Editorial
Several years ago it appeared that some milk
companies were conspiring to predetermine for
which district a milk company would bid. Even
though most of them were invited by school officials
to participate in the bidding, rarely would
more than one company submit a bid. This resulted
in charges which were not always in the
best interest of the taxpayer.
This week, School District 22 passed a resolution
to have the District Attorney's office,
the Attorney General and the State Education
Department investigate the bidding practices of
bus companies. The action was prompted when
the Board only received one bus bid when it
had invited 17 others to compete in the bidding.
Another factor which contributed to the action
was what the Board considered a huge increase
in price by the sole bidder.
* * *
Another March on Albany will take place this
Tuesday, March 26. School board representatives
from Plainedge, Farmingdale and Massapequa will
press for a minimum State school Aid formula of
$ 800 per pupil from the present $ 660 aid figure.
A resolution was introduced by Trustee A. Terry
Weathers of District 22 which passed unanimously
that the State take over the mandated retirement
and social security costs for teachers and nonprofessionals.
Weathers pointed out that the State
mandated payments add up to a substantial portion
of the local school tax burden. He pointed out that
$ 1,435,000 will be paid locally this coming year to
the Teachers Retirement Fund and $ 145,000 for the
non- professional staff. ' This is ridiculous', Weathers
said. ' The State sets up a schedule of figures
for us and then insists that you the taxpayer pay the
bill. This is plain just not fair', Weathers stated.
We agree.
* * *
Several members of the press who attended the
final minutes of voting at Massapequa Park Village
Hall on Tuesday were upset. The patrolman on duty
had barred the press from the voting area. The next
day we received an apology from Deputy Inspector
James P. Murphy of the Seventh Precinct of the
Nassau County Police when we caUed his attention to
this matter. The young patrolman was not acting on
orders from the police department who always cooperate
with the press in their news- gathering responsibilities.
It seems that one of the appointed
village officials overseeing the elections had made
the mistake.
Dafebook
FRIDAY, MARCH 22
7: 30 p. m. Great Decisions Discussions,
Farmingdale Public
Library, Main Street.
7: 30 p. m. Family film program,
South Farmingdale Library.
SUNDAY, MARCH 24
6: 30 a. m. Following 6: 30 a. m.
Mass, Annual Communion
Breakfast, St. Kilian's.
3: 00 p. m. Dedication of new building
at Farmingdale Baptist
Church. Carman Road, South
Farmingdale.
12 Noon to 6 p. m. Rummage
Sale, Sisterhood of Farming-dale
Jewish Center, Prospect
Street and Cobb Place.
8 p. m. Testimonial Dinner for
Paul Tilford, Marc Pierre
Restaurant.
MONDAY, MARCH 25
8: 30 p. m. " The Three States
of Life*', St. Kilian's Mothers
Club.
8: 30 p. m. " Children Our Most
Important Product" skit, Main
Street PTA.
TUESDAY, MARCH 26
8: 30 pun. Conservative Club of
Farmingdale meeting, American
Legion HaD, Eastern
Parkway, Farmingdale.
WEDNESDAY, March 27
8: 15 p. m. Ninth grade students
and parents from Weldon E.
Howitt will meet at Farming-dale
Senior High for orientation
meeting.
THURSDAY, MARCH 28
9: 00 p. m. FAM Art Group meeting,
Marjorie Post Community
Park.
8: 30 p. m. Military Bridge, Sisterhood
of Farmingdale Jewish
Center, Prospect Street and
Cobb Place.
JTarmingftak GMuvrtwr
Published every Thursday by
THE OBSERVER. INC.
MYrtle 4- 6367
Frank J. Klesh - Caroline B. Klesh
Editors and Publishers
Vol. 5 No. 31
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Page 4
Letters To
The Editor
To the Editors:
In last weeks Observer we had
the " benefit" of hearing from the
anti anti- communists of our town.
Both these men contend the people
need not be frightened by communism,
but fearful rather of the
people fighting it.
