‘Blight on stilts’

To the Editor:

It seems like only yesterday that I spent 20 of my happiest years on Little Ram, some of them as the head of the Ram Island Association. Ever since, a tenuous lifeline to the Island has been a subscription to the Reporter.

During many hundreds of crossings over the first causeway, I have always wondered about the one house on it and the circumstances which permitted its construction.

Then I learned that it had burned down and now, most recently, about the Island’s failure to find an accommodation with the owner in a trade-off against rebuilding anything on the same site.

But it was not until I saw the photo in your October 20 issue that I fully appreciated this blight on stilts: a small motel is its only architectural relative, a series of rooms strung out in a row without even a pretense of distinction.

I gather that a stand of trees had provided some camouflage but, without them, it is just a blemish on Nature’s pristine face.

HENRY GOLDSMITH, Palm Beach, Florida

Ponderances

To the Editor:

Upon reading the October 20 edition of the Reporter, I found some very interesting material on the 4-poster in both the page 3 article and the letter by Richard Kelly to the editor.

On one hand, it appears the Town Board is interested and anxious to increase spending approximately two and a half times on the 4-poster with $40,600 allocated for corn to feed our poor undernourished deer population. On the other hand, it is a sad state of affairs to see Karin Bennett struggle, beg and grovel to obtain a few thousand dollars to help feed seniors and improve the Senior Center. I assume that if seniors were willing to eat corn, the problem would be solved.

The supervisor was correct to say, “Shelter Island is living in a bubble if you think we can just increase the budget like this,” as applied to Ms. Bennett’s request for funds for the Senior Center. If this is a standard then it should be doubly applied to the out-of-control spending for the 4-poster debacle. Patty Shillingburg should take a cue from Ms. Bennett and try to reign in this spending frenzy for the four-legged tick dinners that roam the Island.

From all accounts from the 4-poster zealots, by not bankrupting ourselves to fund, at best, a questionable project, we would be tantamount to Typhoid Mary spreading a plague. If this is so, then the senior problem would be solved; there would not be any seniors left to worry about.

As observed by Tristram C. Dammin, MD, in his letter, “The deer population over the winter appeared healthier with the corn from the 4-posters available.” I wonder if he visited the Senior Center. I also think it is wonderful we have healthier deer so they can feed and sustain more healthier ticks.

The next question is, are deer responsible for bed bugs? Next we’ll have to spray their provided mattresses.

On a more serious note, Patty stated that privately raising funds for the 4-poster was not possible, in part because “The deer and tick management foundation’s” position is that the health and welfare of the community is the government’s role. Might I remind her, we the people are the government, at least on paper.

Perhaps a look is in order into the Shelter Island ambulance, which gets substantial support from private funding and donations. It just may be the public at large views the ambulance as a truly worthwhile cause while not so the health of deer and ticks. Perhaps funding for the ambulance should be cut back as it does serve a large number of seniors and no deer.

I quote Ms. Shillingburg as saying, “Every person I’ve approached even to lift an envelope has said no to requests for donations.” This should be an indication as to how the public in general view this wasteful and unproven project. I think it would be much cheaper to spray all the residents and probably more effective.

I do have one final question as concerns this issue. If the 4-poster is deemed so effective and necessary for public health, why did the state and county abandon it? And so I leave this ponderance to you, the public, and why not?

JACK KIFFER, Shelter Island

Constitution course

To the Editor:

Hillsdale College is offering a free educational program called “Introduction to the Constitution.” It is a six-part series that is offered on their website. All you need to do is sign up. The free educational program is presented by Dr. Larry Arnn, president of Hillsdale College. The series will be archived so it can be viewed any time. It is being presented now. You can check their website for further information at hillsdale.edu.

MEDDI SHAW

Registrar, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution

Vet says thanks

To the Editor:

Thank you, Girl Scout Troop 1711, so much for your Veterans Day card. It made my day! I wish you all the very best and hope that your future brings you good health and happiness and, especially, no more wars.

ROBERT STRUGATS, Shelter Island

Mr. Strugats is an Army Air Corps veteran of World War II and Korea. — Ed.