Letters to the Editor 2/6/25

SWSA Snow Ball thank you

As organizer of the Salisbury Winter Sports Association annual Snow Ball Dance, I want to send a big thank you out to the many people who made it happen again this year at the Lakeville Town Grove. Thanks to Stacey Dodge and her amazing team, the place was decorated perfectly for the event!

Also, a big thank you to the many volunteers who always come through to assist me at the event and dozens of local businesses who donated wonderful prizes to the annual Snow Ball raffle.

We had a fabulous turnout and some great music and the crowd danced the night away. We would also like to thank our friends at the Norbrook Farm Brewery for their support. Without these people and businesses our event would not be possible. See you at our next SWSA event!

John Sullivan

On behalf of the Salisbury Winter Sports Association

‘Tallow’ as name for restaurant?

I’m happy that the old McDonalds building may host a new restaurant in Millerton. However, if they are promoting healthier eating they may want to rethink their name. Beef fat may strike the wrong note.

Just saying!

Dan Lewis

Lakeville

Appreciating Lakeville Hose Co. and Volunteer Ambulance Service

The Riva family would like to send a huge thank you to the outstanding volunteers from the Lakeville Hose Company and the Salisbury Volunteer Ambulance Service. We had a chimney fire Thursday, Jan. 23, during dinner time that warranted a call to 911. Our volunteer fire personnel were here in 6 minutes — 4 firetrucks, an ambulance and other assorted rescue vehicles. Upon arrival, the EMT’s immediately checked on us. They were comforting, concerned and reassuring. We have lived in this community for over 32 years — my husband, his whole life.

The professionalism and efficiency was outstanding. We knew once we saw the trucks in front of the house, that they had everything under control. We can’t thank them enough for responding so quickly on this freezing night to help us. It is remarkable the amount of time these volunteers give to this town and citizens. The care and compassion they showed emulated through this house, it was heartwarming.

After our incident, it just reconfirmed why as a community we need to work hard and make it a priority to develop affordable housing for our EMT’s, fire personnel, and others in our community. We need these volunteers residing in our town.

A heartfelt thank you to Lakeville Hose Company and The Salisbury Volunteer Ambulance Service.

Bob & Charmaine Riva

Lakeville

Criticizing Israel is not anti-Semitic

The hackneyed response on Jan. 30, 2025, from various Israel supporters in our community to my Jan. 16 letter to The Lakeville Journal regarding the genuine benefits of making Israel the 51st state was totally expected. They reflexively used the cliché that criticizing Israel, a foreign country, is antisemitic. If anyone criticizes the policies of the U.S. government, does that make them anti-American? Of course not. Is Israel uniquely beyond reproach? It seems so to them. Are Israelis too special to criticize? Absolutely not.

The authors of the letter against me couldn’t help themselves by resorting to name calling, suggesting how obnoxious and antisemitic I am. Isn’t that a bit personal and over the top coming from my neighbors? It is ironic that I, as a proud American with Lebanese ancestry, am probably more semitic than the Jewish writers of the letter against my views. What Eastern European countries did their ancestors come from that gives them standing over the indigenous people of the Middle East?

It is telling that the authors of the letter never once addressed the basic premise of my letter that Israel becoming the 51st state would be a win-win for both the U.S. and Israel by guaranteeing Israel’s security while giving the indigenous people of the land, namely the Palestinians, equal rights. Do they believe in apartheid?

Many Israelis and their supporters continue to perpetuate the myth that they are the poor victims when they are indeed the aggressors. They have all the weapons and power, and they continue to massacre tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians who have few weapons, no air force, and most certainly no support of the most powerful military nation in the world, namely the U.S. They are hardly victims. That’s a myth.

The writers of the letter expectedly took issue with my use of the word holocaust — and genocide — to define what Israel is doing to the Palestinians, as if the term is “owned” exclusively by Jews. Rather than address the atrocities being committed by the Israelis, they point to genocides occurring elsewhere in the world, as if that makes the genocide being committed by Israel more acceptable. In fact, most countries as well as the International Criminal Court view Israel as committing crimes against humanity. So I guess that means Israel, the U.S. government, and some of its European vassal states are correct, and the entire rest of the world is totally wrong and misguided. This is the ultimate in arrogance.

We are now one quarter way through the 21st century. Isn’t it about time that we decided that no one group is special or better than the other? That no matter what their religion or lack of one, all humans deserve equal dignity and justice?

Lloyd Baroody

Lakeville