Love, justice will prevail in gay marriage debate
To the editor:
George Michael is right. Gay marriage is about family. Yet the right to form one’s own family through marriage is one of the “most basic” civil rights as well as a “fundamental freedom,” according to the Supreme Court.
Also, it is not at all surprising that questions of civil rights for an unpopular minority group should be controversial. They always are. That’s why we don’t put them up to a popular vote.
I have faith that, on this issue, love and justice will prevail.
Chris Morehouse
Shepherdstown, W.Va.
Great man, great voice lost with Robertson’s death
To the editor:
I was greatly saddened to read of the death of William C. “Bill” Robertson on May 16.
Bill’s obituary recaps the life of a quiet, pleasant man who worked diligently in several vocations during his life. However, the obituary doesn’t mention Bill’s most enduring contribution to many of our lives. Bill was endowed with a very special gift from God — the most beautiful lyric tenor voice I have heard in more than 50 years as a church organist and choirmaster. He had a low-key, relaxed and yet lyrical sound — never loud — that hundreds of aspiring singers could never achieve even after many years of study. Bill could effortlessly reach high notes without the slightest hint of strain — and hold them at a pianissimo level if the music called for it. At the same time, his voice was so supple that he could easily handle the fast, running notes of Handel’s “Ev’ry Valley Shall Be Exalted” — and he sang it for us many times during the years I was privileged to have him as a member of my choir at John Wesley United Methodist Church.
Bill was extremely sensitive to the inflections and messages of the music he sang. For instance, his rendition of Mendelssohn’s “If, with all your hearts” was so sincerely and emotionally done that it would move most of his listeners to tears. His special style appeared on every piece of music that he sang, and he developed a large audience in and around Hagerstown who appreciated it.
Needless to say, Bill was a very popular soloist at weddings throughout our area. Brides loved to have his signature voice grace their ceremonies, and he had a large repertoire of popular wedding songs.
Bill was always very modest about his musical achievements and seemed to eschew publicity. But he would freely share his talents with others. I recall one memorable concert he and I presented in the chapel of Fahrney-Keedy home for the benefit of one of our parishioners who had moved there and missed hearing him sing in church. We had a great time doing many of the “old favorites” to the delight of the residents who attended the program.
We will greatly miss this beloved troubadour and friend who inspired us with his magic voice and touched our lives for so many years. May he enter his eternal rest with our gratitude for a wonderful job — well and faithfully done.
C. Randall Williams
Hagerstown
It is not acceptable to treat people unfairly
To the editor:
Life is not fair — that is indeed an unpleasant reality. Unpleasant, because being unfair usually means to do somebody wrong. And to do somebody wrong — be it willfully or by negligence — is not OK.
Whoever believes that it is normal and acceptable to do people wrong by being unfair does not even have the moral strength of a petulant child.
Hans K. Buhrer
Smithsburg
Board of education is pushing away parents
To the editor:
It should not be so difficult to create and maintain an outstanding communication and transparency policy within our school system. When you do not communicate in a rational and efficient manner, you then force additional communications to take place, like letters to the editor.
Several months ago, I filled out an application to join the Washington County Schools Citizens Advisory Council (CAC). The group was down to two members and was in need of revitalization. I submitted my application to volunteer for the committee. I have been active within the schools for years in one way or another and saw this as another way to help grow the citizen/parent/school system relationship. I filled out the application before Christmas to join a group that can take up to 15 members, was in need of members and only had two members.
Fast forward to May 1. There was an article in The Herald-Mail stating that the board of education approved just three people to join the CAC. Apparently, my application was not one of them.
After I submitted the application, I was contacted via phone jointly by the superintendent and the assistant superintendent to let me know there was a delay in the vote as the board was revisiting the policy. I had been asked not once, but twice, if I was still interested in being on the committee (to which I answered with a resounding yes) and had made my interest in helping on this committee known. I would have expected a phone call, an email, anything letting me know that the board of education turned away a volunteer for a group in need of volunteers and why. But I received nothing.
I contacted Assistant Superintendent Mike Markoe, who confirmed that my application had been rejected by the board. I emailed the board members asking them why they rejected my application. It made no sense to me with a committee so in need of members to turn away someone who is ready to volunteer.
As of May 17, I had yet to hear anything from the board.
And herein lies the issue with the way our board leadership has driven its communication policy. We need more parents involved in our schools, but when you continue to utilize a broken communication system, you continue to push parents away.
Dottie Gruhler
Smithsburg
