A congregation of seekers
Interested readers are invited to attend a Sunday morning meeting of the newly formed Upper Delaware Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, which begins with refreshments at 10:30 a.m., in the Innisfree recreation hall, River Road, Milanville, near the Skinners Falls bridge. , Honesdale, PA, 11-18-1987
Unitarian Universalism provides a spiritual outlet and gathering place for people of varied heritage and belief, including Christians, Jews, atheists and others. None of are particularly missionary oriented, but we would like our presence known.
To give an idea what we offer, in addition to the Rev. Raymond Pontier, who provides a monthly sermon and organizational guidance, recent speakers have included representatives of the Women's Resource Center in Honesdale concerning domestic violence; an official from the NYS Department of Correctionals; an AIDS educator from the Pennsylvania Department of Health; a peace activist recently returned from South America; and a retired Princeton physicist who spoke about music and rythm.
Whatever a persons' belief concerning the nature of a cosmic higher power, if they believe in the basic goodness of humanity and hope to help make a better world, they are cordially welcome.
TOM RUE, President
Milanville
The Wayne Independent
The River Reporter, Narrowsburg, NY 11-19-1997
[and other area newspapers around the same time]
For rebels, heretics and skeptics
There are several of us who believe that this region is ripe for a "non-traditional" congregation for worship, discussion, and fellowship. In our opinion, the nearest contemporary religious framework to Unitarian Universalism might be the Society of Friends. And while we understand there is a meeting Grahamsville, there is no such organization in our area; nor is there a Unitarian felowship known to us anywhere in the vicinity. , Milford, PA, 09-05-1987
Meeting near the interstate Skinners Falls Bridge, the Upper Delaware Unitarian Universalist Fellowship recently elected officers to serve for the remainder of 1987. We intend to hold new elections in January. Hopefully, by that time our ranks will have grown considerably. This past Sunday, we had 25 in attendance.
Rev. Raymond J. Pontier, a part-time Narrosburg resident, is minister of a fellowship in Wayne, New Jersey, but has pledged to meet with our group once per month. Sunday services are presently being slated to be conducted by lay members with speakers from the community and congregation. Cooperative child-care during services is planned.
Modern Unitarian Universalism is described by some of its adherents as "a refuge for rebels, a haven for heretics, and a shelter for skeptics," according to a pamphlet published in Boston. It is an alternative to the authoritarian, paternalist structure of traditional organized religion.
Sunday services take place 11 a.m. each week at the Innisfree recreation hall in Millanville, Pa.
Readers of this newspaper who are interested in helping to build this new congregation are invited to call Rev. Pontier at (914) 252-7553 or Innisfree at (717) 729-7762.
Very truly yours,
TOM RUE, Secretary
Milanville
The Pike County Dispatch
[and other are newspapers about the same time]
A burden we all share
The Wayne County Men's Task Force appreciates the editorial support of this newspaper in the search for local solutions to the problem of domestic violence. ("Bettering the Batterer," March 26, 1987.) , Honesdale, PA, 06-04-1987
The purpose of the panel discussion, set for April 13 at 7:30 p.m. in the court house, is to attempt to address the roots of a burning social problem. A premise of the evening will be that while a period of inarceration may be warranted for some perpetrators of domestic assault, this response alone is not sufficient to break the cycle of abuse. Legislative action in this area may be required, to broaden the courts' power to rehabilitate.
On the other hand, some men might seek specialized group support and/or counselig voluntarily, if it were available. For many, it seems there is presently no place to turn.
We are pleased that administrators of nearly all involved social agencies in the county have agreed to speak or send representatives to answer questions from the public. This forum is intended as a first step toward an interagency dialogue and approach to the problem. Participation in the discussion by an agency does not imply endorsement of any program proposal which may ultimately result does signify a willingness to accept partial responsibility for a burden we all share.
All men and women who have an interest in the issue, or whose lives are affected by it, are invited to attend.
Wayne County Men's Task Force
TOM RUE, M.A.
