To the Editor:
According to all the members of the Medvil Association I come in contact with, I’ve got it made with the low rent my wife and I have been paying to Medford Farms’ management for 25 years.

According to the association members, it’s about time I paid my fair share!

Then, were I to join the Medvil gang, I would own one share of the park (oh, boy!).

I am 82 years old. What amount of years would it take at the exorbitant rent increase my wife and I would face to truly own my share of Medford Farms?

My wife and I have already paid $41,000 – give or take a couple hundred.

When will any of you have paid that much?

Get off my back, I’m too old to carry you.

Charles and Genevieve Danielian
Medford Farms

To the Editor:
Down a little dirt road, 10 minutes outside of Manchester, New Hampshire, is Goffstown’s Allard Park where, during a six-day period in August, life’s meaningful values are played out daily on a baseball diamond.

To the people of Goffstown, to the host families who opened their doors to our ballplayers, to those who ran the regional tournament and to the Allard family, we thank you for an everlasting experience that we will cherish the rest of our lives.

Mark Calderara
of the Vermont 2005
13-year-old state champions

To the Editor:
My 7-year-old daughter, Vivianne Schill, has been asking to set up a lemonade stand all summer, and I’d put it off as long as I can, knowing how much work is involved and how much I’d have to do.

Then Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, and I’m still glued to the news reports on television and online. This meant Vivianne was seeing most of what I was seeing.

At some point, she stopped begging to watch cartoons and started realizing what was going on.

She asked me, “Instead of giving 25 cents would it be OK if we gave $10? Those people need a lot of water.”

Then we saw other kids around the country setting up lemonade stands, and I know I couldn’t put it off any longer.
We spent Sunday baking cupcakes, juicing lemons, getting cups and lids and straws.

On Monday morning she painted some signs and was set up by 9 a.m. We live on S. Mast Street. It’s very busy, but she had to work to get people to stop. She spent seven hours waving, jumping up and down, sitting and hoping people would stop.

She learned a lot about work that day and how to stick with it when it gets boring. The in-between time was especially tough.

People did stop and they were so generous. We want to thank those people who made Vivianne’s day of raising money for the Red Cross and Habitat for Humanity a success. She never had to worry about making change. Everyone paid more than their share and many made donations, wanting nothing in return. Some even had to turn around once they saw the sign.

With the help of all those people she raised $150. It was way more than we had expected. I ’m proud of her and I know she feels proud of herself.

I want to mention that of the people who did stop, two had direct ties to Louisiana. One man, who stopped with his two children, told us of his sister who is from a town just north of New Orleans. She had evacuated to Atlanta with her four children but her husband, a police officer, had to stay behind. He is safe but not able to be with them.

This man reminded us that while people are being generous now, we need to remember this recovery will take a very long time and we need to continue to be generous in the months to come.

We also met a woman whose sister, a member of the Air National Guard, has been deployed to the Gulf Coast to help with any number of tasks.

These people brought it closer to home for me and for Vivianne.

At first, she’d see the pictures on the television and ask, “Is that real? Did that really happen?” Now she knows.
Thanks again to everyone who stopped and made the day so successful.

Christine Gagnon
Goffstown