Shelter Island Reporter Letters to the Editor: Aug. 1, 2024
Save recycling
To the Editor:
The banning of “picking“ at the Recycling Area defies common sense. It wasn’t well thought out at all.
Perfectly good items and clean lumber are now being trucked to a landfill instead of being re-used in the community. It shows a complete disregard to the concept of recycling.
The majority of “pickers“ are seniors on a fixed income, single moms, and low income families. The C/D and metal piles provided a vast resource for struggling families to keep their homes warm, make repairs, getting bicycles, etc. for their children and generally improving their quality of life.
It’s sickening to see perfect items destroyed. What was the matter with the system that was in place of signing a waiver and buying a reflective vest, thereby exonerating the Town of all liability?
It seems the Town Board has no concept of the waste generated by this new ruling, nor the amount lower income people are being deprived of to improve their lives. It’s obvious the Board has adopted a discriminatory stance against lower income people who are the backbone of the community, providing services to those far more fortunate.
I urge everyone who disagrees with the ruling to make themselves heard to encourage this nonsense to be overturned. And, I urge the Board to open their eyes as to how much the lives of lower income people have been negatively impacted.
The day before it went into effect, I witnessed a father and son getting a pristine bicycle. The joy on the child’s face was heartwarming. The next day a similar bicycle came in that is now crushed instead of bringing joy into the life of another child. The thought of this is too much to bear.
Low income lives matter!
MAURY LASPIA, Shelter Island
Please help
To the Editor:
As many of you are aware, our local paper is in jeopardy of closing.
Several weeks ago a letter to the editor appeared in the June 13 print edition, falsely signed by an author claiming to be Nicola Peronace, daughter of Dianne Peronace, owner of the Shelter Island IGA.
To be published, the letter fit the criteria established by the paper. Unfortunately, the subversive author found a way to get past the required documentation to be published. We can only hope that our law enforcement agency will be able to find this person and make them accountable.
Since then, both the editor, Ambrose Clancy, and the publisher, Andrew Olsen, have apologized to the Peronaces for this incident, but the paper is now no longer being sold at IGA. This is a major hit for the circulation/distribution of the Reporter and I am asking for your help.
Nancy Green’s column in the July 18 edition of the Reporter (“When a Community Loses a Newspaper”) made points on several levels — we are a community unlike many others and rely on our community newspaper for both the trivial and the important news that impacts our little island.
As a community we have, and continue to support our local IGA, and they in turn support us by providing variety and quality products — we need their support of our community paper.
Please, I implore you to go into IGA and ask to speak to Dianne Peronace. Ask her to please reinstate the sale of the paper at her business. We need our paper, and our paper needs us!
LINDA ZAVATTO, Shelter Island
Cookoff coming back
To the Editor:
The members of Mitchell Post #281 are excited to announce the fourth annual American Legion BBQ Cookoff on Aug. 31, at 5 p.m.
This year 10 teams will be selected on a first-come, first-serve basis. If you want to compete and test your BBQ skills, please register by submitting your team name and roster to [email protected] no later than Aug. 16.
Additional event details will be published at a later date. We look forward to seeing you!”
Members, Mitchell Post #281
Shelter Island
