Members of the Albamontis' extended canine family, luxuriating in Florida
The Stonington Intelligencer
Letters to the Editor
The Stonington Intelligencer welcomes letters and comments from its readers. All correspondence should be sent here in electronic form. The Stonington Intelligencer reserves the right to edit any letter prior to publication for length, spelling, punctuation and to decline to publish any letter it feels is not appropriate to its readership.
Remember, older letters will be found at the bottom of the page, while newer letters will appear at the top.
Received 17 September 2007
Hi,
Name is Ron and I live in Summerville, SC.
I was born and raised in Poquonnock Bridge, move down South about 30 years ago.
In the middle 60's I rented a flat from Tom Powell at 9 Church St. and lived there for two years.
During that time I worked part time at the IGA store which is long gone.
I think the Sandy Point view is nice, however I used to enjoy the old webcam site from a few years ago. I don't remember where it was located but it was always fun to look at it during the winter and try to figure out what that white stuff was that collected on the ground. (hi-hi)
Maybe you could show Sandy Point in Summer and Hancock St. in Winter.
Either way is great to see a webcam operating again in Stonington.
Keep up the good work.
¬Ý
¬Ý
Dear Mr Reber,
Thank you for your letter. About the webcam, the old one, which I rather proudly claimed to be The Most Boring Webcam on Earth’Ñ¢, it looked out on Diving Street, activity levels in which are, let's be honest, the urban equivalent of watching grass grow. Very subtle, very zen, I guess. Lots of weekend people liked it, mostly I think so they could check in winter to see how much snow had fallen and whether or not they should call the kid to shovel their sidewalks before the Borough sidewalks commissioner could give them a ticket.
The Sandy Point view is pretty after the sun's up (the rising sun kills the camera) but it is limited once the sun's down, that's true. We're replaced it temporarily with a view of the intersection of Hancox and Diving Streets, which mostly shows us Toddy Agranwitch's excellent parking skills. Is that a better view? I'm not sure. But anyway, I've put up a poll here on the webcam page so that Stonington Intelligencer readers can voice their opinions as to what and where the webcam should face.
Thanks again for writing and stop back again.
*
Received 17 September 2007
As one who has been away from Stonington for more than 20 years, I would add my voice to those who wish you would restore the obituary section. It was for those notices, more than anything else, that I checked your site regularly. Thanks.
Lewy Olfson
Madison,Wisconsin
Dear Mr Olfson,
Thanks for your opinion. As you'll notice from the Home page of the Stonington Intelligencer, I've heeded your and other folks' words. There is once again an Obituaries page.
*
Received 22 August 2007
Dear Mr. Davies,
No need to print this, unless of course you are duty bound to do so.
I was wondering about whether you intend to add an archive section that could encompass what went before; that is all or at least the most recent past issues of the Intelligencer?
And to the question of renewing the obits page/section I for one would welcome it added back into the paper. It helps inform those who are away from the Borough but want to know what is happening in the community.
Thank you for your consideration.
Dear Mr James,
One thing I've decided, since reopening The Intelligencer, is that I will pretty much do what I feel like and what I feel is appropriate, which is, I acknowledge, a pretty flexible guideline but it works for me. So don't worry, I'm happy to post a second note from you.
Basically, I mooch space on a server and, while an acknowledged shnorrer, I don't think I can in good conscience, as much as I would like to, take up all the space needed to maintain proper archives for The Intelligencer. So, for the time being at least, The Intelligencer will stay an "ephemeral" publication, although I have saved previous numbers on CDs and plan to give them all to the Stonington Historical Society.
As for an separate "Obituaries" page, I wonder if other readers feel that would add an important element to the mix that is The Intelligencer, a mix that, I admit, I am still playing with.
*
Received 22 August 2007
Dear Mr. Davies,
I too am glad your local electronic newspaper is back. Keep up the good work!
I was wondering if you might be so kind as to print the enclosed copy of my mother's obituary for those who might have missed it in the Day.
(Though probably only a handful or more of my mother's contemporaries are still alive or residents of the Borough and surrounding communities it would be good to let them know of my mother's passing).
Thank you in advance for whatever you are able to do for her memory to live among her friends.
Most sincerely,
Carter R. James & family
14 & 16 Main St., Stonington Borough (Summer, mostly)
Home address & all correspondence: 2172 Lily Hill Road
Pawlet, VT 05761
Elizabeth Horner James
Stonington, CTElizabeth Horner James, 90, died peacefully August 10th, 2007 in Manchester, VT
She was born in Baltimore, MD., Dec. 29th 1916, the youngest daughter of the late Colonel Frederick Cecil Horner and Miriam (Ranson) Horner, of Washington D.C., and Stonington, CT.
She resided in Stonington during summer and kept her main residence in Englewood, New Jersey where she lived with her late husband, Denis N. R. James. In 2002 she moved to VT to recuperate from surgery, and to be closer to her son, Carter Reynette James, and his wife Susan Iselin Gilbert James, and their two children, Braxton I. James and Tracy Noelle James.
Elizabeth lived her life to the fullest and traveled widely. She spoke French and some Italian. She studied to become a Literacy Volunteer of America and considered education to be of primary importance for all people. She enjoyed membership in the Garden Club of New Jersey for many years. Elizabeth was an avid swimmer and tried to swim several times each day when time allowed.
She loved the arts and music in particular and cherished her friends and their presence in her life.
