Readers’ Column for the week of December 26, 2021

You may call The Owego Pennysaver Readers’ Column at (607) 687-2378 24-hours a day, or email comments to readerscolumn@stny.rr.com. We reserve the right to revise or reject any message.

To the kind souls that mowed Hope Cemetery in Newark Valley, it did not go unnoticed. THANK YOU! God bless you and anybody that helped you! It looks really nice. I wish you would come forward with who you are, but I understand if you don’t. Merry Christmas to you and yours! Thanks to all the volunteers that helped during the past summer with cleaning up brush and debris.

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Need chairs? Our church has a large number of used folding chairs to donate free of charge. If interested, call Paul at (607) 786-3696.

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Is anyone annoyed about the driving habits of people; do we pass on a solid line or a broken line, do we tailgate, do we use high beams in the village, do we use our signals or don’t we bother? Do we drive on the left side or right side all the time, and do we have manners any more? Also, the TV, all this hip-hop, musicals and all the loud music, what are we coming to.

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There is a noise ordinance in Nichols and at 10 p.m. at night you are supposed to be quiet, but somebody has loud booming coming from their vehicle, they just sit there with music playing. Some day you are going to regret it, you will have ringing in the ears. And turn down your bass, please.

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What’s the use in people having answering machines if they never call you back? I called three places today and needed answers, and nobody called back. So what is the point of having an answering machine if you are not going to call people back?

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The governor was on TV telling people to wear a mask, but wasn’t wearing one herself. What a hypocrite. It’s all about control.

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Wow, I can see where the truth hurts. I hope Albany gets wind of what they are doing in the village of Owego.

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Hey Tommy Reid and the rest of the politicians that are sitting there with their feet up tonight keeping warm, with no worries, and the New York State Legislature; you put the moratorium on the rent, you pay the landlord the rent and you go after the tenant and collect the rent. Don’t tell the landlord that he has to abide by a moratorium and then not pay him the rent. New York State, dip into your “Build Back Better” downtown plan, the millions that you have given to these villages and cities that were wasted on crap.

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Can somebody tell me what’s going on with the Apalachin Post Office? Up here in the trailer parks we are not getting our mail. It’s getting all messed up. The trailer parks are getting mixed up and they don’t understand the numbers. There are bills to be put out in the mail; they aren’t getting it.

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Attention landlords. There are some things to consider. If your rental has ever been flooded, check the electric to see if it has been cleaned and replaced. If you have an adjacent rental and they are paying your electric bill, that’s against the law. Ask questions, make sure you have a Radon test done in the basement and that you have a fire extinguisher, smoke alarm, and a CO detector. You can get free water analysis testers at Home Depot and Lowes. You don’t have to live in a dangerous rental that could burn down because of an electric system malfunction. Be safe. The code enforcement number is 687-1101.

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What kind of leadership do you call this? This is for the Mayor, Village Board, and the Treasurer. You had no business spending money earmarked for the fire station. That was wrong, and I hope it gets investigated. You are doing a good job at putting the Village in the river. Go ahead and stand up and wave your hands and tell everyone you have all the answers; sure looks like it. I sure hope you are made to put the money back out of your pockets. I also hope that the State of New York gets wind of all of this; maybe the state will fine the person that called this one.

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Yesterday a friend handed me a copy of The Owego Pennysaver that carried the Collector Car Corner article about the Stuart Tanks built in Berwick, Pa. I’ve never read Greg Zyla’s column, as I don’t know much about car engines. I remember the slant 6 in my ’65 Valiant Station Wagon, my first new car, and the 318 in my ’69 Plymouth Wagon. That ends my knowledge of engines. I used to say that if it isn’t made of wood, I don’t understand it. Anyway, I enjoyed the article on Berwick, Pa. ACF plant manufacture of the light tank. I was born in 1942, and was told by my mom that she rocked me to sleep behind black curtains while dad worked as a tool and die maker at the ACF, frozen to his job all during the war. He began working at ACF in 1928, right out of high school and stayed with them until they closed in 1961 while I was attending Bloomsburg State College. I still have a lot of their stuff from the war years including a war ration book with my name on it. After reading the article I googled more information and discovered that Berwick now has one of those tanks, having purchased it from someone in England. Pennsylvania Heritage Magazine also ran an interesting article on the ACF during the war. Again, I appreciated Greg Zyla’s article. I haven’t been back to Berwick for Many years, since all of my relatives there have either moved or passed away. This article brought back some memories from my past. — J. Lars Edburgh

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I have been a deer hunter in the Southern Tier for the past five decades. The drop in the deer population over the past 20 years has been very alarming. Is this a result of over harvesting? I remember when there were four members to one doe permit, and shotguns only. Is it because of more efficient hunting aids? Namely the use of rifles, trail cameras, crossbows, and food plots and doe permits? Also, the increase in bear and coyote populations has to be considered. Would a significant reduction in doe permits help increase the population? Going to the well once too often will eventually get you a dry well. I would be interested to hear from you hunters. What changes have you noticed in your area, good and bad?

