I was saddened by the recent passing of former first lady Barbara Bush.
A number of years ago, when her son was president and I was the assistant headmaster at Cardigan Mountain School, Mrs. Bush came to Canaan to visit one of her grandsons, who was a student at Cardigan at the time. Preceded by a fleet of New Hampshire State Police cruisers, Mrs. Bush arrived in a large black SUV and, with her entourage, came to the living room of the Admissions Office to be greeted by a dozen or so Cardigan faculty members. Regally, she went around the circle, shaking our hands and giving each of us the opportunity to introduce ourselves and speak briefly about our roles at the school.
Soon thereafter, Mrs. Bush did what most Cardigan grandparents would do — she cleaned her grandson’s dorm room, then took the grandson and his friends to town for pizza! What a thrill it was for us all to meet Mrs. Bush — and I am sure that the folks at Canaan Village Pizza that night had a dinner they will never forget!
Rest in peace, Mrs. Bush.
Carl J. Lovejoy
Plainfield
It is with sadness that I have to announce that Folk in Hanover is preparing to close after almost 45 years on Allen Street.
I first went to Oaxaca, Mexico, with my mother in 1970 and realized that you could have a small business that combined traveling with supporting small entrepreneurs and craftspeople. I thought it was important to fight for small downtown business.
With the changing economy it has become too difficult to survive. Internet shopping, everyone buying with their phones and skipping downtown has taken its toll. I know the store means a lot to a lot of people and for this reason I am sad to see it go. It is time for me to make my exit, though I am open to ideas about preserving the business. Please come by and say goodbye to Folk.
Ted Degener
Cornish
The Second Amendment debate has become increasingly barren. Between those who would strictly control the ownership and carrying of arms and those who want no restrictions, there is no common ground. Given divided courts and legislatures, neither side can wholly get its way.
Recent Supreme Court decisions confirm a constitutional right to own weapons. The right has been established as an individual one, but the wording of the Second Amendment suggests a linkage between ownership of weapons and a militia to defend the state. It follows that the individual right can be limited to weapons that one might use individually, in self-defense or as part of a militia.
In other words, I believe that under the Second Amendment there is a right to own handguns, semi-automatic weapons and even fully automatic M-16s; but ownership of artillery and tanks can constitutionally be restricted. Gun-control advocates should accept this argument as a means of gaining the trust of those who favor unfettered gun rights.
If I espouse a theory of gun rights that makes those rights even wider than they are at present (bans on fully automatic weapons have been upheld by the Supreme Court), I must also offer a remedy to limit the mayhem that could result. My proposal is that each state should require owners of automatic and semi-automatic weapons to serve in a militia. That is to say, they should all be enrolled in the National Guard.
Such legislation offers many benefits. It is obviously constitutional, in keeping with both the letter and spirit of the Second Amendment. It has the advantage of training gun owners in the use of their most dangerous weapons. Furthermore, criminals would be deterred from owning such weapons if they knew it would lead to enrollment in the National Guard. Last but not least, for a socially disconnected gun owner, the type most likely to carry out a mass shooting, the National Guard would be an excellent support group.
Comprehensive solutions are possible. One just has to think outside the box.
Vijay Thadani
Norwich
My husband and I saw 1776 on the opening night. I’d never seen this 50-year-old musical and didn’t know what to expect.
What I saw was unexpectedly life-affirming: the excitement of feeling that you can do something important and necessary; the anxiety that it might not happen the way you hope it will; the longing and suffering you feel when you must sacrifice an important relationship to accomplish that other thing that is important and that especially needs you; the cheer of supportive friendship; the awareness of massive suffering occurring in the larger world even as you keep doing the work that you believe will help alleviate suffering in some small way; the discomfort of having to compromise when under pressure in order to secure a valued aim.
All these themes were brought to life so vividly, skillfully and enthusiastically by the cast and crew of this production. And all these themes are completely universal, regardless of ancestry or gender.
I feel sad for those audience members who could only view the play through their tribal lenses and then try to make the cast and crew feel guilty for their joyous work, and who also tried to make the large numbers of audience members who enjoyed the play feel guilty for their joy.
We are performing and responding to universal themes, people, and you can too. Just set aside your self-righteous script for a moment and join the song and dance. I will be the first to sing and dance with you.
Dia Ballou
Windsor
Whether or not President Donald Trump had an affair with porn star Stormy Daniels is irrelevant. We elect presidents, not choirboys. Think Clinton, Johnson, Kennedy (each a Democrat, by the way).
Jeff Lehmann
Lyme Center