For many years I have had two cords of wood delivered to my house. One year I thought, maybe I should put an ad in the listserve asking for help to stack all this wood.
A day later Hanover High boys soccer coach Rob Grabill contacted me and told me he could bring some of his “lads” to help stack. During the process he filled the air with wonderful soccer stories of each of the players who were helping that day. I had offered to pay in my ad prior to hearing from Rob. He took the check and donated to one of the local charities. I looked forward each year to that day!
We need more Rob Grabills on the sidelines teaching our young athletes about life using sports as the pathway to those lessons.
Whit Mitchell
Hanover
America, for whom?
I listened to the sentencing of Donald Trump and found my mind returning to a letter I wrote to Forum in 2018. After attending a NATO meeting in Montreal where he disrespected leaders and declared that Justin Trudeau deserved a “special place in Hell,” Trump flew to the “beautiful beaches” in North Korea where he engaged in a “love fest” with Kim Jong Un. I proposed that with this president, we would be aligning ourselves with oligarchical and dictatorial governments. I ended the letter asking that we consider what kind of American we want to be and what kind of America we want to live in.
Trump is once again president having won by a mere 1.6% of the popular vote. He has appointed billionaires to his government, alleged sexual offenders, reality TV and Fox News people to his Cabinet, and brought other billionaires like Bezos and Zuckerberg under his influence, perhaps introducing a new kind of oligarchy … The American Oligarchy.
No wonder I was reminded of that letter I wrote almost seven years ago. Americans have installed a twice impeached and a convicted felon into the office of the President of the United States of America.
Such a lowered bar. Sadly, I think I have my answer.
Anna Henderson
Grantham
The war we must wage
During World War II, Americans joined together dedicated to a common cause. Through a combination of ingenuity, hard work and a willingness to sacrifice, we mounted a truly amazing effort to defeat our formidable enemies.
In light of the accelerating onslaught of catastrophic natural disasters that beset our country, I believe we should adopt a similar wartime mentality to effectively battle global warming. In our public lives, we can vote for leaders who are passionate about this cause, and we can both support and participate in organizations committed to protecting the environment, phasing out fossil fuels, and promoting the development of renewable energy sources. In our personal lives, there are many ways we can shrink our carbon footprint. We can minimize if not eliminate our use of gasoline, natural gas and oil; our acquisition of unneeded stuff; our food waste; our airplane trips; etc.
How can so many of us continue to live seemingly oblivious to the hellscape that our children and theirs will inherit if we don’t win this war?
David M. Lemal
Norwich
Sliding toward the light
Skiing loops around Oak Hill and the golf course’s groomed trails in December reversed my winter doldrums. I ran into old friends, watched budding skiers give it their all in lessons, and I only fell once … twice if you count a knee down as a fall (however I argue that a true fall involves torso touchdown).
Anyway, thanks to all the people who plow the lot, groom the trails, teach lessons and make the Oak Hill snow. See you out there.
Lindsay Young
Hanover