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Happy Birthday, CigarPass! You just turned 20!!!

tomthirtysix said:
Definitely ordering my 2001 cigarpass dot com t-shirt!
Click to expand...

It should say something like “I was a member in 2001, and all I got was this damn t-shirt!!”

Or something like that lol.
 
I've still have all my CP Herf t shirts! Not going back to 2001, but a serious while ago!
 
Congrats Todd!!....and eternal thanks for the safe haven in the sea of cliquish cigar forums...where some of them bordered on hostile towards new members at times. In my short time here, I've seen the ebb & flow of the membership as it evolved...and like I said when I first joined when some of the original members resisted a changing mindset here, change is inevitable. But it was up to those members to nurture and embrace that change as new members came in...both young & old...and to instill in these new members the founding principles that make CP so special.

Over time, as everyone that sticks around eventually learns, CP gives off the vibe of family first, cigars second....and personally I think that's why it's so successful. It took Rods' vision and made it a reality. Not just in California where he lives, but across the country and then around the world! Watching that growth over time should give every member a sense of pride.

As some of you know in our conversations, I never liked CP described as a 'community'...because in that setting there's inevitably going to be good people and a-holes. You can't change that makeup of personalities due to the shear numbers. But the senior members here always weeded out the agenda driven people...aka: the phonies. Rod's vision was emblazoned on each of us as we read and learned how 'fun' was conducted here...the new members enter as children and grow over time as they learn the values of Cigar Pass from their predecessors.

We've seen people come in as kids, asking the same old newbie questions...and were given the sage words of "search is your friend" until the FOGs were blue in the face. But these kids learned, and were humbled due to the advice they were given and the gifts they received. This is so important for the survival of CP...new blood. With that comes new ideas, a renewed spirit, a different way of seeing things we've already seen a thousand times. One of my favorite things to do here is to read what the new members post, I never fail to learn something from these new members.

What drew me here and caused me to stay when I was already a member at many other cigar forums was the generosity of the members...that's one of the pillars of CP. And I'm not talking about the giving of cigars, but the giving of love towards one another. It may sound a little sappy, but if each and every one of us were honest about this, you'll agree...even Doc! He may be grouchy, but he wouldn't have stuck around this long if he didn't care about each one of us. We have all come to care about each other in a very genuine way.

Another guiding tenet here is the respect towards the senior members. Having grown up in an Italian family and the youngest of 3 boys...you learn early on in life that there is a pecking order based on time....so here it could be based on age, join date, or by personality...or a combination of all three. To this day, if some asshat comes in, acting all disrespectful and the senior members are handling this person in the thread, I will always stand down because their voices reflect the guiding principles of CP...not me or some other newb...it's their voices that should be heard the loudest to right the ship....even if it means waiting patiently for one of them to jump in to correct the course before a newer member tries to set this person straight. You don't achieve respect by being first, you earn it here by your words & actions over time. But there will be a day when today's newb becomes that guiding voice as the others fade away. Cigar Pass is the embodiment of 'the rites of passage'.

The last point I'd like to make in this long winded missive, is how important each of us are here at CP. In a day and age of anti smoking, we are all carrying a torch of a passion that needs to be passed to the next generation of cigar smokers. In my youth, cigars smokers were common...especially in my family (my son is a 6th generation cigar smoker)...more so than cigarette smokers. To have grown up in that culture of watching my Father & Uncles sitting around smoking cigars, drinking, and playing cards was like going to school where you learned friendship, respect, honor, and how to create your own identity in a large crowd. Cigar smokers are a special breed of person, it notes them as being different...almost regal in a sense. They marched to a different drummer, have more fun, laugh a little harder, do things a little bigger...and the cigars they smoked were a marker in their personality. We are those people. That is even more important today than yesteryear as most people today aspire to blend in, not stand out. Just like the torch was passed down from generation to generation in my family, we must all do our part in keeping this passion alive in the coming generations. Us older guys aren't going to be around forever telling stories of the old days, it's up to the younger members here to create their own stories to hand down to the coming generations at Cigar Pass after we have gone. Having lost so many wonderful & generous members here over the years, Larry being the latest, this has to be the guiding light at CP as we all continue to move forward....keeping the cigar alive...and with it, the love of one another.

Happy 20th Birthday Cigar Pass....
 
