FOR SALE - Southbridge Evening News
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10 • THE WEBSTER TIMES • Friday, March 18, 2011<br />
www.webstertimes.net<br />
VIEWPOINT<br />
THE DEADLINE to submit letters to the editor and commentaries for next week’s newspaper is Friday at noon.<br />
SEND ALL ITEMS to Editor Adam Minor at THE WEBSTER TIMES — aminor@stonebridgepress.com<br />
A STONEBRIDGE PRESS WEEKLY<br />
NEWSPAPER<br />
25 ELM STREET, SOUTHBRIDGE MA 01550<br />
TEL. (508) 764-4325• FAX (508) 764-8015<br />
www.webstertimes.net<br />
FRANK G. CHILINSKI<br />
STONEBRIDGE PRESS PRESIDENT AND PUBLISHER<br />
ADAM MINOR<br />
EDITOR<br />
THE WEBSTER TIMES<br />
EDITORIAL<br />
Up for<br />
auction<br />
Starting this week, our faithful readers<br />
can expect a little something<br />
extra from the Webster Times, and<br />
it’s all for a good cause.<br />
In conjunction with the <strong>Southbridge</strong> Relay<br />
for Life and the American Cancer Society,<br />
this newspaper (as well as our weekly sister<br />
publications, the Sturbridge Villager,<br />
Charlton Villager, Spencer New Leader and<br />
our daily <strong>Southbridge</strong> <strong>Evening</strong> <strong>News</strong>) will<br />
conduct the fourth annual silent auction for<br />
the Relay, running through Thursday April<br />
7.<br />
Some great auction items will be up for<br />
grabs, including annual favorites as well as<br />
some new items — such as a hot air balloon<br />
ride for two; two Red Sox tickets, a gift certificate<br />
for a one year subscription to the<br />
<strong>Southbridge</strong> <strong>Evening</strong> <strong>News</strong>, a Kinect system<br />
for XBox 360, a 22” LCD TV with DVD player<br />
and about 100 other items including gift certificates<br />
to various businesses and many<br />
more items — all donated by supporters of<br />
the American Cancer Society Relay For Life<br />
of the Greater <strong>Southbridge</strong> Area.<br />
All money raised will go to the 2011<br />
American Cancer Society Relay For Life of<br />
the Greater <strong>Southbridge</strong> Area to benefit cancer<br />
research, education, advocacy and<br />
patient support services.<br />
Perhaps the greatest thing about this<br />
fundraiser is that you can do it from the comfort<br />
of your own home! Peruse the various<br />
items that will grace these pages next week,<br />
find yourself something you like and support<br />
a great cause by making a purchase.<br />
It’s no secret that times are tough right<br />
now for many area residents. But it’s also no<br />
secret that cancer has not been affected by<br />
the economy. It is still a threat, and the<br />
American Cancer Society needs every cent<br />
available to fund important cancer research<br />
that can (and someday will) save lives.<br />
So if you think you may have a few extra<br />
bucks that can help out the Relay, take look a<br />
the Times, make a bid, and support the Relay<br />
for Life. You won’t be sorry you did!<br />
For more information on the auction, call<br />
us at (508) 909-4130, or call Realy for Life Co-<br />
Chairman Ron Ravenelle at 508-347-3826 or e-<br />
mail ronrave@charter.net.<br />
Proposed salary increases ‘alarming’<br />
SOUND OFF:<br />
The town of Webster’s school<br />
budget for fiscal 2012 has a proposed<br />
increase of $470,000, which<br />
is a 3-percent increase over the<br />
previous year’s budget. Some<br />
proposed increases are as follows:<br />
Position Proposed Salary<br />
Increase<br />
Superintendent, 8.7 percent<br />
Asst. Supt for Business, 9.0 percent<br />
Asst. Business Admin., 8.4 percent<br />
Principal-Middle School, 6.0<br />
percent<br />
Asst. Prin.-Middle School, 7.7<br />
percent<br />
Principal-High School, 6.5 percent<br />
2 Asst. Prin.-High School, 5.9<br />
percent<br />
At a time when people are losing<br />
their jobs and some have not<br />
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR<br />
To the Editor:<br />
I would like to congratulate the citizens of<br />
Webster for their overwhelming support of<br />
the proposed new police station on Main<br />
Street.<br />
A project like this one is what the town<br />
needs in order for it to attract new businesses<br />
and new residents. For as long as I can<br />
remember, the majority of Main Street stores<br />
were vacant with the few exceptions of rooted<br />
businesses and new businesses coming<br />
but quickly vanishing. Hopefully new businesses<br />
will feel comfortable settling into<br />
empty Main Street stores with the presence<br />
of a new police station, and the eyesore, that<br />
is the Vito block, gone.<br />
