Letters to the editor

From the Nov. 23 edition

Signs not worth

resident furor
To the editor:
   I cannot understand what all the furor is about concerning "the signs" in Mansfield. Is there anything that has a lower environmental impact? It’s quiet, it’s non-polluting, and it doesn’t need schools, policemen, or firemen. You don’t need to plow its snow or collect its trash.
   Hedding is a small hamlet in New Jersey, of which there are hundreds in this state and thousands in this country. How many of these are already impacted by gas stations, Wal-Marts, interstates, and housing developments? It’s the way this country is – it’s what it has become. Route 295 is already here, Orleans Homes are already here, and who knows what else is in the future for this "historic" area.
   Mansfield and Hedding have enjoyed a rural lifestyle for many decades, but it is gone. Accept it. Support the billboards. At least they won’t raise your taxes.
   Ali Rogers
Columbus
Rotary Club an asset

to the entire community
To the editor:
   We often wonder why at the last minute we get invited to an event of some sort or called and just decide to go. Personally this thing being my husband Mark and I invited to the Rotary Charities Breakfast Buffet at Bordentown Middle School this past Sunday, Nov. 12. What I thought would be only be a breakfast buffet and a chance to see old friends and neighbors turned into an enlightening experience; and one that more people need to know about. All of us: businessmen/women, friends and neighbors, a community as a whole.
   I’d often hear and know the name Rotary Club, in the past donated but never actually knew how dedicated and involved they are, not only in our community but around the world as well. What I did learn was (from asking around the table) what exactly does the Rotary Club do? To my surprise, our table wasn’t really sure, however when Frank so graciously explained it to us we left with our jaws dropped and a little embarrassed.
   I had the opportunity to personally speak with a member of the Rotary, Frank Hartman, Executive Director of the Bordentown Sewerage Authority. He took the time to sit down with us and explain some of the Rotary’s wonderful involvement with our community and we were speechless. Not only do they provide scholarships, donate their personal time and money to help individuals in need be it a wheelchair ramp or assist in a families loss but they do this and many, many more things that would not fit in your 500 word letter to the editor.
   I am a businesswoman and lifetime resident of Bordentown Township would like for others to know about the Rotary Club and perhaps consider their own involvement. I understand every Tuesday at 7:30 a.m. at Mastories Diner they meet for breakfast and discuss events, needs and fellowship.
   We as a community need to know there is someone out there that could meet a need (be it small or large) if only they knew how to contact them. I personally request that you could run a follow-up article on the Rotary Club so this organization that wants to help and does can be of help to someone in need.
   I would also like to take this time to thank all the Rotary members for their dedication they so graciously provide our community. We often take for granted that the other person will do something, well, the Rotary is one of those other people. But you can’t meet a need if it is not known said; Frank Hartman.
   Thank you Rotary Club, we appreciate all you do for our community and so often go unknown. Thank you Frank Hartman, for sitting with us and explaining how fortunate we as a community are to have the Rotary Club.
   Debbie Tornquist
Bordentown Township
Flag ceremony

meaningful to veterans
To the editor:
   The following was read by VVA Chapter 899 President Michael Engi on Nov. 9 at a flag-lowering ceremony at Fort Dix.
   
As last year, once again members of Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 899 were invited to the flag-lowering ceremony at Fort Dix. How quickly the Marine Corps Birthday the 10th and Veterans Day the 11th have come around, and how fitting it is that on the 9th we convene to honor our war heroes past and present.
   It is as if the ceremony on the 9th served as a key, unlocking spirits of military campaigns of long ago; safeguarded memories of one’s own campaigns; and the door to that mental room we keep cramming with military statistics/information that is ever so hard to deal with, but must never be permanently locked or ignored.
   Lowering the flag presupposes raising it tomorrow. But, how easy to disconnect the cost of raising our flag from everyday life. What was once seemingly a Jeffersonian America of at least a belief in, "…Unalienable Rights to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness…" has to some become a theater of bewilderment, uncertainty, and anxiety.
   The "some" are those in uniform today who have taken the flag of freedom from those who served with honor and dignity before them. The some ensure our flag will forever be raised in all its glory, i.e., so long as we never take for granted those who have stepped up to serve (along with their families that are by extension serving as well).
   Thank you, Colonel McNeil and the military command at Fort Dix. Thank you for affording the privilege of standing tall with our counterparts of today to acknowledge the sacrifices of dedicated, courageous, and committed uniformed heroes past and present keeping Old Glory forever young.
   Joe Meheski, USMC, retired
VVA899 life member