Those of us who either have no transportation, available friends or neighbors, live alone or whose adult children are living in other states find ourselves in a predicament getting to the hospital, pharmacy, dentist or doctor’s appointments.
This was my predicament hearing that I needed two major surgeries within a four-month period, neither of which allowed me to drive. Thankfully and gratefully I was guided to Southwestern Community Action Program in Claremont. I was advised that Teri Palmer, the director of transportation, would help me. And, she did!
She always has a smile in her voice and an eager disposition to assist. I was connected with volunteer drivers who offer their valuable time and cars to transport people in Sullivan County to their often life-saving appointments.
My special thanks to three volunteer drivers who were there for me, Gianna, Sal and most especially Curtis, who is so kind and caring as well as a true gentlemen. Without them I do not know what I would have done.
Please consider offering your time and car to help your neighbors in need. If you have a day, a month or a week — whatever time you can offer. Along the way you get to meet wonderful people while making an enormous difference in their lives.
And as many of you might already know, six of the buses at Sullivan County Transportation were vandalized last month by the removal of their catalytic converters (“Theft of catalytic converters disables Sullivan County transit services,” July 28). The deductible for the repairs covered by insurance is a sizable amount of money not in the nonprofit’s budget. If you could, please donate whatever amount you can to offset this unexpected and unimaginable expense.
Judith Koester
Claremont
We should get the
COVID-19 vaccine
In reference to the rising numbers of COVID-19 cases in Claremont and Newport, N.H., it’s great that one of the people interviewed went and got tested after feeling cold symptoms. (“Delta flares in Sullivan County,” Aug. 27).
I hope the process went smoothly and was not too costly. I also hope that her immune system continues to hold up against the delta variant.
I hope that many other people’s immune systems hold up too, like the road repair crew I just passed on my way into White River Junction, who are working in sweltering conditions and for whom wearing a mask would be very uncomfortable.
Like the cashiers, pharmacists, doctors, baristas, waiters, cooks, chefs, performers, teachers, farm workers, delivery workers and all the other people who make our lives pleasant, interesting, safe and tasty.
Back to the woman from Claremont, where the rise in the infection rate is correlating with the low rate of unvaccinated people, I also hope that she understands that not quarantining after a negative COVID test does not guarantee that she will not be infected after the results have come in (or while waiting for the results) as she continues doing what she normally does outside her home.
A COVID test looks back in time, not forward in time.
Looking forward, people who are still not vaccinated might consider getting both doses, so that they can give their immune system the boost it needs against this deadly virus.
The science tells us that the vaccine does not prevent infection, especially with the delta variant, but it does minimize the symptoms.
If we want lives outside the home, going out and about, not to mention wanting to minimize the stress on hospitals and ICUs in particular, we should get vaccinated.
Annabelle Cone
Lebanon
Prison razor wire kills falcon
An American kestrel became trapped by its leg on the razor wire atop the fence surrounding the former state prison at the Windsor Grasslands Wildlife Management Area earlier this month.
Hikers discovered and reported it on the evening of Aug. 20.
The bird hung there, alive, upside down by its leg until 6 the next morning. That is when citizens arrived to give it shade until it could be rescued.
The bird fell onto the ground inside the fence about 30 minutes later as citizens watched, holding an umbrella and feeling useless as this wildlife tragedy unfolded.
Calls had been made to wildlife officials the evening of the 20th, and a wildlife official eventually gained access inside the fence to recover the bird and transport it to the Vermont Institute of Natural Science rehab center around noon on the 21st.
VINS assessed the kestrel as too injured to survive. Thank you to all those involved in trying to save this bird. Needless to say, this is a sad story.
If nothing else it demonstrates that whatever happens to the former prison property, we must try to be sure that it is compatible with the abutting 850 acres of the wildlife management area.
We are told that the next meeting of the former prison property Use Study Committee is set for Sept. 13. Location to be determined. Please become involved.
Finally, let us hope that whatever happens to that property over the next few years, that the razor wire is removed as soon as possible so that birds raised in the Grasslands Wildlife Management Area are not then killed next door.
John MacGovern
Windsor
Fishing is torture
Recently the Valley News published a photograph of the “Art of Fishing” summer camp in Norwich (“Gone Fishing,” Aug. 2) with apparently zero awareness of the fact that animal torture — of which fishing is a form — promotes cruelty, trauma and sociopathology.
Fish are extraordinary animals. Science has shown that they have highly developed thinking skills and empathy. Research has demonstrated that fish feel pain. A 2017 study published in Nature explains that fish rely on social interaction and community to deal with stressful situations. These intelligent and creative animals are explored in the fascinating book What a Fish Knows by biologist Jonathan Balcombe.
Fish were not created to be humans’ playthings to be terrorized by having hooks driven through their mouths and often into their brains and then to drown in air in extreme pain.
Also according to worldwide peer-reviewed scientific research in biochemistry and nutritional science, there is no need for humans to eat land and water animals and their “products” to be healthy, so there is no need to fish for food.
Catch and release is extremely cruel. Most fish thrown back into the water die long, slow deaths from the damage done to them in the process.
There is also a strong correlation between children who harm animals and then as adults have a greater tendency to hurt others, emotionally and physically. Deborah Kay Steinken, animal welfare reporter, activist and domestic violence counselor, explains: “Children who witness cruelty to animals experience psychological and emotional damage that compromises their empathy development because they become desensitized to feelings of kindness, hurt, pain, and suffering in themselves and other living beings.”
People who harm and kill animals, intentionally, for fun are considered sociopaths.
What do we call parents who encourage their children to do just that, who pay others to teach their children to harm and kill animals, including fish, as a form of pleasure?
Margaret D. Hurley
Claremont
Well stated on racial justice
I didn’t know how to respond to the embarrassing, inflammatory right-wing comments of state Rep. Brian Smith, R-Derby (“Vermont state rep: ‘I’m proud to be white,’ ” Aug. 21), but Judy McCarthy in her subsequent Forum letter did it for me (“Be careful about the word ‘pride,’ ” Aug. 27).
Thanks. The letter did a great job conveying the feelings of many allies.
Jim Contois
Claremont