The Cost of Living, 1917

Howdy neighbor!

First off, I hope I saw you at Winter Carnival. I know I saw a great many there; indeed, between the music, carriage rides, skating, chili contest, skiing, craft fair, Freezing for a Reason, fireworks and Ice Queen Pageant – congratulations are here due to Miss Sabrina Johns, our new Queen for a day — I’d say just about everyone who was able, made it to at least some part of the festivities. I am told the Chamber of Commerce annually prints 1,500 buttons and usually sells them all. It sure felt that way this year. Teams from as far off as New York State came up to take a dip in old Highland Lake this year, and I’m glad we could give them so wintery a welcome as we did. Usually out-of-staters from the Big Apple only get the cold shoulder when they come up in summer… I kid of course, we welcome them all, and a warm welcome it was; though not warm enough I fear to offset the shivers earned from a dip in the lake. I did notice the hole cut in the ice actively starting to refreeze around the edges as team after team summoned up the courage to take the plunge. Already folks in the know are talking about next year and laying plans for another Carnival, which promises to be bigger and better in just about every way. I, for one, am very proud to live in a town where these sorts of festivities are still cherished, for days like Winter Carnival hold in them a rare and wonderful opportunity. How many smiling children, laughing families, and ardent couples strolling hand-in-hand on the ice, got to enjoy a day of such spirited entertainment last Saturday, as would never have been possible otherwise? It makes the deepest, dreariest part of winter so much brighter, and I know many here are thankful for it.

But for today, turning from the carnival to a more pressing issue, I wanted to share a very interesting and certainly very passionate argument, which was made by the editors of The News in their number of February 23, 1917, on the subject of food prices. Then, in the midst of the Great War, food prices were also rising rapidly across America and creating a difficult situation for millions of families; meanwhile the explanation from the government, that the cause for this inflation could be laid at the feet of the ongoing war, was an argument growing remarkable stale among the public. So, newspapers across America took up the sentiment first expressed in the Boston Journal, in publishing a tirade against the dangers of unchecked inflation, or what they called instead, “The Enemy

COST, Page 4B ing Mother Nature wasn’t working with us. We would like to thank the Town of Bridgton and supporting clubs for all the support that we received. We would like to thank all the businesses that donated items to our Chinese Auction.

Thank you to: Noble House, Little Mountain Store, Firefly Boutique, Renys, Bridgton Books, Ruby Food, Macdonald Motors, Bridgton House of Pizza, Hannaford, Black Horse Tavern, Bavarian

Chocolates, Hayes True Value Hardware, Paris Farmer’s Union, Lampron’s, Beth’s Kitchen, Warren’s Florist, Unc’l Lunker’s, Colonial Mast Campground, Sportshaus, Mountain Range Golf, Morning Glory, Pit Stop Grill, New England Environmental Technologies/John and Carle Clement, Tasteful Things, Rolfe Corp., Ancora Italian Kitchen, Dirty Bristles, Sebago Store and many members who also donated items for auction.

This fundraiser helps to maintain the trails in Bridgton and keep the groomers running. We want to thank everyone that helped set up and clean up after the rally. We hope that everyone that came had a great time and we are looking forward to next year’s rally. Thank you to the Bridgton Community Center for allowing us to use your building and for all our meetings.

Bridgton Easy Riders Club

Jackie Barber, secretary

Maine’s COVID response

To The Editor: I read with some interest Jock MacGregor’s letter to the editor, “COVID, Florida, Maine” in the Feb. 16 issue of The Bridgton News since we also chose to spend mid-January through April in Florida to escape the cold.

COVID and how different states reacted to it will remain an issue to debate for years to come, and I’m certain we all will have opinions on the topic. That said, Brevard County did an excellent job arranging the clinics, and everyone in our Florida neighborhood chose to be vaccinated. Most of us also chose to be masked and did much of our “out to eat” dining outdoors or by ordering take out. Several of us did end up with COVID, but due to being vaccinated were only moderately sick.

While there are various points where I disagree with Mr. MacGregor, one point I feel needs to be noted. Florida ended up ranked right in the middle our states, recording 123.3 deaths from COVID per 100,000 population. Maine ended up third best in the whole United States, recording only 33.7 deaths per 100,000.

I thank Governor Mills and CDC Director Nirav Shah for saving lives.

Stephen Edwards Waterford and Merritt Island, Fla.

Shared values?

To The Editor:

While Congress debates and dithers over budget matters and possible cuts to Social Security and Medicare to help reduce the looming national debit, not enough thought is given in Congress to the billions of dollars in foreign aid that is spent by Congress every year. I’m not referring to the military assistance that has been sent to Ukraine in the last 12 months, although the amount of money involved is financially stunning.

I’m referring to the 3.8 billion U.S. taxpayer dollars sent to Israel every year since 2018 because it is our “partner” in the Middle East and because of our “shared values.” Yes, $3.8 billion, with little discussion in Congress and with no strings attached. This amount was agreed upon during the Obama administration and will continue until 2028 unless Congress can come up with a good reason to end, or to at least condition the handout.

Not only that, to date, the United States has provided