Letters to the editor: March 24–30
Thanks for making holiday dinner great
On Saturday, March 13 the annual Saint Patty’s Day dinner was held at the Lutheran Church sponsored by the Mabel Kay Senior Center.
Over 80 seniors attended despite the stormy weather.
Inside the church they were delighted by the wonderful food catered and donated by P.J. Weilihan’s and the super service by Haddonfield High School students Meghan Burns, Mackenzie Johnston, Katie Smith, Alex Marshall, Alexa Acampora, Lauren Acerbo and Anna Finkenauer. They served with a smile and efficiency.
We also had the husband wife team of Joe and Joan Welsh — Joe on the guitar and Joan on the vocals — Lynn McCabe, the piano man, rounded out the music and everyone joined in the sing-a-long.
I want to thank all of the board members for working the kitchen detail. All in all we had a wonderful St. Patty’s Day celebration on a very rainy day.
Dory Mann
Director, senior services
Disturbed by treatment of memorial bench
The borough of Haddonfield and various town organizations have a number of ways to honor deceased family members.
When our father, Bud Eastwick, passed away a few years ago, we decided to honor his memory with one of the benches seen up and down the highway, on Kings Court and elsewhere in town.
Shortly, after the bench was placed on Kings Court, someone (probably skateboarders) knocked out a few of the slats from the back of the bench. We asked borough officials if the bench could be repaired and were informed a new bench would be ordered.
The new bench was placed, again on Kings Court, and again vandals decided to take action — this time using some type of heavy object to literally knock the new bench to pieces.
After notifying the borough, the Public Works Department carted the pieces back to its workshop to see if repairs could be made to this second bench.
That was months ago.
We have called borough administrator Sharon McCullough several times to ask what has happened, and have yet to receive the courtesy of a reply.
For a man who spent his entire life in Haddonfield, save the five years spent in the Army during World War II, and who volunteered for countless community organizations, this treatment by both the young vandals and a borough administrator who cannot be bothered, strikes us as an insult and an indignity.
We believe he deserves better.
Nancy and Bill Olver
Gail and Bob Eastwick
Betty and Dick Eastwick
Louann and Ralph Eastwick
Hanky and Rawly Eastwick
What happened to committee?
Whatever happened to the open-space committee that was supposed to keep track of, and think up ways to spend our money?
Here we are burning the midnight oil, looking for ways to trim the borough and school budgets; and we’ve been taxing ourselves more than $100,000 each year for some nebulous reason, with nobody minding the cash register.
The program ends next year; and in my opinion, should be canceled, it has all the earmarks of a misguided slush fund.
The point is our money has been collected faithfully; but the promises of a responsive committee have not been kept. We deserve the bare minimum of accountability. In the long run, if no worthwhile purpose surfaces, the money should be returned to the taxpayers.
Be sure to get your property taxes lowered, because house values have dropped, check with your friendly borough hall.
Good luck.
Joe Welsh