Letters to the Editor
Thanks to volunteers
Dear Independent,The York Schools' Volunteer Department would like to thank the following individuals and businesses for their effort in making the Coastal Ridge Elementary School's Bi-Annual Career Day a huge success.
The goal of Career Day is to help promote career awareness for all our students as it links directly to the State of Maine Learning Results. Our community has such a wonderful diversity of occupations and the following professionals donated a day out of their busy schedules to share their knowledge and experiences with our students, sparking their imaginations for their future.
We would like to thank Rev. Paige Blair and Rev. Steve Godfrey from St. George Episcopal Church, Eddie DiMuzio, Amy Dutton, Charlie Ek from the Kittery Trading Post, Gloria Gustafson, Dr. Mike Schafer, Raelynn Stackpoole from Yoga on York, Trevor Hughes, Rev. Linda Hirst from the First Parish Church in York, Ted Hutch, Dr. Patty Locuratolo, Bob Kyllonen, Mike Lee from Lee Trees, Paul Ladd, Gregg Martin, Fern Phillips and Joanna Weston from the Browne Center of UNH.
A special thanks goes to Rob Surette, the Amazing Hero Artist who opened the day with a great assembly inspiring students to use their talents to make the world a better place.
Finally, our thanks go to Beth Walter, Sandi Nieves and the many other parent and grandparent volunteers who made this event possible.
Melanie Ladd
Community Resource Coordinator
York School Department
Need remains after Katrina
Dear Independent,Coming to coastal Mississippi well over a year after the hurricanes hit, I had no idea what to expect. I quickly came to see how naturally beautiful this area is, with its gorgeous beachfront, but how tarnished it remains 19 months after Hurricane Katrina.
The people here are incredibly friendly and more than willing to tell you their stories. It is also unbelievable how many people have come down here to stay and help out with the relief effort. Just yesterday some of the members of my service team and I were helping a woman move furniture from a storage unit for the room of a child who lost everything in the storm. This woman, who lives and works in Michigan, relocated to Mississippi just 10 days after the storm; it was her daughter's idea to provide vital goods to children affected by the storm via a nonprofit.
What impressed me most about this day, and really spoke to the circumstances and environment that people in this area are finding themselves, resulted when one of our trailers broke down. While sitting with huge furniture boxes alongside the highway for more than an hour, I was amazed by the number of people who pulled off to inquire about the boxes to see if we were giving anything away or selling anything. They were eager and interested to talk to us, to take advantage of any opportunity that they could. These people have lost everything to the storm, and still today are trying to piece together some semblance of the lives they once lived.
I have been allowed these experiences as a member of AmeriCorps*NCCC, a full-time, residential, national service program in which 1,100 young adults serve nationwide each year. During our 10-month term, my fellow Corps members and I - all 18 to 24 years old - will work on teams of eight to12 on projects that address compelling, self-identified community needs. AmeriCorps*NCCC has responded to every national disaster since the program began in 1994, including one million hours of service to date in response to Hurricane Katrina.
While not everyone may be eligible for the program in which I am participating, there are hundreds of similar opportunities available. Many nonprofit organizations, like the Harrison County Long Term Recovery Coalition for which my team is currently working, place volunteers with clients who have qualified for assistance. Beyond reconstruction coalitions, many local churches host groups of volunteers on a rotating basis, many of which have built permanent tent cities solely reserved for volunteer housing. The internet is a great place to ascertain specific information. Be it for a weekend or longer, there is enough work to be done here for all who care to help, and the people of the Gulf Coast would be forever grateful.
The story of the children of Long Beach, Mississippi, is just one of many along the Gulf Coast community, and my teammates and I ask that you share this with your readers-my community.
Sincerely yours,
Katie Gilroy
York
Letters lift soldier's spirits
Dear Independent,My son, Senior Airman Justan Dillow, was deployed to Iraq on Feb. 28. Justan returned from his first deployment to Kuwait and Iraq during March 2006 and was stationed in Japan and at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina during the past year. He is currently assigned to the Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron in Baghdad and, unless extended, should return home again in September.
