

CIGAR by Jude Forese

It was that time of year again

The phantom aroma of spice, chocolate and mild earthy tones
Permeated his memory
As he sat next to a humidor stacked with Cohiba, Monte Crisco, CAO,
And Partagas 150: quite a rare cigar,
Ripened at least 25 years

Together they formed a living mass of binders, fillers
And sun aged wrappers
Coiled around remembrances of warmer days
When his father would sit in front of the fireplace
Or out by the lake
Rolling a puro around his fingers
Puffing out a cloud of smoke
Forming a variety of archetypal shapes,
As he spoke of matters fathers usually dismiss;
Evoking mystery and wonder
In even the most simple things

It was that time of year again
When memories placed a smile on the saddest face
And transformed it into an expression of joy

Even as it yearned for a connection
To renew a heart forever broken

It was that time of year again
To rotate his father’s “babies”
And to touch his fingertips again

Rearranging each one
Admiring their supple veins
Maturing to a luxurious golden patina

It was that time again,
His father’s birthday

A celebration of existence
A reaffirmation that nothing really dies,
That everything is constantly reborn
Even in the bouquet of a fine smoke

He would commemorate
His father's fleeting moment in time
With a Partagas 150, his favorite

He recalled how he said he would smoke
These only on his birthday
Since they were so opulent and scarce

So he torched up
Inhaling its fine eloquence and subtle aroma

Surrounded by a smoky miasma
And a vision of his father’s enduring presence

And a son’s touch with class
-----------------------------

This is a great place! Thanks to those who started and those who continue to make this home away from home.

Re: One Year Ago
 

Happy Birthday CA.

Re: One Year Ago
 

Thanks to everyone for being here.
It's our people that make this place remarkable. :tu
...and Tom that makes up our stats. :r

Re: One Year Ago
 

Obviously were all right where were supposed to be :tu

Re: One Year Ago
 

eloquently put as usual, Dave.

Happy Bday CA!!!!

Re: One Year Ago
 

One Year Ago... I was not on this board


I haven't been on this board as long as most of you guys here, but CA by far is the most warming of all the boards I've been on. When I posted my introduction, I didn't know I was going to get 3 pages of welcomes. Within the first month I was invited to herf with the some of the BABOTL! That's when I knew this place was not like any other boards I've been on. I have never seen people beef with one another on the threads and if so, it was resolved rather quickly and maturely. I have met some amazing people here on CA, some I can call my very good friends. Most importantly, I realized that this is more then a community, this is a family. Thanks you to Team of Eleven and everyone else who has made CA a great ride for me. To many more years. :chr