Many thanks to Liz Sauchelli for writing such a nice article regarding a second monument the Hartford Monument Committee is planning to dedicate on Memorial Day 2026 (“Names sought to honor troops”; July 10). Many of the names of those who served between 1975 and 2025 were collected through the hard work of Rena Burnett at Hartford High School Guidance Office. Rena has kept track of future plans for all students since 1992, and I want to publicly thank Rena for all her help.
Fortunately, we have had an increase in verifying the service of those on our list, but only 46 of the 156 names have been verified. We need help finding all of those who served and are eligible to be on this second monument. To qualify for inclusion on the monument, individuals must meet one of the following criteria:
Entered military service while a resident of the Town of Hartford
Retired from military service while a resident of the Town of Hartford
Lived in the Town of Hartford for 30 or more years following military service
Please visit https://tinyurl.com/Monument-2 to view the current lists of names and fill out a names application if not on one of the lists.
We are also offering honor bricks to go around the apron of the new monument. If you would like to sponsor an honor brick for a veteran or other special person, you can do that here: http://www.fundraisingbrick.com/hmp/
Thank you for your support to honor our service members. Questions? Reach out to us at ww1monument@gmail.com.
Linda Simon Miller
Hartford
The writer is vice chairwoman of the Hartford Monument Committee.
A burden on Woodstock
I do not pretend to know the intricate workings of Woodstock’s governance by the Selectboard and town manager (“Officials end meeting early”; July 14). What I do know is that in the last roughly 10 months there has been a great deal of obfuscation of town affairs, much to do with the Swanson issue but also on the acquisition of the aqueduct. We did learn about Swanson’s sartorial neglect and messy desk, and that the Vondell property was not optional as some were led to believe, but with little clarity and less transparency in such decision making, speculation and rumors blossomed and trust shriveled.
The irreparable damage, however, is financial. The fact that the Swanson issue is still alive and has cost the town (taxpayers) months of double salary for the police chief position and is an ongoing expense for litigation and is not likely to be resolved soon, well, what does that say of the acumen of our town manager and the Select Board?
Terrie Curran
South Woodstock
A short bridge’s big price tag
The Lebanon City Council has now decided a course of action for replacing the dry bridge on Route 12A (“Bridge to close for a year”; July 18). Lost in that debate is the larger question as to what it will achieve. The railroad ends a short distance from the bridge. It serves two corporate clients. The $21 million estimated cost of replacing the bridge will be shared among the federal, state and local governments.
Small wonder we as a country are going broke.
Bruce Garland
Lebanon
The gilded White House
President Trump gave me a good laugh first thing this morning!
It was rich watching Trump rail against Fed Chair Jerome Powell for building a palace for the new home for the Fed all the while Trump sits in the now gilded Oval Office. Doubtless there is more gold and chubby cherubs throughout the White House — who knows at what cost!
But to have the king of gold toilets comment on excess, justified or not, gave me a hearty laugh to start my day. I can finally be thankful to Trump for one thing.
Karen R. Blum
Grantham
Time to evacuate the mine
What we have in the White House is a situation where all the canaries are dying, and the owners keep sending down shovels and fresh canaries.
Paul Bogosian
Windsor