Letters to the editor: Rotary clubs unite to present Bull and Oyster Roast
Rotary clubs join forces to present Bull and Oyster Roast
To the editor:
For over 20 years the community has been treated to one of the most enjoyable and successful fundraisers in the area, the Rotary Club Bull and Oyster Roast.
This year the five Rotary Clubs in the county, Hagerstown, Hagerstown Sunrise, Williamsport, Hancock and Hagerstown Sunset, have joined forces to bring another exciting Bull and Oyster Roast.
On Sunday, Feb. 25, from noon to 5 p.m., the Dave Henneberger Memorial Bull and Oyster Roast and Casino will be held at Hagerstown Community College.
This year the tradition continues with fresh shucked Chesapeake oysters and fried oysters, Leiter’s Fine Catering delicious buffet of crab soup, hand sliced to your choice top round of beef, Hoffman’s famous “Sizzlers,” golden brown fried chicken, cole slaw, macaroni salad, cheese tray and cookies, along with beer, wine and soft drinks.
Along with the delicious food, this year we are adding blackjack tables and slot machines to the other games of chance and silent auction.
This is an excellent opportunity for friends to socialize and businesses to treat their associates, clients or vendors to an exciting and fun-filled time.
We hope you will join us and purchase tickets online at hagerstownrotarybando.org/roast-tickets.php.
Any questions, call me at 301-491-4002.
Jerry Spessard
chairman
Abortion laws show hypocrisy vs. criminal homicide case
To the editor:
I wonder if someone could explain to me how, when a pregnant woman dies of a drug overdose (as published in The Herald-Mail on Wednesday, Jan. 31), the drug dealer is charged with criminal homicide of an unborn child, while the lives of unborn children are being brutally ended every day by licensed medical professionals under the name of a woman’s reproductive health rights.
Do you doubt that it really is life within a mother’s womb? Check out “The One Question to End Abortion — What Is It?” on YouTube and put your logic to the test.
Sara Hollinshead
Greencastle, Pa.
Republicans create chaos to distract from good news
To the editor:
Does anyone else consider that the Republican “platform” is to create so much chaos, through rhetoric to draw attention away from the great legislation passed by the Biden administration?
Trump dominates the news; Trump sets the agenda. All news outlets ignore the great economic recovery in favor of the criminal and his latest whatever, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, Mike Johnson, Trump dictating legislation from his cocktail lounge at Mar-a-Lago!
Patricia Taylor
Williamsport
Republicans show they only care about pleasing Trump
To the editor:
The latest actions by the Republicans in the House of Representatives offer proof that they do not care about the country.
The only thing they are interested in is pleasing Donald Trump.
James Griffin
Waynesboro, Pa.
The school system is failing us, the kids and as a society
To the editor:
My name is Stuart Scott, a local to Williamsport, Md. I was born and raised in this small town along with generations of my family. I am writing to you today for the concern of kids' wellbeing at our schools in Washington County.
As a single father working a full-time job, along with attending Hagerstown Community College, I am deeply concerned for my child's protection in the Springfield Middle School. Over the past year and a half, I've had to endure my kid getting picked on and teased on a normal basis. We have had to pull her off the bus, as she would cry everyday from being bullied by an eighth grader and her friends.
She is bullied in school for what she is wearing, has the bathroom stall door kicked in while she's trying to use the restroom and gets messages on social media from kids trying to "fight" her and plotting ways to pin the blame on her. Now rumors are going around that once she goes back to school, kids are going to jump her.
As a parent, what are we supposed to do? Send our kids in hoping they do not get hurt from being jumped and worry everyday while we have to work? What I am trying to achieve with this letter is the hope of maybe finding some help to give light for parents like me, and the children that have to endure this in our school systems.
The school system is failing us, the kids and as a society. Change is highly needed for our youth.
Stuart Scott
Williamsport
The city of Uvalde and state of Texas failed in mass shooting
To the editor:
Steve Bell’s Feb. 4 letter to the editor saying I was disingenuous and misleading was his opinion. Uvalde, Texas was a mass shooting at a school.
This was an active shooter situation. They are unpredictable and evolve quickly. Typically the immediate law enforcement is required to stop the shooting and mitigate harm to the victims.
The police officers responding to an active shooter are trained in a procedure known as Rapid Deployment. Three-hundred-seventy-six police officers wearing bulletproof vests, Kevlar helmets and other tactical equipment, and armed with rifles, shotguns or handguns are there just to stand around?
You say the parents of the kids were there and wanted to go in, but law enforcement blocked them. It wasn’t the parents' job to stop this 18-year-old with an AR15. Yes, the city of Uvalde and the state of Texas failed.
Patricia Taylor
Williamsport
Zion Reformed UCC opens door and arms to LGBTQ+ people
To the editor:
After more than a year of discernment, prayer and discussion, the members of the Zion Reformed United Church of Christ voted Oct. 22, 2023, to become an "open and affirming" congregation, demonstrating a welcome of all people, including those who are gay, bisexual, transgender or questioning.
Beginning in 1969, the United Church of Christ has advocated for the LGBTQ+ community. From the campaign to decriminalize same-sex relationships to support for marriage equality, the UCC has made a difference in the lives of LGBT citizens and their families. The issues have changed over the decades, but the basic commitment to full inclusion and human rights remains the same.
The Zion Reformed United Church of Christ adopted this statement:
No matter where you are on life's journey, you are welcome here. Because Jesus has taught us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind, and to love our neighbors as ourselves, we commit Zion Reformed UCC to be an Open and Affirming church. We invite people of every race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age, marital status, economic circumstance, and physical and mental ability to participate and share their talents and energy in worship and sacraments, leadership positions, ordained ministry, lay ministry, learning, service, mission and fellowship. We believe that God is still speaking and with God’s grace, we journey together in Christian faith.
Let it be known that the Zion Reformed United Church of Christ has a message for LGBTQ+ seekers. “There is a church where you and your families are safe. Come check us out.”
While the Zion Reformed United Church of Christ is known as the oldest continuing congregation in Washington County, we are indeed still here and thriving in welcome.
Rev. Dr. E. Scott Winnette
Zion Reformed United Church of Christ
Hagerstown
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Herald-Mail letters to the editor for Sunday, Feb. 11
