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Life is a ‘Special Occasion’

I get a bang out of advertisements for “Special Occasions.” Restaurants, wedding venues, florists, greeting cards – each market their goods to help us celebrate. We all have birthdays, anniversaries, reunions, and other special days in our lives tugging at our heartstrings. But at my age? Every day is a special occasion. My BFF in New York City and I have been friends since 1963. Every year, we celebrate our special occasion: our graduation date from the American Airlines Stewardess College on April 10th. Most years it’s just a phone call, but we don’t forget. That day is ...

Antisemitism a worry for young and old

I found the recent OBSERVER article presented by Linda Dunn to the Fredonia Shakespeare Club on “Antisemitism in Children’s Literature” eye opening. We see In the creation of characters like Shylock in the Merchant of Venice or Fagin in Oliver Twist that neither Charles Dickens nor Shakespeare were above creating blatantly antisemitic characters, but I took notice when I found that even Mother Goose, allegedly a grandmother who lived in Boston in the 17th century and who wrote stories for her grandchildren was an antisemite who wrote about a “rascally” Jewish individual who ...

Patriotism comes in all forms, voices

We all probably believe we are good citizens. We pay our taxes, well at least most of us do. Celebrations are arranged throughout the year, and many are rooted in patriotism. Some people display the flag daily or mostly on special days like Memorial Day, or Flag Day and we enjoy the festivities of the Fourth of July with fireworks and picnic meals. Some of us decide that within our love of country, which is what we really mean by the nomenclature of Patriot, is to serve our country in the Armed Forces. Young men and women join the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, or Coast ...

Having the last word

Having recently reread James Madison’s Journal of the Federal Convention, (the last time being in college) reminded me of the old adage that “he who speaks last, speaks first.” Ben Franklin did not speak much at the convention, but when he is recorded as having done so his remarks were usually general and positive in nature - this despite the fact that there was much disagreement and acrimony between the delegates. While members were signing the final document, Franklin “looking toward the President’s (George Washington’s) chair” observed that an image of the sun had ...

Catholic Charities still helping thousands

It’s been a challenging year for many in our community facing price increases, tighter budgets, and job cuts and the need for Catholic Charities’ services only continues to grow here in Chautauqua County. For more than 100 years, Catholic Charities has provided HOPE to our neighbors who may be struggling to make ends meet, or who are facing challenges impacting their health and well-being. Catholic Charities’ programs offered in Chautauqua County gave HOPE to more than 13,100 individuals of all ages and across all faiths last year alone. These programs include basic emergency ...

Taxing troubles: Village pays for poor decisions of past

Fredonia homeowners are soon to have a historic gargantuan tax increase imposed on them with virtually no resistance by their own choice. Notwithstanding, last year’s illegal and unprecedented tax of 6%, this dwarfs that by a factor of 12 times. If you go prior to last year you may as well say is 65 times the increase in one year. The justification for this — the same old New York state tired bureaucratic excuses – is that it’s illegal to lay off union employees, cutting services would degrade the village, and so on. Juxtaposed to these excuses are the existentialist ...