As the Wallingford-Swarthmore School District begins the search for a new leader for our schools, members of the school district community are writing to share our expectation that our next superintendent will offer proven experience in equity and anti-racism education.
We cannot say that a compassionate concern for the well-being and health and safety of ordinary Americans is what drove President Trump toward helping to facilitate the vaccine development process. He has always demonstrated that he is driven almost exclusively by advancing his own perceived self-interest. But these vaccines promise to end this pandemic far more quickly than might have been expected, and for this we should all be thankful and grateful.
Could you please consider making a small donation to support this year’s Holiday Basket Drive? Any contribution would be appreciated.
As we near the end of 2020, I find myself reflecting back over the last 11 months. But through all this turmoil, I began to see the many blessings I have experienced this year.
I can’t imagine New Year’s Day on our Swarthmore cul-de-sac without the otherworldly beauty of luminaria glowing in the dark. I have ordered a bundle of white craft bags from Amazon and will use the miscellaneous votive candles I have on hand to compile as many luminaria as I can for our street to enjoy.
I was quite pleased to read that Swarthmore Mayor Marty Spiegel had asked Police Chief Ray Stufflet to increase the police presence in the downtown area. I am not the only one of my friends who has complained about kids riding bicycles on the sidewalk along Park Avenue.
The Pennsylvania Vehicle Code, Section 3508 (“Pedalcycles on sidewalks and pedalcycle paths”), says: “A person shall not ride a pedalcycle upon a sidewalk in a business district… [and] ... shall yield the right-of-way to any pedestrian....”
As a service project, we are collecting new books and new winter clothing (socks, hats, gloves, etc.) for foster kids. You can make your donation through December 23. Look for the drop bin just outside the Swarthmore-Rutledge School building.
What does it mean when the attorneys general of 17 states pursue a patently frivolous action in the Supreme Court of the United States seeking to invalidate elections in four states (including Pennsylvania) and to strip over 19 million Americans of their right to vote? It means that they value preening in front of their base and a morally bankrupt president over their oath of office, their ethical obligations as officers of the court, and any pretense of common decency.
It is with great regret that we report that this year’s annual luminaria fundraiser has been cancelled. For so many past Decembers, community members have bought thousands of these candles, nestled in little bags of white sand, and lined the sidewalks with them, lighting them up at 5 p.m. on New Year’s Day. But it’s 2020; what more do we need to say?
I am delighted to invite you to experience the chorus from the comfort of your home at 7 PM on Saturday, December 12. This is an opportunity for friends of CCC to be reminded why they support the chorus and attend its concerts. For those unacquainted with the chorus, it will be a joyful introduction. All will experience one hour, in these stressful times, that will lift their spirits.
Thank you, Mr. Riviello, for your welcome defense of Donald J. Trump, Great President (November 20 edition). I do suggest that adding on some “hard numbers” to your argument, you know, to support the accolades, would make so much more clear the scale of his effects.
I believe each of us should improve the community we live in. I trust this letter will encourage neighbors in Swarthmore and neighboring communities to support the ongoing effort to have Pennsylvania join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI): a cooperative multi-state program designed to improve air quality and address climate change, which many other Northeastern states have long participated in.
I was deeply disappointed to read the letter from Jim Riviello, “Trump was a great president” (November 20 edition). The writer claims that Trump’s defeat will result in so-called “globalists” being allowed “back into control.” I call on all lovers of freedom, democracy, and religious liberty to oppose anti-Semitic rhetoric wherever it rears its ugly head.
The Grocery Outlet store at Woodlyn Plaza on West MacDade Boulevard is scheduled for closing no later than January 3. I learned this quite by accident, overhearing a conversation while shopping at the store a few days ago. Customers and staff (including management) are devastated. The store is well-loved by its patrons, both for the variety and quality of products (including fresh produce) and for the consistently caring staff who leave no customer concern unaddressed.
In November 2016, a group of local residents formed Swarthmore21. These volunteers organized to support an end to restrictions on the sale of beer, wine, and spirits in Swarthmore, with the aim of helping the borough’s business district become more successful. As a result of that initial step, a “wet” wine bar and restaurant, Village Vine, recently opened, and the Swarthmore Co-op can now sell alcohol as well.
On behalf of our pastor, the Rev. Catherine Thornton-Brownlee, and officers and members of Wesley AME Church, Swarthmore, we would like to acknowledge the service of love and kindness that has been shown to us by the members of the Swarthmore Horticultural Society and the community.
I write to express my admiration for Satya Nelms’ strong and realistic editorial in the November 13 edition of the Swarthmorean (“What Are We Celebrating?”). It is written with honesty in an authentic voice that needs to be heard.
Violence is natural. It is generated by the genetic agenda to survive and multiply inherent in all living forms. Aggressive conflict in human beings, however, is often motivated by a shame/pride dynamic. Americans have been taught to attack anyone who humiliates us. In any case, be it for the material necessary to survive and multiply, or for revenge after loss of pride, these conflicts are triggered by scarcity.
Calls for racial justice continue nationwide, and hopefully Swarthmore residents will keep discussing the issue within the community, and with our leaders, as we struggle toward more recognition and real change. I’m appreciative of the efforts of Swarthmore’s Human Relations Commission and the commitment of many Swarthmore residents working towards this cause. But each of us, surely, can do more.
