Vote No on the Fire Station
Dear Editor,
At a cost of $36 – $40 million, the Town of Winthrop is asking us to approve an increased Fire Engine response time to much of Winthrop, including the area between Winthrop Shore Drive and Veterans Road, and Point Shirley. If approved, this will add $423 in Property Tax per year for 30 years to a house valued at $580,000.
By eliminating the Shirley Street Fire Station we will have to rely on service from the new combined station on Winthrop Street, adding several minutes to the response time. This can make the difference between having a fire contained to one room, or having your house burn down.
Many taxpayers are barely making ends meet, and many are in heavy debt. Don’t add to it. VOTE NO on November 7.
Yours Faithfully,
John O’Gorman
Thank You Richard Honan
Dear Editor,
In the October 19th issue of “The Sun Transcript,” Winthrop’s Chief Veterans and active military advocate, Richard D. Honan, officially retired from his 21 years of volunteer service. That service entailed designing, preparing, and shipping military care packages and Christmas Tree care packages to service men and service women in all five branches of the military around the world.
I remember two occasions when our Winthrop Mixed Lodge #2057 Order Sons & Daughters of Italy in America helped Rich load up the boxes in assembly line fashion in his Crest Avenue sign-making shop. In fact, Honan, a 1969 US Army Vietnam Veteran, made a point to thank all who helped him donate goods, pack them, or pay for postage to deliver the care packages to our troops.
I thought it important, Dear Editor, to publicly thank and acknowledge Richard D. Honan for the smiles, little comforts, and student letters he sent to our deployed military men and women in seven continents. Thank you, Richard, and thank you for letting some of us be a small part of your giving and your far-reaching love and support for our armed forces.
???????Sincerely,
???????Donna Segreti Reilly
Pope Francis
Dear Editor,
Our world was put on notice by Pope Francis recently in two seemingly different but related ways. Perhaps we should listen.
On climate change he reminded us of the accelerating threat to our planet in a document addressed “to all people of good will on the climate crisis”, issued on Oct. 4th. An article on the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops website described the Pope’s document as a “severe rebuke” of resistance regarding the climate crisis, in which he criticizes science deniers. Indeed, we are seeing the early damages – terrible storms, massive fires, flooding, failed crops and people migrating away from the poorest and hottest places on earth. If humanity is to continue to thrive we must band together or we will be further divided by what is to come. We must “have the courage needed to produce substantial changes” wrote Pope Francis.
On the human condition Francis called on us to come together in human fraternity. He has long emphasized that the central element needed to bind us together is “Tutti” (for those not of Italian extraction- the phrase is often used as instruction for the chorus and all of the instruments to join in and play together). He instructs us to set aside our differences by ethnicity, sex, race, philosophy, and more, and include everyone in order to seek the peace and common ground required for a kind and sustainable world.
Let’s follow his guidance. I am delighted he is the Pope.
Lisa Alberghini
Vote No on the Fire Station
Dear Editor,
On behalf of the Officers and Board of Directors of the Winthrop Improvement &Historical Association (W.I.H.A.), we unanimously oppose the fire station going in on the Winthrop Street, designated historical district.
We agree with the statements made in last week’s Winthrop Sun Transcript by Richard Ferrino of the Winthrop Historical Commission. We want nothing but the best for the Winthrop Fire Department. They certainly deserve a new facility, but not at the cost of Winthrop Street’s significant architectural structures.
The concern at WIHA is regarding the proposed destruction of the Wadsworth and Kirby buildings. One of our goals is to identify and encourage preservation of places and structures throughout the Town for future generations. If these two buildings are razed, we will lose a part of Winthrop’s rich past that is impossible to get back.
One of the many reasons people love Winthrop is for its small-town charm. Let’s not systematically lose the Winthrop we know and love.
Sincerely,
Michael Herbert
President,
Winthrop Improvement & Historical Association