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Betcha the people that say you have to comply with police orders are the same ones that refuse to comply with the vaccine order.

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Is there a seamstress looking for some work in the Berkshire, Richford, Newark Valley or Candor area? Please leave your telephone number so I can contact you.

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FYI, the latest scam’s caller ID says NYSEG Owego, and the phone number prefix is 687. DO NOT ANSWER IT! This is being done in other areas too. Merry Christmas! Stay safe, smart, and healthy.

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This is an O-A Musical “Mary Poppins” Playbill ad reminder. If you wish to place a regular ad or a happy ad in the Playbill we need to receive the order, ad copy, and payment by Jan. 8, 2022. Order forms are available at www.OAMusicBoosters.org. Contact information is on the forms. Thank you, from the OA Music Boosters.

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I see people not wearing masks in businesses that require them. I wear mine. Businesses have already suffered enough from the shutdowns and state taxes. I don’t want them to suffer anymore by them getting fined if I don’t wear a mask into their business and making their employees sick when they are already short-staffed. I’m not that selfish. To me, wearing a mask for a short period of time is not a big deal. I’ve worn one at my job and it hasn’t caused me any problems.

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The Health Department had quite the little article last week in The Pennysaver, but there is no direct answer to this question, are they or are they not going to be out and about enforcing the mask mandate put forth by our governor. Too many counties are not doing it, and nothing has really been published about it. Could they please let us know?

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Hey Tioga County residents! I just found a neat little store in Apalachin at the Sweeney’s Plaza, the Lil Bargain Barn. The prices in there are really reasonable, and they have shirts in there for children that are a dollar. They have a lot of baby clothes, children’s clothes, and everything is donated. Stop in and check them out.

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I have an electric mobility stool I would love to get rid of. If you are interested, leave your telephone number and I will call you.

 

National Political Viewpoints

Joe Biden’s approval rating is now 29%. Unbelievable. That’s hilarious. Before you know it, it will be in the teens.

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The democrats have a new Christmas theme – it is called, “It’s beginning to look a lot like Venezuela.” Santa and the Upstate elves are not very happy. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

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If they take away your right to vote what is next, the right to protest, freedom of religion, freedom of speech? Here’s a good one, freedom of the press? We have to keep our vote or we have no democracy. Forget about your political party; think about America.

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Why don’t we just make the minimum wage $100 an hour? Is that a livable wage? Nobody knows, but somebody has got to pay for it. Do you think employers can afford to pay their workers $100 an hour? It sounds so wonderful. They have free college and everything else, but it’s not free because we will pay for it. It is going to be disastrous. 

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As Joseph Stalin from Russia said years ago, it’s not who votes that counts, it’s who counts the votes. It’s the same today; who counts the votes. Why should it be so difficult for a person to prove who they are and let them vote? Why are they making it so difficult? They should do fingerprints, and then nobody could vote for someone else. Let’s make it work.

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The voting in Congress in the Senate and State Agencies should be the same as the rest of the country, one vote, and one name. They shouldn’t vote by party. 

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Some countries use a purple fingerprint as evidence that the person voted. Once you vote you can’t vote again.

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We need some investigative reporters and others to write books, “Unjust in America.” Justice is blind, but unjust in America is rampant.

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For all you fake global warming and climate change buffoons, the U.S. government just published data showing tornadoes, hurricanes, etc. are at an eight-year low; get that, these are decreasing and not increasing in incidents. Go spread your economy killing nonsense somewhere else. For those sentient beings, re-elect the best president of all time, the magnificent Donald J. Trump.

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News Flash, for the military genius who said there was no panicked retreat in Afghanistan – consider that you don’t evacuate military forces before you evacuate civilians. You don’t leave behind 1,000 to 2,000 Americans and thousands of our allies. Also, you don’t leave an airport just a few miles away from one of China’s nuclear armament build facilities; and you certainly don’t leave behind $80 billion of your best military arms and equipment.

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I listened in over the phone to a Claudia Tenney Town Hall this past weekend and it was very interesting, and it did my heart good to hear just how many people out there are so fed up with the Biden administration. 2022 can’t get here soon enough; it’s going to be a terrific Red wave, and then we will see things change for the better. America will come bouncing back. Thank you Claudia for having that Town Hall. It reinforced what I already knew. People are sick of Biden; even the people that voted for him want better.

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Finally a democratic voice of reason, Senator Joe Manchin, you are a hero. 

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This is for the Biden voters, are you satisfied with your vote now that you have Biden in, the dictator. Just wait a few years and see how bad it gets.

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Joe Biden, I thought you were going to shut down the virus. Oops, another campaign promise broke. You’re all talk Joe. 

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I am bemused by folks who simultaneously whine about New York Liberals and then call it a Nazi state.