Letters to the Editor - The Lakeville Journal - 7-8-21

Going green can make a difference to the planet

Climate change has overwhelmed me. I don’t know what to do; how to begin. I am old enough to remember hearing Martin Luther King Jr. and President John F. Kennedy call us to action, for peace, for justice. I marched. I canvassed. I discussed issues at dinner. And I voted.

I was filled with hope that the world would right itself and reason prevail. In my life I witnessed a great coming together and what seemed at the time to be tremendous accomplishments and equality achieved. I now know that what seemed like great strides were mere baby steps toward justice for all, and have come to realize that repairing the damage we have done to our Earth will require an effort as powerful and even more determined than the one I made in the Dr. King era.

Thank God I found a place to begin: the Green Team at Salisbury Congregational Church.

The team recently presented the Salisbury Historic Commission with a proposal which would bring the Salisbury Congregational church building to Net Zero energy consumption. The team spent more than a year carefully considering options for upgrades and changes that would use less energy. Also considered was the impact the changes would have on the building and the town. 

I am a member of the Green Team and can assure all that this project is well considered in every detail. Keeping the traditional, historical appearance of the church while serving the congregation and our wider community by updating our energy use is a priority. 

Theresa Carroll

Lakeville

Things must change, in order to stay the same

I have read Joanne Wojtusiak’s recent letter on her opposition to the zoning changes for the Cornwalls, an issue that has demanded much attention recently and it reminded me of my debt to concerned fellow citizens, who have forced me to focus my thoughts on issues that might well have gone unnoticed.  

In particular, I would like to thank Ms. Wojtusiak, who daily, and sometimes more frequently, reminds us of our duties and responsibilities as citizens of the Cornwalls.  And it is with that in mind, that I break my habits of reticence and speak out to express my support for the home business regulations changes.

We have heard repeatedly of the threat these changes represent to our rural character and the “wild, untouched appearances of this part of the world” and such a threat is of concern to me.  There is not a day when I do not grab a leash and my exquisitely beautiful (her words, not mine) pit bull terrier and take off for the country roads, trails, paths and byways of our town.  And there is not a day that my heart does not stop at some piece of scenic beauty.  But I would not use the word rural, rather what I see is pristine, private and privileged.

I do not use the words disparagingly.  But let us be full clear — it is, indeed, “not the result of benign neglect,” but rather nature nurtured by wealth and power.  And I believe that there is not sufficient wealth and power in this world to protect what we love, unless it is backed by the character of its peoples. And I further believe that these zoning changes will promote that character.

What I have loved about Cornwall, first, back when I was but a boy and reading Thurber’s stories and then discovering it in the flesh some 35 years ago, was the eclectic mix of its residents.  Art, commerce, home and industry have long coexisted and combined to make the muscle and sinew of our community.  Things may have become a bit unbalanced as of late and these changes to our regulations have the potential to restore the mix that made us and protect us.

As with all change there is risk, mitigated somewhat in this case by the protections in the regulations and the vigilance of its citizens. But let us be full clear, there is also risk in doing nothing.  And I think the risk posed by the noise and dust made by working women and men earning a living is far less than the destruction wrought by the hushed tones of the fashionable playing paddle tennis throughout our land.

If we want things to stay the same, things must change. Again, not my words — these penned by Giuseppe Lampedusa in his novel “The Leopard,” set in the then kingdom of Sicily during the Risorgimento, so a long time ago in a place far away, but relevant for us, here and now.

Peter Demy

West Cornwall