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Page 4--JOURNAL OPINION--July 24, 2019
Letters
Boom times
Republicans must choose
by Scott Funk To the Editor:
It is surprising how many of the retirees we meet with raise the expense of Republicans must make a choice for the sake of their party, their country, and
maintaining their properties (large lawns) as a burden causing them to consider their souls. They must decide ifthey're going to followthe original ideals ofthe party
selling their beloved homes. One gentleman recited the costs ofpaying to have his of Lincoln or the warped and angry party of Trump.
Do they stand up for truth and brotherhood or do they sit down beside lies and
yard sprayed to kill bugs and weeds, and to make the grass grow, and then paying
someoneto mowthe grass more often. He usedto be abletomow it himselfbut can't racism? Is it so important to them to have power that they're wining to abide a
president who believes our enemies over our own intelligence services when our
manage it anymore.
This is a dilemma we understand. Our house stands on almost an acre oflawn, country was attacked; who calls his pofitical enemies childishnames that they would
more than we could keep up with using our electric push mower. We have opted punish their children for saying; who insults our allies and taiks glowingly ahout
God's Grace
by Rebecca Farley
It is often hard to forgive others,
even harder to forgive yourself.
But with God's loving grace,
we can put it all behind ourselves.
For God's grace can take all your debts
and your sins it can refme.
For grace will change your heart
and leave all your cares behind.
to reduce costs and effort by making our property pollinator- and bird-friendly.
Instead of struggling to keep up the typical suburban lawn, we let nature take her
course. What has evolved over the last five years takes a different kind of effort,
lowers costs, and is far more pleasing than just watching the grass grow.
When I share this alternative with clients, they almost always smile. It feels
somewhat like what Wilbur Wright must have experienced as he explained the idea
of heavier-than-air flight to skeptical neighbors and friends. But in spite of our
expectations about yards, we can simply stop spending the money and effort, and
enjoy what happens next.
The first steps save money. Stop spraying pesticides. You can't encourage life
with poison. Yes, bugs will come, but a lot of those bugs are pollinators like bees
and butterflies. Others are caterpillars that turn into butterflies and moths. They are
also the food for birds. In no time, you will notice birds that were not bothering to
visit before because there was nothing for them to eat.
Next, no more herbicides. What may be weeds to us are often important flowers
for pollinators, especially indigenous plants and flowers. Take the dandelion,
everyone's prime enemy in the garden. However, in early spring, our yard is filled
with cheerful dandelions because they are among the first blossoms for spring bees.
Another weed people fight to eradicate is milkweed. It may need controlling, but
it is the only plant Monarchs lay eggs on. (Remember how you enj oyed Monarchs
as a kid? They seemed to be everywhere.)
No more paying to make the grass grow or to mow it either. Instead, the lawn
shrinks, as plants, trees, and bushes develop, until all that remains are various grass
paths, easy for a push mower to handle and pleasant to do.
With an herbicide-free garden, you will be amazed at what pops up. We have
an apple tree, two ashes, and several sumacs, courtesy of bird droppings. The
variety of flowers that have grown up and blossomed is beyond my telling. Yes,
some turn out to be aggressive or undesirable, so there is weeding. Not the frantic,
it's-got-to-be-perfect kind of weeding of old, but a pull this out here, snatch that up
there, or just top them so the seeds don't spread.
Although the purpose of a habitat garden is to provide for the birds, bees, and
butterflies, we are still the greatest beneficiaries. Visitors are always amazed at the
variety ofnative plants and the abundance of beautiful birds in our yard. It is a special
thing to relax in the shade of a tree and enjoy watching the Monarchs or Swallowtails
flutter about while a catbird mocks the cardinals.
Yes, we have purchased flowers. Yes, there is work to a habitat garden. But it
is cheaper to maintain and contributes more to our peaceful enjoyment of nature than
any green expanse of grass could. Plus, without all the toxins, it is healthier for all
life in the garden, including us.
###
Scott Funk lives in Barre.
ON THIS DATE
On July 24, 1783, Simon Bolivar, "The Liberator," was born in Caracas,
Venezuela. Bolivia is named after him. He died Dec. 17, 1830 in Santa
Marta, Colombia.
###
American aviatrix Amelia Earhart was born July 24, 1897 in Atchison,
KS. She was the first woman to cross the Atlantic solo and fly solo across
the Pacific from Hawaii to Califomi& She was lost on flight from New Guinea
to Howland Island in the Pacific Ocean on July 2, 1937.
###
July 24 is Utah's Pioneer Day anniversary. It commemorates the day in
1847 when Brigham Young and his followers entered the Salt Lake Valley.
