readers forum Wildwood Needs An Administrator * by llplpn C. Sciarra It's been pointed out. we want better government for Wildwood - of course we do. However, rs It not possible that we can clean up city hall only to discover later that we have replaced it\vitH more chaos than exists now? i How would you answer these concerns to our citizens k and voters’’ Just what Will be the one overwhelming reason why we. the voters, should go fhr the new form of •government? Because along with the council form of government change, you are voting for a financially responsive way of using or spending your tax dollars — a CITY ADMINISTRATOR. ‘ City Administrators must stand apart of city piblitics. This is another reason why they come from other areas of the county or state and, yes. even other states, no matter how far They are trained professionals who specialize in the business of running city governments. Their terrrts are limited There is no security in these^obs and these professionals are well award onhis. They accept this fact as part of the job. The City of Wildwood desperately needs a trained city''* administrator A YES vote is definitely yes, yes, yes. No longer do you and I want a put off. Vote Yes for the charter! Helen Sciarra is a Pacific Ave. resident. Sports Relief Spells Strikes By Jrine Ann Cunningham While the w^rld series was on < I’m not sayingl was watching, but sports on TV seem unavoidable when both sexes live in the same house), 1 suddenly thought. "I don’t even remember where the A’s are!" Back in the old days, even those who had less than a passionate interest in " sports recognized the names of tlje teams. Thc-Pittsburgh Pirates, the Philadelphia A’s and Phillies, the N Y Yahkees, the Brooklyn Dodgers, the Washington Senators and so forth Now. with so many teams and leagues, you really have to make a serious Study to list the teams When we used to go to Shibe Park to watch the A’s, baseball seemed to lx* different. The games didn't seem to last as long Connie Mack was a real Philadelphia tradition Isn’t it strange that thefe seems to be no lasting memorial to Connie Mack in Philadelphia’’ For decades, his name was probably bcH^r known to most people than their elected representatives. IF BASKHAI.I. is confusing, football is even worse, before television and the pro teams, high school and college football games were big attractions..(In my opinion. - it is still more fuhto watch the students than the pros.) ’In the old days', I really understood the game. Now, they have added new names tt» the positions, and each side has two teams, the offense and the defense, who take turns ■pliLving. and special players who just kick. It's a far cry from the days when the quarterback was pretty much on his own ih deciding plays, and most of the players, unless they were wounded, fought the entire game There used to be a clear division of time between the sport seasons. Now it seems like the football season runs into the baseball season Then there is basketball-which shares both • and now we are getting mtomxgyjy.’soccer, who knows, perhaps even rugby. Where willnSrtLend? Sports fans will be able to watch something every day'alT' year long The onl/hope of relief from the overkill of TV sports, which unfortunately seems to lead to tin increasing use of the voice of Howard Cosell, is that the players may indulge in more strikes {Jane Ann Cunningham is the former publisher of The Herald. J *-n . 1 . Short and Sweet

By Edmund Bosch Huzzah! For R. LeslieChrlsmer! i Edmund Bosch is a resident of West Cape May. P l^eslie Chrismer is a regular contributor to the Herald an lantern )

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Meadows Are A Sight To Behold

By Clare Campbell MANY OF us admirt our meadows as we drive along our highways, but I fear very few folksjake the time 16 see. (There’s a diffcrence between looking and seeing.) Seldom do we actually walk into fhem to^pot a mud hen’s nest or examine a pink marshmallow bloom. Well, in Upper Township in Middletotyp and Tuckahoe, and in the adjoining Atlantic County There are roads through the meadows! They were biA. I’m told, to impound fresh water for birds and fourrtpoted things that prefer if. For whatever reason, I’m^ry glad they’re there. They give us the opportunity to admire the wild flowers and trees and animals and appreciate the blue water. ♦ . «. do there on a day when you arc not in a‘hurry. To race through there is a desecration. If you ptirk your car in one of the off-road areas you may, walking quietly along, see a deer or come up on a snapper making her incubator. She chooses the middle of the gravel road and digs with her strong, back feet, no matter how hard the stuff is packed, and there she puts her rubbery eggs. I know; I’ve seen her. Then many days later after o heavy rain out come the babies That sight alone is worth the trip, but there are dozens of others. UWATER LILIES in a pool where no salt water has encroached are heavenly. So are the Jewelweed bushes, bend with their rosy, tiny flowers. Then come July, there are the exotic Turk’s Cap Lilies - the ballet dancers of their family. We’ll also see the wild white orchids, each' one looking exactly like a tiny white bird in flight. (Both of these beauties are very rare now, so "love ’em and leave ’em.") The banks on both sides of these roads are verdant with

