Letters

Township fair

‘patriotic’ event
To the editor:
   Special thanks to everyone who made the West Amwell Country Fair such a special patriotic event.
   It was truly a time of healing for the volunteers and fair attendees. We collected over $1,300 in donations for the American Red Cross, $936 of which was matched by Wawa, increasing our donation to more than $2,300.
   In addition, we had 40 people sign up for our blood drive Oct. 27 at the West Amwell municipal building. People still are signing up, and donations are still coming in.
   Our fair volunteers were, in no particular order:
   LoVerde family of Fleecy Dale Farm with their alpacas; Liz Bowman; South Hunterdon High School Band; Pastor Paul LaMontagne for participation in the opening ceremony; local Scout troops, opening ceremony and games; Mt. Airy 4-H Dairy Club, opening ceremony, game and cow milking; Fulper dairy farm, Holstein calves; Hunterdon County Dairy Princess Heidi Spencer, stickers, coloring books, etc.; Lora Olsen, Reuben concession worker; and West Amwell Fire Company and Ladies Auxiliary, display, pies, cakes, bingo, etc.
   Also, Lambertville-New Hope Ambulance and Rescue Squad, display; Marie Janezewski and Gene Schible, tractor and wagon ride; Patrolman Wayne Boan, display; New Jersey Division of Fish & Game, display; West Amwell School sixth-graders, volunteer helpers; Rick Weidel, old tractor; and Mike and Abby Forrest for use of their field for parking.
   Also, Joe Nyce and East Amwell for use of platform; Peter Buchsbaum, manning the taz game; and West Amwell Historic Committee.
   Our fair sponsors were, in no particular order,:
   Affordable Self-Storage on Route 179; Amwell Valley Diner on Route 31; Chimney Hill Bed & Breakfast on Goat Hill Road; Pine Creek Miniature Golf on Route 31; Plainfield Roofing on Route 179; Quick Chek on Route 31; Charles Rose Masonry on Route 179; Bob’s Games, Kingwood Township; Hunt family preserve on Mt. Airy-Harbourton Road; and Princeton/Myers Fuel and Cravings of Stockton.
   Winners of our photography contest were:
   Scenery — First and second, Gloria Mangan.
   Structures — First, Barbara Nixon.
   Animals — First, Sarah Irgang; second, Barbara Jacobe; third, Michele Bostwick.
   People — First, Susan Irgang; second, Barbara Nixon; and third, Karen Osgood
   Thank you to those who entered this photo contest and our alpaca information contest. Thank you to the community groups who had displays and games. It was a great day!

Tuck Hartpence
Chairman
Gary Bleacher
Bernard Meader
Linda Slack
Rob and Heidi Tomenchok
Len Piscetelli
Bill Gill
Irma Fuhr
Tom and Susan Molnar
Ruth Hall
Marie Jackton
Betty Jane Hunt
Rich and Terry Anderson
West Amwell Fair Committee members

Party ignored

those suffering
To the editor:
   How can a neighbor justify a wild outdoor party just days after our recent national tragedy?
   How can we selfishly and defiantly ignore the sorrow and misery experienced by those who lost a loved one? Is blasting the neighborhood with screeching rock music and putting on an aerial fireworks display supposed to lessen our sorrow? We are not celebrating the Fourth of July. We are trying to get back on our feet and pull together to overcome this national tragedy.
   In the streets of Palestine, they celebrate the death of Americans. I would not have expected any type of festive activity in our own neighborhood that would suggest we are oblivious to the dastardly act committed by these terrorists in our nation. Exhausted firefighters, police and the other valiant rescue workers continue to sieve through the rubble for human remain and our nation continues to mourn for the loss of human life. Is this reason for partying? Have these people no respect for the dead and the dying?
   These neighbors challenge and unlawfully defy our local laws concerning a curfew on playing outdoor music, and they mock New Jersey law banning the use of fireworks, which should be reinforced with a stiff fine. More important, they defy the laws of humanity, behavior and compassion.
   Is the selfish desire for self-enjoyment so important to our neighbors that they have lost the sensitivity to determine what is right and what is wrong? Perhaps they should have lived through World War II, Korea or Vietnam to fully understand the tragedies of war. Life is not all about partying and "fun and games" to satisfy one’s own needs.
   To those individuals who still live in the current nightmare of having lost a loved one, I apologize for the inexcusable and immature actions of this insensitive neighbor. Most Americans are not like that. We do care, and we do feel your loss.

