Welcome to the solar age

To the editor:

On Thursday, July 19, the Jeffersonville Enhances More of Sullivan (JEMS) Sullivan Renaissance group introduced the community to new solar lighting for the “Welcome to Jeffersonville” signs on Route 52.

These beautiful beacons of light represent to all the travelers who pass them that the village of Jeffersonville, towns of Callicoon, Delaware, and all Sullivan County are working towards improving the environment for our family, neighbors and the world community.

Our JEMS organization includes 51 adults, 347 students from the Sullivan West School District and 35 BOCES Natural Resources students, all involved in environmental, beautification, historical and community improvement projects. We have great concerned youth, dedicated teachers and youth leaders.

JEMS is involved in many environmental projects, and offers the following suggestions to the community: plant a tree; begin recycling; grow a victory/vegetable garden; walk or bike (leave your auto at home); plant a fruit tree (yearly); look into solar powered led lights (and save energy and money); think about wind farms; join an environmental group; attend town board meetings; and join the Sullivan Renaissance group near you.

Open letter to Grace Johansen

To the editor:

On behalf of the entire Sullivan County Legislature and the residents of Sullivan County, I would like to take the opportunity to thank you and the other members of the Tusten Historical Society associated with the placement of the historical marker at Fort Delaware during its 50th Anniversary Celebration on July 7.

The Town of Tusten, and Sullivan County as a whole, has a wonderfully rich history that is just waiting to be shared with visitors and residents alike, and we heartily applaud your efforts to preserve this wonderful piece of history for future generations to learn from and enjoy.

Again, thank you for your efforts!

The way it is

I wanted to write a note of appreciation for the staff at the Western Sullivan Public Library for their excellent Harry Potter program. My daughter, 10, participated in the week-long program and had a fantastic time. I, as a parent, was singularly impressed with the time, effort and thought that the staff put into the preparing the program. The decorations, costumes and activities were a treat for both parent and child alike. The library staff deserve tremendous applause for a job well done.

(Editor’s note: the below letter is a response to the letter “Gay pride vs. Christian prayer?” in the July 12 issue of The River Reporter, in which J.P. Pasquale recounts attending the Day to Be Gay and praying for the salvation of the people in attendance.)

The way it is

To the editor:

Can that perpetually self-promoting Pasquale of Livingston Manor be for real? He keeps peppering local papers with inane letters, congratulating himself on his self-righteousness. And can there be a sillier scene than his visit to last September’s Day to Be Gay, where he puttered about (he proudly tells us) praying for the “salvation” of attendees? Pasquale seems to present himself as a more benign version of Kansan Fred Phelps: two old men obsessed with things that are none of their business.

My only problem with “A Day to Be Gay” is that it’s an artificial non-event.

It’s rather like all those Gay Pride parades: When they began they had some purpose as a defiant announcement to a benighted, intolerant society that gays of both genders exist. But by now aren’t such aggressive demonstrations passé? Being gay isn’t a thing to celebrate since it’s never a matter of choice. To put it in terms even Pasquale can understand: God made gays that way. While it’s certainly nothing to apologize for, why flaunt pride in it? It just is—a thing to be accepted and adjusted to. Is Pasquale so out of it he’s unaware that one of his new neighbors in Livingston Manor is David Mixner—famous gay rights activist and old buddy of Bill Clinton? Has J.P. (John) offered his prayer service to Big Dave?