Pause and reflect

Many of us will once again observe Memorial Day by attending various services and parades remembering and honoring those individuals who died while serving our country.

Others may observe the day in a more private way by quietly visiting cemeteries where some of those who died rest in eternal peace.

No matter how we observe Memorial Day, we should all pause some time during the day and reflect upon a quote contained in a letter written by Abraham Lincoln to Lydia Bixby, expressing his condolences for the loss of her sons who died in battle during the Civil War. The words are inscribed at the base of the statue of Lady Columbia in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, located at Punchbowl Crater on Oahu, which I visited with my husband and which reads: “The solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.”

June Seichter, Wallingford

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Editor:

About 4,100 Connecticut residents per year still lose their lives from smoking. The fight against Big Tobacco is far from over!

Youth tobacco use has sharply increased in recent years due to the skyrocketing use of e-cigarettes. The prior progress made in reducing youth tobacco use is now in jeopardy. A well-funded, fact-based tobacco control program is needed to counteract the $60.3 million per year that tobacco companies are spending to market their deadly and addictive products in Connecticut.

Last year, our state legislature made a significant investment in the health of Connecticut’s residents by funding $12 million to fight tobacco use. I urge our state Senators and Representatives to prioritize the health of Connecticut’s residents by supporting $12 million in annual funding to combat tobacco use in our state.

Marci Baxter, volunteer, American Cancer Society Cancer Action
Network, Wallingford

Editor:

I read with great delight that Attorney Vincent Cervoni has tossed his hat in the ring to become the next mayor of Wallingford. Furthermore, Mr. Cervoni has served the Town of Wallingford as a member of the Town Council since 2010 and the Zoning Board of Appeals.

Now, let's look at his adversary, whose main claim to fame is he served 16 weeks of basic and advanced training and is not in the US Army but in the Army Reserve. Even his Democratic adversary has experience with local Board of Education and Inlands and Wetlands Commission. However, Riley O'Connell’s political career consists of wildly exaggerated claims and speeches against the current administration of wild and lavish spending but not on infrastructure and education.

Well, now that the warm weather will be upon us, individuals will be shouting for a water park, picnic area and the construction of a new high school. There was a clamor for pickleball courts which were developed at Harrison Park. We have a model Senior Center and a new hydrogen production facility being built. Hydrogen will replace both gas and electric cars in the future with no mining of cobalt but will use water.

Let's get behind progressive leadership and the wisdom that comes with experience.

John J. Anzidei, Wallingford