Edmond Tucci
Stockton

Love will heal,

says reader
To the editor:
   Sculptures crumble by some madman’s hand.
   He supports a death wish.
   Innocent lives flutter in the ashes like tiny birds,
   As jet fuel suffocates passion, hope, love and family.
   The image of planes deliberately flying into the sides of buildings,
   Containing thousands of people,
   Is impossible to erase.
   Burned into a cinemascopic negative that plays over and over,
   In my mind’s projector.
   Some evil has just opened
   Like a vital artery split,
   Suddenly and deadly,
   Opening a nation,
   Monuments fall.
   I remember them being built when I was but a child.
   I looked in awe at man’s accomplishments.
   We can be great when we want to be.
   Another’s greatness was to tear them down,
   Regardless of innocence,
   Of religion,
   Of race or family bonds.
   This is it.
   We as individuals and as a nation need to be strong.
   Turbulence is descending us like a tidal wave.
   We need to be strong.
   And our reaction needs to bear strength as well.
   But please, love and closeness will heal all that has befallen us.
   Love will heal.
   I will miss those two monuments.
   Their absence now stands for more than I could ever put into words.
   Believe me when I tell you that I cried,
   When I first gazed upon that empty smoking space.
   The buildings did not deserve that,
   Nor the people in them.
   There is insanity out there,
   Whether we like it or not.
   There is insanity within.
   How, my friends, do we keep the living alive?
   How do we keep wonders of the world from collapsing?

Ted Stieve
Lambertville

Cherish life

while you can
To the editor:
   Some more thoughts on the national disaster of Sept. 11.
   The first tears shed were shed in heaven; by God. We can no longer take anything for granted — not our jobs, not our futures, not our relationships. Not even our lives.
   Over five thousand people went to work on Tuesday, and I am willing to bet not one of them thought that it would be their last day of life. In a few moments, everything for which they had worked was taken from them. A lifetime of relationships go. In minutes, they were faced with eternity. Thousands more were left in shock and grief.
   I also have some suggestions. First, spend more down time with your family; don’t take your spouse for granted. Give them a hug and kiss before going off to work. Tell them you love them. You may not have them tomorrow.
   Have a leisurely dinner as a family. Spend more time with your kids. Do something special with them. Take time out from work to just hang out with them. You may not have them tomorrow.
   Resolve any outstanding issues with friends, neighbors or coworkers. Don’t worry about work or bills. Take a walk; enjoy the trees in fall, the snow-carpeted fields in winter.
   Most importantly, spend more time with God. Get to know him better. He loves you. Only he can give the forgiveness we all need. Only he can give the hope and peace we all crave and need. Only he can help make sense out of tragedies, both national and personal that enter our lives. Only he can provide the solace so important for healing.
   And, above all, only he can give you life that transcends death.

Russell Topping
Lambertville

Bucks needs

‘healthier’ party
To the editor:
   Although a lifelong Republican, I would like to see a healthier organization of Democrats in Bucks County.
   Articulate opposition between well-matched candidates can make for good government.
   However, if I had any influence in that ineffectual party right now, I would certainly do my very best to squelch that gaggle of screeching rabble-rousers who call themselves New Hope’s new Democratic Committee.
   Bert Johnson and Bob Gerenser, in voting "no" to every good idea to come before the Borough Council, have made this town the laughing stock of the area. Their posturing reaches the highest form of hypocrisy with the claim they are striving for peace and good will. Republicans and real Democrats work together on this council. Proof, were it needed, that such labels should be abolished for local elections.
   And speaking of labels, it’s almost amusing to see the honorific that Ms. Mastasovsky, self-appointed committee woman, has appropriated for herself.
   But there, I’ve just given all three of them more of the publicity on which they thrive.

