You may call the Owego Pennysaver Readers’ Column at (607) 687-2378 24-hours a day, or e-mail comments to readerscolumn@stny.rr.com. We reserve the right to revise or reject any message.
I wrote a letter a few years ago about “Wanting to be Chief of a VOLUNTEER Fire Company”. I guess I need to write it again, which is sad. Wanting to be Chief of a VOLUNTEER Fire Company is a big responsibility with low pay and a lot of work. The work could be a lot easier with help from the membership. There are many VOLUNTEER members that will do just about anything to help out, but if you don’t respect the VOLUNTEER members (all of them) then don’t demand respect from the VOLUNTEER members. If you want me to respect you, then you MUST respect me. This goes for all VOLUNTEER members. I hope you noticed that I used the word VOLUNTEER a lot, because that is what we are. We do the job out of the goodness of our heart when we have the time. This is why we need a lot of VOLUNTEERS.
~
The Village of Owego Board will meet to discuss the Owego Police Department budget on Monday, May 9 at 7 p.m. at 20 Elm St. in Owego. If you are interested in keeping a fully functional, locally controlled police department you should attend this meeting.
~
A huge thank you to the Tioga crew for reacting to the very large limb hanging on from a tree on Glenmary Drive where a dozen kids walk every day. Removing that limb made my day. The whole neighborhood appreciated having it taken down. So thank you.
~
On Tuesday, May 10 at 6:30 p.m., the OFA Boys Lacrosse team will be playing their final home game of the regular season and will be celebrating Senior Recognition Night. Fans are requested to participate in a “WHITE OUT” to support the team. Players will be in white jerseys and shorts and fans are asked to wear WHITE in the stands, bring WHITE towels, blankets, hats, etc. to show a unified support for the team. If you haven’t had a chance to come down and see a game this year, next Tuesday would be a great night to come down, fill the stands supporting your local OFA athletics and experience the “Fastest Game on Two Feet!”
~
For 100 years washing machines didn’t need washing. Then some marketing person proposed that people could be convinced that they needed to wash their washing machines. Bingo! And now another product to sell to the gullible.
~
I agree with the reader last week that Tioga Central taxpayers need to get out and vote NO! The good ole boys club continues and the administration is not in tune with the taxpayer needs. The school board members are arrogant and do not offer any communication with the public. Retired people are still acting as well paid coaches for activities with little participation. The teachers will threaten the students, and act like spoiled teenagers regarding a voted down budget. They think their job is so much more important than anyone working in the real world of jobs, people that work 12 months a year, not 40 weeks a year. The reality is that this district needs to be more cost conscience. The country club continues! VOTE NO on May 17, it is your duty.
~
The following is dedicated to Senator Bernie Sanders, a truly courageous fighter for justice and democracy: The Man In the Arena – It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. – Theodore Roosevelt
~
It seems pretty ridiculous that we are going to build a sidewalk from BU to downtown Binghamton that will cost 6 MILLION DOLLARS A MILE. It will probably be useless from November thru March for most people and can you imagine what it will cost to plow and salt during all the bad winter weather. I cannot imagine college students walking five miles round trip to attend classes. This should be examined much more carefully before we do something like this. The locals are going crazy with all the free money they got.
~
Where on Earth did a reader get the impression that Sanders or, for that matter, any candidate from either party would take us back 200 years on the environment. None of them have advocated anything remotely approaching that.
~
There have been seven Congressional investigations of Benghazi. None have found any culpability. Just the normal confusion found in the fog of war. Remember Boston, Paris, Brussels, San Bernadino, and others? Remember the confusion and uncertainty as events unfolded? Same with 9/11 and the Oklahoma City bombing. It is impossible to know all you need to know as an event unfolds and even for a time afterwards. To expect anything different with Benghazi is unfounded at best and head in the sand hatred at worst.
~
You couldn’t write in on the primary ballot because the primary is not a true election. It is the political parties method of selecting delegates to their convention. They can make their own rules for how that is done.
~
I wonder if anybody else has noticed that Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders agree on almost all the important issues? How about a Don and Bernie ticket?
~
Smithboro Cemetery Association Annual Meeting, May 26, 6:30 p.m. at Kerry Root’s house, 32 Lisle Rd., Smithboro.
~
I would like to request prayer for my wife and myself who are being harassed by our neighbors. We would like to live here in peace and be left alone. Pray that they stop the phone calls and other harassment. Thank you.
~
Use Yahoo and type in New York Common Core Task Force Final Report. Don’t be bashful. There will be more than one response. Experience the variety. Enjoy the amount and extent of the information. Feel more informed. Be more informed.
~
Newark Valley Taxpayers, see your 2016 Town tax rate: Outside the Village $5.708859 (x) assessment (=) town tax, In the Village $5.643992 (x) assessment (=) town tax. My property outside the Village assessed at $75,000 (=) $428.16. My property inside the Village assessed at $75,000 (=) $423.30. So, Village and Town of Newark Valley taxpayer rates are minimally different. What do Village taxpayers get from the Town government to cause this similar tax rate? The Village government asks the Town to take our Village streets. It seems like the Town is already charging Villagers for that service. Town of Newark Valley Supervisor “do the right thing” and perform a job for the Village taxpayers.