Last edited:
ironpeddler said:
Congrats Tod!!....and eternal thanks for the safe haven in the sea of cliquish cigar forums...where some of them bordered on hostile towards new members at times. In my short time here, I've seen the ebb & flow of the membership as it evolved...and like I said when I first joined when some of the original members resisted a changing mindset here, change is inevitable. But it was up to those members to nurture and embrace that change as new members came in...both young & old...and to instill in these new members the founding principles that make CP so special.

Over time, as everyone that sticks around eventually learns, CP gives off the vibe of family first, cigars second....and personally I think that's why it's so successful. It took Rods' vision and made it a reality. Not just in California where he lives, but across the country and then around the world! Watching that growth over time should give every member a sense of pride.

As some of you know in our conversations, I never liked CP described as a 'community'...because in that setting there's inevitably going to be good people and a-holes. You can't change that makeup of personalities due to the shear numbers. But the senior members here always weeded out the agenda driven people...aka: the phonies. Rod's vision was emblazoned on each of us as we read and learned how 'fun' was conducted here...the new members enter as children and grow over time as they learn the values of Cigar Pass from their predecessors.

We've seen people come in as kids, asking the same old newbie questions...and were given the sage words of "search is your friend" until the FOGs were blue in the face. But these kids learned, and were humbled due to the advice they were given and the gifts they received. This is so important for the survival of CP...new blood. With that comes new ideas, a renewed spirit, a different way of seeing things we've already seen a thousand times. One of my favorite things to do here is to read what the new members post, I never fail to learn something from these new members.

What drew me here and caused me to stay when I was already a member at many other cigar forums was the generosity of the members...that's one of the pillars of CP. And I'm not talking about the giving of cigars, but the giving of love towards one another. It may sound a little sappy, but if each and every one of us were honest about this, you'll agree...even Doc! He may be grouchy, but he wouldn't have stuck around this long if he didn't care about each one of us. We have all come to care about each other in a very genuine way.

Another guiding tenet here is the respect towards the senior members. Having grown up in an Italian family and the youngest of 3 boys...you learn early on in life that there is a pecking order based on time....so here it could be based on age, join date, or by personality...or a combination of all three. To this day, if some asshat comes in, acting all disrespectful and the senior members are handling this person in the thread, I will always stand down because their voices reflect the guiding principles of CP...not me or some other newb...it's their voices that should be heard the loudest to right the ship....even if it means waiting patiently for one of them to jump in to correct the course before a newer member tries to set this person straight. You don't achieve respect by being first, you earn it here by your words & actions over time. But there will be a day when today's newb becomes that guiding voice as the others fade away. Cigar Pass is the embodiment of 'the rites of passage'.

The last point I'd like to make in this long winded missive, is how important each of us are here at CP. In a day and age of anti smoking, we are all carrying a torch of a passion that needs to be passed to the next generation of cigar smokers. In my youth, cigars smokers were common...especially in my family (my son is a 6th generation cigar smoker)...more so than cigarette smokers. To have grown up in that culture of watching my Father & Uncles sitting around smoking cigars, drinking, and playing cards was like going to school where you learned friendship, respect, honor, and how to create your own identity in a large crowd. Cigar smokers are a special breed of person, it notes them as being different...almost regal in a sense. They marched to a different drummer, have more fun, laugh a little harder, do things a little bigger...and the cigars they smoked were a marker in their personality. We are those people. That is even more important today than yesteryear as most people today aspire to blend in, not stand out. Just like the torch was passed down from generation to generation in my family, we must all do our part in keeping this passion alive in the coming generations. Us older guys aren't going to be around forever telling stories of the old days, it's up to the younger members here to create their own stories to hand down to the coming generations at Cigar Pass after we have gone. Having lost so many wonderful & generous members here over the years, Larry being the latest, this has to be the guiding light at CP as we all continue to move forward....keeping the cigar alive...and with it, the love of one another.

Happy 20th Birthday Cigar Pass....
Click to expand...
Dammit! I was going to say the exact same thing! (Loved reading this brother)
 
I grew up in a culture of "fake it till you make it", and learning by being quiet and observing what's going on around you and from what others are doing. The former has its uses, but is mostly counterproductive. The second is a virtue all its own, but at the same time you learn so much more and progress quicker when education is a two-way street. One thing that my nine'ish years here has helped me learn (and practice), is that it's alright to admit that you don't know what you don't know, and ask questions about it. Anyone that throws spears because someone asks a "newb question" doesn't last long around here, historically. Gary makes a good point in his assessment of "community" -- the FOGS really do a good job with keeping the asshat ratio pretty low.
 
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