Reminiscing on John F. Kennedy's
unique ideas, they neglect,
however, to recall that it was a
communist affiliated a s s a s s in
Lee Harvey Oswald, that snuffed
out our President's life. They
are trying to place a placebo in
our minds about the spread of
communism. That our misled,
misinformed, misguided society
will be pulled out of the muck by
the hand of Big Brother Social ism.
And isn't Socialism just another
form of communism. They are
alarmed if people try to inform
themselves on the subject of So-cialism-
Communism. The subversive
and insidious material the
Great Decisions program ( now
playing at our local library) espouses,
is their idea of keeping
the public informed.
Many Americans are trying to
inform themselves of the advanc -
ing forces of communism. This
awakening of patriotism has sent
the liberals scurrying to put down
the anti- communist patriotic tide.
They accuse the patriot, notably
the John Birch Society, of maligning
them, of casting aspirations
and of being political.
Can it be that their sub- conscious
guilt feelings cause them
to accuse the opposition of their
own sins. With one breath they
say they are against communism,
but also the anti- communist. Is
there any logic in this confused
delusion.
No, dear sirs, you can't fool all
of the people all of the time. As
Washington so aptly stated:
" Truth will ultimately prevail
where there is pains taken to bring
it to light."
Barbara Malloy
Dear Editor:
I bow my gray head to young
Mr. Gorton's superior information.
He, too, however, has misquoted.
It was John Philip Curran who,
toward the end of the 18th century,
said " The condition upon
which God hath given liberty to
man is eternal vigilance." Commonly
quoted " Eternal vigilance
is the price of liberty." - Bart-lett,
Famous Quotations.
In my long- distant girlhood, I
remember the modification as I
misquoted it, - " Eternal vigilance
is the price of peace." Back in
those days we tended to take our
liberty more or less for granted.
The corrected quotation brings
all the more sharply before us the
real danger to our community.
We can, if we must, live without
peace. We must not surrender our
liberty to this man and his little
group of associates.
When elected to the library
board, Mr. Gorton was quoted as
saying " We are taking over." No
such thing can be allowed. Control
of Farmingdale's affairs has
to remain in the hands of its residents,
not those of a group of self-styled
saviors.
Helen W. Meyer
Dear Editor:
The taxpayers of School District
# 22 have been hornswoggled,
hoodwinked, and had. Once again,
the indifference of the Library
Director and complete apathy of
the rrajorlty of the Board was
evicts ced at the monthly March
meet ng.
A simple request by the conservative
member of the Library
Board for the installation of a
flag pole at the Main Street Library,
so that the flag of our
land might be flown at all times,
was made way back in October
1967. Much to do was made by
the Library Director regarding
this project stating that an
architect would have to be consulted
etc. Each month the Director
has been questioned about
this project with very little
progress made until March 12th,
when it was stated by the Library
Director than an estimate
( Continued on Page 12)
People, Places
& Politics
* * * * * * * *
By Caroline Bunting Klesh•******%* »
The table " setting was formal. The menu included prime ribs,
peas with chestnuts, pureed carrots, chocolate cake roll with
chocolate sauce. Place cards for invited guests included the
first American to climb Mount Everest, Mrs. Scott Carpenter,
wife of the astronaut, several upstate and Long publishers including
place cards for my husband and myself. The setting was
McLean, Virginia last Thursday night at the home of Senator Robert
Kennedy.
More than 100 publisher- members of the National Newspaper
Association had assembled in Washington that morning for the
annual newspaper Government Relations Workshop.
In the morning, Senators Jacob Javits, Edward Kennedy, Robert
Griffin and John Stennis were on the program to address the group.
We arrived at 1 p. m. and just missed the luncheon at which
House Minority Leader Congressman Gerald R. Ford was the speaker.
There were two afternoon briefings. One by several Congressmen,
including Joseph Resnick, mentioned as a Senatorial aspirant
to oppose Senator Javits and one by the Comptroller General Elmer
B. Staats.
There was still Friday and Saturday ahead. On Friday morning
we were to hear top Treasury Department officials. The gold
crisis had just begun and Washington was buzzing. It was late
afternoon and we were getting tired. We decided to take a nap
before the newspaper reception at the hotel for Congressmen.
