All in To The Editor
Just Roses (Annie Fetter, Cindy Chadderdon, Nikki Hansen, and Sue Hunt) want to thank all who came out Saturday night to support their annual benefit concert at waR3house3 for Musicians on Call. A total of $400 was raised to support this amazing program which brings live and recorded music to the bedsides of patients in healthcare facilities.
I have some gift ideas for anyone still looking to spend their holiday budget, especially those who haven’t found material items serving their purposes.
The 2019 Mitten Tree at the Swarthmore Public Library was able to raise a large amount of money ($182) to buy warm clothing for CityTeam Ministries in Chester! Equally important were the contributions of blankets, scarves, mittens, gloves, hats, socks, and sweaters which were collected and also donated to CityTeam.
As residents at the intersection of Yale and Cornell avenues, we read with interest about discussions of accidents and safety measures at the recent Public Safety Committee meeting. Recitations of accidents “proportional to traffic volume,” hedges trimmed within allowable limits, and signage about cars ahead not stopping seemed, if we may, out of proportion to our experiences and observations of what happens at this intersection.
Last Saturday morning brought elves, reindeer, wrapped packages, Santas, grinches, and a sugar plum fairy running through our streets, culminating that evening with hot chocolate at the fire station following Santa’s arrival by train from Philly. In between, there were carriage rides, musical entertainment, dreidel games, a Kwanzaa celebration, a book signing, s’mores, and much more.
We have grown up hearing the words “climate change,” learning about carbon emissions and greenhouse gases in our science classes, and watching the sea levels rise. We have also seen the effects of the climate crisis devastate communities around the world. Thousands of people, many in marginalized groups, have suffered and will continue to suffer from environmental injustice, pollution, and climate change. This is a reality now, not a future problem. There is no time to waste. As young people scared for our futures, the Green New Deal gives us hope.
While it may be true the line of hedges at the corner of Yale and Cornell meets the code in terms of height, it still represents a tremendous blind spot in crossing at that intersection.
When Ines Rodriguez approached me about planning a workday in Little Crum Creek Park on Black Friday, I thought, Well, that sounds like a wacky idea for this time of year, but why not? Let’s get people outside and away from the malls. Ines was inspired by REI Co-op’s annual #OptOutside campaign, when they close their doors on Black Friday and encourage their employees and members to enjoy the great outdoors instead of stores. Ines and I quickly created a Facebook event, posted on Nextdoor Swarthmore, and sent some information to The Swarthmorean. We were committed! But we were still unsure anyone would actually show up.
The idea we need to reduce carbon dioxide is a lie perpetuated by globalists who are looking to establish a one-world government. Government is best kept as local as possible to ensure the most freedom and liberty. We have seven billion people on this planet and the number is growing. Eventually, billions of humans will be wiped out by natural disasters caused by global warming. This is a sad fact of life. Get over it, you cannot save everyone. Live the best life you can and enjoy your time.
While the signs of climate change are now emerging, too many people still see it as a vague, remote event that may or may not occur, not as a process that is currently underway. These people view the immense expense needed to combat the crisis only as an unnecessary cost, not as an investment to assure our future well-being.
The family of Kathleen L’Armand would like to thank members of the Swarthmore community for their support and kindness during the last months of her life.
I realize that I am coming a little late to the discussion of whether council members and the mayor [of Swarthmore] should be paid, but I wanted to provide my perspective as someone who has served 16 years in unpaid elected positions.
This is not a new argument. Paying representatives has been the subject of heated debate since at least the Middle Ages. Opponents to payment have cited the need to encourage altruism in public service.
Since 1994, the Chester Children’s Chorus has provided joy and opportunity to over 570 children from our neighboring city of Chester. On behalf of the entire CCC organization, we would like to thank the many friends and sponsors who supported our 25th Anniversary Fundraising Celebration on the night of October 26, 2019. It really does take a village, and with your help, we far exceeded our original $50,000 fundraising goal — and had a wonderful time doing it, as guests enjoyed a special performance from the CCC Chamber Choir and viewed the premier of our 25th anniversary video, More Than Music.
I assume that most Swarthmorean readers are familiar with the problems caused by plastic pollution: the great Pacific garbage patch that is twice the size of Texas and growing; eight million tons of plastic being dumped into the ocean each year; Kamila Beach on the Big Island in Hawaii being abandoned by swimmers as volunteers pick up 15,000 pieces of trash on a weekend, 90% of it plastic. But I suspect few are aware that we ingest between 10,000 and 50,000 pieces of microplastic annually, some from the fish that we eat and some that we inhale, primarily from sources not yet fully identified. And that it accumulates in our bodies, with its bisphenols and other nasty chemicals.
With all due respect to Don Delson whose voluntary, unpaid service to Swarthmore has been extraordinary — voluntary, unpaid service is a luxury many are unable to afford.
Like Don Delson, I was disappointed to read that the Swarthmore Borough Council is considering payments for its members. I am grateful to the Swarthmorean for reporting on this matter. I took the time to watch the proceedings online and certainly have no problem with the concept of reimbursing elected officials for necessary dependent or child care. What I did find objectionable was the special pleading by certain council members that because their “day jobs” were based on billable hours, they should be compensated for some element of lost earnings.
Last week, the Swarthmorean printed a short letter written by Don Delson expressing his view that “service is its own reward.” Don speaks for others. On Borough Council for eight years and spending my days after college building the Swarthmore Senior Citizens Association, I always felt it a privilege to serve my town, as I know did Don.
There has been a deer hunt in Rose Valley borough for the past ten or so years. The hunters are usually police, we have been told, from surrounding communities. During that time, there have been numerous occasions when hunters have disregarded our safety, and on several occasions the State Police and the Pennsylvania Game Commission have been called in to resolve the issues.
To date, the discussions of Aqua Pennsylvania’s attempt to take over water supply and sanitation operations now under Chester Water Authority (serving Swarthmore and other communities in Delaware and Chester counties) and Delcora (the organization dealing with wastewater in the region) have focused on the cost to ratepayers, not the quality of the product coming out of our faucets.
