Letter to the Editor
Volume VII Number 51
December 23-30, 1999

Please, One More Christmas Book

Dear New Bay Times~Weekly:

"The Gift of Reading" (Commentary, Dec. 18-22) offered some great Christmas books to enjoy. May I add one to the list: The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg. This Caldecott Medal book is a story to be enjoyed by all ages. The illustrations are lovely line drawings that convey the magic of the story.

A young boy boards The Polar Express to the North Pole, where Santa chooses him to receive the first gift of Christmas. He chooses one silver bell from the reindeers' harness. On the trip home, he realizes the bell is lost. But on Christmas morning, the bell appears under the family tree with a note from Mr. C.

Both the boy and his sister felt the bell was the most beautiful sound they had ever heard. Yet their parents heard nothing. As he grows old, the boy realizes the bell still rings for him and all who truly believe.

I Hope NBT readers find time to share this book and hear the bell with a child especially one who may have questions.

-Bebe Murry, Annapolis

Deale Safeway Supporters Speak

Dear New Bay Times~Weekly:

I take issue with your editorial "From Puget Sound to Chesapeake Bay" (Dec. 9-15). You assume that the majority of residents in the area are opposed to a Safeway supermarket being built here. You are mistaken and biased. I believe if all the residents in the area are polled, that a majority will favor a Safeway store.

Your comparison of the picketing and protest at the WTO meeting in Seattle is incredible. Perhaps it's the individuals who vocally oppose the new Safeway store that are attempting to force their will on the majority of area residents who favor building the new store. So far, those residents who favor the new Safeway store have been silent for the most part.

Please consider that many individuals do not like confrontation that could involve their neighbors. They are reluctant to speak out when there is an obviously well-financed and organized effort by some local businesses and some other area residents to keep Safeway out.

-Robert J. Howard, Churchton

Dear New Bay Times~Weekly:

Regarding your editorial Dec. 9-15: I couldn't believe what I was reading. What is happening in Seattle is a far cry from what is happening in Deale, and by doing this you are giving creditability to a small group of people who have put the scare in South County residents, making them think that building a new shopping center is a threat to our way of life.

I live in Shady Side and I want the Safeway to come to Deale, my wife wants it to come too, and many other folks I know want it as well. We are not alone.

I believe the majority of those who oppose the Safeway are those who have come to South County within the last 10 years and are contributing to the problems they fear. If they had not come to South County and built their fancy waterfront homes, there wouldn't be a need for the Safeway.

Don't you think it is a little ridiculous that the owner of the Food Rite in Deale hired a lawyer to fight the grocery chain from coming to Deale? Hello: It's called competition.

The Safeway will benefit all of us. Instead of driving our gas-guzzling SUVs up to Edgewater or down to Dunkirk, we can take a short drive to the Safeway in Deale. I bet you those folks who raised a big stink will be there shopping, too.

-David Ropiski, Shady Side

| Issue 51 |

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