Mayor’s Row……by Ned Mitchell
We hope you had a joyous Christmas this year and that Santa did bring you everything you need! City employees, township employees, various board members, and elected officials from both the city and Goode Township enjoyed our annual Christmas dinner last Friday. The event was held in the upstairs of the Opera House Annex and was attended by over 100 people, including special guest Walter Vander who drove all the way from Florida to attend. Actually Walter was here to visit his children and grandchildren but we were most happy to see him and to visit for a short period of time. The meal was catered by The Opera House Café and was delicious.
Before the dinner we had a short program at which time we dedicated the upstairs banquet room in honor of Freelee and Sylvia Woll who from 1953 to 1958 operated a teen town and bowling alley at that location. Many in attendance recalled bowling in the room and others recalled the teen town. The room is now known as The Woll Room and a very nice plaque was presented to Freelee’s son Bob. Freelee and Sylvia had three children, Bob, Mary, and Mona. It was a special moment in honoring Freelee who was a school teacher and his wife Sylvia for their years of service to Sesser. This room is now available for rent to the public for any type of dinner, banquet, reception, party, dance, or other function. Alcohol is not allowed on the premises. Catering can be arranged or you can arrange your own. The cost to rent the facility is $35.00 and you may call us at 625-3611 to reserve the room. We want this facility to get a lot of use and that is why we have restored it. The room will seat and allow sit-down dining for 130 people with no problem. It has convenient large restrooms, central heat and air conditioning and can be entered either through a modern elevator or stairs. We invite you to visit the facility!
With all the confrontation this year about whether to say Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays, leave it to Congress to solve the problem. A resolution was passed in Congress by a vote of 401 to 22 that called for:
Recognize the importance of symbols and traditions of Christmas
Strongly disapprove of attempts to ban reference to Christmas
Expresses support for the use of these symbols and traditions for those who celebrate Christmas.
The 22 members of Congress who voted against this resolution were, now here is a real surprise, all democrats. Two of the Illinois delegation, Jan Schakowski and Bobby Rush, both of northern Illinois decided they could not support this resolution. Democrats and ACLU lawyers want to argue the concept of separation of state and religion. The Constitution that I have always read does not mention anything about citizens expressing any religion, but it does speak of the government not having an established religion. How we have got to this point is beyond me but it is no wonder that the democratic party finds itself having difficulty identifying with people of faith. Again, I am a democrat but some of those in power have me puzzled often. Our own Congressman Jerry Costello was a supporter of this resolution. Congressman Costello votes on behalf of people of faith when he votes. I have no idea what denomination he is of, but he does represent us well on matters such as this.
While we are on the subject of Christmas and the ACLU it was almost a Christmas that wasn’t this year. I heard from the North Pole that the ACLU wanted to have congressional hearings this year on Santa Claus. They were to be called Santagate and to be hosted by the House Committee on UnChristmaslike Affairs. Testimony was to be provided by the ACLU stating that Santa’s distribution of presents is unconstitutional. “By discriminating between naughty and nice children, Santa Claus denies them equal protection under the law” an ACLU attorney stated. “By not informing children of their naughty or nice status and providing a means of appeal children are denied their right to due process. These actions are clearly in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment.” Fortunately these hearings did not happen but it would not surprise me if they did in the very near future!
If you are an illegal immigrant the reformer/unreformer governor in Illinois has a deal for you. The governor has now proposed a program that will target illegal immigrants and offer them low interest guaranteed home loans. To qualify you must have no bank account, no credit history, and no Social Security number. Seriously folks, no kidding, this program has been announced by the reformer/unreformer. Not only is this program available but it is also set up so that if the borrower defaults on the loan the taxpayers pick up the tab and pay off the loan. This is about as loony an idea as I have yet to see come from this wonder of wonders governor. A Wisconsin housing agency launched a similar program not long ago and it took the Wisconsin legislators less than two months to outlaw the program. Some 67% of Illinois residents of age own their own homes while about 33% rent. How do these folks feel about financing homes for illegal immigrants? I would suspect they feel about the same as I do. If you want to stay in this country and work to buy a home, that’s great. Get a Social Security number and join in with the rest of us trying to live the American dream. Governor, I know your numbers are bad in the polls, but you need to quit pandering to blocks of voters such as this and start looking out for the rest of us. I know the bankers will love you for this safe deal for them but the rest of us will have a real problem with this program. If you have issues with this type of program call or write you state representative and state senator.
We at city hall want to wish everyone a very Happy New Year. We ask that you be safe for your own good and for those around you. If you must drink to celebrate the New Year please don’t drive. The life you save might be your own! As always if you have too much to drink and do not have a ride home our police officers will be glad to give you a lift to make sure you get home safe and unharmed.
The final chapter of the Home Depot scam is almost written. I thought I was in luck when I checked their web site and noticed they now had the on sale ladders in stock. Since the sale was advertised good until January 8, 2006 I thought I’m going to get that ladder at the sale price. No such luck, I requested the ladder at the sale price and Home Depot informed me that even though the sale was advertised until January 8, 2006, they did not intend for that ladder to be included. It only included ladders that they had on hand at that time, not ladders that would be restocked. I’ll keep after them until the sale ends though to make good on their advertisement. One thing is certain, almost everyone in the Marion Home Depot store knows me by name now!
If you need us give us a call at 625-3611, 625-5322, 0r 625-5788 or email nedmitchell@verizon.net or www.sesser.org we would enjoy hearing from you about things we could do to make Sesser a better place to live!
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