Milanville
The Wayne Independent
Waning American freedoms
As a citizen of the United States, I strenuously object to being compelled by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) -- under an implied threat of termination of my livelihood -- to produce evidence of my nativity. Standing neither charged with nor convicted of any crime, I treasure my rights in this country to be let alone by authorities. , Honesdale, PA, 12-09-1987
Yet, in compliance with a new federal law expanding the powers of the INS, my employer recently advised me I must now show papers proving I am an American. This unjust law clearly places the burden of evidence on workers to show that they are not guilty of an immigration infraction.
Perhaps succombing to a degree of cowardice, I produced my passport. But I feel bound by a pledge I took every morning in grade school to at least express my dismay at the direction our government seems headed. Lawmakers, employers, and workers are urged to consider what kind of country we leave for our descendants if official intrusions to personal privacy are not challenged and resisted at every step.
It may not be pure hyperbole to suggest that by a combination of complacency and an exaggerated fear of outsiders, this nation could one day wind up abdicating its place in the free world.
TOM RUE
Milanville
The Wayne Independent
Times Herald-Record, Middletown, NY, 01-13-1988
[other area newspapers around the same time]
This peaceful vale
The plea by The Wayne Independent in its recent editorial for more caution on the part of the Independent Landholders Association (ILA) before making unfounded allegations is well taken. , Honesdale, PA, 12-22-1987
Bill Matz' untimely death must certainly have been a tragedy to his family and to others who loved him. And while I would not say he was ever a friend of mine -- divided as we were on issues and tactics -- I respected him as a person. It seems ironic then that the letter in the Dec. 7 Independent which appeared to be such a callous attempt to exploit a man's death for political purposes, was signed by six people whom I would expect to claim to have been Bill's friends.
An acquaintance of mine who knew Bill from psychology classes at Rutgers, and who also happens to be blind, some time ago drscribed him to me as kind, having helped her once to find some books in the college store, although she was a stranger. Too, a year or so ago I was given copies of a set of professional and academic references written for Bill by members of his university faculty, describing him in glowing terms for his work counseling with undergraduate students on campus, and with victims of sexual assault. It seems to me that these are human activities far more worthy of note or memory than orchestrating rallies or cranking out the seeming endless flow of public letters for which he was known in this area.
It has been pointed out by the editor of one local paper that while the recent letter in question was signed by the board of directors of the ILA, it appearently came off the typewriter of, and was addressed in the handwriting of Mr. Noel vanSwol of Long Eddy, NY, who for some reason elected not to sign the document. (I should add that I personally was amazed that a respected Wayne County historian of the reputed calibre of Dr. Vernon Leslie would put its name to such a seemingly scurrilous set of unsubstantiated misrepresentations.)
Even aside from the highly dubious charge that some nameless, faceless character murdered a strapping 33 year-old man by dropping an unidentified "slow acting poison" in his beer at a Honesdale bar, the ILA board described the burning of two river-valley homes -- of Laurie Stuart and Glenn Pontier of Narrowsburg, and Don Rupp of Barryville -- in certain terms as "arson."
Perhaps the ILA board is in possession of more facts than the office of the Sullivan County District Attorney or the NY State Police, which I understand have investigated both fires and have come to no such conclusion. And if so, legitimate questions might well be raised concerning criminal culpability of those boar members for hereto concealing such evidence, or even acting as accomplices in the commission of a felony.
But attempting to link the hotly contested recent Wayne County coroner's race to the matter of the National Park Service (NPS) on the Upper Delaware is a cheap political trick, as you implied in your editorial; perhaps even comparable to earlier attempts by the ILA to draw a sinister conspiratorial link between the NPS presence on the river and the Army Corps of Engineers' locally unpopular plan to modify the Prompton Dam -- or a different letter by Noel vanSwol, linking the river issue to the now abandoned proposal by the federal government and State of New York to build an immense "super-collider" in the Town of Mamakating, Sullivan County. Such tricks seem to have become typical ILA fodder, but only betray the organization's desperate grasping for real issues.
