Local Voices

this weekend i bought and read a copy of our local "newspaper", the clinton courier. this publication is 16 pages long, costs a buck, and has been published weekly, on wednesday, since 1846. whew. that's a long time.

there's no state or national news in this publication - just local news and announcements of events. it's an interesting paper in a small-town, i mean village, sort of way. we were encouraged to get it by our friendly neighbor, stan, who we ran into at home depot on saturday. as we were walking to our car, we heard a voice behind us saying "i saw your name in the courier this morning." by this he meant that the courier had a special, back to school section, featuring hamilton college and its new faculty and student body for the 2005-2006 school year. you gotta love small town, i mean village, life. afterall, it does take a village.........

anyway, when we are bored, one of our favorite activities is reading aloud letters to the editor in local newspapers. this is a gem from this week's clinton courier:

MISSING UNCLE SAM:

This is written for the person or persons who stole my Uncle Sam statue from in the front of our home. Not only as it made by me, but it was displayed on our property to show pride for our country. How ironic that the person that took it has no pride or respect for people's belongings or space?

I hope no one was hurt while hauling it away because of its weight. I am sure a getawar car was needed also. Was it really that funny?

Please do me a favor. Display Uncle Sam proudly as we did in front of your house. He wasn't made to be hidden or placed in the shadows.

Richard Hochberg,

Clinton