Hello and Happy New Year! I hope all of you enjoyed a wonderful holiday and that you are looking forward to another exciting year. With any luck, many of us will get to enjoy seeing Clay Aiken perform live in 2024!
For me, this is a bitter sweet post. Let me explain:
Today is Clay Aiken News Network’s 15th year anniversary! Wow!! A huge chapter of my life has been dedicated to this wonderful community. I have made such great friends and had so many incredible opportunities. When I first started this blog, I was a new grandmother of twins. Today, those same twins are Juniors in high school getting ready to apply for college. What were you doing 15 years ago? What has changed in your life since 2009? During this period of time, I have loved traveling the country to meet with so many of you, to see Clay Aiken sing, and to support one another in our goals and challenges. I will always treasure the friendships that blossomed from CANN.
Today I am also saying a fond farewell. As many of you know, I have been less able to maintain CANN with the same daily energy as I once did. My enthusiasm for this community (including our wonderful Clay) is as strong as ever! But with the passage of time, I (very reluctantly) have to acknowledge that I cannot manage the evolving technology required of a blog, or travel as frequently as I once did. BLEH to this whole ‘getting old’ thing.
I want to express my sincerest thanks to Clay Aiken, Nick Leisey, Diane Bubel and the entire team at the National Inclusion Project. 15 years ago, we did not know each other, and today I am fortunate to consider you friends. And just as important, I express a huge thank you to each and every one of you who reached out, said hello, introduced yourself, supported CANN, and joined this beautiful community. What a joy to look back and remember all the concerts, dinners, galas, and late-night hangouts in homes and hotels around the country. I am forever grateful.
I wish you all the best and hope to see many of you later this year at some fun events. You may not be hearing from me on CANN, but know that my heart is with you. Always feel free to drop me a line: MarthaEllis101@gmail.com.
See you soon.
With love,
Martha Ellis (Musicfan123)
Martha, I am so sorry to see CNN closing it’s doors but I understand that over the last 15 years our lives have changed so much. You have given so much to this crazy fandom that we have all been part of and I know many of us have appreciated it. I hope to see you out and about in our travels this year, too.
Susan Davis
Dear Martha, I am very sorry to see CANN closing, I always love your blog. Of course we will continue to meet on CV and I wish you all the best. Love
Lucia
Martha, so sorry to hear that CANN is closing, but I totally understand. It takes a lot of time and work. We go back 20 years, just like Clay & Ruben, when we were on another board. I wish you all the best, and certainly hope to see you on our Clay travels during 2024. Take care and I wish you nothing but the best. Love and Hugs, Judy
Martha, it’s been a pleasure meeting you often over the years and I will truly miss CANN. Thanks for dedicating your time and energy and all the caring and love to this project. Take care of yourself and, hopefully, there will be many more times when we can get together in the future.
Much love and lots of hugs,
Bev Dixon
I am sorry to see you write the last blog. I understand. I want to tell you , you will be miss. Every day to received a notice from CANN. Thank you for you time. We have never met, but you feel like a friend. Stay well. .
So good to hear from you Martha! Sorry CNN is ending, you did a truly wonderful job running the Clay Network for all of us to enjoy these last 15 years. It was a very good run. Hope to see you soon. Big hugs.
XOXO
Jo-Anne
I always looked forward every day to viewing CANN! I know this was a tough decision to be made and you will be solely missed! Thank you, Martha for everything!
I have always enjoyed your writings in CANN. I am sorry to hear that CANN will no longer be something to look forward to to get our news on Clay. I’m sure this was not an easy decision for you. But one I completely understand. It take a great deal of work to put forth the blog. You and it will be missed. But we hope to see you around. Take Care
So sorry to see CANN close down but I totally understand and send huge thanks to you for being one of the main sources of information who brought me into the fandom. When I decided to look into what Clay was up to back in 2005 you let me catch up on all of his accomplishments to date and have always kept us all up to date what he is doing currently and any future plans that have been announced. Always enjoyed the humour and the background history on so many subjects and so appreciated the time you took to share it with us all. Your blog reminded me of Clay himself in that way. Take care, Sharon
It’s funny how we take things for granted. I’ve always felt comfortable, knowing you were here, Martha. Now I feel as if I have to scamper quickly to gather as much of the good stuff as I can before it is gone. You’ve given us such a treasure trove and I am deeply appreciative. Best of luck. We will miss you.
I’ve always known you as Music Fan & have never met you as I live in Northern Ireland but I wish you peace & happiness in your retirement. Thanks for all the times you kept on writing & traveling for us, to bring us Clay news. Clay was lucky to have a wonderful admirer & friend like you.
We will all miss you but will forever remember all your selfless love for Clay, Music & us. Blessings Margaret.
Martha, Thanks for all you do and have done. You have brought us many good news articles, fun videos and so much more.. God Bless you as you enter into the next phase of life with continued joy and excitement being a Clay Aiken fan!
Hugs, Carol
Thanks Martha! You did a great job ❣️
Thank you for all you have given us over the years. It’s sad to see you go, but we all understand! CANN has been a staple in my life, for all of the good articles, videos, and wonderful photos. You have done a tremendous job of keeping us all updated on Clay!! You will be missed! Enjoy whatever comes next in your life and remember all of the fond memories of the past and those yet to come, with OMC!