Feathered caps and birthday wishes

When I was younger, I remember lying in bed the night before my birthday, tossing and turning unable to fall asleep. The anticipation of presents, cake and the subsequent party kept me up for hours, too excited to do anything but lie on my back and stare up at the plastic luminescent constellations on the ceiling. I watched the minutes tick away on my digital alarm clock and it seemed like the morning would never come.

We turned my back porch into a tree house for a Robin Hood-themed party. My mother made small hats with a feather in them and gave them to all my friends. Mine, of course, had the longest feather. My dad made a life-sized version of Robin and we played pin the arrow on his bow. We ate strawberry shortcake that my mother baked, late at night in the dark of the kitchen.

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The clean water act:

some want to weaken it

By TOM KANE

Last week, Neal Halloran and I from the Upper Delaware Visioning Committee went to Washington, D.C. to lobby for American rivers, specifically for the Upper Delaware River.

A group called American Rivers, a national organization whose aim is to protect rivers, streams, lakes and wetlands from contamination, organized the annual event, called the River Lobby Day.

We attended for two days. The first day was given over to a discussion of the New Clean Water Authority Restoration Act and a discussion of tips for how to lobby Congress.

The second day was dedicated to roaming the halls of Congress to visit our elected officials and explain how we want them to support this important legislation.

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