Private memorial services will be held at a date to be announced by the rector's of the churches she attended.
Dear Mr James,
Thank you for your letter and for the obituary of Mrs James, which you will find above. I am wondering seriously whether or not I should restore the Obituaries section of the Intelligencer, which I do think a lot of people found useful and interesting. (If I do, I will move your mother's obituary into it.)
*
Received 21 August 2007
[Janis Albamonti replies to a question from Yours Truly about the rumor going round the Borough that she and her husband Ron are planning to return to Stonington:]
Yes, and I truly can't wait. I really miss the quirky people , the architecture, the wit of the northerner, the beauty, and being so close to NYC....and the money.
Florida is great Nov - June so we plan on migrating back 'n forth with the pets.
[Editor's Note: Here are two photos sent from Florida.]
Members of the Albamontis' extended canine family, luxuriating in Florida
Ron Albamonti with puppy
Best of both.
We bought, fixed up several homes in Vero, had a blast as the decorater & did quite well till it hit the fan.
We hope to do the same thing in Stonington area.
There are several Stonington folks in Vero Beach in winter....I see them in the Publix market, always buying wine!
Well for one, I am glad to see you back in the groove with the Intelligencer, ... AND especially glad to see the bloody toddler pix gone. Yuck.
I thought it was your new logo!
Are you living in the Boro again?
I was very fond of Edie & Ward. That was quite a nice memorial . Thanks.
I can't believe she's still at it. ...funny!
Janis
Dear Ms Albamonti,
Thanks for your letter and the information about your impending return to the Borough. You weren't alone in your response to the picture of the bloody Iraqi girl whose parents had been killed at a roadside checkpoint by US soldiers, but I felt (and feel) that as Americans we've been intentionally shielded from the real horrors of this illegal, immoral, expensive and failed war as experienced by both our troups and the Iraqis. Anyway, after dealing with some family issues (my mother's death) and stuff, Tom and I got an apartment barely a hundred feet away from our former house on Diving Street (which has, let me point out, been fixed up exactly as we would have done if we'd stayed there), so I'm back in the Borough.
Everyone misses Edie and Ward, two very special people ’Äì our first neighbors, really, and fine ones they were. I'm glad you liked what I wrote.
Let us know what your plans are - I hope you aren't going to open up another real estate office ! We've got enough of those (I think). I hear the Borough's crying out for a good gift shop (seriously).
*
Received 21 August 2007
Oh Betty...give it a rest!
*
Received 14 August 2007
Thank you for breathing life back into this great site of yours. It serves as a connection to the village for many people who don't always have the opportunity to be here, myself included. Thanks for all the hard work.
Best Regards,
Dear Mr Smith,
Thanks for your message. I'm happy to be back, but I also hope that all of the Stonington community, near and far, will help to make the Intelligencer a fun, interesting and useful site for everyone.
*
Welcome back. It was thrilling to see the first issue of the reborn Intelligencer a few months ago. Now your home page suggests that we can count on regular editions. That is the best news to come to the Borough in a long time. Let's hope that The Intelligencer will help to unite the Borough as a community, something which seems to be missing these days.
How about initiating a discussion of the impact of the outrageously noisy compressor and glaring parking garage lighting at Stonington Commons (a misnomer if there ever was since it never served as a Commons for the Borough according to Historian Mary Thacher) ? Just a few years ago we lamented that the old factory site was dark, abandoned and a fire trap. Now we have an overly lighted lower level parking garage which is visually obnoxious and a compressor which makes those of us in SOCA think we live adjacent to Kennedy Airport. Never did we think we would lament for the old days of darkness but we seem to have come to that.
I feel particularly responsible since I was a member of the Borough P&Z during the lengthy application process to convert the old factory into a mixed use site. In spite of our outside hired expert professionals and Commission staff, we seem to have failed to foster a built environment with residential and commercial uses which would inject a new vitality into Borough life. Only if vitality is defined as excessively bright lighting and offensive compressor noise can the result be deemed successful.
I hope that our elected officials (The Board of Warden and Burgesses) as well as the property owners at Stonington Commons will take steps to rectify the negative impact that their garage lighting and HVAC compressor have done to the quality of life in the Borough.
I am concerned that the Borough is about to have another large scale project at the opposite end of the Borough. May lessons be learned about lighting and compressors so that NOCA is not impacted the way SOCA has been.
Ironically, the Borough's declining population will not reverse the trend despite these two massive residential developments. Few of the occupants will become permanent residents continuing a pattern of Borough property ownership where home ownership is considered a real estate investment rather than enabling the owner to become a contributing member of¬Ýthe community.
Dear Ms Richards,
Thank you for your letter and your kind wishes towards the new Intelligencer, which I hope will become something of a conduit through which Borough residents can make known easily their feelings about a number of topics of interest to us all who live or visit here.
Your letter raises specific points that I have heard from other Borough residents - I am curious to find out whether other Stonington residents feel as strongly as you do on, say, the AC noise issue, or the bright lights from the parking along Water Street. I have also heard many people regret the lack of shops offering services people can use daily - I mean, how often do you feel inclined to go out and buy a $1 or $2 million house instead of, say, a bottle of Bombay Sapphire (a hat tip to all those gin-drinkers, whose numbers seem to be diminishing)? Anyway, I hope that Borough residents and friends will take the time to put their thoughts to electronic paper and send them to the Intelligencer to be published and then commented on.
Thanks again for writing.