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Opinion

We need a new generation of community leaders

Commentary

From an early age, my father taught me the importance of giving back. As a postman in our city for nearly 30 years, he saw the needs of our community that often went unnoticed—from seniors living in isolation to families waiting for housing support. He taught my brother and I that community isn’t something we simply live in; it’s something we help build. One of my earliest memories is accompanying my dad alongside an older gentleman he had befriended while delivering mail to Heritage Village. The man had no family in the area, no real connections outside of the group home he ...

Best foot forward to help needy

The OBSERVER’s View

One of the most highly requested items by people in need and the homeless are foot attire, specifically socks. Once again, SOCKTOBER — a month-long sock drive that collects warm new socks for distribution to individuals and families is underway. The Northern Chautauqua Community Foundation, in collaboration with Cattaraugus County Bank in Dunkirk and Lake Shore Savings Bank in Dunkirk, Fredonia, and Westfield branches, will accept sock donations. In addition, other drop-off locations, including individual classrooms, clubs, businesses, and congregations, continue to participate in ...

Taking a road trip back in recalling the game of Slug Bug

Commentary

Who remembers playing Slug Bug during long car rides or school bus field trips as kids? Some people called the game Punch Bug. As a fan of alliteration and rhyme, as most youngsters still are, I always referred to the contest as Slug Bug. Pretty simple game. The first person to see a Volkswagen Bug calls out Slug Bug and has free reign to punch the person sitting next to them in the vehicle. This silly game passed the time during long car and bus rides much like singing 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall or the more genteel The Wheels on Bus did. Unless a fight broke out, parents and ...

Real world gets lost in internet imagery

Commentary

“We interrupt this program to make an announcement from Jersey City. Jersey City has just fallen.” This was the dire message broadcast to the world on the night before Halloween in 1938. The Martians had invaded earth. It was really a line from the script of Orson Welles’ radio version of H.G. Wells’ “War of the Worlds,” and perhaps the first real fake news in media history. The broadcast, with its state-of-the-art sound effects and compelling voice actors, was so convincing that folks across the country fled from their homes in belief. People in cities ran to the hills. ...

Quippies

Commentary

Nin Privitera, former Fredonia resident, offers some offbeat takes on recent headlines: --- I recently saw a digital picture of the remains of a man thought to be 315,000 years old. I don’t know what he was eating but, to me, he didn’t look a day over 200,000. --- Scientists have found that if your blood pressure is high, you can lower it by listening to Mozart. And if your blood pressure is low, you can raise it by listening to Kamala Harris. --- Barack Obama recently said that we ought to put women in charge for two years because he believes that they would make things better. ...

Finish line in sight for Fredonia water

Commentary

Path is defined as a route, course, or track along which something moves. A course of action, conduct, or procedure. The course or direction in which something moves. Our village of Fredonia is on a path. It is one of direction and purpose. In years past, that was not the case. Today is a new day, and securing our new water source is the path we are on. The way forward is not easy, but it is navigable. Our path has twists, turns, climbs, and drops. The bedrock of this trail is based on vision, planning and partnership. Be assured that we have all of that. Sometimes that mountain peak ...