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October is 'Pastor Appreciation Month'

October is "Pastor Appreciation Month", however, we the Congregation of the First Baptist Church in So. Londonderry, Vt. wish to honor and thank both, our pastor and his wife Amy for their "love, guidance and dedication" throughout every month of the year!

Claire Holton, S. Londonderry

Harriet Miers should voluntarily withdraw

Most of the discussion about President Bush's nomination of Harriet Miers for a seat on the United States Supreme Court misses the point. Over 40 years of teaching American Constitutional Law at the undergraduate and graduate levels convinces me that the public concern should not be focused on abortion rights, lack of prior judicial experience, conservative agendas, religious affiliation, the nominee's intelligence, how good a job she did in heading the Texas State Lottery Commission, her personal warmth, her steadfast loyalty to George Bush, or even how little we know about her.

The real problem with her candidacy is that there is nothing in her entire career to suggest that she has heretofore revealed any great interest in the Constitution, or learned very much about it.

American Constitutional Law is a magnificent, complex, sometimes difficult tradition, and it can truthfully be said that no other country in the world has developed any comparable body of national jurisprudence

It is not, however, a discipline to be mastered relatively late in life and on the job at that.

The Supreme Court is the chief custodian of what this Constitution means in our daily lives. Unlike John Roberts, who displayed an admirable mastery of Constitutional Law, Ms. Miers simply lacks the necessary qualifications to assume such a pivotal post in this pivotal body. Nothing in her background reveals more than the most superficial acquaintance with the oldest continuously functioning constitution in the world.

I hope that she will have the good sense to recognize this unsuitability, and voluntarily withdraw from further consideration.

Joe Board, JD, PhD, W. Arlington

Notice to Stratton, Winhall property owners:

As you know, the changes brought about years ago by Act 60 might have seriously influenced the educational opportunities of the students in our two towns had it not been for the efforts of the Stratton Winhall Educational Foundation (SWEF).

In an effort to diminish this impact, the towns working together, supported your Foundation. SWEF has had great success over the past years, but now, due to changes brought about by the newly legislated Act 68, the Foundation no longer has significant relevance.

At our last Board meeting, the Executive Board voted to dissolve the Foundation. The funds remaining after all expenses are paid will be distributed to the Stratton and Winhall School Districts on a per pupil basis.

It is with gratitude that the Board thanks each of you for your support over the years. Working together, we have been able to assure the successful continuity of the educational processes in our towns.

Executive Board of Directors, Stratton Winhall Educational Foundation

Response to 'A parable headed toward the ...'

We the American people have placed the Republicans in power first with senatorial and house elections in the Clinton administrations and now with the Republicans in total control. Where is this "tug of war" that the writer of this "parable" alleges, and it is not obvious to the majority of us, the American people, "that we are failing."

We are "obviously" succeeding as evidenced by the successes reported daily. We hope that this administration succeeds in their endeavors against the war on terror, ultimately resulting in a lasting peace in the Middle East. I hope we continue to do our duty not "with the ballot box," but by casting our ballot in this box.

P.S. Two letters recently published contained statements such as "any fool should know," and additional drivel such as "tug of war testing whether this nation or any nation can long endure" and "it is obvious we are failing."

The first letter at least backed up his calling the writer of the original letter a fool which I believe shouldn't warrant publication. The above referenced letter is amusing as poetry; "tug of war" - "long endure," but the whole content is not proven factual and relies on innuendo. After reading this letter, I want to circle around with my liberal friends, hold hands and sing "Kumbaya."

Perry Green, Manchester Village

Community Coalition teen session Oct. 24

The Northshire Community Coalition invites everyone in the Northshire to join together to prevent teen substance use and to build a healthy community. Come and learn about the power of coalition building and be part of creating a vision and solutions for our community on Monday, Oct. 24 from 5 till 8 pm at the First Congregational Church in Manchester Village.

Wendy Krom of Community Consulting Services, who has over 15 years of experience working in the community development field with non-profit organizations, neighborhood groups, schools, community coalitions, youth groups and government, will facilitate this event. Childcare will be provided and dinner will be catered by Al Ducci's. RSVP to 802-379-0638 or via email at northshireteen@mac.com.

Jill Loewer,

NCC Program Coordinator

6th graders want Veterans Day meaning

The sixth graders of the Mettawee Community School have been having a discussion about, "What Veterans Day means to me." They have come up with many ideas but realize that they are a small sample of people and all from the same generation. They want to know your thoughts and ideas. How do their perceptions compare to those of the citizens in their communities?

Therefore, the sixth grade class would like to invite their community members to help them answer this question. Please write an essay explaining your feelings, thoughts and ideas about Veterans Day and send it to the Mettawee Community School Sixth Grade by Friday, Nov. 4 so we can read each of them. A sixth grade student will respond to all entries.

The top entries, according to the criteria the students establish, will be acknowledged at our Veterans Day dessert social on Friday, Nov. 11 when the Mettawee Community School honors all local veterans.

If you send in an essay, please indicate if you are able to attend the dessert social along with the names of any local veterans that will be accompanying you. Thank you for your involvement with our class and our community.