Sometimes communities such as ours need<br />
to make investments for the future of the<br />
town. Without these investments, future generations<br />
will often decide to live and raise<br />
their families elsewhere. Webster needs to<br />
make tremendous strides in cleaning up the<br />
vacant and dilapidated buildings that are<br />
scattered around this town. As a lifelong resident<br />
of Webster, I am proud of the steps our<br />
town has taken to address these issues in the<br />
last few years. As a community, let us work<br />
together and continue to make these investments<br />
to improve it. Perhaps, these improvements<br />
will make our young people proud of<br />
where they grew up, and make them want to<br />
raise our families here just like their parents.<br />
In this section last week, there were three<br />
Police project moves the town forward<br />
Police station OK ‘long overdue’<br />
To the Editor:<br />
It’s wonderful good news that they pass the<br />
town article for the new police station and<br />
fire station renovation project — it’s been<br />
long overdue in Webster.<br />
It’s wonderful to see good people like the<br />
Fels Foundation, Randy and Donna Becker to<br />
donate to a good worthy causes such as this<br />
one coming up money and land to build the<br />
much needed new police station, on Main<br />
Street Vito Block.<br />
Everyone that worked on this committee<br />
did an excellent, wonderful job at it. What<br />
I’ve been hearing around town, the voters<br />
will be getting a nice building that in the long<br />
run, they will appreciate it more once it is<br />
finally built and the eyesore of the Vito Block<br />
is torn down.<br />
I can remember all this when I worked<br />
before as a sub-patrolman on the police force,<br />
EMT-A on the Webster Ambulance Squad<br />
and Fire Department.<br />
And for the Fire and Rescue Department its<br />
a terrible shame to see town vehicles being<br />
stored outside that is use for saving lives and<br />
property while it should be stored in a warm<br />
SOUND OFF<br />
The future is at stake<br />
anonymously written articles that warn us of<br />
prospective debt that the town will incur<br />
from not only the new police station project,<br />
but other projects that are in the pipeline,<br />
such as the library and elementary school. To<br />
this anonymous writer I say first, do not be<br />
afraid to publish your name with your<br />
thoughts, and second, this town has sat idle<br />
for too long on each of these projects. I am not<br />
questioning your devotion to this town, or<br />
disregarding your concerns because there<br />
are indeed valid. But I sincerely ask you to<br />
imagine for a moment the future of Webster.<br />
Do you want Main Street to look like it does<br />
in the next 10, 20, or 30 years? Or would you<br />
rather have a Main Street bustling with<br />
young families shopping at the numerous<br />
stores that will occupy the current empty<br />
stores? Let’s not stand in the way of people<br />
who are simply interested in making this<br />
town better for those who inhabit it now and<br />
in the future.<br />
We find our country at an economic crossroads.<br />
We can stall and sit patiently while we<br />
wait for the economy to fix itself. Or we make<br />
sacrifices by investing in projects that will<br />
inevitably help the community in the future.<br />
Do we play it safe, or sacrifice? The future is<br />
at stake.<br />
SETH NADEAU<br />
WEBSTER<br />
To the Editor:<br />
The Webster Public Safety officials would like to thank all our residents who attended the<br />
Town Meeting on March 7.<br />
The overwhelming majority voted in favor of the proposed new police station/fire station<br />
rehabilitation project. It is obvious that the majority of voters understood how important this<br />
project would be in moving the town forward on several levels.<br />
worked in over a year education<br />
at the administration level seems<br />
to be the profession to enter.<br />
Are these salary increases<br />
given at the expense of not buying<br />
books and school supplies.<br />
Another disturbing thing is the<br />
high school has been placed on<br />
“under performing” status by<br />
federal and state education<br />
authorities and the administration<br />
is getting hefty raises. Are<br />
we rewarding individuals for<br />
doing less than acceptable work?<br />
How do you explain the salary<br />
increases to someone who has<br />
been laid off or has to take less<br />
hours or go without an increase<br />
in pay and contribute more to<br />
their family insurance coverage.<br />
The taxpayers of Webster<br />