MUNICIPAL WEBSITES
New Hampshire
Bath--www.bath-nh.org
Bento www.tobentonnh.org
Haverhill--www.haverhill-nh.com
Lisbon--www.lisbonnh.org
Lyme--www.lymenh.gov
Monroe---www.monroetown.com
Mountain Lakes District--www.mountainlakesnh.com
Orford--www.orfordnh.us
Piermont--www.townofpiermontnh.org
Warren--www.warren-nh.com
Wentworth--www.wentworth-nh.org
Vermont
Bradford--www.bradford-vt.us
Chelsea--www.chelseavt.0rg
Corinth www.corinthvt.org
Fairlee---www. fairleevt.org
Groton--www.grotonvt.com
Newbury--www.newburyvt.org
Ryegate--www.ryegatevt.org
Thetford--www.thetfordvermont.us
West Fairlee---www.westfairleevt.com
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ruthless dictators?
Do they follow blindly as their leader makes our nation a laughing-stock as he
leads us ever closer to another war, or do they decide they've had enough and agree
that he must be stopped before he can do irreparable harm to our country and the
world?
Do they not realize that if they don't speak up and do something, they're silently
complicit in Trump' s every word and action? How much more will it take before
they will stand up and say, "Enough is enough"?
No more children in cages. No more lies. No more racism and discrimination.
No more.
Our country is dying. Say something.
Please.
Rachael Booth
Landaff NH
There is no hiding from your wretchedness
when you confront God' s splendor.
And He will never ever leave you,
even when your journey has blunders.
Yes, it's never too late to grab God's grace
and have a new life start.
Just kneel before God' s Holy presence
and let grace take over your heart.
The St.
News that the St. Albans Co-op, the largest
dairy cooperative in Vermont, is considering
merging with the giant Kansas-based Dairy
Farmers o fAmerica should not come as a shock.
Rumors of change have swirled around the farm
community for months. Dairy is important to
Vermont. It contributes some $2.2 billion in
annual economic activity and, depending upon
the measure, from 7,000 to 14,000 thousand
jobs to the state.
The "Co-op," as it is known, has just
celebrated its 100th anniversary. It is owned by
its farmer-members, the number of which has
fallen each year as the dairy industry continues to
be challenged by low milk prices.
The question that many are asking is what
does the proposed merger mean to dairy farmers
in Vermont? Is this a good thing or something to
fear?
The Co-op has over 300 members,
representing large, medium and small farms as
well as organic producers. DFA, also a
cooperative, already has more than 8,100
member farms throughout the country, including
more than 100 inVermont. Since 2003, the Co-
op itself has been a DFA member.
At a recent Senate Agriculture Committee
hearing, the Co-op's leadership and DFA made
a strong case in favor of the merger. The Co-
op's board and management cite the 16-year
relationship between the two organizations.
They say that has given them acomfortlevelthat
provides greater confidence in the potential of a
Albans Co-op plan makes sense
by Senator Randy Brock and Senator Corey Parent
successful merger. The Co-op has long held a seat on
DFA's national board and it is also represented on
DFA'sNortheast Council.
The transaction is not without risk.
DFA has been accused of not always acting in its
members' best interest. Without admitting wrongdoing,
DFA has paid out more than $200 million in settlements
in recent years, including a class action brought in
Vermont. Litigation is still pending as some farmer
plaintiffs did not agree to the Vermont settlement. The
allegations are that DFA controls milk producers and
then sells the milk at a low price to processors, also
partially owned by DFA. Instead of distributing the
money back to its members, the suit claims DFA uses
"complex accounting and opaque financial records to
keep the money for their executives and their cronies."
The Co-op's board, based on its long relationship
with DFA, says it is intimately familiar with the claims
and counterclaims, has investigated them thoroughly
and has satisfied itself that the allegations are without
merit. The settlements have brought with them
increased controls, the addition of an independent
ombudsman and more transparent accounting policies.
The risk, of course, is what happens if the plaintiffs
prevail and whether that might have any impact on Co-
op farmers entering into the merged organization. The
Co-op board and management assure us that they and
their advisors have taken that into account.
We understand that the decision to propose a
merger was the Co-op's idea. It arose from a
recognition that greater financial strength and market
power was needed to address the increased challenges
in the evolving global dairy market. Simply put, the need
to make added investments in plant and equipment and
to provide access to a broader market led Co-op
leaders to conclude that this was the best way to
provide members with long-term stability and added
streugt
Under the terms of the deal, Co-op members
transition to become DFA members. All ofthe Co-op' s
plant and equipment will pass to DFA. That includes
McDermotts Trucking, the dairy hauling company
owned by the Co-op, as well as the Co-op store. In
return, Co-op members' equity will be converted to an
equivalent amount o f equity in DFA.
