A Round Table Discussion Between A Mayor, Two State Reps. and Gardner High School Students
Burt Gendron hosted a first class event last Thursday evening, October 22 at the Elks Club in downtown Gardner. Students in John Gardella's honors class asked discerning questions and provoked thoughtful answers from the three panelists, Gardner Mayor Mark Hawke and Representatives Bob Rice and Lew Evangelidis.



The students set the tone with the seriousness of their questions, with Burt Gendron adding just the right amount of liveliness and humor to the evening.




Rep. Lew Evangelidis adjusts the mike before the event while Rep. Bob Rice looks out at the audience, well attended by students.

Turn to page B4 of today's Boston Globe and you will find a large photograph of Charlie Baker surrounded by individuals gathered for a business lunch at Boston's Seaport Hotel. Concerning the financial mess Massachusetts is in, Globe writer David L. Ryan says that at that event, Mr. Baker "asserted that the administration raided the state's rainy day fund 'before it started to rain'" and that "'People are treating it like a toothache and hoping it'll go away.'" No question. Charlie Baker gets the big picture.


The Boston Globe, Friday, October 23, 2009, "Making His Case" Photo with caption by David L. Ryan. Page B4. No online picture found.

"'Daddy, you won the Nobel Peace Prize, and it is Bo's Birthday.'" ~Malia Obama

Discussing whether President Barack Obama being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize is premature or not is counterproductive to the ultimate goal which The Prize symbolizes. Rather, as suggested in Saturday's Globe editorial, what is worth debating is what we can do to actively speed up the process of spreading calm throughout our individual worlds. "Instead of getting caught up in quarrels about whether the Peace Prize is justified, Obama's fellow politicians would do well to reflect on what he and they must do to endow the award with an after-the-fact justification." (Boston Globe, 10/10/09, p.A14)

Whereas the article aims the question at "politicians", I prefer to re-direct that idea towards every concerned American. None of us will be mediating a peace agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians, but each of us has the power to bring harmony into our own lives, with our families, our friends, our co-workers. My hope is that if all of us help promote peace in whatever way we can, then perhaps that cumulative tranquility, taken together, might eventually add up to be enough to express itself, and that we, as a country, could then grow into that most illustrious honor the Nobel Committee bestowed upon our President.


The Boston Globe, Saturday, October 10, 2009, "Job just begun, Obama wins Nobel," by Susan Milligan and Michael Kranish, p.A1
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2009/10/10/job_just_begun_obama_wins_nobel/



The Boston Globe, Saturday, October 10, 2009, "Honor for president comes with praise and pressure," by Gregory Katz of the Associated Press, p.A10
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2009/10/10/honor_for_president_comes_with_praise_and_pressure/


Telegram & Gazette, Saturday, October 10, 2009, "Daughters excited over win" Associated Press, p.A7, no online article.

Telegram & Gazette, Saturday, October 10, 2009, "Kudos, gasps at Obama selection" by Karl Ritter and Matt Moore of the Associated Press, p.A1. Note: no T & G online article --link to Timesleader.com.
http://www.timesleader.com/news/Politics/Obama_selection_draws_criticism_10-10-2009.html


The Boston Globe, Saturday, October 10, 2009, "Now Obama needs to earn the prize he won too soon," Editorial, p.A14
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2009/10/10/now_obama_needs_to_earn_the_prize_he_won_too_soon/