Local Letters to the Editor

Chained CPI a terrible idea

To the Editor:
    Are you a retired woman who has worked most of your life while raising children and keeping up with house work? Do you count on the Social Security that you paid into as you worked for your retirement income? Have you appreciated the Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA) that have been made to keep up with the ever-increasing costs of living? Then you should be aware that some folks in Washington are pushing a proposal that would reduce COLAs over the next 10 years. The longer you have been retired the more your COLA would be cut. This proposal is called a “Chained CPI” (Consumer Price Index) and it is a terrible idea and especially harmful to women, who rely more on Social Security to meet their basic needs.

    Typically, women receive less in benefits because they earn less than men and are more likely to have gaps in their employment. The burden of health care spending is also greater for women – nearly 19 percent of their income vs. 14 percent for men. To reduce Social Security benefits even more through the proposed Chained CPI would be wrong for all and especially unconscionable for women.
    AARP has developed a handy online tool that shows exactly the impact this COLA change would have on Maine women (and men). Visit www.aarp.org/whatyoulose and see for yourself what you would lose.

Bettie Harris-Howard
Lebanon

Volunteering in the Facebook era

To the Editor:
    This year National Volunteer Week will be celebrated April 21st–27th. This year’s theme is “Celebrating People in Action,” honoring individuals who take action to be part of social change. Since our nation’s founding, volunteers have been the source of action and change. Two hundred and thirty-five years later, the energy of volunteers continues to more our country forward.
    Millions of people give their time, talents, voices and resources to help strengthen communities around the world. When we volunteer, we recognize our personal power to transform ourselves and the world around us.
    While people have always been at the center of change, today we have more power to drive change than ever before with e-mailing, text messaging, Facebook, Twitter, etc. At the same time, society is demanding much more from the world of volunteerism in the 21st century, as a struggling economy puts increasing pressure on all of us to do more with less. This is certainly true in our region as funding for human services and education has diminished.
    National Volunteer Week is about inspiring, recognizing and encouraging people to seek out imaginative ways to engage in their communities. Established in 1974, National Volunteer Week has been endorsed by all U.S. presidents, governors, mayors and other respected officials since it was established. National Volunteer Week embodies the energy and power volunteers evoke on a daily basis as they lead by example; showing up consistently, being punctual, bringing insight and energy to the work they do and sharing their ideas with the agencies they serve. They not only encourage the people they help, but motivate others to serve as well.
    If you are a volunteer please know your work is very much appreciated. Here at Womancare we could not provide the services we do without our volunteer staff. They are phenomenal! You guys rock!

Ginger Hutchins
Volunteer Program Coordinator
Womancare

Historical Society wants you

To the Editor:
    Got some spare time? Like some great new friends?
    The Dover-Foxcroft Historical Society is a great place to spend some spare time on Thursdays. A group of volunteers meet every Thursday at 10 a.m. to work on our collections and our exhibits. Some of us are interested in the town’s history, others are interested in working with computers (we are all neophytes – and learn from each other), others are good at research, all of us look forward to sharing lunch with good friends.
    So, if you have some spare time on Thursdays, we would be delighted to have you come join us. If you are interested, stop by any Thursday after 10 a.m. or contact Mary Annis at 564-0820 or Chris Maas at 924-4553.

Chris Maas
Dover-Foxcroft

Fear prevents  open communication

To the Editor:
    Regarding the presentation of the East/West Corridor Proposal made during the Penobscot County Commissioners’ meeting on Tuesday, April 2, by Cianbro Corporation president Mr. Peter Vigue.
    Resolving conflicting perspectives under any circumstances can be challenging and at times an emotionally charged experience for all involved. However, in an atmosphere where there is a perceived threat of harm to one’s person, their property or proposal, whether real or imagined, makes finding common ground with opponents increasingly difficult.
    Resolving differences is necessary for us individually and as a society. But how can we rationally bridge what separates us in a setting where fear is present? Where concern for possible bodily harm from opponents of the proposal make police protection necessary for the presenter?
    And, where worry for potential loss of homes, farms and chosen livelihoods of those who may be in the way of the proposed corridor is fueled by lack of direct, clarifying information from Mr. Vigue?

