A Debt Of Gratitude

To the Editor:

I can remember emptying the water from under my grandparents ice box and being bug-eyed with excitement when they bought a refrigerator — change was our friend, and it was great!

Today’s changes in technology are bewildering to some of us and our town itself seems to be changing in an ever accelerating way. And to state the obvious, I do recognize that those of us of a certain age tend to embrace the past at the expense of “understanding” the present; it is easier to do so.

Even I, however, recognize that there are institutions that have managed change in a way we can all endorse, and I would point to our library as one of possibly many examples of that. When my wife started working there with Sarah Mitchell and Betty Downs, it was a comfortable, friendly small town library.

Has it changed from those days? Of course it has, but it has transitioned in a way that is consistent with its original concept of recognizing that the quality of any institution is measured by the dedication of those who run it.

Mrs Downs was as right for her time as Janet Woycik is for today. We owe them and those who worked with them, past and present, a debt of gratitude.

Sincerely,

Thomas Armstrong

22 Greenbrier Lane, Newtown                                         May 30, 2012