A father's message
To the editor:
The following is a letter sent by Herb Darling of Londonderry to the Class of 2009 of Loyola Marymount University, on the occasion of their graduation ceremony:
Sadly and with deep regret, I must admit this letter is long overdue. It has been delayed because of the overpowering grief Lucy and I have endured since the death of Herbert. Despite our grief and the ongoing struggle to deal with life without our precious son, it would be equally tragic not to acknowledge the tremendous outpouring of love and support we received from the LMU Class of 2009, the administration and faculty of this great university. To cite by name all those that responded and with great sacrifice during our hour of need would be nearly impossible but I would be remiss to not at least single out the Honors Program students, the men of Sigma Chi and his faculty advisors that stood by us and supported us throughout this awful experience. Many thanks, you clearly have the "right stuff" and collectively make LMU one of America's greatest institutions of higher learning.
I am of course writing this letter close to graduation day ... a day that should have been one of our proudest. Herbert always made us proud but graduating from LMU would have been his finest achievement to date and the launch pad for even greater success, tragically however, this will not be the case. I toyed with submitting a version of a letter I would have given him on graduation day but never got passed the first paragraph. This is as far as I got:
Dear Son,
Once again you have made us proud, completely broke but nonetheless gushing with pride and joy. You have graduated with two degrees from one of America's most prestigious schools and are poised for greatness. Work hard, live safe, have fun, respect others and abide by the three secrets of living a long life that I revealed to you many years ago. In case you have forgotten, the three are; one, every sound has a source, take the time to determine what that is, two, your peripheral vision is far more acute than your direct vision, respect what it is telling you and react accordingly, third, trust your instincts, if it feels, looks, smells, sounds and or tastes wrong — then it is wrong and leave immediately ...
If Herbert were alive today, I would also add, you made my life whole and justified my very existence, for this I thank you.
Life however is for the living, so to the class of 2009, I wish you great success, a long life and hope you achieve all your goals. I only ask that you think of Herbert once in awhile, perhaps when faced with a vexing problem and ask what would Herbert do, and smile at his memory.
If for some reason you are on campus early in the morning when the marine layer is the thickest, you may hear the sound of running feet. If so, direct your peripheral vision towards the sound, you may see a skinny young man, carrying a backpack with bright brown eyes, a boyish smile, wearing a gaudy red T-shirt that reads Londonderry Swimming and with a shock of unruly curly brown hair hurrying to accomplish some mission. Should you experience this, it will be the only time you are allowed to not trust your instincts ... do not try to stop him or call out his name, simply wave and quietly wish him Godspeed.
Herb Darling
Londonderry
No real compromise
To the editor:
The current compromise to the Gay Marriage Bill does not protect those who, faithful to their religious convictions, provide services to those seeking marriage. The statute will have an exception for those who don't need it because the United States Constitution already protects them (i.e., clergy), but there is nothing to protect those who need something in the statute for example, photographers, caterers, florists, limo operators, accountants or any business entity which may not wish to provide their professional services if those services conflict with their religious convictions. Those individuals and others who provide wedding services and/or other professional services are faced with complex choices if the proposed Gay Marriage legislation becomes law (1) not provide the services to same sex couples and face discrimination litigation, (2) cease to provide services to any couple (heterosexual and same sex couples) adversely impacting their business, (3) be forced to violate their religious convictions and dogmas, (4) seek alternative professions or (5) close up shop. There are some religious denominations that support same sex marriage and will celebrate those unions within their denomination, which is their right and which should be respected by those outside those denominations. However, individuals cannot be forced to violate their own religious beliefs for the sake of political correctness and should be protected against litigation should those individuals desire not to provide services to a same sex marriage. By not providing protection, the proposed legislation creates a dangerous slippery slope and violates the freedom of religious beliefs and practices. The lack of protection for those who, based on religious beliefs and doctrine, desire not to provide professional services could very well transcend the issue of providing wedding services to same sex couples. The proposed legislation is flawed and should not be jammed through the General Court without further debate and clarification. If the intent of the Legislation is to protect against discrimination and guarantee equal rights to same sex couples as the law does for heterosexual couples then it cannot be accomplished by discriminating against and eliminating rights from those whose religious beliefs are in conflict.
Rev. Bob Couto
Londonderry
What took so long?
To the editor:
This weekend the 'Grand View Fleamarket' was raided by federal authorties, assisted by our local police department. This raid was long overdue.
It has been common knowledge in town for over a year, that illegal activities were taken place at the fleamarket, where handbag -and sunglass famous brand "knock-offs" were sold by dozens of vendors; these individuals from out of state actually took up well over 75% of available space at the fleamarket.
