tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1377411732843394854.post7544687115854144519..comments2024-02-18T06:41:44.121-05:00Comments on Thinking Out Loud In Sturbridge: The Unseen DamageUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1377411732843394854.post-34063901904726925762011-06-08T16:39:29.183-04:002011-06-08T16:39:29.183-04:00Mr. Chamberland,
Thank you for your continued hard...Mr. Chamberland,<br />Thank you for your continued hard work. While you are here, though, could you just take 2 minutes to jot a sentence down, if you know where our stone monument for the Veterans of WWII, and the Vietnam and Korean conflicts ended up? Can the stones be reused to rebuild it? <br />We have people here who are hurting from this loss, too. Yesterday we picked up the Town Common Newspaper and saw the huge picture of the "Sturbridge Colonial Militia" on the front page. The headline was "Sturbridge Honors its Real Heroes." One would think that a headline like that would have been over a picture of the parade stopping by our stone monument at the town hall which contained so many names familiar and dear to us.<br />In speaking with local heroes we know and love, living heroes from the wars from the 1940's to the present, I can tell you they are hurt. Please, just a sentence or two, to let them and their friends and families know why the monument disappeared, and what can be done to bring it back. Thank you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1377411732843394854.post-51813444050448598712011-06-08T15:43:33.159-04:002011-06-08T15:43:33.159-04:00Wally: As you commented you can understand the nee...Wally: As you commented you can understand the need for the caution by the<br />public safety officials. I am also glad you waited until sometime AFTER the<br />event to be a recorder. I can tell you that this past weekend was a<br />"nightmare" for those of us trying to help our residents restore their lives<br />a bit because of all those who, as some were well intended but actually were<br />a significant hindrance to effect clear up/restoration efforts buy not only<br />the Town but the utilities as well. RT 15 for example was one continuous<br />parking lot both sides, not only slowing down relief efforts but placing<br />their safety and the of others in jeopardy. The same can be told of all of<br />our streets in town. I estimate on Sunday alone our debris efforts were<br />delayed by some 5- 8 truckloads we could have hauled if the traffic was not<br />as bad. (a truck makes approx 7-8 loads a day under good conditions)<br /><br />I'm truly glad we do not have disasters like this very often, however the<br />"stay out and let recovery occur" is a message that was lost on a lot of<br />folks.<br /><br />Tom ChamberlandTomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1377411732843394854.post-31912928452753472862011-06-08T06:33:26.857-04:002011-06-08T06:33:26.857-04:00One storm. That’s all it took. One storm, to chang...One storm. That’s all it took. One storm, to change us forever. Most of us were lucky, some devastated. All were all changed.<br /><br />We’ve see people who were physically hurt, those who lost their homes, the parents who comforted their children, the little child who looked at the world broken all around him and announced that "it bumped and it banged” and it smashed everything, but, with a little sigh and a slight smile, repeated what he had been told. “It was just the wind.”<br /><br />“Just the wind,” and look what it did. Life is fragile, isn’t it? We have so much and take so much for granted. The more we get, the more we think we need, the more we compete to see who has the most, and on it goes. Then, one day, Mother Nature makes a call and suddenly we realize that we are all in this together. For a moment, the competition stops…<br /><br />We were all powerless together. Equal. All equally humbled in that few minutes of blackness and wind. And then it passed, and the following day, in the bright sunshine we looked at each other a little differently than we had early the day before. And we spoke to each other differently than we had the day before. We noticed each other’s expressions and looked at each other’s eyes. In some cases, for the first time, we got to know a person we thought we had known for years.<br /><br />Long into the future we will see the changed landscape around us, and perhaps, just perhaps, it will help us to remember where we found the true beauty in our town, and we will cherish it.Maple Leafnoreply@blogger.com