Terry Smallacombe
New Hope

Hawks, not doves

will save country
To the editor:
   Hillary Clinton’s obvious lack of enthusiasm for George Bush’s speech was as understandable as it was reprehensible.
   President Bush before all his countrymen and the world repudiated a bankrupt Nobel Prize-winning dumpster of miscalculations, called a foreign policy, that he inherited from his morally bankrupt predecessor; a foreign policy based on a traveling diplomacy, which chalked up "frequent flyer miles" instead of accomplishments, taking peace processes nowhere and all of us and our real allies for a ride.
   A distorted media was also constantly patting Bill Clinton on the back for bringing peace, and all the time history was kicking him in the pants for bringing war! President George Bush, on the other hand, has pledged war in order to bless our country with peace.
   Now that those doves that portrayed themselves as being on "high moral ground" have dragged the country to "ground zero," we must rely on the hawks to save us from the vultures. In other words, Hillary, someone who instead of putting his arms around the mother of terrorist will use them to break the back of its father.
   All of our prayers go out to the troops and their commander in chief. May I, who 28 years ago was involved in repelling a terrorist raid in Naharaya, Israel, lead us in an ancient Hebrew prayer.
   "Our Father, Our King, avenge before our eyes the blood of thy innocent servants that hath been spilt."
   God Bless America!

Daniel Levinson
Lambertville

Family grateful

for concern
To the editor:
   I want to thank each and everyone of you who sent cards, flowers and called during a most difficult time.
   The loss of my sister, Debbie, has left a huge void for myself and my family.
   It has been through your constant support and caring that my inner strength has endured. I carry all of you thoughts and wishes with me daily.
   My warmest regards and love.

Lisa Stephens
and family
Lambertville

Therapist offers

free sessions
To the editor:
   People need to be assured of confidentiality while dealing with this terrible tragedy.
   As a community service to Hunterdon, Mercer and Bucks counties, I am offering up to three free sessions to any individual, couple or family. Though I decided to this because of the recent catastrophe in New York and Washington, these one-hour sessions can be used in any way one chooses. All feelings are normal and go hand in hand with being healthy and vulnerable human beings.
   In a world that has changed so radically in such a short time different, people react in many different ways. Some feelings that appear and may linger or change from day to day are fear, sadness, disbelief, numbness, grief, hope, anger and helplessness.
   Fortunately we are a strong and resilient country, but what about all these other feelings — some that we don’t even want to talk about to our friends or families? Expression of feelings in this still puritanical, Calvinist society is difficult. Men often find it difficult or feel "weak" expressing feelings.
   For women it is sometimes easier but then they have to "be strong," too, for children and to "protect" others. We begin to think that we can "save" the kids from negative feelings, but they have them, and they try to protect parents from seeing their own insecurity and confusion.
   As a family therapist, I have realized for years that children have intuitive antennae and know everything that’s going on around them and in the family. Even though parents and teachers do their best to make them feel secure, they not only pick up the vibes, but may be doing the "feeling" for the rest of the family — and are afraid to talk about it.
   What children of different ages have told me during the last weeks has been astounding to their parents. The world has changed, and we all know it, whether we have said it out loud.
   As a therapist for 20+ years, I realize that expressing feelings is not an easy thing to do. I’m not suggesting that people "emote," but, simply that they might feel a lot less anxious having a safe environment in which to talk about what’s going on for them as individuals and as part of family and society in a rapidly changing country and world.
   Denying that this crisis affects us and throws a monkey wrench of confusion into our psyches is denying our own humanity, which is what terrorists have learned to do so well. This is a crucial time and, our thoughts and feelings are not "better left unsaid."
   Please call me at (609) 773-1168 to arrange free sessions.

Jean Richardson
Counselor and family therapist
Lambertville

Seniors raised

nearly $350
To the editor:
   A special thank you to the residents of the Hibernia Apartments and also to our friends and neighbors who contributed to the fund-raiser for the disaster of Sept. 11.
   We collected a total of $347.03, which was given to the American Red Cross, Hunterdon County Chapter.
   Thanks again.

Darlene LaRue
Ruth Lear
Betty Sharp
Ginny Zoldi
Frank Reilly
Hibernia Apartments
Lambertville