PACKET EDITORIAL, Dec. 24
‘Tis the day before Christmas 2002,
A festive occasion that’s long overdue,
Given the woes we’ve been facing all year,
From too little parking to too many deer.
All over the region our problems are mounting,
To solve them this Christmas on Santa we’re counting,
So here is our list for this holiday season,
It’s all done in rhyme for in rhyme there is reason.
Mayor Reed and his buddies hope Santa will send ’em
A bounty of bond money (sans referendum)
To build the garage that’s caused many to frown
And might yet make Princeton a two-party town.
Opponents, of course, hope some last-minute trouble
Will rise up and burst this development’s bubble,
But just in case, Santa could further their goal
By trashing the site with great volumes of coal.
Out in the township, the bearded gift-giver
Would win great acclaim if he’d only deliver
To Witherspoon Street, a new table and chair
That cost somewhat less than the ones that are there.
The animal lovers hope Santa’s receptive
To bringing a batch of new deer contraceptive
That might put an end to the netting and bolting
That so many residents find so revolting.
If that doesn’t happen, they’ll likely resort
To hauling the township right back into court,
Where, for once, they might win, if old Santa himself
Could find them a judge with the mind of an elf.
Speaking of minds, we would seem like such fools
If we didn’t ask Santa to help our poor schools.
In Princeton, each parent and teacher and kid
Hopes a PHS contract comes in under bid.
In West Windsor-Plainsboro, thoughts are attendant
To finding the perfect new superintendent,
While Montgomery’s hopes are tempered by fears,
Their new high school will open one of these years.
Here are a few more of life’s greatest pleasures
We’d like to see carried among Santa’s treasures:
For the West Windsor Council, bless its sweet soul,
The gift of adjusting to life after Toll,
Along with good sense not to grandstand or grouse
While wheeling and dealing with Wyeth and Rouse.
For Plainsboro’s longtime mayor, Peter Cantu,
Signed, sealed and delivered: Route 92.
For Montgomery drivers, a super-quick fix,
That relieves the congestion on Route 206.
For poor Rocky Hill, where the library labors
To meet the demand of its fast-growing neighbors,
A commitment of funds from Montgomery’s leaders
To satisfy all those additional readers.
For ourselves? We ask nothing, except lots of news
That allows us to keep on expressing our views,
Arousing our foes (and sometimes our fans)
Before we’re dispatched to recycling cans.
So there is our wish list, if Santa can hack it,
And one final thought from the folks at The Packet:
Merry Christmas to all, and may everyone see
A healthy and happy 2003.