Waiting for tourism to bud
Good morning Brownsville. Another day to prepare for the invasion of the tourists. Clean-up day will have come and gone. One day a year clean-up is satisfactory. After all, we brush our teeth, take a bath and change our clothes once a year.
Brownsville’s one trash receptacle has been placed in a most convenient location, the new wharf. All empty buildings shine and sparkle. The planted flowers and trees have been watered, weeded and cultivated. Trash and litter is out of sight. Restaurant and lodging accommodations are ready and waiting. There is a waiting list of volunteer workers. A shuttle service is ready to eliminate gridlock.
The welcome mat is out, let the cash registers ring.
Robert N. Hess
Brownsville
Community wish list
My wish list for the commissioner candidate’s: Renovate all Fayette County parks and playground equipment. A family looking to relocate loves a community that loves its children. New street signs. Gardens in empty lots. Appropriate painting on a few vacant buildings. Attract restaurants and shops to revitalize downtown Uniontown and Connellsville. Plan exceptional community events for the downtown. Directive signage on Route 119 attracting travelers to support local restaurants and shops. Rejuvenate community spirit. New sidewalks for the primary roads.
Thank you all so much for your diligent handwork and compassion to move this community forward into the millennium. A commitment to appreciate and acknowledge every resident, from a baker to a teacher, from an accountant to a bricklayer is a vital part of our community success. One needs the other to sustain.
May God bless us with a joyful, hopeful and forgiving attitude.
JoAnn DiCristofaro
Uniontown
Will vets have jobs?
In a May 8 don’t-worry-be-happy letter titled, “Rights to return to work,” a regional representative of the U.S. Department of Labor, Veterans Employment and Training Service tries to usurp the White House drumming up of support for a dubious tax plan to stimulate the development of jobs. Currently we are short of enough jobs for veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom and many other job seekers.
The writer uses the premise that veterans “re-employment rights are protected” in an apparent effort to “assure all of our military personnel now serving” that they have a promising future. That is OK only as far as “re-employment rights” are concerned. What about the veterans who had been jobless and the only employer around that was hiring was the military?
Kindly indulge a brief recollection of my own experience. Way back in 1954 when the military draft was breathing down my neck I notified my employer of my plans to enlist in the Air Force. I was advised that my re-employment was guaranteed following honorable discharge from the service. Upon discharge four years later the nation’s economy had fallen into a “severe recession.” The agent in the employment office said that the company would honor its commitment regarding re-employment although no requirement for my services existed at that time.
The agent frankly explained that following re-employment I would be on the job only until the next payday when a pink lay-off slip would appear with my paycheck. The issued check would demonstrate that the company’s obligation had in fact been fulfilled. My name would be kept on file until such time that a job opening reappeared.
The Air Force was still hiring. So I chose to re-enlist rather than “re-employed.” The May 10 letter doesn’t address those circumstances. The letter may not be pure claptrap but it definitely qualifies as a rosy scenario.
Paul Lagojda
Carmichaels