THE MAYOR'S SPECIAL REPORT

I know what your thinking. He just wrote a report last week! Yeah, but this Sunday was so beautiful for some side porch sittin’ that I just had to write. I’ll try to keep this one rather brief as the sky just can’t get any bluer and my bicycle is calling. Tonight we’ll watch Mars behind the moon that may be visible for several weeks. Check out the EarthSky.org website. Pretty cool. 

More about this Friday, Sept. 11. Please join me in flying the American flag for Patriot’s Day and the coming weekend. If you can illuminate a light, please do so. Green indicates our military; red for our fire and EMS providers; blue for law enforcement. I’ll be taking the grandchildren to the Veteran’s Memorial at 1 p.m. this Friday and explain to them what the memorial is about. Though they may only be 3 and 5 years of age, they are never too young for the family to explain what this wall means. They know how to salute the flag of this great nation.

Speaking (or writing) of great citizens, Tina and I recently had a wonderful conversation with Jack and Doris Wells at our new downtown coffee shop. Of course, we talked sports. In 1955-56 Jack was the first Greencastle-Antrim basketball player to score 1,000 points in a season. That was before the three-point shot. After serving in the United State Navy, Jack played baseball for the Phillies organization. I believe his biggest success is Doris by his side for nearly this entire time. 

Well, our governor did it again. He didn’t see his shadow, so 90 more days of the emergency declaration for Franklin County and the other 66 counties in Pennsylvania. While Maryland restaurants are opening to even greater capacities (based on county COVID-19 numbers), Franklin County restaurants and select businesses are still in lock-down thanks to the urban areas of the commonwealth. I tried to call the governor by phone. It rang for five minutes and no one answered other than a recorded message referring me to the Pennsylvania Department of Health or the Unemployment Compensation office. It’s apparent that our governor does not trust individual counties to make responsible decisions for their constituents. Please support our local businesses, including the locally owned restaurants that support this wonderful community. 

I really appreciate your reading these Echo Pilot reports and your feedback. Ah ... the fresh iced tea is brewing. Because of folks like you, we are blessed.