~
We live in Lockwood and already this year, and it’s only May, somebody has their kids out dirt biking from 9:00 in the morning all day long. We are elderly, we need naps, we can’t nap because the kids are out dirt biking. There should be some kind of a ruling on this in the township. These kids are really getting annoying. I don’t want to be a bad neighbor but we can’t do anything without these loud motor sounds all day.
~
I was out enjoying a nice ride around the county this weekend and I was surprised to see so many people have adorned their homes with satanic pentagrams. It’s so sad to see that Tioga County is rejecting God.
~
I am a Tioga County resident looking for goats, looking to start a herd of goats. If anyone out there has reasonably priced goats, young goats preferably for sale or for free please text or call (607) 221-7742.
~
Hillary thinks she’s smart by fooling people with her running for president. There’s one person she won’t be able to fool in the end and that’s God himself. He can’t be fooled.
~
I’d like to see landlords be held accountable for constantly renting out to druggies when they know they’re druggies and as soon as they get busted or move out, it’s the same routine for another druggie family or kids that move in. I’d like to see the village landlords be held accountable for not screening their people because they’re not making the neighborhood any better.
~
It is so sad Tioga County wants such a bully to be our president. Especially when we try to take the bullies out of our schools. We need a president to run this United States. We need a woman to be president of this United States. They know how to get things done. When Bill Clinton was president we were in the greatest shape ever. Do you people really want to see this male, chauvinist, sarcastic, critical, negative bully as our president? I sure hope not! This Republican campaign has been a disgrace to the political system.
~
I’m really in need of a good psychic so please call me as soon as possible. My cell phone gets bad service so you’ll probably have to call my mother’s house. She’ll take a message and I’ll call back as soon as possible.
~
Does anyone need medical catheter supplies? I have some to give to someone who needs them. Call 642-3403.
~
I have free hemlock slab wood. It’s good for bonfires or cookouts. All you have to do is pick it up. The number to call is 642-5394.
~
When I called today for a balance on my credit card would you believe the operator was in the Philippines? I said, young lady, where are you located? She said in the Philippines! What in the hell are we doing with a credit card in the United States and the workers for that company are in the Philippines? Come on Donald, build the wall a little bigger so they can crawl under.
~
I was wondering why they don’t enforce the law for red flags for trucks and vehicles that have building materials extending beyond your truck 3- or 4-feet or better. I’d like to see that enforced more.
~
If you think the Cal Harris trial is over, remember he is still going to meet his maker. Watch it!
~
Follow the news. Why do Trump supporters consistently overlook the statement that Donald Trump makes about jobs and wages? He consistently says as recently as the past week that wages are too high for American worker. Doesn’t that get you to think?
~
This call is in regards to the person calling about the AARP Driver Safety course. If they contact Tioga Opportunities, the Office of the Aging at 687-4120, they do have someone there that will tell them when the next course will be coming up and what area.
~
Kudos to the OFA students and to anyone else who was involved in cleaning up the Riverwalk on Saturday. It looks the best it ever has since being put in. Take a walk there I think you will agree.
~
As usual, the Socialist Democrat demonstrations usually turn violent, which occurred on the West Coast over the May 1 Communist inspired demonstrations. They threw Malakoff cocktails at police, rioted and stole merchandise. Nothing new there. It’s time the middle class is protected from these violent thugs. Let’s all cheer that Trump or Cruz will stop this violence once they become president.
~
Somebody left something in this column about a white ford van stealing dogs. I’d like to know what area they are doing this in.
~
To all interested amateur radio operators. The tigers net will start on May 22 on the W2VDX repeater in Owego, N.Y. on the 146.760 repeater.
~
The landmark on the south side of Owego has disappeared early Monday morning, April 18 between midnight and 2 a.m., thieves under the cover of darkness came into our Valley Road neighborhood, removed our vintage 1926 May West gas pump from its concrete base and managed to escape. This gas pump is approximately 9 1/2 feet tall, weighs 700 to 800 lbs. It is gold and yellow with a plastic Richfield light on top. Did anyone in the area at that time see anything or hear a conversation about a gas pump. If you have any information that might help us locate this pump that has been on Valley Road for over 70 years, please call the Tioga County Sheriff’s office at 687-1010. Our family is offering a $500 reward for information that leads to the apprehension and conviction of these thieves and the return of our gas pump.
~
Instead of taxing soda 3 cents an ounce and use the money to pay for pre-kindergarten for children, how bout we tax Viagra and that can pay for the pre-kindergarten tax.
~
Now that the mowing season is on, we would appreciate if the mowers at the park would mow away from the sidewalks instead of mowing into it. Candorites, get out and support Punk’s, it’s the only eating place in town and the food is very good.
~
The VFW is holding their 8th Annual Golf Tournament on May 22 at Pleasant Hill Golf Club. Shotgun start is at 11 a.m., a BBQ Chicken dinner is at the VFW after. The cost is $65/person, this tournament helps us with our projects throughout the year which includes the kids picnic, Black Friday bowling and our Christmas party. Applications are available at the VFW or in this week’s Pennysaver.
~
Here’s a running mate for gold fingers Trump, Mr. Cheney, he has lots of experience being the president with George W. and they have things in common, both have four or five deferments from the Viet Nam war. Maybe they can even go duck hunting together.
~
I was just wondering if anybody knows where to take an old television to get rid of it for free. I went to Best Buy but they charge $25.
