One of the best things about a new year is the promise it holds. It's a clean slate and we will write upon it as we go. Some of us will write with big bold strokes, others will dab a little here and there. Regardless of how we choose to do so we will write history next year.

With that in mind, I have listed below some things that should happen and some things that will probably happen.

Dr Woody Soonattrakul should resolve to teach all of his fellow Rotarians the Samba. Dr. Woody learned the dance on his recent trip to South America and gave the club a little demonstration at one of its December meetings. Following that, Dr. Woody will make a guest appearance on "Dancing With the Stars."

Vicki Long should resolve to never ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, play with matches again. Ever.

The crystal ball says that Hayden Combs will beat his uncle, Darren Harris in golf in 2008. And, if Hayden catches Uncle D right after Darren gets finished with swim team and youth baseball/softball his chances will improve dramatically.

Mark Moore should resolve to wear the reindeer antlers next year. Mark looked almost cute on his Christmas card with wife, Mary Jean, and Maggie. Maggie, that's the couple's four-legged daughter, was sporting a set of fake reindeer antlers. In fact, why not just get a set of antlers for the whole family.

Lanny Geary, will resolve to take up one additional part-time job, movie editor and film-splicer, thanks to his wife's Christmas present. Film at 11:00.

Neal Gibbons should resolve to play one entire round of golf with Donnie Burke and not say anything mean or derogatory about Donnie. That's what Neal should resolve to do, but chances are this one will never happen. Neal likes to say his two favorite words are, "Bye, Donnie." What he doesn't know is those are Donnie's two favorite words as well.

Steve Pu, now that he has formally been elected chairman of the Missouri Foundation for Health, should move the foundation headquarters to the Bootheel. Think about that for just a moment and it makes sense. There are a lot of needs here and the foundation has funded a lot of programs in our area. Of course, Steve would have to leave a satellite office in St. Louis for political purposes, but that would be all right.

Matt Mobley should resolve to be a little easier on his fellow Rotarians when it comes to levying fines.

Last year Keith Privett unseated Matt Shetley as club champion at Kennett Country Club. I predict this year that Keith will feel so bad about beating Matt and taking the trophy away that he will purposely throw off a few strokes and let Matt win again. Okay, so I won't be 100 percent accurate on my 2008 predictions.

Mark Pelts will open a shelter for wayward kittens. Mark has actually already begun planning for this and that is the real reason for the office expansion at the corner of College and Washington streets.

C.H. Young will resolve to always take his boots off before coming into the house and walking on Sandy's sparkling, shiny floor.

I predict John Henry Stephens will once again attend a St. Louis Cardinals baseball game and will end up sitting next to another former Cardinal player, just like last year when he sat next to former Cardinal, Ken Reitz. And just like last year, when the television cameras cut over to show the Cardinal great, John Henry's friend, James Miller, will exclaim, "What did Henry do to get on television and who is that guy sitting next to him?"

I can see Jeff Lack dipping into the Grecian Formula next year. It's only four months now. Four months until son, Andy, starts driving. Like father, like son.

Tim Simmons will resolve to change nothing and make no resolutions. I have it on pretty good authority that Tim is just about as close to the perfect husband and dad as any one human can be. In fact, rumor has it the only thing Sherry requested for Christmas was a pad for the kneeling bench where she gets down every night on her knees to say her thank you's for Tim.

Daryl Wilcoxson, proud owner of a new bicycle, will wear out several sets of tires this year tooling around town once the weather warms up. His only problem will be trying to figure out how to deliver a living room suite in that little basket.

The prediction here is that David Lynn will lose a round of golf to his son, Justin, next year. David will console himself by going back out and beating the guys he plays with on a regular basis and knowing that Justin can beat them as well.

The prediction here is that unlike David, William Mowrer, will continue to best his offspring on the golf course, next year. However, Alli and Hannah are not yet teenagers like Justin, so a prediction for 2014 is that William will be able to swap stories with David.

The day after the Cotton Bowl I predict Brian Mitchell will hoist anew the Arkansas Razorback banner someone unceremoniously took down a few days ago. And, he will fly it right under the Mizzou Tigers banner, signifying the better team won.

John McClellan, known as the "Wedding Crasher" in some parts of Nashville, Tennessee, will probably one-up himself on the golf course and hit a drive into the middle of a funeral procession at some point next year.

And finally, I predict the 2008 elections will be all about issues important to voters and will not get into personal attacks. C'mon, you do realize this is a humor column?

Bud Hunt is the publisher of the Daily Dunklin Democrat.