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DAY - D. Tatlock To find out who your legislators are, visit the Massachusetts legislature's website at www.state.ma.us/legis . Or just look at the bottom left hand corner of the home page. Send all snail mail to: The Honorable (name of your state representative/state senator) State House, Boston, MA 02133. Your representatives all have e-mail addresses as well. Sometimes it is a good thing to live at the top of a hill.
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My wife and I were married in Petersham on Sept 22 of this year. I’ve been coming to Petersham ever since I was a boy; my Uncle had a place on Leighton Rd, and my Dad’s best friend was Windy Anderson, the Fire Chief. I’ve hunted in, fished in, and loved Petersham all my life. To me it’s the quintessential New England town. As the words of “Doc” Grisham (Burt Lancaster’s character) from the “Field of Dreams”, “Once a place touches you like this, the wind never blows so cold again”. During our wedding, we unfortunately interrupted the peace rally that was being held on the steps of the Church. We also, for the sake of photographs, took down the banner that was on the Church. Little did we know how much controversy there was regarding this banner. To folks on both side of the issue, we apologize. It wasn’t our intent to disrupt nor to disrespect. After the ceremony, most of the rest of my guests had left for the reception. We were finishing up the photos, when folks for the rally started to show up. It was obvious how much we had upset folks, and we really didn’t mean to. Now, I have to admit that my Dad, an Army man, may not have agreed, but my Mom raised me right. I did the only thing I could do; I ended up on the ladder putting the banner back up. Lucky for us, we had the photographer there to capture all the evidence! The thing I wanted to say though was this: I know that tensions may be strained due to the opinions and feelings of both sides to this issue. And I don’t want to offend either one. But I hope we can keep a couple things in mind. First off, we live in a wonderful country where even if I don’t approve of someone’s message, they have the right to say it! That is a freedom and a right that much of our world does not enjoy. And that’s one of the things that both sides of the argument are fighting for. The second thing is that peace begins at home. I’m proud to have helped folks with putting up that banner, even if I disagreed with them. And I’m glad my kids saw this event; an olive branch often takes the most unlikely form. Stealing terms from the 60’s, if Hawks and Doves here can’t get along, how can we hope to mend fences across the world? Issues that are facing our country, our world, and our children right now are very difficult. And they do tend to invoke severe reactions out of some folks. But I hope that as time goes by, folks on different sides of the fence can take a moment to notice that their neighbor on the other side isn’t so bad after all. Thanks everyone! We’ll see you at our anniversary! John S. Covey,
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