Editorial Letters To The Editor
It was Tuesday, April 9, 1968.
Like most of the country, Farmingdale residents
paused to view the televised funeral services of the
late Dr. Martin Luther King. The banks as well as
the Farmingdale Public Library buildings were
closed. The downtown business section seemed
quieter than usual. Several of the schools, including
the Farmingdale Senior High School, paid t r i bute
to the fallen civil rights leader, while American
flags flew at half mast at many of the homes and
places of business.
There was a quiet and stillness in the air. No one
said much. A voice of courage and faith had been
silenced. Many of us were ashamed at what had hap-pened.^
The American Flag flew at half mast at the
Farmingdale Senior High School and other schools
in district 22.
This was Farmingdale last Tuesday.
Many Farmingdale residents attended services
at the Hollywood Baptist Church in Amityville on
Sunday.
The Rev. Kenneth Hoover, Pastor of Farming-dale
Methodist Church described Dr. King as a
man " throwing light into the dark places of our
existence. He said his " was a life laid down on our
behalf."
A special eulogy and prayer in memory of Dr.
Martin Luther King was given by the Rev. Larry
Walker, Pastor of the Farmingdale Baptist Church
last Sunday.
An outdoor memorial service for Dr. Martin
Luther King was held on Sunday at 1 p. m. at the
State University Agricultural and Technical College.
Local clergy present were the Rev. Albert
Palmer, Rector of St. Thomas Episcopal Church,
Rabbi Paul Teicher of the Farmingdale Jewish
Center and the Rev. Kenneth Hoover, Pastor of
the Farmingdale Methodist Church.
Studen^^ nei^ cTtrVaC- K^ i^ i^ poke about Dr. King's* -
accomplishments; Student hr\ Mulzec spoke < 3fene
present role of the civil rights mflf^ nenA and
Student Ramon Rueda read Dr. iCing's speech,
" I Have a Dream*'.
The program was organized by the Inter- Dormitory
Council and was attended by members
of the faculty, students and residents of the community.
With more and more concern being shown over
the rise in taxes, two important public hearing;
dates have been set to explain the budgets. The
first public hearing concerns residents of the Incorporated
Village of Farmingdale who will have an
opportunity to express themselves this Monday
evening at Village Hall.
The second public hearing will concern itself
with the school budget and is scheduled for Thursday,
April 25 at Weldon E. Howitt Junior High
School.
Both the village and school taxes are going up.
In each instance, some of the rise is due to mandated
state expenses, such as retirement benefits
etc. We recommend that you attend either or both
if they apply. You will learn, among other things,
that not all budget increases can be controlled by
local elected officials. On the other hand you may
be in the position to offer some constructive criticism.
Dear Editor,
I write in support of your new
column As We See It. It is
gratifying to know that there is
at least one town publication that
will give both sides of a question,
issue, or philosophy the opportunity
to be read. Bravo!
I happen to be of the opinion
re: the debt newsletter, the John
Birchers, and those who cry
treason, shame and other
emotional epithets as a • ' cover"
for reason - that those who oppose
them must be permitted
the opportunity to show in print
where we differ with them!
Clare Booth Luce - speaking
about another group - aptly described
the DEBT'ers ( or is it
DOUBTERS)? " They are the.
troubadours of trouble and crooners
of catastrophe."
John Mauro
Dear Editor:
I trust that this will be the last
of my defensive replies to Mrs.
Meyer's poison pen letters. She
has finally revealed that she is not
interested in either truth or
dialogue, but simply in seeing me
" shut up." This is very strange
talk indeed from one who professes
to fear the loss of our Constitutionally
guaranteed freedoms,
( including speech), due to
the efforts of people who are determined
to defend the U. S. Constitution
and the Republic it established.
Since Mrs. Meyer has indicated
such great fear over this matter,
to save your readers from further
boredom, I shall attempt to
speak to Mrs. Meyer personally
so that I may more fully comprehend
her cause for concern.
If her intellectual F « ed has been
obtained primarily from television,
the New York Times, the
National Council of Churches ( and
affiliates) and such " eminentauthorities"
as Gerston and Boss,
her " liberal" orientation is
easily understood.
I biiLipnd farewell to Mrs.
Published every Thursdoy by
THE OBSERVER. INC.
MYrtle 4- 6367
Iruiik J. Klesh - Caroline B. Klesh
Editors and Publishers
Vol. 5 No. 34
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.. xtyer, STTT
until we meet.
appjuigiitinare s,
Carl Gorton
To the Editor:
Congratulations to you on your
presentation of the column " As
We See It". Mr. Boss and Mr.
Gerston certainly are presenting
another side and another view
of activities as they exist.
Your newspaper ( and the
community) can only benefit with
the additional light that " As We
See It" provides.
David S. Molnia
119 Charles Street
No. Massapequa
ferred to Farmingdale. He
goes on to advocate the dissolution
of the Wyandanch
School District.
It is not clear whether he
is speaking as an individual or
as a school board member. If
the latter, it appears that he
is exceeding the scope of his
duties especially in light of
the fact that our school decided
not to participate in the
recent Nassau- Suffolk School
Boards Association ballot on
the Wyandanch matter. It is
our belief that Mr. Lang's loyalties
should be first and foremost
with the Farmingdale School
District.
In any event, his letter raises
more questions than it answers.
For example, he implied that
he was in favor of accepting
children from Wyandanch. We
telephoned Mr. Lang and in
fact, he advocates accepting
Wyandanch children in Farmingdale.
How does he propose
to accomplish this? Do we have
so much extra classroom space
that we can accomodate another
district's children? Wouldn't
we have to hire additional teachers?
