Monarchs are champs
To the editor:
It was a tough loss for the Manchester Monarchs Monday night in overtime. This marked the end of their postseason and the disappointment was clearly visible.
My daughter and I had followed the team all through the season and knew going to the Verizon Wireless Arena that night that possible elimination loomed heavily.
But this did not stop our enthusiasm for the young hockey team. In her free time, my daughter finished her sign that she planned to bring to the game that night. It read "We (heart) Teddy," with Teddy Purcell's number, 62.
We got to the game early enough to see the pregame practice and she proudly held up her sign against her portion of the Plexiglas that separated the fans from the players. Most of the players took notice and some even smiled. Teddy skated over at the end of practice and flipped my daughter a puck. She was pumped up now, and we were ready to root the Monarchs to victory.
It was extremely hard to see the team not come up with the win. Without any hesitation, though, we ran down to the Plexiglas at the end of the game to show our appreciation of a good effort. My daughter held up her sign, hoping that Teddy Purcell would see her again and know that we were thanking him for his outstanding effort all season.
And that's when it happened. The young forward for the Monarchs skated over to my daughter and handed her his game stick. She was ecstatic and will probably never forget that moment. He created a life-long hockey fan. It was only later that I realized he must have put his own disappointment to the side at that moment to remember the fans and make the dreams of one little girl come true.
Thanks to Teddy Purcell of the Manchester Monarchs — our hero!
Sandra Arnold
Derry
Stamping out hunger
To the editor:
The National Association of Letter Carriers will be holding their annual food drive on Saturday, May 10, in the Derry area. On that day letter carriers will pick up nonperishable food as they deliver mail on their postal routes. The food donations collected in Derry stay in the community.
The 16th annual NALC food drive is the largest one-day food drive in the nation. Nationally, carriers collected over 70 million pounds of food last year for the third consecutive year. Carriers locally collected over 7 tons of food last year for Derry food banks. It's also the largest local food drive and provides much-needed food at a time the pantries are running low.
The union settled on the second Saturday of May for the annual drive since food bank donations tend to wane after the winter holidays. This drop-off is particularly troublesome since the hunger problem is usually at its most critical during the summer when school breakfast and lunch programs — often the only source of stable nutrition for millions of children — are suspended.
The challenge this year is especially daunting. All signs point to a deepening recession, and with gasoline prices flirting with $4 a gallon, more and more families — including those of carriers — are looking everywhere for ways to save money. This economic squeeze comes while 35 million Americans are experiencing what the federal government refers to as "very low food security," a euphemistic way of saying people are either already going hungry or are worried about where their next meal will come from.
Residents are asked to leave nonperishable food donations in a bag by their mailbox on Saturday, May 12, before the letter carrier arrives. It will be picked up and then delivered to a local food bank.
Any questions, please contact Terry Gesel or Bill Brickley at 434-7653.
Thank you in advance for your support.
Terry Gesel and Bill Brickley
City carriers
Derry
Women's Club offers thanks
To the editor:
The GFWC Windham Woman's Club want to thank everyone for making our annual yard sale on Saturday, April 19, a wonderful success!
Thank you to our chairwomen of the project, Ruth Bellizzi and Lynne O'Loughlin, for their hard work. Thank you to our members who volunteered their time. We thank The Eagle-Tribune for excellent media coverage of our event.
Thank you to all businesses in surrounding towns for allowing us to post our fliers. We thank you for your wonderful support of our organization.
Windham Woman's Club
Ruth Coole
Publicity chairwoman
The phantom Democrats
To the editor:
Since January there have been record turnouts of voters in the Democratic primaries. In Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Indiana, there have been increases of 4 to 8 percent in new voter registrations for the Democratic primaries.
Sens. Obama and Clinton, their campaign staffs and political analysts state this surge in voter registration and turnout in the Democratic primaries is attributable to the closeness of the race and the work of the campaigns to get out the vote. While some of the increase can be traced to the activities of the campaigns, I contend a significant number of these voters are Republicans and Independents who are trying to impact the Democratic nomination.
John McCain sewed up the Republican nomination a few months ago, and his constituency is working hard to keep the Democratic slugfest going as long as possible. The longer the Democratic melee continues, the better for McCain.
I believe the phantom Democrats will return to the Republican fold in November, and, along with the disenfranchised Democrats from the campaign and Independents, help elect John McCain the next president of the United States. Sen. McCain has been vetted and can be trusted to guard our democratic freedoms and promote our national security.
Donald A. Moskowitz
Londonderry
