Honoring retirement

May 31, 2021

The May 28, 2021 article about Mary Murphy, honoring her retirement as custodian of Washington Elementary was wonderful; she deserves all that she received and more! As we live very close to the school I am well aware of all that she has done in addition to her inside building duties, including raising the flag, changing the sign board messages, mowing the lawn and shoveling sidewalks! I also have memories of her afterschool sewing class where our daughter sewed some items we still have. Congratulations, Mary, on your retirement—you earned it! Jill Torbett Marietta

Thanks to Frontier High School students and teachers for some good news

May 25, 2021

I am a graduate of Stover High School, New Matamoras, Class of 1939. I am 99 years old and I continue to be interested in any news from my old hometown, good or bad. Sometimes I feel that the bad news outweighs the good, but the Saturday edition contained such wonderful news that I wish to acknowledge the accomplishments of the students at Frontier High School and their teachers. The headlines of the article was “MATAMORAS MILLION.” That is a lot of zeroes. I know there are many proud parents, students and teachers. Congratulations to all of you.

Thank you to Harmar Place

May 24, 2021

We wish to acknowledge and thank the administration and staff at Harmar Place of Marietta for their support at the time of the loss of our father. Special thanks to Tammy and Rachel in activities for arranging same day transportation to the hospital for mom to visit dad, the scheduled visit to the funeral home and funeral Mass the following day. We couldn’t ask for better care and attention to detail for our mother’s health and well-being and for keeping us in touch with our mom during the pandemic through FaceTime calls. Thank you for going above and beyond. You’re kindness ...

Homeland Security should be cautious in tracking efforts

May 22, 2021

Department of Homeland Security officials are on a roll recently. Now, the agency says it plans to increase social media tracking efforts as part of an effort to better identify those “who may be radicalizing, or have radicalized, to violence.” What a slippery slope that could be. According to DHS, the effort would involve partnerships with tech companies, universities and nonprofit groups to access publicly available data. One can understand the need to be aware of those whose social media activities and speech are clear indicators of a shift to violence. But the possibilities for ...

Climate Change and the H-Word

May 19, 2021

I have a confession to make: I just finished eating a double bacon cheeseburger. I drive a car. I’m writing this on an iPhone. I’ll later edit and submit it to the Times with one of multiple laptops I use. I love air conditioning and hot showers. I’m a night owl who keeps the lights on until the wee hours of the morning. If I had the chance, I would love to hop on an airplane and travel to just about anywhere in the world. I’m also a climate change activist. Contrary to popular belief, most of us advocating for a habitable planet are not solitary hermits living in zen ...

Eternal truths

May 17, 2021

As an American History teacher, I have spoken about the Gettysburg Address a number of times. I am awed by the fact that Abraham Lincoln was able to give one of the most powerful speeches in history in just 270 words. Edward Everett, the former Secretary of State and the most gifted orator of his day, spoke for over two hours just before President Lincoln took the stage. So impressed was Everett with Lincoln’s performance he said, “I should be glad, if I could flatter myself that I came as near to the central idea of the occasion, in two hours, as you did in two minutes.” What ...