The one thing that is most important to Justan while serving overseas is mail. He works 16-hour shifts, and "mail call" is what he and all soldiers look forward to. According to Justan, everyone deployed shares the same fear that they are forgotten by those at home. It's the cards, letters, pictures and photos that "put a smile on your face."
Justan celebrated his 21st birthday in Kuwait and will turn 23 years old on April 30 in Baghdad. If you know Justan and have a few moments to send him a card, that would be great. Any type of mail during his deployment would help with morale and let him know that he is not forgotten. SrA Justan Dillow 447 AEW / ESFS APO / AP 09321.
He receives plenty of care packages from family and service organizations and says the items most needed are phone cards. Our local VFW does a wonderful job sending packages to local service members that are stationed overseas. If you would like to donate a phone card or money toward phone cards, you can drop it off at the post on Cape Neddick Road or mail it to Dick Filliettaz, Service Officer, VFW Post 6977, P.O. Box 201, York Beach, ME 03910.
Thank you,
Lynn M. Dillow
Cape Neddick
For the love of Everett
Dear Independent,For the past four years, I, along with my friend Suzanne and several volunteers, have been working toward our goals for Compassion 4 Children to eliminate child abuse in all of it forms.
We came together in the beginning, from very different backgrounds, but with very similar aspirations. We felt that two women working toward the same outcome would be much more productive than one … hence forming Compassion 4 Children.
My particular inspiration for this was due to a very beautiful, loving little boy, with 'trials' of his own, who quickly became a very big part of my family's life and our hearts. On March 5, 2007, I received the devastating news, that on Feb. 10, while traveling for a holiday, his father, stepmother and he were tragically killed in a small plane crash due to bad weather conditions.
This tragedy has shaken all of us to our souls. It is one more situation that reminds us that life is priceless and we just never know how long, or sadly, how short life is.
This brings even more determination to promote the positive of ending child abuse. With April being Child Abuse Prevention Month, I feel it is even more appropriate to hold a Celebration of Life in Everett's honor with the date and time soon to follow.
There will be some music, a light lunch, pictures and some talk of future goals of Compassion 4 Children, in Everett's memory. If you have any questions please feel free to call Debbie at (603) 988-7517 or dzerb@compassion4children.org.
Debbie Zerbinopoulos
Director and co-founder
York Compassion 4 Children
Check out Minerva
Dear Independent,As members of a York book group that has been meeting monthly for over 25 years, we would like to share our enthusiasm for Minerva, the inter-library loan system now in place at the York Public Library.
Before Minerva, most of us had to buy our book selection in order to get it read before the next meeting. Now we are able to access copies of the book from multiple libraries.
The system even allows you to request books via computer. It's quick, easy and convenient.
Thanks to the York Public Library for providing this super resource!
Marty Dignan, Lucy Andrews, Paula Bogard, Kathy Eubank, Susan Fryling, Linda Moore and Nancy Rohrer
York
Budget vote questioned
Dear Independent,I guess the old adage "each to his own" is alive and well here in York, especially among our selectmen.
I'm referring to the board's unanimous preference vote against upcoming Warrant Article #44 requesting funding for a recording secretary and token stipends for the Budget Committee. Mr. Bardwell's comment that "if we're going to pay the Budget Committee a stipend, I believe the Zoning Board of Appeals ought to have a stipend…the Planning Board ought to have a stipend…" is totally irrelevant. The main purpose of Article 44 is to give an extremely important elected committee (one of three in town that include the selectmen and School Committee) a recording secretary to take accurate minutes that can be published, easily accessed and that can answer questions instantly regarding critical matters to the town's budgeting process. The days of reviewing a two-hour or longer video tape went out with the telegraph. If our committee had such documentation it could even be posted on the town of York website for downloading - a contemporary convenience every taxpayer deserves.
And as far as those stipends go, again the amount is token, and proposed because the Budget Committee is also the only elected committee that receives no stipend. Which brings to mind another old adage - "What's good for the goose is good for the gander."