DFA intends to make a $30 plus million investment
in the Co-op's St. Albans plant and also will agree to
invest $5 million in new trucks and trailers for
McDermotts. The significant dollar investment in
infrastructure and equipment bodes well for the
continued presence of the Co-op in St. Albans. All
employees will be retained. The Co-op will berenamed
as the St. Albans Creamery, LLC.
The ultimate decision on the merger will come after
a July 29 vote by the Co-op's membership.
Since 1919, the St. Albans Co-op has been part of
the fabric of Vermont. It will be sad to see it go, but we
are pleased to see it continue in its new form. On
balance, the merger seems to be in the best interest of
its farmer-members and ofthe Vermont farm economy.
There is still work to be done before this is finalized, but
based on what we heard at the hearing, wethinkthat this
is a prudent and necessary next step for the future of
Vermont's dairy industry.
###
Randy Brock and Corey Parent, both Republicans,
represent Franklin County and Alburgh in the
Vermont State Senate.
Let's not just focus on elections, but on how we elect
by Lee H. Hamilton
A few years ago, I was at a polling place here
in Indiana where a long line of people stood
waiting to vote. A woman recognized me and
calledme over. "Why is it," she asked, "that you
politicians make it so hard and inconvenient to
vote?"
I thought ofthis the other day when I read the
news reports about presidents Trump and Putin
meeting andjestingly accusing one another of
electionmeddling, The background, of course, is
the pressing issue of Russian interference in U.S.
elections. American voters take elections
seriously enough to stand in line-for hours,
sometimes-to cast a ballot. And here were the
two presidents making light of attempts to
subvert the voices of ordinary people. I'dexpect
nothing less from Putin, but from an American
president?
The sad truth is, Russian meddling isn't our
only election problem. We've got an archaic
registration process, restrictive voting practices,
voting systems bedeviled by outdated technol-
ogy, inadequate budgets for the voting
infrastructure, and an entire nation's worth of
overloaded local elections staff. There are
robust efforts afoot, by many people and groups,
to suppress-not encourage-votes; much effort
in this country goes into keeping some groups of
people from having a say in the conduct of their
government.
It's also distressingly common to find officials who
are uninterested in promoting a fair and convenient vote,
but instead are looking for ways to manipulate the
system so that their preferences emerge from the voting.
Too few of them believe in Abraham Lincoln's
formulation at Gettysburg: "government ofthe people,
by the people, for the people." They define "people" so
as to exclude voters they don't like.
So let' s remember: the ballot is the foundation of our
democracy. It's our best way to gauge the public's will.
Ifwe fail to get the ballot box fight, then our democracy
fails.
Elections are not the sum total of"demoeracy." An
independent judiciary, an informed public, institutions
such as schools, laborunions, business groups, and the
news media all are necessary as well. Democracy is
ahugely complex phenomenon. But at its heart is one
thing: the vote.
We've come a long way on this front. The Founders
thought that rule by the people was tantamount to
anarchy. So they restricted the vote early on to white
males who owned property. In a sense, our history as
a nation has been written in terms of extending the
franchise to more and more people.
But that's not the only requirement. Over time, I've
come to look at a good election not so much in terms of
who wins or loses-liberal or conservative, Republican
or Democrat-but in terms of the process, and whether
it was fair and democratic. Sure, I'm disappointed
sometimes in the results ofvoters' decisions at the ballot
box. But I'm always reminded that our system is
designed with the capacity to correct errors. In a lot of
ways, we' I1 be strongest as a country not by means of
a strong military or a strong economy, but when our
battle cry is, "Let the people vote!"
If you look across the state and local landscape,
you'll find efforts to make voting more accessible and
more verifiable that offer hope in the midst of voter
suppression and election meddling. But these need to
be a national aspiration that's pursued at every level: to
protect voting infrastructure, provide a paper trail for
every vote, ensure adequate resources for the conduct
of elections, and vow to ensure that state and local
elections systems are run fairly, on behalf of everyone
who's entitled to vote. Our governments have to work
constantly at what that woman in line wanted to see:
making voting accessible and convenient. Yes, we need
to protect the integrity of the vote. But we also need to
make it a positive civic experience, not a burden.
Elections have consequences. The winners get
political power that enables them to change the course
of history. Our chief way to have a say in this is to vote
in every election, every time, for every office. Let's
make sure we can, and that when we do, our vote
matters.
###
Hamilton is a senior advisor for the lndiana
University Center on Representative Government;
he was a member of the U.S. House of
Representatives for 34 years.