Clearly, the Park Service is on our river to stay, for better or worse. The River Management Plan is now in place and will officially go into effect a week from next Monday, Jan. 4. 1988, unless Congress takes some drastic unexpected action before then. If township governments refuse to come to terms with this reality, it does not seem impossible that they themselves could eventually bring about the very dire consequences of massive federal land condemnation ballyhooed by NPS opponents for so long.
Finally, I express my dismay and strong objection to the ILA's so-called warning of possible impending terroristic "reprisals" for the death of Matz, to be directed against innocent valley residents who may not be aligned with the ILA's particular political agenda. This seeming veiled threat reminds me of other statements -- declarations of "gorilla [sic] warfare (Don Rupp, 7/86), a warning to river planner Chuck Hoffman that he "had better be bullet-proof" (Bill Matz, 8/86); or a statement to the Wayne County Commissioners, attributed to several ILA members that "we are expecting bloodshed in this valley" (Independent, 12/30/86, p. 2A.)
If such iolence ever were to mar this peaceful vale, law enforcement agencies should begin their investigations directly with the board of directors of the ILA, along with a half dozen or so others whose names would be provided upon request.
TOM RUE
Milanville
The Wayne Independent
Column proposed
Kathy Werner's "Lifelines" column has certainly generated a lot of reader response, and not without good cause. But it is important not to lose perspective of either Ms. Werner's right to speak her conscience, or of the Democrat's unaliable privilege to print it. It is good to see a newspaper take an interest in a controversial but socially significant matter. , Callicoon, NY, 08-14-1987
Making choices is what life consists of; and hearing or reading both sides of an issue, readers become better equipped to make major life decisions.
To aid pregnant young women in making their choices, perhaps your newspaper could feature a column comparable to Mrs. Werner's -- but to be written by a local member of NOW or Planned Parenthood.
Such a "pro-choice" column appearing concurrently with or in an issue prior to or following each anti-abortion or other similar column would be a constructive step toward establishing a more reasonable editorial balance.
TOM RUE
Milanville
The Sullivan County Democrat
Open Skinners Falls Bridge at least part time
(Copy of a letter to Foster Sankey, District Bridge Engineer of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation) , Honesdale, PA, 05-14-1987
Dear Mr. Sankey:
Last year the Milanville business community, such as it is, was devastated by the season-long closing of the bridge over the Delaware River at Skinners Falls. A general store, a youth hostel, and several other establishments here depend on summer tourist traffic, attracted in large part by the rapids and river access on the New York side of the river.
As you may recall, residents collected several hundreds names on a petition and letters appeared in area papers urging PennDOT to take into account local needs in its repair schedule for the span. All this comment seems to fall on deaf ears.
The repairs were certainly welcome, but they were contracted for completion by October 31, 1986! While the general contractor must share part of the blame, Postupak Painting Co. of Wilkes-Barre is the subcontractor responsible for the delay. Their troubles las summer indicate they apparently failed to take into account the expense of keeping poisonous lead-based chips out of the river, when management submitted their bid for sandblasting and painting.
Now PennDOT tells us our bridge will be closed for the first four to six weeks of yet another season.
During hours when work is not being performed we see no reason in the world why that bridge could not be opened to traffic. There is no question that it is now structurally sound. But presently, it is blocked by heavy equipment.
It does not seem that it would be a hardship on the workers to spend 15 minutes each day cleaning up after themselves, and setting up structure while the job progresses.
Very truly yours,
Innisfree Youth Hostel
Tom Rue
Hostel Manager
The Wayne Independent
[and other area newspapers about the same time]
The wheels turn
To the Dispatch:I read with interest your April 9 page-one report that attorney John A. Wittmack of Lords Valley had been disbarred from the practice of law by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. , Milford, PA, 04-16-1987
According to your account, Mr. Wittmack was found to have committed forgery and failed to disclose conflict of interest to a client.
