Letters to the Editor

August 05, 2009

PONY team, fans represented themselves well

To the editor:

The Hagerstown PONY League 14-year-old All-Stars were recently here in Brockton, Mass., for the PONY East Zone Tournament, with a chance to go to the Pony World Series.

Although they didn't win, they should be congratulated for what they accomplished this season. The boys played hard and were well coached by Manager Steve Berger, who was making his second trip here in two years. Even more amazing was the number of Hagerstown parents and fans who made the trip. It was the largest following I've ever seen from an out-of-state team. It was a real pleasure having Hagerstown here and the team and fans represented their community well.

Best of luck to everyone involved.

Michael Von George
Massachusetts PONY Tournament Directer
Brockton, Mass.

Remembering a dear friend and neighbor

To the editor:

On Wednesday, July 29, 2009, our neighborhood on Bower Avenue in Williamsport lost a very dear friend and neighbor. Mr. Elmer Moats was 89 years old, a World War II veteran, a retired employee of many years from the Western Maryland Railroad, but above all else a truly unique and wonderful friend whom we loved dearly.

His death was sudden and very tragic, leaving us with a loss of a wonderful human being who is truly irreplaceable.

As I have said before, life is truly very fragile. In our haste for success we all too often overlook that which is most important in life. Take time for your friend, neighbors and family while they're here as the day will come when they'll no longer be. One of the cruelties in life is that in the beginning we spend it chasing after family, loved ones, friends and others only to awaken one day to find ourselves chasing their ghosts and memories. I lost a very dear friend whose stories ... could have filled volumes. It will be the empty volumes though and words unspoken that I will count as my loss.

Knowing all too well just how short life is, I would suggest that all learn to let go of the petty things, learn to forgive and take the time to simply be with those or that which means the most to them.

Randy A. Breeden
Williamsport

Stop this foolishness and come to your senses

To the editor:

We go from foreclosure on homes to repo on automobiles. How ridiculous it is for the government providing $3,500 or $4,500 to trade in your clunkers. Our housing mess was brought about by persons obtaining questionable loans from greedy firms to buy homes at inflated prices that the people could not afford. They purchased homes to fit their ego and not their pocketbook.

Now we have the same scenario on automobiles. Purchasers are again going to buy that vehicle that fits their ego and not what they can truly afford. We will see the repo man getting very busy in the months to come. Public servants, i.e. politicians, please stop this foolishness and come to your senses. Cut the budget, raise taxes on those earning over $100,000 per year to get us out of this mess and think very seriously about changing our present income tax structure to a more simple method of collecting taxes. We have enough information on the 70 years of the present tax structure to develop a simple and fair system such as a value-added or sales tax.

Tom Wilhelm
Williamsport

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