should be alarmed at the proposed<br />
salary increases during<br />
these hard and difficult times.<br />
SOUND OFF:<br />
I visited the Mt. Zion cemetery on Sunday to pray over family.<br />
Disgusted to find out that officials are letting someone tap maple<br />
sugar trees for a maple syrup business.<br />
If it’s a school project for the public school, it’s OK. But if it’s for a<br />
private person doing it to make some money, it’s not.<br />
I wonder if our Board of Selectmen knows of this taking place?<br />
Someone went in there, took a power drill few inches into the tree<br />
trunk inserted a copper tubing pipe, nailed 10 one-gallon jugs into five<br />
SOUND OFF:<br />
It is widely known throughout<br />
Town of Webster that the School<br />
Department asked for a more<br />
than 9 percent increase for its<br />
administration staff members.<br />
Our School Committee should<br />
be asking for resignations, not<br />
approving raises. Why should<br />
Webster taxpayers accept this?<br />
What are we getting in return?<br />
Where is the accountability<br />
here?<br />
Are we rewarding the school<br />
system for improving our state<br />
ranking? I don’t think so. Our<br />
school system still ranks at the<br />
bottom in the state and we are<br />
ranked 302 out of 335 schools on<br />
the school digger website too.<br />
That’s the bottom 10 percent of<br />
the public schools in<br />
Massachusetts. So once again,<br />
the school department wants to<br />
be rewarded for bad grades and<br />
Problems with maple syrup tapping<br />
TIMOTHY BENT,POLICE CHIEF<br />
BRIAN HICKEY,FIRE CHIEF<br />
CHRIS JOLDA,RESCUE CHIEF<br />
GARY MILLIARD, EMS CHIEF<br />
garage bay out of the weather elements, now<br />
with the future expansion of the station<br />
there will be plenty of room for this to happen.<br />
Maybe someday they can put an actual roof<br />
on top of the Fire and Rescue Station like<br />
they did in the Town of Dudley fire station —<br />
flat roof construction is terrible for bad winter<br />
climates with constant roofing problems<br />
leaks and roof cave ins.<br />
Once again congratulations to the Webster<br />
Police and Fire Departments and its committee<br />
of folks. You all did an outstanding job<br />
and will be commended for it once it is built<br />
and moved into for occupancy police and fire<br />
stations.<br />
Now I hope someday the town will make<br />
better use of the former National Guard<br />
Armory perhaps a new library location, that<br />
will be nice I just hate to see this town building<br />
just waste away, it hosted many town<br />
civic events.<br />
Taxpayers need to stand up<br />
ANTHONY HORANZY<br />
WEBSTER<br />
little improvement.<br />
How about taking action? A<br />
real school committee in Center<br />
Falls, R.I., voted 5-2 to eliminate<br />
more than 93 teachers and principal<br />
to clean house after years of<br />
underperforming. So what will<br />
our School Committee do? I am<br />
betting on nothing besides cracking<br />
a few jokes, and then they<br />
will approve those hefty increases<br />
(paid for by taxpayer of<br />
Webster).<br />
The taxpayers really need to<br />
stand up and say “We have had<br />
enough.” If the School<br />
Committee really wants a better<br />
school system, then it’s time to<br />
start cutting the budgets, cutting<br />
jobs and it’s time to clean house<br />
from the top down. The residents<br />
of Webster have waited years for<br />
the turnaround, it’s time to bring<br />
in new faces, new methods —<br />
now.<br />
trees — that’s about 10 gallons a day of sap if the weather conditions<br />
are good that day. Private landowners do offer the use of their property<br />
to maple syrup farmers. Most charge a fee for it — after all maple<br />
syrup does sell. Is Webster charging a fee?<br />
Out-of-town residents should be charged the same fee as they would<br />
charge at the town beach for usage. Someone is tapping our maple<br />
trees for free while in return, back taxpayer’s pockets are being<br />
tapped out? No bids were posted? St. Joseph, St. Anthony, Sacred<br />
Heart cemeteries — none of this is being done.<br />
I<br />
Out of place<br />
at a carnival<br />
parade<br />
could hear the sharp sound of whips hitting<br />
the pavement even before I’d untangled<br />
my feet from the cobblestones that<br />
lined the streets of the Slovenian town of<br />
Ptuj.<br />
A large crowd had gathered<br />
on both sides of the<br />
long, narrow road that<br />
wrapped around the outskirts<br />
of the town, and the<br />
surge of people seemed to<br />
move backwards in a wave<br />
as the first whip hit the<br />
