#40 Wakayamaken Wakayamashi Wakauranishi

Not only is this arrow the longest in dimensions, it also carries the longest name. Exchange student Naho's Wakayamaken Wakayamashi Wakauranishi arrow is also the first received pointing to Asia! Every citizen of Mt. Holly has at one time or another longed to travel to Japan. Could this be the first step of forming a bond of goodwill with an international sister city? Thank you, Naho!

#39 SCSU

I had the pleasure of advising Keith Christensen's design systems class at St. Cloud State University this past spring. Keith is an amazing designer and thinker with a passion for game systems and social change. It shows in the thinking of his students which is very beautiful and very conscious. Keith brought this arrow over for me as a bit of a souvenir of my time at the school. Thanks, sir.

#44 Bernier's Rink

According to DropYourGloves.com, an online hockey fights database, John T. Bernier is loved by none and hated by none. Although that seems a pretty sweet spot to be in, the lone rogue, unattached, the stats are inaccurate. I love the dude.

The stats, however, do tell one truth: During his one season with the Rochester Mustangs (91-92) and two with the Sioux City Musketeers (92-94), he never got in a fight. That doesn't mean he couldn't have. It's a good thing John packs one huge heart.

Aside from making this brute of a polycarbonate arrow, John has built a backyard rink for 'his kids' and also a penalty box full of picture frames out of recycled, busted hockey sticks.

This arrow has been pro-numbered to #44, one of the numbers John wore in his semi-pro days. Thanks, buddy.

 UPDATE!!!! I knew the DropYourGloves.com stats were bunk. Here's John (#14) clocking a couple of knuckleheads back in '93.

#38 Los Angeles

Dave Hernandez, 1/2 of my favorite non-cartoonist Hernandez Bros. and the shadowy hunched figure behind the ominous Ape City Productions just did me a great service. I've been homesick for the west coast this week, watching a lot of '67-'74 So. Cal. biker movies and listening to The Tyde. All romantic pondering got chucked out the window, where it belongs, when I opened Dave's wake-up-call in the form of a caution yellow arrow. For reference, Dave notes:

1,926 mi = Hollywood
1,930 mi = Beverly Hills
1,943 mi = Malibu

 Thanks, Dave.

#37 Sinclair Farm House

Sinclair Farm House is the new home of Brent and Annette Bonde Gustafson. However, this arrow represents a much greater concept of home. The wood for the arrow was salvaged from a landmark barn near Brent's childhood home in Northeastern Wisconsin by Brent's father. 'Gus', a shipbuilder specializing in fine cabinetry, crafted this arrow for his son. The routered letters expose the warm heart of the wood, quite appropriate for representing the spirit that makes a house a home. Congrats on the new digs, kids.

#26 Antarctica (updated!)

Toronto-based copywriter, goalie and occasional Mt. Holly tourist,Jason Thomas, has returned from the Antarctic bearing a Mt. Holly arrow stamped at Union Glacier, the base-camp for the record-breaking 2011 Thompson Reuters expedition to the South Pole, of which he was a team member. How cool is that? Halving the previous record time, is pretty amazing. But, if you ask me, crawling into a cramped truck loaded with two weeks supplies (emergency "stuck in a crevasse" rations for a two-day trip), with two other dudes, in one of the harshest environments on Earth, is without a doubt one of the boldest adventures a friend has ever embarked upon.