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Issue Home October 3, 2007 Site Home

Letters to the Editor Policy

Ride On!

This letter is an attempt to express my profound gratitude, respect, and appreciation for the American Legion Riders of Post 86, which I have the privilege of serving alongside. In only our second year since forming a local chapter of this national organization, we have approximately 40 members. I would like to share with you some of the tremendous accomplishments of this group.

Together we have participated in numerous rallies and parades throughout the northern tier to display our support and solidarity for veterans’ causes and the local communities we serve. We also work closely with neighboring chapters and community groups in an effort to reach the people who need our help the most. Members have attended events like Rolling Thunder in Washington D.C., where thousands of bikes turn out in remembrance of our nation’s POW’s and MIA’s. Riders have also participated in rides to benefit the VA Hospital in Wilkes-Barre and the Gino Merili Veterans Center in Scranton, and visited both places to support these men and women who have given so much. We rode through downtown Susquehanna to show our local support during the Memorial Day and Hometown Day parades. Furthermore, our riders have participated in funeral escorts and the color guard for area veterans who have passed on. The Riders, along with the other branches of Post 86, donated $500 to the St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital in Dunmore in conjunction with Joe Snedeker’s bike ride across NEPA. Through our annual Fallen Heroes benefit ride, we raised more than $3,500 over two years to help soldiers returning from Iraq and their families. Since our inception, we have given almost $5,000 to various causes throughout the region.

Recently, we had the distinct honor, along with the Legion Riders of Binghamton, to escort wounded soldier Richard Yarosh as he returned home to Windsor, NY, after spending a year in the hospital as a result of injuries sustained in Iraq. The Post 86 Riders have accomplished a great deal, but our efforts pale in comparison to the men and women of the armed forces who have given so much for our country and we are proud to help them in any way we can. I am especially proud of the men and women of the American Legion Riders of Post 86, who appreciate this call to duty while generously volunteering their time, energy, and resources to these various causes.

I also hope that this letter helps to raise the community awareness of who we are and what we do. We are continuously searching for new ways to help. If you or anyone you know has any suggestions, please contact us by mail at: American Legion Riders, Post 86, 238 Main Street, Susquehanna, PA 18847; by phone: (570) 853-3542; or by e-mail at post86riders@yahoo.com. By the way, we are always looking for new members. Anyone who is eligible to join the American Legion, Sons of the American Legion or the Ladies Auxiliary may also be eligible to join the American Legion Riders.

Sincerely,

Jon D. Carpenter, President

American Legion Riders

Post 86

Success At SCCF

For the first time in our jail’s history, we scored 100% on our state inspection. This is an accomplishment that our administration, our staff, our county and the trustees of this facility should be proud of.

With so many personality conflicts and shift differences, this seemed like an impossible goal, but when people put their own personal issues aside and work as a team, anything is possible.

Let’s keep up the good work and keep moving forward.

Sincerely,

Darsey Vogel

Hallstead, PA

Use Our Resources

I saw in a paper last week, “Ethanol plans fuel opponents.”

The citizens have a right to be concerned about the production of ethanol. Making ethanol, however, is no different than making whisky and beer, and there must be an awful smell around those plants, too.

The whole idea of doing what is best for America should ease their minds. We, right here in PA can produce an additive to gasoline, renewable every year, from our own back yards; that’s wonderful. When my ancestors came to this country they only had mining jobs, so they worked in the mines.

Today the mines are gone, the dress factories are gone, the shoe factories are gone, most of the dairy farms are gone. This is a chance to bring 100 jobs to their community. It will employ more than 100 because the farmers will be put to work, they generate a seven-to-one ratio of economy back into the economy. Look at the bright side of this, concerned citizens. You have pride and there is no doubt about your patriotism. This is a way to fight the war on imported oil; stick together and let’s make use of our natural resources. Let’s put our area back to work.

About pollution, air and water: in order to make bio mass ethanol from grasses and sawdust, they had to make an enzyme to break down the cell wall of the plant. Since they went through that trouble, I am sure the pollution part will be taken care of before the plant puts out its first gallon of ethanol. Please, let’s move forward so we can start enjoying lower fuel prices, without depending on what one barrel sells for in Iraq!

Sincerely,

Peter A. Seman

Thompson PA

A Visitor’s Perspective

I’ve been coming to New Milford for almost forty years. Through childhood and into adulthood with my own children, this area has been special to my entire family. Since I’m a “weekender,” some would argue that my opinion about what happens to New Milford doesn’t count. But I’d like to mention a couple of reasons why visitors and weekend residents matter to the New Milford area, and why a gravel pit would be so devastating to the county.

This area is pretty, peaceful and unpretentious. It is a combination that is actually quite hard to find these days. For suburbanites and city dwellers from the New York/New Jersey area, the classic weekend getaway destinations are both crowded and expensive. Every location from the Berkshires to the Catskills to Vermont has become fancy and increasingly unaffordable. For families who want value and want to enjoy nature, this part of Pennsylvania is a great place to be, both winter and summer. Having lived in New York City and the environs for almost fifteen years now, I can tell you that interest in buying property in this part of Pennsylvania is growing.

As people get priced out of places like the Catskills and get tired of sitting in hours of traffic on the New York Thruway and weary of the long, winter drives to icy Vermont, they are seeking weekend places that aren’t such a hassle to get to and aren’t so crazy on the budget when they get there. The New Milford area meets both criteria.

Tourists and weekenders are good for local economies. We eat at the local restaurants, we buy gas at the stations, we patronize small businesses, we hire local tradesmen for renovating our homes, we spend money on outdoor recreational equipment like boats and ATVs and when there are enough of us, small towns thrive.

A gravel pit will kill, not just maim, but kill all tourism in this area. No one will want to buy a vacation house or spend any time in or around New Milford when the hillsides are chopped up and dusty. No one will want to endure the blasting noise or the truck traffic. Just the sheer size of the proposed pit and the threat of more to come will make any weekender think twice before buying anything anywhere remotely close to New Milford. They’ll take one look at the state of things in New Milford and keep on driving. They won’t even stop here for gas. The situation for a weekender is pretty simple… if it’s not peaceful and it’s no longer pretty, people simply won’t come. Not ever. And those who are here and can afford it, will leave.

This would be a sad outcome for an area that is on the verge of being discovered. A gravel pit would seal New Milford’s fate.

Sincerely,

Ingrid S. Warneryd

Weston, CT


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR POLICY
Letters To The Editor MUST BE SIGNED. They MUST INCLUDE a phone number for "daytime" contact. Letters MUST BE CONFIRMED VERBALLY with the author, before printing. Letters should be as concise as possible, to keep both Readers' and Editors' interest alike. Your opinions are important to us, but you must follow these guidelines to help assure their publishing.

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