My acquaintance with Mr. Wittmaack goes back several years.
It is heartening to see that while the wheels of justice sometimes turn slowly, the system does work.
Very truly yours,
Tom Rue
Milanville
The Pike County Dispatc
See also letter of 01-23-1992
All the best
I was somewhat dismayed at the editorial page editor's decision to publish a personal attack on myself, written by my seasonal neighbor, Mr. Richard Matz, of Union City, N.J. , Honesdale, PA, 02-26-1987
If it were not for the goodwill I feel toward your usually fine newspaper, Park Communications, The Wayne Independent and Mr. Matz might well have found themselves defending in a libel action.
One thing that keeps me from developing ulcers is that my temperment is not inclined to lawsuits, even when my attorney advises me that I have a case, though I firmly believe that our American judicial system is an alternative far superior to invective and innuendo or threats of violence, war against the government, arson or bloodshed.
As a former minister of the gospel, and now as a human service professional and sometime journalist, I have seen fanaticism before. It wears many faces and hides behind many disguises.
My chief objection to Mr. Matz's February 17th diatribe, and others like it, has nothing to do with the National Park Service or Delaware River, but rather with the senseless hatred, discord, and intolerance they sow among neighbors.
In the spirit of Him who urged us to bless them that curse us, Mr. Matz, I wish you all the best.
Tom Rue
Milanville
The Wayne Independent
[and other area newspapers about the same time]
Living together
It is a tragic irony that the nation's interest, as defined by Congress, in preserving the natural beauty of the Upper Delaware River has aroused such an uproar among some local residents. The real tragedy of the federal presence here is that it seems to have sparked a controversy which has divided neighbor against neighbor, marked not only by derogatory names and character assisinations, but also by violent metaphors or threats of war against the government, armed fighting, arson, and bloodshed. , Scranton, PA, 01-20-1987
Likewise, there are steps that park service planners could take to increase public confidence. Meetings which are closed to the public and not announced in the press (such as in White Lake, NY last month) do little to enhance the service's image. And the arguably unilateral manner inwhich the so-called "sanctions" against nonparticipating towns were inserted into the the nearly cmpleted management plan, allowing no vote by the Plan Revision Committee, seems not to have been in keeping with the promise of a locally written plan.
Some here fear that the National Park Service is trying to take away our homes, and predict that severe land use restrictions, if not outright massive condemnations, are imminent. There are assertions from some quarters that the guarantees contained in the plan are not to be relied upon. In few circles, NPS opponents point out, has the U.S. Department of the Interior ever had much of a reputation for honoring treaties.
So if there continues to be an organized group or groups which think they have a viable cause or a chance for deauthorization, let them file a class-action lawsuit and stop talking about it. But once it's filed, let the matter go. Wait to see what the federal courts have to say. Perhaps the Supreme Court will overturn the intent of Congress. That happens sometimes; it's how America works, for better or worse. Give it your best shot.
In the November election, voters in the precincts of Damascus, Buckingham and Manchester townships reaffirmed their electoral support of Rep. Joseph McDade (R-Pa-10), whose influence largely is credited with bringing the NPS to the valley. This local vote of confidence came despite the political hay McDade's challenger attempted to make of the convoluted river mess.
Few, if any, sources in Congress predict much of a chance for success for any movement to repeal the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.
The name-calling (NPS quislings, river crazies, commie parkies, woodchucks, "EFO" fanatics, closet conservationists, yahoos, NiPS, and worse) has been two-sided and slices to the heart of an otherwise noble community. None of us are guiltless, to be sure. But all the epithets do is to illustrate how little the person hurling them knows about his or her perceived opponents.
There are numerous other social concerns much more pressing on the needs of this community than whether the NPS should be on the Upper Delaware River. I, for one, have heard enough of it, though unfortunately probably not the last of it. The fact is, they are here.
Our task is to live together.
TOM RUE
Milanville
The Scranton Tribune
[and other area newspapers about the same time]
03-24-1998
