Peter Gay: And the best to all from Santa Gay – The Sun Chronicle
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This morning’s column marks 17 years of giving “presents” in my weekly column the Monday before Christmas Day. As Jackie Gleason used to say, “And away we go!”
To members of the Attleboro City Council … new microphones located outside city hall’s back door. If they had been in place in September 2020, councilors would have heard package store owners and liquor distributors laughing at them for believing the promises and other actions they told the council they would take if members did not support the mayor’s proposed ban on the sale of nip bottles. It’s obvious the six councilors who voted against the ban don’t walk around their neighborhoods. If they did, they would see hundreds of the small liquor bottles alongside the road, woods and yards of residents like I do when walking around our block.
To members of the Attleboro City Council … a second gift. This one is the realization that the gateway drug responsible for destroying most lives is sold in the package stores mentioned above.
To that same city council and select boards throughout the area … the wisdom to heed the advice of Attleboro Police Chief Kyle Heagney to do away with mandatory parking bans in their communities. I suspect few of the elected officials backing the ban are living in apartments where parking is nonexistent and don’t realize the hardships forcing renters to move their cars off of the street creates. It’s time these leaders show some empathy for the residents they represent.
To the new Attleboro mayor (John Davis, Cathleen DeSimone or Jay DiLisio)…continuation of plans at Highland Park for an outdoor performance arts venue and a beer garden similar to the one near the Providence River pedestrian bridge.
To the new gymnasium (have I mentioned it should be called “The Hangar” or “Hangar 22?”) at the new Attleboro High School … an American flag large enough not to get lost in the huge new home of the Blue Bombardiers.
To my peers in local cable television … respect for the cable subscribers who make up 95% or more of your annual revenue. Allowing those who have cut the cord to view your programming for free is not fair to the people who pay your salary through their monthly cable bill.
To the King Philip High gymnasium … an ethernet connection to make it possible for sporting events to be cablecast live. For whatever reason, it’s impossible to get a consistent cell phone signal strong enough to transmit a video signal back to North TV.
To North Attleboro High football coach Mike Strachan … a year in which the former Red Rocketeer isn’t under the microscope for simply being named the head coach.
To the parishioners of North Attleboro’s Transfiguration of the Lord Parish … communication from the Fall River Diocese about their former pastor. The Rev. Rodney Thibault was suspended in August by church leaders pending an investigation and the silence since then out of Fall River has been deafening.
To the North Attleboro intersection of Elm and Mount Hope streets … a sensor. I’m tired of waiting on Elm for what seems like hours when no cars approaching on Mount Hope.
To North Attleboro community resource dog Axel … his own agent. The Chihuahua abandoned on the side of the road in February is the hardest working police dog in all of Massachusetts and his picture appears in the paper more than mine and I’m guaranteed a photo every Monday.
To soon-to-be former Gov. Charlie Baker … the courage to demand college athletes meet the same demands as every other student on campus. Either that or give the institutions actually educating the young men and women who represent them on the fields and courts an advantage. If Notre Dame were to play Alabama in football, for example, the Fighting Irish would deserve to start the game with a 21-0 lead.
To Pattie and Bridget … better weather than this year during the first week of July for our annual stay in cottage 10 at Days’ Condominiums. It will be Pattie’s 31st, Bridget’s 27th and my 53rd year (a combined 111 years) staying in the white cottages with green trim along Route 6A in North Truro.
To the readers of this newspaper — whether we typically agree or not … a safe and healthy new year.
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