Letters to the Editor - March 22

Defacing stop sign mean-spirited

I have been meaning to write since I noticed, some weeks ago, a defaced stop sign on Taconic Road as you arrive onto Route 44 going to North Canaan on the left and Salisbury on the right. Under the stop sign — but on the actual stop sign — is written in neat white letters, “Obama.”

Such disregard for public property, not to mention the mean spirit it conveys, brings to mind an attitude of some recent politicians. You betcha!

Surely such defacement of public signs is not legal? What is the policy regarding replacing such signs? Perhaps it might be helpful for the public to know so that they might be deterred from such actions.

However, if such signs can be left without any action taken, we could take some defensive action. A thought comes to mind: Republican children at play. Or choose your local stop sign and add onto it the following: stop Boehner, stop Cantor, stop McConnell.

Any other ideas?

Liz Bierman
Taconic

Gorgeous St. Patrick’s Day highlights rural charm, awakened bear

I think of St. Patrick’s Day as cold and dreary. A vivid such memory is from 1973, when we were misguidedly driving a glass table in a convertible from the Lower East Side to 95th and Riverside. It was drizzling snow as we waited for the interminable parade to end so we could cross Fifth Avenue.

This March 17 is in blessed contrast. Awakening not until 8 a.m. (it was a wonderful dinner party last night), I saw out the window a bright sun and my white-haired nephew, up well before me (though he had drunk more than I last night) and painting a watercolor of the bucolic view from the southeast corner of our house.

Beyond him, I saw the three beautiful horses that board in our pastures. The handsome chestnut gelding was animated, dancing along the fence, ears perked in the direction of my nephew. The two mares also seemed attentive. I thought maybe my nephew with his white hair reminded the gelding of his recently deceased old friend, a white mare. The horses ignored their owner when she arrived with their breakfast, focusing always, apparently, on my nephew.

A little later, my daughter discovered a broken window in the woodshed, where we keep our trash. On close examination, we saw markings of bear paws below the window frame. A batten board was torn away and the frame itself damaged.

We concluded that a bear, hungry after hibernation, had smelled trash and tried to break in. We further hypothesized that the horses were in an agitated state not because of my nephew, but because the bear had been near his painting spot.

The trash is on the way to the transfer station. Partial repairs have been made to the shed, and a new pane of glass is on its way.

I feel lucky today. Living in this rural corner of Connecticut today holds such charm compared to freezing in an open convertible in Manhattan waiting for the parade to pass while melting snow ran under my collar and soaked my back.

Harry Hall
Sharon

Disagrees with Ahles column

I beg to differ with Dick Ahles’ commentary in his column, If You Ask Me, regarding Gov. Dannel Malloy’s proposed Connecticut package store legislation. First, crossing the border today doesn’t always mean lower prices. When the sherry I was drinking was no longer carried by the Connecticut distributor, I crossed the border. There I found my brand, but at $3 more per bottle than I had been paying in Sharon. In Massachusetts, at a discount store, I did find it cheaper. But 50 miles round trip at today’s gas prices again makes it more expensive.

As for stores being able to stay open longer or open on Sundays, I feel sorry for those who can’t booze up during regular hours.

Jean Krulis
Lakeville

Round of applause for Housatonic Musical Theatre Society’s ‘South Pacific’

Bravo, and thank you to the Housatonic Musical Theatre Society for its outstanding and thoroughly uplifting production of “South Pacific”! What an extraordinary achievement and sensational collaboration.

Since December 2011, students, community members and theater professionals have devoted countless afternoons, evenings and weekends to perfecting every aspect of their exhilarating performance. The young talent on display bewitched its audience, transporting us to a time and place both exotic and recognizable; indeed, a gloriously rendered history lesson whose truths continue to resonate.

The audience was also treated to the inspiring lesson that hard work begets results and rewards! Interspersed amid the cast members’ busy four-month rehearsal schedules were their ongoing school and personal commitments: demanding academic programs, athletic practices and competitions, extra-curricular responsibilities, leadership roles and employment obligations. While astounding us with their electrifying performances, these students also reminded us of how fortunate we are to reside in a community where teamwork — and hard work — make anything possible!

Thank you and congratulations, HMTS!

Caroline Burchfield
Lakeville
 

Column revealed a lot about college costs

Who knew Ronald Reagan, as California governor and war fan, was the butterfly that flapped  its wings in 1966 (!) that resulted in today’s college cost bubble? A brilliant analysis by columnist Bill Schmick that, no doubt, has many Lakeville Journal readers knowingly nodding their heads in agreement. That darn Law of Unintended Consequences can be a bear!

And here I was thinking the nanny state driven by all-things-to-all-people bureaucrats and Democrats (syn.) was the root. And greed ... that human condition that is Pavlovian when there’s money, power and/or a nice niche for bureaucrats at stake.

One trillion dollars in student loan debt (USA Today). Nine percent in default (The New York Times). Thanks alot, Ronnie Raygun. Or does a glance to the left of Schmick’s piece give us a clue? It’s Mahoney’s Seventh Commandment of education — profound diversity promotion. Throw in some money, some slacker bureaucrats and you’ve got a whole chancellery at every university devoted to diversity. After all, it is our biggest strength. Then there’s the Samoan Student Union and School of Eskimo Studies. Let’s not forget the $50-plus million (UConn) it costs to run the men’s basketball program. Worth every penny. After all, the basketball program carries (TV $ ... recent $10 billion NCAA contract) vital educational and diversification pursuits like the women’s hockey team (Title 9).

Motley crew member Rick Santorum was recently pilloried for questioning the Supreme Being’s promotion of college for all. Get your degree, everyone! You, too, can be a community organizer, diversity czar or professor with a team of assistants to do all the professing. After all, we’ve got a slew of illegals to do the plumbing, carpentry and yard work. Can’t afford it? Here’s a loan, here’s a grant, worry about it later. (Shades of Fannie and Freddie.) Wanna study snail darters abroad? We’ve got a whole program in place. Get your law degree for only $150,000! Lord knows we can never have enough lawyers.

The cost of education at all levels has gone though the roof. “Are our children learning?” No. They’re learning less three R’s and more diversity, Occupy Wall Street and global warming which, at the end of the day, won’t feed the bulldog. And we’ve actually got real folks debating “free” education for all or student loan forgiveness. It’s a bubble, just like dot-com, housing, finance, etc. We are incapable of downsizing or dismantling the education behemoth (i.e., a $70 billion Department of Education budget.) But it will be downsized by its own weight (aka collapse).

Who’s got the principles, the time, or for that matter the state of education, required ... the tea party or the rest? Or shall we just change the subject as usual? Maybe to “the war on women.”

Note to The Lakeville Journal: Keep those multi-part analyses coming. They’re riveting.

Peter Chiesa
Kent

The real Salisbury?    

Lately Americans have watched as political discourse on the national level has degenerated into name-calling and the inability to move from entrenched positions. Is Salisbury going the same way?

The ad paid for by the Salisbury Republican Town Committee that appeared in The Lake-ville Journal for the past couple of weeks asked, “Want to know what is really going on in town?” Does this not inject the national venom into Salisbury?

For over 250 years our town has debated difficult issues. We have worked together and listened to each other in spite of our differences. But it has always been done with civility. Sowing the seeds of conspiratorial distrust is easy; it is hard work to cultivate a community so our discussions bear fruits for the future.

Can we do it? Of course we can. The real Salisbury always has.

Tony and Helen Scoville
Salisbury