It's barely eight o'clock in the morning on this
Sunday, but the air is so thick it feels like a
Georgia swamp. The utensil drawer in the
kitchen is sticking and the grit on the floor's tacky
and the whole house smells like a wet husky in
this oppressive humidity.
Yesterday, I was looking at my living room
carpet that hasn't actually been shampooed in
too many years and it looked like crap. So my
son Ryan and I rolled it up and took it out side to
beat it like the Indian women do in India when
they clean their house.
Pointless. Itwas pointless. Too much dirt had
settled into the cobalt blue wool fibers of my
Oriental carpet that I bought for our ftrst brand
new house in Attleboro, Massachusetts. Ryan
was a baby.
We untangled the 50-foot garden hose, set it
on high and blasted the water on. After a few
minutes Ryan says, "I used to drink water from
the hose."
, ,
Yeah, me too. Who hasn t.
The taste of water from the garden hose
tastes like no other kind of water and running
through the sprinkler on 90 degree summer days
is more fun than an ice cream cone melting
between your fingers.
Summer.
It's a child's play time to get dirty and filthy
digging in the dirt and climbing trees in the
woods, bike riding until sunset, staying up too
late and eating too much candy and chips and
popcorn and hotdogs. It's the time in your life
when everything is perfect and free and safe. At
least it should be.
Every evening, I'd run the tub water and put
those pudgy little bodies into the clawfoot tub
Letting go
by Susan Gyorky
and watch as the water turned gray and all their fun went
down the drain. I miss those days because they were
busy and tiring but they were safe and without the worry
of grown children, now young adults going out into the
scary, real world where danger lurks in every direction.
And my worry keeps sleep at bay. A mother's
worry never ends. My friend Jane knows that, jut like
her mother said, "You'll never sleep another day
without worry." Is this why there are worry beads?
When the carpet was soaked and I brushed it the
pungent smell ofwet dog fur overwhelmed me. I got the
OxyClean and rubbed it into the rug. Dark brown drips
were falling from it to the ground below where Kitchen
Chicken was making his threatening chicken sounds
when a person gets too close for his comfort.
Horse shampoo, which we used to bathe Quincythe
dog, was next. I smeared that blue gel into my palms
pressing them together and rubbing circles and then
rubbingmy palms onto the fibers until it became sudsy
white. Again and again and again this is what I did until
the water that dripped offthe carpet edge dripped clear.
A longtime later after we flipped it to the other side
and did the same we moved it overto the long grass and
laid it down so that the hot sun would dry it. The wet-
dry shop vac removed three gallons of water from the
carpet and now the creamy white fibers didn't look like
dismal, dirty gray.
My mother's world is again sent into a tempest. My
quiet, second son Jeremy has tried to find his way, but,
as most 20-year-olds, is aimless. He enlisted in the
Marines with his brother Ryan at his side---brother with
his brother.
They are no longer little kids playingpretend pirates
anymore and both o fthem are looking for a place where
they are brothers among many, a band ofbrothers. The
danger of the military frightens me into hard physical
labor on this very hot and humid summer day. It' s the
only way for me to cope with the overwhelming
emotions of fearing for my sweet son who's impulsive
and sensitive and wants to be a man. And I can't stop
My mother always said that if she could live life all
over again that she wouldn't because life is just too hard.
When I heard her say those words I was hurt became
it made me feel like she didn't love me but what I didn't
understand was that she loved me too much and when
I was hurting, she was hurting even more. Now I know
what her words meant and they couldn't be more true.
I feel like that all the time and I feel my mother' s voice
inside my head where she lives on. I don't know if I'm
crying for myself or for her, or for missing her so much
at a time when I need her the most.
I sigh a deep heavy sigh laden with so much emotion
that it leaves my body like a 10-pound lead ball.
Thomas, curled at my feet, looks up at me and squeaks
his little meow when he hears it. I love this 19-pound
gray and white fluffat my feet because he gives me
comfort unconditionally. And he seems to kno w when
I need it.
So, I know what I have to do and it doesn't come
very easily. It never does. I have to let go. I have to let
go of my son like I had to let go of my daughter Sierra.
Really, as soon as they're bomthey're separate andthe
only purpose of parenthood is to keep letting them go
each step of the way.
Blue jays actually push their babies out o fthe nest for
them to become groundlings before they become
fledglings. The parent blue jays watch their vulnerable
babies from afar as they hop around on the ground into
and out ofthe brush, alone and squawking. And there's
no other way either. This ishow the baby bluejays
become adults. I'm that blue jay mother now, watching
from afar as another child leaves my nest.
###
The writer lives in Fairlee.