Letters to the Editor for Monday, September 1, 2008

Published: September 1, 2008

Questions and musings for Labor Day
As we pause to celebrate another Labor Day and reflect on years past, we must first ask ourselves, are we better off this year than last? Do we need to ask — are our bills greater than our income? We need to find out the cause of such questions.

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It is not hard to figure out because the cost of food, fuel, medicine and everything necessary for human existence has gone up, up and up … out of our reach.

Nobody that we vote for to look out for working class Americans seems to care as long as they get their part of the pie. Greed has taken over, and our sense of shame has gone out of the window. Patriotism is a word that we rarely hear anymore because our children are beginning to ask where has our pride gone, especially since we expect them to act differently when all they see every day in church, in school and in the halls of city and state government is more greed and self-serving adults.

After watching Bill Cosby on the Oprah show, never have I seen anything as eye opening and honest as he explained the state of conditions that are present in the United States today. As one of the most important steps in the solution to our problems, he suggested that we have to start parenting and supporting our school systems. This is the only hope we have to save our children and this country. Our churches should not be half empty at a time when our moral values are being questioned all over the world. Looking back on my 50 years of public service, three of which were spent in the U.S. Marine Corps, I must think of the good that came out of those years, rather than to think of the state that we find our country in today.

In closing, this is to be my last Labor Day letter as president of the Central Virginia Labor Council. It is now time for me to pass this responsibility on to the more vibrant youth of today who impress me as being ready and able to take on such a task. As they take on the task, it seems as if they will introduce programs and activities that will eliminate much of the greed and also bring back the most beloved term: patriotism.

To my friends and family, I want to thank you for your support. To my union family, this has been one of the greatest life experiences that any man could ever hope for.
WALTER FORE
Lynchburg

Harps of gold
We thought we had died and gone to heaven! We are not likely to see and hear eight harps in one place again.

On behalf of Grace Memorial Episcopal Church, thanks to all who came to the Aug. 17 harp concert and to the musicians who offered the concert free of charge to benefit the Gateway program. We are grateful to all who filled the church, stood along the walls, filled the hallways, searched for parking and walked for blocks to get here.

Due to your generosity we were able to give a generous check to Gateway.
The Rev. CATHARINE W. MONTGOMERY
Grace Memorial Episcopal Church