Letters to the Editor
Merrill thanks community
Dear Independent,
To the voters of York: My thanks to you in supporting me in the recent town election.
I look forward to serving you and being on the York School Committee for the next three years.
Mary Jane F. Merrill
York School Committee
Surfers say thank-you
Dear Independent,
On behalf of the surfing community, I would like to acknowledge and thank Michael Sullivan at Parks and Recreation, Chief of Police Doug Bracy, Town Manager Rob Yandow, the Board of Selectmen, The Independent, the Greater York Region Chamber of Commerce, the Surfrider Foundation and most importantly, the voters of the town of York for their support in amending our surfing ordinance.
I would personally like to thank all of those members of the surfing community who got involved and helped make this campaign a success. We look forward to a fun and safer summer for all beachgoers!
David Ballou
Cape Neddick
Holly fundraiser a success
Dear Independent,
It has been said that 90 percent of life is just showing up, and on May 5, over 400 people showed up at a fundraiser in support of York resident Jim Holly, his wife Kate and their seven children. Jim is currently battling leukemia and these much needed funds will go to offset the costs associated with his recent bone marrow transplant.
We want to take this opportunity to express our sincere gratitude to the generous businesses that made Hollypalooza (as our fundraiser was aptly named) possible. Over 65 businesses and individuals donated goods and services to our raffles and silent auction.
The following are a few we feel deserve special mention.
Foster's Clambake of York for allowing us to use their location as our event venue. Kevin Tacy, Foster's owner, laid out the red carpet from the moment we called and asked if we could hold our fundraiser there. Kevin truly embodies community spirit; Cheryl Deshaies and the law firm of McLane, Graf, Raulerson and Middleton, of Manchester, N.H., who graciously donated the cost of food for Hollpalooza; Maude Hutchins Premium of York and The Meat House in York for supplying us with all of our food; Kent Kilgore of Maude's for displaying patience as the evening unfolded and the number of folks entering swelled, the volume increased and his restaurant had to endure the festive (loud!) atmosphere, and to Chris, from the Meat House, who donated his time to grill Meat House chicken and burgers and who calmly called his store and got us more burgers when we ran out with three hours left in the party! To the Digbee's, Jupiter Blues and Dennis Boyd, who gave us, free of charge, their time and talent for the evening with their musical gifts, the festive feel of the event wouldn't have been the same without them.
And a special word about Mike Little, also known as DJ Sidetrax, who was our DJ for the night. Mike arrived early, stayed late and made all our many announcements in a very professional manner, as the size of the event grew beyond our expectations and plans had to be flexible. The music he played for the first two hours of the party brought the mood into high gear. Tragically, Mike Little just lost his son Kyle in Iraq, three days after Hollypalooza. Our prayers go out to Mike and his family.
To the many friends and family of the Holly's who gave of their time throughout the evening to make this event the success that it turned out to be. We feel blessed to be a part of a community that would work so hard to support a local family in need.
Lisa Lane, Hilary Desmairis, Debbie Howe, Theresa Lillie, Maggie Burns, Lynn Favreau, Nancy Beisswanger, Dianne Boria, Leslie Mark, Pam Brazeau and Kathy Kennedy
YHA thanks Ocean National
Dear Independent,
York Housing wishes to publicly thank Ocean National Bank for sponsoring the Home Buyer Seminar at Baldwin Center on Tuesday, May 22. We are grateful for Kevin Raymond, Gayle Markham and Jennie Gaghan from Ocean National Bank for offering their expertise to educate the community.
Thanks also to Lynn O'Neill from Remax Realty One and Candace Morong, C.M. Appraisals. We appreciate the time these professionals took from their busy schedules to educate the participants about the home purchasing process.
We also want to thank those folks in the community who showed interest and attended the event. We hope this seminar will be the first in a series of programs offered to educate the community about homeownership and workforce housing. We hope that others in the community come forth for future events.
Should you wish to be included on our mailing list, or need more information, kindly call 363-8444.
Sincerely,
Fiona McQuaide
Assistant Director
York Housing Authority
After the referendum hype
Dear Independent,
It is only fair and reasonable that proponents of various measures and candidates should have wide media coverage. That's how the public opinion can be expressed and heard.
As a member of the Budget Committee I feel it was my place to exercise due diligence as the Budget Committee reviewed each of the budget proposals. I won't claim that the committee members know more about all items than any voter, but I can claim that we went to significant lengths to ask questions on the need and utility of each budget proposal. Those voters who tuned into Channel 3 had the opportunity to hear the background and validity to decide for themselves.
In the post-budgeting/pre-referendum period, I did NOT feel it was my place to write articles in defense of committee preference votes. But now that the ballots are in the box, I would like to express an opinion.
Two major items which went down to defeat were the proposed Town Hall and the proposal for an additional position at the library. I voted to put each of these on the ballot ... feeling the citizens should decide. My preference vote was negative in each case. Neither had adequate cost justification and each had potential long-range taxpayer effect.
So what will happen now?
It seems to me, the proponents of these issues have an opportunity in exercise professional management by revisiting their need, their procedures, identifying why the negative voters took their position, revising their proposals and support thereof.
I hope, as a town, we will be able to stay out of recrimination, via the media, on those who exercised their democratic right to vote their views.
David Lincoln
Budget Committee and citizen
York
Thanks from the Garden Club
Dear Independent,
On behalf of the Old York Garden Club, I would like to extend a huge thank you to all who helped make our recent Plant Sale such a wonderful success. Special thanks to the Boardman-Ellis VFW Post for lending tables for the sale, Bud Canfield, York Parks and Recreation Department and especially the community, which continues to support our scholarship program by coming out and purchasing plants each year.
I would personally like to thank the many dedicated volunteers within the Garden Club membership who work diligently to ensure a memorable and worthy event.
Happy gardening!
Sincerely,
Pamela Trafton
Old York Garden Club
Plant Sale Coordinator
The Independent Letters Policy: The Independent welcomes letters and opinions on any subject. We do not accept anonymous letters. Letters should be 200 words or less. We reserve the right to edit submissions for length, accuracy, and/or legal reasons and to reject any material considered unsuitable for publication. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of The Independent or its staff.
Send your letters to the Editor at PO Box 6, York, ME 03909 or via email to editor@yorkindependent.net. Deadline for publication is 12:00 noon on the Monday prior to that week's publication