Wouldn't • our taxes rise
accordingly? If we dont have
the space, would we not then
have to bus some children to
Wyandanch? And finally, wouldn't
it be better for Mr. Lang
to answer these and any other
similar questions before he
makes further public statements?
At the present time and in
consideration of the many problems
we have in our own district,
we are unalterably opposed
to accepting any children from
any district without further information.
In view of this lack
of information, we are opposed
to any arrangements with any
other school district involving
an exchange of students. We
are opposed to any type
of centralized school district.
We think that the majority of
taxpayers in this district are
of the same opinion.
Finally, we urge other
members of the Farmingdale
School District to oppose any
possible change in our present
policy on these matters.
Don Phelan and
William Riedemann
Gentlemen:
I write this letter in order
to give my endorsement to
Paul Tllford for election to the
Farmingdale Library Board.
Paul Tllford has served on
the Library Board since his appointment
in November of 1966.
Since that time, he has been a
conscientious and hardworking
member of the Board, devoting
a considerable amount of his
private time to the proper running
of our local Library.
Mr. Tllford was selected by
his fellow Board members for
appointment to fill the unexpired
term of Mrs. Emyr Griffith because
we knew that he had for a
long time been interested in and
devoted to Library service in
our community. He served for
some years as the President of
the Friends of the Farmingdale
Library and helped to advance
library service even prior to
his appointment.
This year Mr. Tilford served
as Chairman of the Budget Committee.
In this capacity, he
developed a budget and fiscal
policies which will result in
holding the line on library taxes
in a . year of serious inflation when
every other governmental unit
from the national to the local
level has been forced to sharply
increase budget requirements.
I believe that this feat alone
deserves election. I would
however, point out that Paul
Tilford has been a zealous and
intelligent member of the Board
with a broad educational background
and business experience
which commends him to the
community as an excellent candidate
for continued service to
the public interest.
Robert M. Callahan
Member of Library Board
To The Editor:
At the last meeting of the
Farmingdale Democratic Club,
it was unanimously agreed in the
form of a motion, that all candidates
competing for a position
on the School Board and Library
Board, be invited to our next
meeting, which wil1 be held on
Thursday, April 18th, 8: 30 P. M.
at 640 Fulton St., Farmingdale.
This will give our members an
opportunity to meet the candi-
( Continued on Pave 12)
, » aaaa » a* aaia> a » * » aea* aeaT* a « aa* aaaf" aie » aii
People, Places
& Politics
Dear Editors
In reference to Mr. Boss and
Mr. Gerston's column " As We
See It" in the March 28, 1968
issue they wrote from the Blue
Book ( 4th editlon)- Welch says
that "— fully one third of the
services in at least the Protestant
Churchs of America are
• helping that trend ( toward Socialism).
For the ministers themselves
are not true believers—"
It is quite obvious that Mr.
Boss and Mr. Gerston dont agree
with Mr. Welch's comments on
the Protestant Churchs in
America. It is also quite obvious
that Mr. Boss and Mr.
Gerston have not attended services
at the Farmingdale Methodist
Church .
Gayle Sadler
Dear Editor:
At a time our school district
is deeply involved in serious
housing, budget and busing problems,
board member Bernard
Lang has chosen to become openly
involved in a controversy resulting
from statements in an an-nonymous
circular. He has
penned a long letter to the editor,
due he states, to the nature
of the issue rather than
the references to him. He remarks
that he is opposed to
sending Farmingdale children to
school in Wyandanch but in the
next breath acknowledges that
there is a possibility of Wyandanch
children being trans-
* aa va^ a^ By Caroline Bunting K l e s h ^ e ^ ^ ^*
Page 4
The long rumored report that a Waldbaum supermarket will locate
at Cross Roads Shopping Center, Merritt Road and Fulton
Street, Farmingdale is just about official. The site formerly
housed a King Kullen supermarket. Extensive interior renovation
is now taking place andthenew tenant, we are told, will also take
over the space that was formerly used by a trading stamp redemption
center.
* * *
The assessed valuation of the Incorporated Village of Farmingdale
rose about one quarter of a million over last year. Village Clerk
James McKenna told us that most of this came from the county reappraisal
of business properties in the village. Atthe annual budget
hearing at village hall this Monday, taxpayers will learn that the tax
rate will go up from $ 1.83 to $ 1.96 per hundred of assessed valuation
The village now has an assessed valuation of $ 17,699,982. and a
population of 7,637 persons.
a * *
The building on FultonStreet which formerly housed the Lobster-man
Restaurant was so badly razed by fire sometime ago, that it is
almost certain to be torn down. We understand, however, that the
former tenant has intentions of continuing in the same business at
that location.
Toby Coletti of South Farmingdale, President of the Long Island
Federation of Labor has been selected as a delegate to ithe Democratic
National Convention, representing the Second Congressional
District.
* * a
Lewis Yevoli, 29 year old assistant to Oyster Bay Town Supervisor
Michael Petito and a resident of Hicksville will be the Democratic
candidate to oppose Assemblyman Martin Ginsberg for his
seat.
a a a
Young people in this area seem to be increasingly Dedicated to the
candidacy for President of Senator Eugene McCarthy. The Dissenting
Democrats of Long Island issued a statement this week that
even if one is not 21 now, but will become 21 by June 18, 1968, he
can register and be eligible to vote in the primary. One must register
by May 15 at Nassau County Board of Elections, County Seat Drive,
Mineola.
Farmingdale OBSERVER, Thursday, April U , 1968