Send "What Veterans Day means to me" essays to: Mettawee Community School, Attn: Sixth Grade Class, 5788 VT Rte. 153, West Pawlet, VT 05775. Or, drop it off at the school between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Mettawee Community School Sixth Grade, West Pawlet

Remember Shepard's irrelevant attack

Regarding State Senator Mark Shepard's letter "Outsiders push government takeover": It is the duty of our elected representatives to propose solutions to problems such as the high cost of health care in our state.

Instead, Sen. Shepard chooses to focus on the financial connection between single-payer advocate Dr. Deborah Richter and billionaire philanthropist George Soros. Yes, Soros is a billionaire who uses his foundation to promote liberal political causes, but, unlike the wealthy individuals that Republicans like Shepard champion, who use their wealth to increase their power by financially squeezing the middle class, Richter and Soros at least try to come up with alternatives that will help all the people, not just those who contribute large amounts of money to Republican campaigns.

I hope that at election time, the voters of Bennington County will remember that Shepard used his opportunity to speak up for Vermonters who cannot afford decent heath care to cloud the issue with an irrelevant attack on someone who is trying to help.

Michael E. Kramer, Pawlet

Let's not reinvent the flat tire with health care

The proposal to provide access to health care for all Vermonters is very laudable. I have seen this as a great need in my 20+ years as an employer in Vermont, especially in an industry in which the "mom and pops" such as ours were not able to provide the very minimum of coverage to our employees. Nor were our employees able to afford health coverage. It was an unfortunate juxtaposition of circumstances, we could not afford to pay even half the premiums, but even if we did, our employees could not pay the other half.

So, it is obvious that we need to do something to increase access to, at the very least, basic health services. This needs to be done in a way that will control the costs and provides an ethical and moral basis for access to those services.

It is in this last area that we need to be very careful to insure that we craft an approach to health care coverage that meets the needs of our citizenry. We need a law that will provide those basic services at a cost both the insured and the state can afford.

But even more important than cost control is to insure that the law is written so that the services provided are those which promote a good and proper society and excludes services that are not in the public good. To that end, the law needs to focus on those aspects of health care that promote wellness and sound health. It should not include items that damage the fabric of our society or that lead to degradation of sound health. Therefore the guiding philosophy must be the healing and promotion of life, a philosophy that leads to wholeness and wellness.

Any healthcare system that includes the payment of abortion, physician assisted suicide or euthanasia is one that violates that tenet of a system that leads to wholeness and wellness. These procedures are not health services, these are procedures that end life and as such damage the fabric of our society. Under no conceivable set of circumstances, can a procedure that seeks to remove a life be classified as a health service.

Another point that needs to be considered is that this should not be a mandatory system, but optionally available to those who want and need it. We have sufficient evidence in Great Britain, Scandinavia and Canada that compulsory healthcare systems do not work. It is bad enough to reinvent the wheel, let's not reinvent a flat tire.

John Nunnikhoven,

Chester, Vt.

Breast cancer awareness, environmental poisons

There is a lot in the news about breast cancer now and I have not heard one word about getting rid of what causes a large portion of breast cancer and most other cancers. If I'm not mistaken, a large portion is from environmental poisons we eat and breathe. Yet I do not here much about this.

I would think that a lot more of the money raised by all of us, should go to changing the direction of energy use. Now I know we have gotten used to smelling the noxious poisonous fumes when we fill up our cars, but we should not be used to them. They are killing us with all sorts of cancers and neurological diseases.

After our so called leaders gave us this 1950's energy policy, I am totally embarrassed that 93 percent of this policy is giving incentives and our hard-earned tax money to the worst buys which give the least return on our dollar, and only seven percent is going to the best buys that create five to ten times the jobs per dollar spent. Our leaders are truly NOT leaders and Representative Government at this point needs to be gotten rid of and go a more responsive system.

I would like to see more cancer fundraisers directed to raising money to change our present energy policy, which is the root of a large portion of disease. I urge everyone to read "Winning the Oil Endgame" at www.winningtheoilendgame.com (Innovation for Profits, Jobs, and Security). Print the Executive Summary and pass it on. Or buy the book at North shire Book Store. "One of the best analyses of energy policy yet produced." Time magazine. Our fight against cancer depends on it. Or we can just keep taking our kemo.

Ted Taylor,

E. Dorset

Thanks ... we had a ball

A heart felt thank you to all who were involved with making the Mark Skinner Library's Blue Jean Ball a rousing success. Not only was the event great fun, but it raised just under $7,000 for the library's Annual Fund. It is always a challenge to hold an event and stay on budget. We would have not been able to do so without the fabulous support of many local businesses.

First and foremost we are indebted to Hildene without whose gracious generosity there would be no site for the Ball; to Don Reiser of Express Copy who donated all 850 of the whimsical invitations; and to Nina's Jewelry Store for donating a beautiful diamond necklace as our grand prize. Our list goes on to thank: Ad Planet, Equinox Nursery, Furla, Garnet Hill, Heinel's, Lily-Designs, Manchester Sports and Clothing Co., Nine West Shoes, Orvis, the Perfect Wife Restaurant, Peak Entertainment, Rain or Shine Tent Co., r.k Miles Inc.,Thyme Tables Catering, Ultramar, and Wildflower Florist.

We encourage you to support our local businesses as they in turn support the Mark Skinner Library.

Christine S. Miles, MSL Trustee and chair of the Blue Jean Ball