Support The

Rec/Senior Center

To the Editor:

Please support the Park and Rec/Senior Center. Last year’s approved budget had $600,000 for architect fees in it. The vote will just spend the money already allocated.

Park and Rec has programs for all ages from 18 months through adults. There is a plan for a swimming pool and therapeutic pool to be added eventually. The Senior Center will be adjacent to the Park and Rec Center.

As our children move on in life, we need to restart ours. This is where we find most of our volunteers. These are also the taxpayers that pay for the town side of the budget and help supplement the education side. The July 2008 Board of Education budget is $62,885,158; debt service attributed to Board of Education this year is $5,247,479. This is attributed to an enrollment of 5,628. Doing the math, this comes to $12,106 per student.

I am not against education or the Board of Education. I am against us vs them. We need to be one community, working together and respecting each other. All of us.

The seniors have drawn the short straw for many years. You remember the seniors — they raised you, they were drafted to protect you, they were the ones without electronic babysitters, they put you first, they are the ones some of you think should wait or be satisfied with a space that is too small and has inadequate parking. They have to schedule their activities so they don’t interfere with the buses that have to get in to the Children’s Adventure Center.

I think we need to give back to those that are doing and have done for our community. We need to get this community center going so Newtown can serve the needs of all its citizens.

Thank you,

LeReine Frampton

6 Pebble Road, Newtown                                               March 12, 2008