The River Reporter Online - Letters to the Editor

[EDITOR'S NOTE: The River Reporter welcomes letters on all subjects from its readers. They must be signed and include the correspondent's phone number. The correspondent's name and town will appear at the bottom of each letter; titles and affiliations will not, unless the correspondent is writing on behalf of a group.

Letters are printed as they are received, or at the discretion of the editor, and without correction to grammar or spelling. It is requested they be limited to 500 words; correspondents may be asked to cut longer letters. Deadline is 1:00 p.m. on Monday.

I read with interest your recent tribute to Milton “Bud” Stranahan who has been a true participant in our community’s affairs. However, I was reminded of several additional ways that Bud has served our community.

For a number of years he was a volunteer at the Tusten-Cochecton Library, and a trustee until it became a branch of the Western Sullivan Public Library. He continues as a member of Tusten-Cochecton Local History Association where his extensive knowledge of the area has been a real asset in developing the local history room at the library. He has also been an active member at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church were he was a councilman for some years.

As we celebrate National Volunteer Week, I want to thank all area emergency service volunteers, especially those of the American Red Cross, who contribute so generously of their time.

The American Red Cross has long recognized the important role that dedicated volunteers play in emergency services. In Sullivan County, we have 182 registered Red Cross volunteers who are ready to help when help can’t wait. We are very proud of our volunteers; the people who are on call 24-7 to provide assistance when disaster strikes.

Dr. David A. Sager, Chairman, Board of Directors
Sullivan Chapter, American Red Cross in Greater New York
Mongaup Valley, NY

On behalf of the Liberty Elementary School and its Celebrate Success Committee, I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank Dunkin’ Donuts for the generous donation to our Grandparent’s Day celebration.

On Tuesday, March 27, our children welcomed more than 230 grandparents to their classrooms. The grandparents took this opportunity to meet the teachers, see their grandchildren’s work and participate in various activities. One of the many highlights for the children this day was the refreshments provided by Dunkin’ Donuts.

Thank you for helping to make this event very special for all involved. Once again, it was a true success!

Dutch explorers dazzled the original inhabitants of Manhattan with 24 dollars worth of colored blankets and trinkets and wound up owning the place. Now, Louis Cappelli has taken a leaf from their book and is displaying glittering goodies in order to interest the natives of Sullivan County in giving up control of their county and emptying their pockets in the bargain.

He is treating the legislature like a bunch of dim-witted yokels, first losing his temper, threatening them with leaving and then distracting them with glitz. And to the dismay of many, and the surprise of none, half of them seem to be going for it.

Mr. Cappelli must wait for the gambling issue to be resolved before making any serious financial commitment to his project. Like a three-card Monte dealer, he has deftly turned his need for delay into a threat not to go ahead with his plans. His delay, like the delay of all gambling-associated projects, has nothing whatsoever to do with the convention center.

If the legislature goes along with him then they, and we, will be in a the position of having to go along with him on any and all manner of schemes in order to protect the reckless investment that he will have finessed us into.

The heads-up I sent you on Thursday concerning mini-casinos appeared in Friday’s Times Herald Record headlined “Lawmakers touting slots for tracks, OTB parlors.”

Ignoring their constituent’s wishes as expressed in three decades of “No” votes in the legislature (confirmed by polls), a recent NYS Supreme Court Decision and the NYS Constitution, a group of legislative gambling proponents (Larkin, Gunther, Spano et al) are now trying to insinuate controversial slot machines into tracks and OTB parlors state-wide, turning those facilities into mini-casinos.

1. It tends to suggest that they have properly lost hope that our court victory will be overturned.

2. It ignores the likelihood that these slot machines violate state laws. And that WILL be tested if their desperate attempt prevails.