Mayor’s Row……by Ned Mitchell 04-19-2005
One of Sesser’s finest citizens has died. Mildred Fitzgerrell was 91 years old and a real asset to Sesser. She was a real community leader and contributed much to all of us. A member of the “Sesser Mafia”, she was a tireless worker on many causes and leaves a legacy for all of us to be better citizens and more helpful to each other. Mildred’s service is today. Mildred preferred to stay in the background and assist wherever she could. She did not want public recognition and I’ll honor that wish one last time. Suffice it to say she was a rock in a weary land and we are all better because of Mildred and her life.
Our town wide clean up campaign was a huge success. So huge that we did not get all of the discarded items picked up in five days and so we will be out picking up the remaining items this week. Some folks absolutely out did themselves by having a dump truck load of items at the curb and some folks hauled debris in from out of town, but despite those few rotten apples in the barrel, the end result is a cleaner town and a whole lot less junk in people’s yards.
The next step in the town wide drive is to get rid of unlicensed vehicles sitting in yards. Last year we hauled off 58 junk vehicles and from the looks of things we will beat that record this year. If you have a vehicle sitting on or near your property that does not have a valid license sticker and insurance, you will be given written notice from the police department and some time to remedy the situation. If you do not license and insure the vehicle we will tow the vehicle off. To get it back you will have to pay $100.00 for having a vehicle with no insurance plus whatever the tow bill is, plus a fine to the court for an ordinance violation.
We have some real good events coming up at the historic Sesser Opera House. On April 28th Bill and Laurie Sky will be performing in live concert. They are Carnegie Hall performers who play music on the guitar, chorded zither, mandolin, acoustic bass, harmonica, mountain dulcimer and other folk rhythm instruments. A really good thing about this concert is that no admission is being charged. Donations will be accepted, but you don’t have to pay if you don’t want to. The Sesser Area Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring this event. I understand the concept of being able to watch television and the quality of entertainment involved, but this will give us the opportunity to see famous television performers live and in person. It should be a really great time! We hope to see you there.
Other events that have been scheduled are the Sesser-Valier Thespians performance of Beauty and The Beast and that will be sometime in May. We will keep you posted on that event. Then on June 22nd we are extremely fortunate to have the Chicago Chamber Orchestra in concert featuring world renowned violinist David Kim. That afternoon there will be two free kid’s concerts where kids can be entertained and taught all at the same time from some of the world’s top concert master musicians. The cost for the evening concert is $6.00 for adults and $3.00 for senior citizens and kids. Tickets are limited for this event so if you want to attend you need to buy your tickets now. Tickets are available at City Hall by calling 625-3611 or at The Print Shop by calling 625-5322. You can also order tickets from Ticket Master if you desire. We expect this to be a sell out concert so don’t delay in ordering your tickets.
We have planted several new trees at Maple Hill Cemetery and donations continue to come in. Last week we received a donation for a tree from the family of Joe and Mila Coveglia. Their son, Joe H. Caveglia, will turn 85 on April 24th. I am sure Joe would like to have a card or note from Sesser area residents who remember him and his family. His address is Joe H. Caveglia, 203 Water Lane South, Levittown, N. Y. 11756. I believe this is the farthest distance donation we have received to date and it is good to know that folks many miles away are still concerned about Sesser. We’ll do our best to not disappoint you in all that we do.
The huge town wide yard sale event sponsored by the Sesser Junior Woman’s Club is coming up May 7th and this is a great time to rid yourself of some of that unwanted merchandise laying around the house. All those Christmas and birthday gifts that you cannot or would not wear out in public and household appliances that you just had to have, here is the chance to clear it out and make some money to boot. If you would like to have your name and address put on the yard sale map call Dana Miller at 625-6030.
Sesser residents Wanda Dorris and David Loyd are all home from the hospital. If you have not taken the time to send them a card or give them a call you can do so now. I am not sure on the status of Ila Wynn or Ruth Cantrell but I do understand they have had some difficult days so a card or phone call to Ila and Ruth would be great also.
While Nero fiddles, Rome burns is a good way to sum up what our legislators in Springfield are doing. We have now worked on a law to allow prostitutes to sue pimps and just last week we jumped in to solve the huge problem of school kids book bags being too heavy. In all of their wisdom, legislators have ordered a study done of just how heavy books should be allowed to be. All the while medical malpractice is rampant from every direction, the funding formula for education is way out of whack, the budget is 2 billion dollars in the hole and many other serious problems face us. It is amazing that any of these participants ever get re elected. Perhaps they will get down to business before long, we’ll just have to sit on the sidelines and be amused for the time being.
Check out our new web page www.sesser.org if you have a computer. I got an email from former Sesser residents Leon and Vista Elliston last week and they had found us on line. It’s a great way to see what is happening in Sesser and as always we value your comments and suggestions!
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