York voters, let's move our wonderful town into the 21st century - before the 22nd arrives!
Greg Filias
Budget Committee
York
Compost bins are a hit
Dear Independent,An amazing 60 households in the York area have recently purchased a home compost bin!
Why should we compost? Yard waste and food scraps make up 20 to 30 percent of our waste. Composting sends less trash to landfills. That means fewer landfills and money saved in collecting, transporting and disposing of trash. Composting, along with reducing our waste by shopping smart and buying products with less packaging and recycling what we can, provides an excellent opportunity to show that you care for our environment.
Bins can be picked up at the York Public Library parking lot on May 14 from 4 to 6:30 p.m.
Thank you!
Heather Henriksen
Energy Efficiency Committee
York
Hoffman thanks voters
Dear Independent,I would like to express my deep appreciation to all citizens who voted in last Saturday's Town Meeting in Ogunquit. Your casting a ballot represents the essence of participatory democracy.
Though I am disappointed in not having prevailed, I am secure in the knowledge that I ran an honest, direct and principled campaign. I believe that my candidacy has already had a constructive impact on the process of town government, an impact that will hopefully continue contributing to good government.
The campaign allowed me to meet and speak with a number of citizens whom I did not already know, as well as many I do know, about important issues facing Ogunquit. For these opportunities I am both pleased and appreciative.
Though I did not have a formal campaign committee, many citizens were very supportive, helpful and generous of both their time and effort in advancing my candidacy. I am deeply honored by their support of me and the issues I represent.
Sincerely,
Herbert J. Hoffman
Ogunquit
Stop global warming now
Dear Independent,At one time it was taken as a gift to have a week of unusually warm temperatures in the late fall or during a cold winter. But this year marked the first time in our area that warm weather continued through most of February and part of March, carrying with it a sense that something unnatural was occurring, a twist in nature that was eerie and ominous.
It is almost impossible not to feel that global warming has arrived in our backyard, literally, and will increase relentlessly, having a severe and unpredictable presence in our lives from now.
The devastation from tidal waves, earthquakes and the incalculable ruin caused by Katrina conveyed this message dramatically. But in a strange way, confrontation with subtle changes in the life rhythms of birds who are late to migrate; of trees, slow to shed; of flies and ticks still moving in late November; of bees completely vanishing, are as unsettling as gusts of fierce winds and rain.
Once the connection is made, not only by hearing about scientific reports on climate change, listening to testimonies before Congress and watching filmed footage of melting artic ice floes crashing into the sea, there is a moment when everything falls into place. Climate change is experienced as personal, momentous and true, not only for oneself, but even more, for one's children and grandchildren, and because it cannot be denied, every animal we care about and then every living species on our planet.
This is what has happened to me this winter. It is like waking from a restless sleep. Scientific projections of rising seas and hot climates across the globe are no longer one of many highly disturbing topics among many other threatening news reports, including the Iraq War and the threat of terrorism. The reluctance to take immediate action to prevent the almost unimaginable effects of global warming is seen as a deeply moral failure, a betrayal of trust by our elected officials whom we rely upon to resist the pressure of self-interested lobbies and act with a clear vision of what is truly necessary to save our planet before it is too late.
Jeremy Foss
Cape Neddick
Thanks for the generosity
Dear Independent,I am writing to express thanks for the tremendous generosity of Carrie McKie and Bertha Rocray, and her students at the Jack & Jill Nursery School, in collecting medical supplies to send to my sister in Africa.
My sister, Maria Solomon, works as a nurse in Mauritania (not Kenya, as the article stated) and together with a Mauritanian doctor has set up a medical NGO providing basic medical care to those without access in the most remote regions of the country. The medical supplies she is to receive will make a huge difference in their work.
I wanted to convey how grateful Maria (and our whole family) is at the heart-warming generosity displayed by Carrie, Bertha - and the medical community here in York who donated the supplies.
Sincerely,
Paula Hoy
York
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