Bruce McAfee-Towl
Dover-Foxcroft

Family matters

To the Editor:
    LD 209 an Act to Strengthen Grandparent Rights under the Grandparent Visitation Act is a bill that seeks to amend the Grandparent Visitation Act to include a definition for “sufficient existing relationship.” This bill will not just benefit grandparents but will benefit children who may be isolated from grandparents at a time when those children may need them most.
    It is a story that becomes more familiar every day; a family is in crisis and Gramma and Papa are called on to help raise their grandchildren. Currently over four million children live in grandparent headed homes. This number has increased by 20 percent in the last 10 years. There are many reasons for this including; an economic downturn, teen pregnancies, substance abuse, or mental health challenges that impact a family. Whatever the reason, it is obvious that the family unit is more unique now than ever before and grandparents play a vital role in the family system.
    Often times this arrangement works. There are times however, when this arrangement comes to a screeching halt following a divorce or death of a parent. In a moment’s time, the bond between grandparents and their grandchildren can be immediately severed. No good bye, no closure; just gone.
    Do parents have the right to do this? Yes, parents have a fundamental right to raise their children without interference from the state. Opponents of this bill argue that the bottom line is that parents have a right to promote or prohibit their children from seeing whomever they deem fit. I don’t disagree. However, there are times when families require support from outside the immediate family. For instance, when abuse of those rights cause imminent danger to a child we have a system in place that will step in to assess the situation.
    Another avenue to pursue when a family is in a parental right dispute is Maine’s family law system. Currently, in Maine statute, grandparents have the right to petition the court for visitation rights dependent on meeting the requirement of showing a “sufficient existing relationship.” That sounds reasonable until you realize that there is no definition for what constitutes a “sufficient existing relationship.”
    We as a nation have decided that grandparent rights are important. Every state in the nation has created and passed legislation to acknowledge the value a grandparent has with their grandchildren. This bill gives us the opportunity make a positive impact on families without creating any fiscal impact to the state of Maine. In other words, passing this bill will not cost the people of Maine a dime. That is good news for everyone.
    Passing this bill will show that we, not only, support the families of Maine but that we are paying attention to the citizen that doesn’t have a vote, doesn’t get to choose, and doesn’t have a voice.

Natali Plourde
MSW candidate 2013
UMaine-School of Social Work
Corinth

Tribute to a FA
football standout

To the Editor:
    Foxcroft Academy football fans and those who knew George Warren as postmaster for many years at the Dover-Foxcroft office should know that when he recently died at age 100, he undoubtedly had been for some years the oldest living football player as he played his last game as a senior in the fall of 1929 about 84 years ago at the field then located at the fairgrounds on Fairview Avenue, as it would be 14 years before the team moved to the new Oakes Field in the fall of 1943. He would be a member of the 1930 graduating class from the Academy which was located then in the school building on the land behind the Civil War statue in Monument Square. A page in the Academy Review of 1930 containing a writeup of the 1929 team lists just 16 players with 14 in a photo.

Warren,
FA Class
of 1930

    It had become a custom in that time for football teams at FA to be given a supper after the season was over. At the 1928 affair, George was presented his varsity letter, was elected by his teammates the captain of the 1929 team, and obviously had the honor of presenting coach Alfred Fortier with a pen and pencil set from the team and managers. The Review also said that Warren had played two years of baseball and basketball the same two he was on the football team.
    When the team defeated Howland in its first game of 1929 by 3-0, George was the first FA player to give his team the only score on a field goal for victory. That was 84 years ago when he was about 16. Manager George Dunham, athletic editor of the 1930 Review, wrote this comment about the Warren field goal: “… he kicked a perfect field goal from a difficult position.” It would be 58 years and 426 games later in 1987 when Roger Smith would duplicate Warren’s feat when his field goal was the only score in the game when FA won 3-0 in overtime over MCI.
    By the way, the lowest winning score by FA came 2-0 over Guilford in 1931 on a safety by Tony Sendzik who is in the Review picture of Warren’s 1929 team dressed in their “Maroon and Grey” (said the story under the photo) uniforms.

Lou Stevens
Sangerville

   George Warren, who recently passed away at the age 100, was believed to have been the oldest living former Foxcroft Academy football player. Warren, front row holding the football, was the captain of the 1929 team, and during the squad’s first game of that season a Warren field goal provided the only points in a 3-0 victory against Howland with the contest taking place on the field located at the fairgrounds. The roster listed in the Academy Review of 1930 has the players listed by last names, front from left, as Pratt, Sherrad, Lanpher, Sendzik, Harlow, Coburn, Warren (Capt.), Alexander, Lary,  Philpot, Noyes, Bonsey, Brown and Collette. Back, coach Fortier and manager Dunham.