Then it happened. We awakened at 8 p. m. to find that the Congressional
Reception was almost over. The Long Island newspaper
contingent which included the Merrick Life and Smithtown Messenger
publishers had been whisked off to the Kennedy home. It was
too late. The dinner began at 7: 30. We had dinner in Washington.
Little did anyone realize mat in little over 24 hours the Senator
would make the announcement that he would enter the Presidential
race.
One of the saltier characters we heard was Congressman
George H. Mahon, a Democrat from Texas who is Chairman of the
Appropriations Committee of the House of Representatives. He said
what the United States needs is more do- nothing Congresses. The
more bills a Congressman passes, the more his constituents
applaud. Whenever legislation is passed it costs money. He said
there were never any Oscars given for Congressman, who disrupt
the passing of laws. There was never a testimonial dinner for a
Congressman who saved any money, only for those who passed a
bill for a program that would cost money, he said. However, he
did say that we probably could afford the war and money for domestic
programs, because actually the war is only costing us 4% of our
gross national product. He said the war cost 56% of expenditures
of tax revenue, however. He closed the long session with the words,
" Your mind can only absorb what your seat can endure".
After a brief stretch we returned to attend a briefing by the
General Accounting Office, an arm of Congress. This office,
often referred to as a watchdog for Congress, examines the manner
in which nearly all United States governmental departments and
agencies spend money; it reports its findings to Congress or Federal
agencies and it recommends ways in which programs may be
carried out more efficiently and economically.
Later we heard Elmer B. Staats, Comptroller General of the
United States and Frank H. Weitzel, Assistant Comptroller General.
At 8 a. m. on Friday morning we were given a tour of the White
House, a tour of rooms not generally shown to the public. Presidential
Press Secretary George Christian was on hand to greet our
group.
A briefing by the Treasury Department officials included Under
Secretary Joseph W. Barr, Assistant Secretary Robert A. Wallace
Special Assistant to the Secretary for Enforcement James B.
Hendrick, Deputy Secretary for Monetary Affairs Frank W. Sciff
and Commissioner of Internal Revenue Sheldon S. Cohen.
Paul Rand Dixon, Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission
made the point that even in a land of liberty restraints have
to be applied to preserve the freedom. He was referring to
unfair competition practices.
A briefing by the Interior Departmentgaveusan idea of the large
scope of this department in protecting the natural resources of this
country. Large emphasis was placed on research of the waters
of the sea. That this may become as important as space research.
A visit to the embassy of India briefing and tea was one of the
highlights of the day.
In order to realize the population growth in India, our host
pointed out that every two years that country produces another
Canada in population. He pointed out that even though their food
production has doubled within the last several years, it will fall
far short of their needs. Voluntary sterlization has been accepted
by 2.2 million of its people. Only a couple with three or
more children may apply for sterlization, he pointed out.
We also heard from other department officials including the
Federal Aviation Administration and the coming supersonic age
and what it will mean, but missing dinner at Kennedy's home was
a very big disappointment indeed. However, it was nice to have been
invited.
Lions Conduct Glaucoma Tests
David Weinblatt, President of
the Farmingdale Lions Club announced
this week that the Lions
Clubs of Nassau County will conduct
a Glaucoma Detection Day
on Thursday, April 25.
Weinblatt urged local residents
to take advantage of the opportunity
of medical specialists who
will be donating their time to
give Glaucoma tests to provent
blindness. The test is free to
those over the age of 40. Residents
may go to Mid Island Hospital
inBethpage, where the service
is to be offered from 10 a. m.
to 6 p. m.
Students To Attend PTA Meeting
Weldon E. Howitt Junior High
School ninth grade students will
attend an evening P. T. A. meeting
at the Senior High School with
their parents on Wednesday,
March 27 at 8: 15 p. m.
High School Principal John McLennan
will acquaint the students
and their parents with various
aspects of high school life. Construction
changes at the high
school will also be discussed.
Other high school staff members
will explain points of interest
to the ninth grade students
and their parents. After
the meeting there will be an
opportunity to see more of the
high school facilities while the
P. T. A. Hospitality Committee
serves refreshments in the cafeteria.
Farmingdale OBSERVER, Thursday, March 2 1 , 1968