Hallowe'en Still Casts

IF FAITH can move mountains, belief did a pretty fair job on one country road in County Mayo. Ireland, in 1959. Rather than build a road as planned, construction workere went on strike because the proposed route would have destroyed a fragile fairy palace in its path. Even a positive environmental impact report—had there been such a thing—could not have paved the way for this particular road. Older country folk in Ireland still strongly believed in fairies just as their Celtic ancestors worshipped spirits of the forests and streams centuries before-them. The county commissioners, not wishing to disturb either the fairies or the folk who believed in them, re-routed the road. Many of our contemporary holiday celebrations are rooted in just such a rich soil of older beliefs. In America today. Hallowe'en is trick or treat. More than 2,000 years ago. in what is now France and the British Isles, it was a matter of life and deatlrrFqr the Celtic people of Gaul and Britain, the night of Oct. 31 )va8 one of thanksgiving, and, at the same time,(one of terrorFIRSTHAND DESCRIPTIONS of the Celts come from Julius Caesar who wrote an especially vivid account of the Druids of Gaul—the Celtic priests who werd the guardians of worship and the arbiters of human sacrifice. Celtic worship centered around the chief Druid god. Baal, whose invisible emblem was the sun. The festival of Samhain (Saveen) or "summer's end," which fclltm Nov. 1, the Celtic New Year’s Day, rejoiced in Baal’s harvest gifts but also mourned the sun's fading powers. Soon the sun would be weakened by his enemies and 4he powers of darkness would prevail in their seasorv "Life was a constant stale of flux for these early peoples," Jack Santino, a Smithsonian Institution folklorist, observes. "Omens that foretold the future were their attempt to bring order to the world." Omens sometimes took gruesome shapes. On Oct. 31, the last night of the bid year, it is said, Saman. the lord of death, gathered the soull of all those who had died the past year knd decreed what form they would take in the com-

all kinds of interesting trees and shrubs. Button bushes thrive here. Their perfect spheres mak&the loveliest bouquets, and since taking a couple small branches will not deplete them, we take them home to admire in a crystal vase. Alders swing their calkins every spring and, like narcissus, admire themselves in the clear lake. Aronia grows thick and offers clusters of crimson and mahogany berries to the birds. Deciduous holly (brightest of all) with crimson fruits marching down the stems, also provides the fliers with feasts in early Winter. And there are blackberries! Lush and low-growing, and we pick a quart for making the best dumplings on earth. We always hear sweet chirpings in the tall grasses: the marsh wrens love it there. Usually we spot a sparrowhawk and occasionally a red tail. And oven birds! And red wings by the dozens. We'll hear a splash and there goes a muskrat swimming off, making scarcely a ripple with his smooth gliding. Far out in the lake a flock of ducks dip and dive. I’ve t>een told the handsome w ood'ducks live there, -but thus far. I haven't seen them. I have seen the lovely white swans and their secminglyslipshod nests. One Easter day we saw seven feeding in the shallows. There are several roads through these sanctuaries and you may find yourself back the way you entered, but turn around and keep trying. You may come to the inner lake where sunfish make their little nest, lay their eggs and actually fan them with their tails till they hatch! You con watch thenv the water is so clear. (Page 35 Please) Its Spell Ing year. Bonfires, which were literally bonetires, lighted the hills. Animals and human beings—usually criminals and prisoners of war-were burned alive as sacrifices fo ' Baal and the new ascelWcnt evil splrlla. From their ap- ' (Page 35 Please)