ground.<br />
For a moment, the parade<br />
had stopped. Two men<br />
KRISTAL dressed in traditional<br />
Slovenian clothing —<br />
KLEAR embroidered vests, dark<br />
pants, and peasant hats —<br />
KRIS REARDON were flicking their wrists to<br />
show off traditional leather<br />
whips. Their movements<br />
seemed off-handed, but their choreography<br />
must have been carefully choreographed.<br />
Their whips never came close to touching<br />
anyone in the crowd as they made impressive<br />
swoops through the air.<br />
In a moment, after we reached the edge of<br />
the crowd, the men marched forward, and the<br />
traditional Kurentovanje — or, Carnival —<br />
parade continued.<br />
Musicians playing folk music on accordions<br />
passed by, as did marching bands from neighboring<br />
towns in Slovenia and nearby countries,<br />
including Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary,<br />
Austria and Croatia.<br />
Some groups were dressed in elaborate costumes<br />
— one homemade float featured more<br />
than a dozen adults and children dressed as<br />
giant squirrels. Another long float represented<br />
the Kulpa River, which runs along<br />
Slovenia’s border with Croatia. Poking<br />
through person-sized holes in a long band of<br />
blue fabric and paper at waist level, some of<br />
the participants were dressed as ducks, others<br />
as fish poking their heads up, and still others<br />
as kayakers paddling along.<br />
While neither Ptuj nor the crowd gathered<br />
could rival the size of an American Mardi<br />
Gras in New Orleans, the gathering was quite<br />
large for Slovenia’s standards. Each year it is<br />
estimated that around 70,000 people gather on<br />
the Sunday before Ash Wednesday, known as<br />
Shrove Sunday, to watch parades across<br />
Slovenia, with 9,000 or so people participating<br />
in them. For a country of roughly 2 million<br />
inhabitants, that’s a significant number.<br />
The most significant portion of the parade<br />
included the most traditional elements: close<br />
to 1,000 kurents, who look like bears with<br />
horns. While unmarried men traditionally<br />
played the role of kurents, nowadays married<br />
men, women, and even children can don pelts<br />
of sheep skin, covering their whole bodies,<br />
only their eyes peeking out through a wooden<br />
mask. With horns on their heads and bright<br />
red socks, they also carry several heavy cowbells<br />
on a rope or leather belt around their<br />
waists.<br />
The kurents jumped and shimmied down<br />
the streets of Ptuj as I looked on, letting their<br />
bells clang loudly in hopes of scaring away<br />
winter.<br />
All of a sudden, right out of the crowd, a<br />
large kurent approached me. Reaching out his<br />
hand, I wasn’t sure what he wanted. I wanted<br />
to sink into the ground or run away, never<br />
being one to eagerly answer the call: “Can we<br />
get a volunteer from the audience?” But the<br />
cobblestones were, well, hard as rocks, as the<br />
saying goes, and I was blocked up against a<br />
wall. There was no escape, and the kurent<br />
kept getting closer, until he was jumping<br />
around me in circles as the crowd laughed<br />
wildly.<br />
Only later did I learn that kurents approach<br />
unmarried women, who traditionally give the<br />
kurent a handkerchief to avoid my embarrassing<br />
fate.<br />
Next in line after the kurents was a group of<br />
young men dressed in traditional peasant<br />
clothing, running out into the crowd trying to<br />
kiss girls or earn kisses themselves, adding<br />
one more set of lipstick stained kisses to their<br />
faces. Traditionally, the single men who were<br />
on the market for a wife would parade around<br />
at the carnival, so that young women could<br />
identify potential mates for the coming year’s<br />
weddings.<br />
Carnival consists of 10 or more days of<br />
parades and masquerade parties all around<br />
the country. It’s not uncommon for children<br />
and adults alike to prepare as many as three<br />
different costumes for the celebration, which<br />
is a less commercial and more intense version<br />
of Halloween: children often go door to door<br />
asking for a mandarin or small change, reciting<br />
a phrase at the door that kind of resembles<br />
the concept of “trick or treat!” when<br />
translated.<br />
This year, Ptuj was celebrating the 50th<br />
anniversary of its modern carnival. It was<br />
elected to the European Federation of<br />
Carnival Cities in 1991, and it will serve as a<br />
European Capital of Culture in 2012.<br />
“Is this like parades in America?” my