All in To The Editor
It was another wonderful (okay, a little hot) Independence Day in Swarthmore! While the day’s events may seem to flow effortlessly, there is a lot of behind the scenes planning. There are many people to thank, so please forgive me if I have missed you...
It was another hot and steamy Independence Eve 8K last Wednesday, but this time without thunder and lightning in the distance that we had last year. Special thanks to all of the neighbors living along the race route who provided relief to the runners with spray hoses, sprinklers, and plenty of water. Proceeds from the 8K will support Lions charities including the Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Chester, Camp Kirby, Beacon Lodge, and the Lions Holiday Food Basket program.
Welcome to the hockey stick world! Most sentient beings are aware of Al Gore’s 2006 movie which graphically displayed the accelerating pace of climate change as a graph that increases upward slowly for decades and then suddenly shoots up alarmingly – like a hockey stick. His “wake-up” predictions have come to pass with droughts, floods, and unprecedented severe and bizarre weather patterns. It is not going to return to normal, and reducing your driving and air travel isn’t going to arrest a very difficult future that is shaping up for our children.
Tucked in at Swarthmore Friends Meeting House or the Presbyterian Church, Joyce Perry has been the director of SRA Preschool since around 1968. I’ll do the math for you — that is a long time. Fifty years to be exact, and she has made an amazing contribution to the community of Swarthmore and SRA during her tenure.
I chortled, more chuckled when I read Jim Riviello’s letter (Swarthmorean, June 21). I thought: “Whoa, that is some fine ironic writing. We all know that no Swarthmore residents including the June 21 letter writer could, in actuality, possibly support a racist and misogynist President.”
Enough with the Trump bashing. It’s the Republicans in Congress who are going along with him - because of the tax cuts for the rich and his Supreme Court choices -who should be pilloried.
With his support for President Trump, reader Jim Riviello clearly presents an example of the ideological polarity that is dividing us. Describing all career politicians as con men and snake oil salesmen is a cry for protection in a world seen as dangerous and competitive.
Thank you for publishing Jim Riviello’s letter. The problems he cites are ones that many of us can agree with; however, we diverge on the possible solutions.
In response to last week’s Trump-bashing letter: We live in an oligarchy, run by career politicians bought by the multi-nation corporations, globalists, and PACs that control them. We will NEVER take back our country, freedom, and live by the constitution until we take back our federal government, then dismantle it back only to its Constitutional responsibilities and give power back to the States, where we citizens can more effectively oversee and participate in our republic.
It has become much more obvious that our President, Donald J. Trump, is a flimflam man, who everyday creates his own false narrative to feed his megalomanical ego. The startling, yet sad, realization is that the president does not really care about solving issues or closing deals. He cares only about creating a sense of movement, of action, of appearing strong, not weak. The incredible thing is not that two-thirds of the public believe he is lying about his achievements, but that it is not one hundred who believe this.
I recently attended PennEnvironment’s “Climate on Tap” Happy Hour in Swarthmore, featuring food, drink, and State Senator Tim Kearney. The main issue discussed was the Senator’s support of the 100% Renewable Energy bill, which aims to have Pennsylvania using 100% renewable energy sources by the year 2050.
On behalf of the Swarthmore Public Library (SwPL), I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to the community of Swarthmore for their generosity, enthusiasm and heartfelt support of our recent 90th anniversary celebration.
Swarthmore Co-op recently hosted a book reading by food journalist Jon Steinman for his book Grocery Story: The Promise of Food Co-ops in the Age of Grocery Giants. His insight into the food business was pretty shocking.
This year, 2019, marks the 150th anniversary of the founding of P.E.O., an international philanthropic organization that celebrates the advancement of women. This is accomplished by funding women’s education through scholarships, grants, awards, and loans. P.E.O. also supports a four-year college, Cottey College, in Nevada, Missouri.
I thought I could relax and no longer have to read all the labels on dairy products. But then I began reviewing some nutritional pages that talked about the toxicity of tofu and soy (never again) and dairy products. I learned that the milk sold at the Swarthmore Co-op and at Target was rBGH free. I also learned that each rBGH cow produces ten pounds more milk per day, and needs 10% less feed - a big profit incentive for the dairy industry. (Ten years ago they successfully lobbied Harrisburg to pass legislation — since rescinded — making it illegal to label dairy as rBGH free.)
Thanks to the community for a very successful Spring Book and Bake Sale the first weekend of May. We raised $10,302 for our beloved library, and we got to reconnect with community members over informal book discussions and bites of home-baked treats.
Ken Deron blames our willfully shortsighted myopia and our attack on Mother Nature for the threat it presents to our survival as a species. [Swarthmorean, May 10]…
I wanted to update you of the work my 4th grade students are doing to help our environment and to save marine animals’ lives. As reported in the April 5 issue of the Swarthmorean, these Wallingford Elementary students began an initiative to limit the damage single-use plastic straws are doing to our environment by reaching out to restaurants and encouraging them to distribute straws on a “request only” basis.
Let’s consider these terms: preferred pronoun. Cisgender. Heteronormativity. LGBTQIA. How many of us would be hard-pressed to explain them accurately, even those of us who express a general solidarity with the LGBT community with rainbow flags, solidarity stickers, or an occasional petition signature?
Recently, I was very fortunate to get a tour of Nick’s House at 200 South Chester Road, at the corner of Harvard Avenue. Cheryl Colleluori, Nick’s mom and president of the house, led two friends and me through the building. Nick, who succumbed to cancer in 2006 at the age of 21, founded the charitable, non-profit Headstrong Foundation with a vision to help people stricken by his disease.