Questions remain: Why did it take so long for authorities to act? Why did the "Derry News" not expose this illegal activity before. I did question this as early as April 27, 2008 in a note to the editor of your paper, suggesting that the crack team of journalist of the "Derry News" look into this.
What is wrong with this picture ?
Bo Haugaard Strandnes
Derry
Our Old Covered Bridges
To the editor:
After many generations of use you've begun to show your wear,
And now your paint is fading as time has tarnished your flair.
Bestowing a vintage of age upon our old covered bridge,
But fear not old friend we will watch over you this we pledge,
As so many generations of both young and old,
Have depended on the strength of their faithful wooden friend,
Who seemed to safely guide them over waters so swift and bold,
You'll always be our treasured beauty from end to end
If our old wooden bridge could speak,
Ahh, what enchanting stories it would tell,
Of sweethearts strolling across its moonlit deck,
And of romancing couples making their lifetime pledge,
With the old bridge seemingly extending its arms across the waters,
As to assure safe passage to all its borders,
Many a craftsmen have sought your safe passage,
Crossing over your structure with heavy loads of lumber and stone,
And farmers delivering produce on their horse drawn carriage,
From the weight of their workload your structure would groan,
But you never complained old wood friend,
Through wind and storm on you we could always depend,
With your might structure being so ridgid and strong,
Hence your glory and beauty has lasted so long,
But through it all you've stood your ground,
As you made your place amidst the birth of a town,
You never let us down old friend,
For this we will watch over you until the very end,
Although after many a storm your structure has wilted,
But our fond memories of our safe passawge could never be altered,
As so as our old friend lends a might silhouette against the night sky,
We will bid goodnight to our old covered bridge,
And for now we will say goodbye.
Paul McDonagh
Pelham
Wasted resources
To the editor:
We have now learned that Fire Chief George Klauber, who maintains a full-time outside job with MRI, where he travels New England representing himself as the Derry Fire Chief to earn extra money consulting to pad his rich Derry salary; who rarely shows up at working fires in Derry, and when he does he prefers to mingle in the crowd in civilian clothes to monitor the actions of his staff, according to a past memo of his; has submitted plans to Gary Stenhouse to grab an enormous chunk of the bailout money to actually construct a new central fire station in a different location than the central fire station that he now plans to replace.
Since he has been chief, he has demanded a "critically needed station" in Shute's Corners, which the council wisely voted down; he has promised us a reduction in stations and costs when he took over the East Derry FD, which never happened and where we've seen the opposite; and now he wants to replace the most up to date fire station we have, where we have spent the most monies in upgrades at the most important location in town, with a grand edifice somewhere else without a single study being completed, without a bit of public input, except for his apparent reading of moneyman Matthew Lesko's latest, "Free Government Money" book.
Do we need this albatross? Of course we do, because the money is there and the benighted chief wants a legacy in granite and glass.
Meanwhile, it seems that every home and business fire of any size results in a gutted wreck. Remember the recent fire at 75 Warner Hill Road, the same road connecting two Derry fire stations? We lost it.
Why?
Because it sure appears that Derry possesses the wrong equipment to fight fires outside the hydrant district and because Derry relies on an antiquated policy that requires the first company to get to your home to request water, rather than toning out additional tankers as soon as the call announcing a structure fire is received, just like every rural fire protection district does to save precious time. Since Derry has too few tankers, our additional water must come from volunteer companies in Hampstead, Chester and Auburn, which takes time. This entire process is guaranteed to burn my home to the ground while the DFD waits for water after having expended their on board water in about 5 minutes due to the small amount of water the pumpers carry combined with their 1,500 gpm pumps.
Before we go any further with this new station lunacy, it is time for that departmental study that Mr. Stenhouse promised us last November. I know that the wheels of government turn slowly, but the growing senselessness of Chief Klauber's rarefied ideas may be stanched by an open and honest study of his runaway department in both its costs and procedures.
Oh, by the way, just to keep the DFD overtime running smoothly, last Friday I watched a Derry police officer on a detail at Broadway and Birch Street watch a Derry firefighter on a detail watch an electrician in a yellow bucket truck work on a line. Are we now paying firefighters for road details to work with the police officers on road details to watch people work? And I thought it was absolutely crazy having red fire department snow plows operating on overtime to plow out the cisterns, something the DPW is certainly capable of handling on straight time. When will this ruinous idea that nothing can be completed by the DFD without overtime madness stop?
John Burtis
Derry
