The Right Stuff ... Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio? In 1968, Simon & Garfunkel released the song “Mrs. Robinson” and it was included in the famous movie, “The Graduate”. One of the more notable lines in the song is “Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio, our nation turns its lonely eyes to you”. DiMaggio, the star baseball player and former husband to Marilyn Monroe was already retired in 1968. Years later he met Paul Simon and asked why that line appeared in the song. DiMaggio was heard telling Simon that he didn’t go anywhere. Simon explained that he considered DiMaggio a hero and heroes were in short supply. 50 years later, we are still in short supply of heroes. Remember the Heroes: Our society tends to idolize famous people, which is probably why they think that their opinion matters to us. I am sure they feel justified since they have more Facebook friends and Twitter and Instagram followers than you do. But they are flawed as we all are, and in the internet age everything gets captured in a picture or video. Famous people also talk and Tweet too much, so criticism flows quickly. We know too much about everyone and we live in a culture
October 12, 2018
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where people love to tear others down. Heroes will eventually disappoint us and frequently a person is lauded as a hero and villain simultaneously. It’s difficult to find a hero that everyone can agree on, I don’t think we will.
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A friendly smile to a stranger
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Putting someone else’s needs before your own, even if it’s just for a few hours
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Calling someone who you suspect is lonely, just to say hello
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Praying for someone who is sick or hurting
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Helping your kids with their homework or their overhand volleyball serve
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Winter Park Times
HEROES OF TOMORROW
Ordinary Time: But there are heroic acts. Especially ones that don’t require you to be big, or strong, or young, or smart or brave. Ordinary behavior, by ordinary people, can turn out to be extraordinary. The ones that most people never notice or get reported in the news. Small acts of kindness and caring do matter. Some examples:
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We are publishing newspapers: October 26th November 9th ..then weekly throughout the winter. John DiGirolamo •
Sending a thank-you card, the old fashioned way, hand written and sent through the mail
Thank You’s LETTER 1
K
udos and thanks to the gardeners for Fraser and Winter Park for another season of beautiful flowers along US 40 and around the towns. It was a challenging summer weather-wise (hot, dry, and windy) but you prevailed. Your hard work and dedication to beautifying our community is greatly appreciated.
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Telling the truth when it is inconvenient
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Giving someone an inexpensive gift for no specific reason
Melinda McWilliams, Fraser
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Cleaning up after yourself even though you know your Mom will do it for you
LETTER 2
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Just listening when that’s all the other person really wants you to do
I could go on and on. Do something good that no one will notice. It’s worth a try.
B
ravo to John DiGirolamo’s editorial regarding the entertainment and the football entertainment industry’s bias, unhumor and stupidity. Well written, truths and keen insight. Keep it up! Frank Watts, Winter Park Highlands
The truth will set you free.
Effective leadership is crucial in the coming years. Effective local leadership is critical during economic boom times, which we are enjoying now. Growth must be managed effectively, and financial reserves bolstered in recognition of inevitable tougher times in our future.
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Winter Park Manifest newspaper.
My direct observations and knowledge of the office convince me Manguso has provided an experienced, The upcoming West Grand reasoned voice commissioner race, voted on during her first by all Grand County resiterm on the board. Andy Miller dents, provides a stark choice Her past experience between experience and the as the head of the inevitable risk of introducing another County Planning department also gives political newcomer into our local leadManguso an excellent understanding of ership. The race also raises questions Grand County land use regulations and concerning commitment to a political challenges. party. Effective land use planning not only Bill Thompson is a long-time Repubpreserves the landscape quality critlican running on the Democratic ticket ical to attract visitors; it is the key to against incumbent Republican Commismaintaining the quality of life we all sioner Kris Manguso. The method used enjoy. Manguso is the only present to gain a ballot spot in a party he has board member with extensive experino prior commitment to was complex. ence in this critical realm, losing her The fact a Republican chooses to run on input would gut the Board’s ability to the Democratic ticket says much about effectively deal with difficult land use Thompson. issues. After winning the Democratic primary against Commissioner Jane Tollett, I sat in on many County Commissioner meetings in preparation for my unsuccessful run in the 2016 Commissioner race. I also sat in on several years of Commissioner’s meetings while covering the county beat for the now defunct
Recently, she has been pushing back hard against consideration of moving the county jail to Granby. It is nearly impossible to understand why the county might again try to pull the rug out from under the small town serving as our county seat.
Thompson, a Kremmling rancher, has served as the West Grand Water Commissioner for nearly 40 years. Knowledge of the enforcement of water rights is certainly important, but this is a small part of the myriad administrative roles of a County Commissioner. The BOCC has always been well represented by a member of the ranching community. This segment of our county economy – critically important for the preservation of basin water rights and for conservation of open spaces – can only flourish if our tourism based economy also remains vibrant. My nearly 40-year involvement with local politics, presently as a Fraser Town Trustee, has shown our wonderful county constantly struggles to meet the challenges presented to our community because of our close proximity to the Front Range. As our water disappears, as I have said before in this column, residents will continue to pay increased water and sewer rates because of our increasingly depleted watershed. This year’s Fraser budget sees us sharing in a $6 million upgrade (with two other sanitation districts) to the regional plant brought about because of low river flows. Bill Thompson told the Middle Park Times in April he fully supports the Colorado River Cooperative and Windy Gap Intergovernmental Agreements.
Manguso has consistently questioned how we are presently dealing with further diversions from a nearly dry watershed. Although these agreements provide a first step toward funding basin impact solutions, visionary thinking will be needed to find monetary sources to fully mitigate damages caused by low water flows. Granby Commissioner and local rancher Merritt Linke continues to provide a strong voice for his segment of our community. New Fraser Valley representative Rich Cimino appears to be coming up to speed as our representative, but his short time in the county and lack of political experience continues to present him with a difficult learning curve. Manguso’ s in-depth understanding of both rural values and her land use planning background provide the broad-based experienced board voice we cannot afford to lose. Democrats should join Republicans to re-elect Commissioner Kris Manguso. Miller will likely scratch the last of his hair from his shiny dome trying to figure out the complicated November ballot. His main message for November? Vote! You can register anytime up until 7 p.m. on election day, Nov. 6. Govotecolorado.com Reach Miller at lonesomehut@lonesomehut.com
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