opinion

Our Readers Write Is Thornton the 'Babbling, Uninformed Malcontent?9

To The Editor: I am saddened by Freeholder Gerald Thornton's Dec. 4 letter, in which he saw fit to demean all people who disagree with his views. It seems strange that anytime someone disagrees with Thornton they are classified illiterate, naive and uninformed. Is that because he is out of touch with the township peoples' needs and wants? If you cut through Thornton's voluminious plethora of numerical jargon you come to the bottom line. Jl'ST BECAUSE the Chamber of Commerce cannot afford the expenses of their building involved with their $1.00 per year land leased from Ixiwer Township, the Chamber of Commerce wants the county to purchase the building so that the Chamber members can meet there are no cost, ostensibly to have the county use it to help the senior citizens, of which I am one However, us "uninformed senior citizens" are pretty good at arithmetic. Using Thornton's figures, the Millman y Center is not even being used to h df its capacity for the nutrition program As usual, the numbers are factual but the truth is misleading. Since this federally funded nutrition program is "hardly „ half utilized.'' there is no need for the county to purchase the Chamber of Commerce building to be used as a third nutrition and social center in Lower Township. Why should we have our taxes potentially increased'.' A Vote for Redditt To The Editor This is written to clarify the reappointment of Philip Judyski to the Avalon Planning Board. Mayor Itachel Sloan acknowledged in a May 15 letter to an Avalon voter-taxpayer that Judyski is "a very valuable person on the board with his knowledge of zoning matters and his familiarity with Avalon and its development. I assure you that he will be re-appointed." IT IS IMPORT ANT for voters to know that Judyski enjoyed the support of a majority of board members and advisors in being re appointed to this board A letter of sup port dated June 19 was sent to Sloan by the members of the board. Avalon voters have the right to know that Sloan refused to divulge the names of her supporters who clamored for Judyski's ouster or what action they might take if he was re-appointed. The Mayor refused to release any correspondence she received in support of their decision to take action. We. the Avalon voters, should realize that Sloan made no attempt to consider the petitions of 225 residents who sup ported the reappointment of a very qualified individual This delegation was discussed with the statement. "My mind has already been made up " I WILL VOTE to restore sense to government My decision is based on the experience of Jim Redditt and the management skills he offers to Avalon Vote "yes" for recall Vote "yes" for Jim Redditt VINCENT E. TRAINER Avalon fHffaliiVGiiTillll gjmajgk jBgL. Joseph R. Zelnik Editor Bonnie Reina General Manager Gary L. Rudy Advertising Director John Dunwoody Special Promotions Director [J Darrell Kopp Publisher l'"H c— IMS A» ptmmiim, "fhh It wmwi-i a Aui **" ** ** *"T — Camp No p«i may b« DEADLINES News & Photos Thursday Advertising Friday — 3 P.M. Classified Advertising Friday — 3 P.M. 465-5055 For News or Advertising Information Mail Subscription: Yearly, $40; Six Month, $20 Call 465-5055 For News, Advertising or Subscription Information <W*o» nWrl|i« « ■*■■«*... •— *- — ml IW Ml* ALD *M> LAVTUft J*CAP1 MAY 2-rn ' ft trail* ~0t$fatdS Cope May dtj. E4Moo of Ac Cape Miy Comty Honld Pitltokii ten? WiJmiOi By TW ln»iw Cwywi>»i i rO. Bo« 4>0 Capm M*y to.,1 H—m. W.J. QUO M

I Thornton makes it sound that, by questioning his > motives, we are against apple pie, baseball and senior citizens! i Thornton will have to become a senior citizen then perhaps he will speak to us rather than dictate' "what he > thinks" we need. I PERSONALLY resent his characterization of those of r us who differ with his views. Perhaps Thornton is the babbling, uninformed, congenital malcontent misleading all us senior citizens. LONNIE MATTIA North Cape May

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Lower Should Reclaim Chamber Building

To The Editor: I found the letters in your Dec. 4 issue to be very interesting. Freeholder Gerald M. Thornton is continuing his efforts to bail out the Lower Township Chamber of Commerce by attacking the secretary of the Lower Township Taxpayers Association. He is aided and abetted bv James P. Nevelle Let Everyone Use Higbee To The Editor: I am writing this letter to let the 25,000 or so Lower Township residents know how they are being overlooked when monies are distributed for projects like Green Acres and others in Cape May County. Why should Lower residents have to travel to Cape May. Cape May Point or the Wildwoods to spend a day at the beach when we have one of the most beautiful and undeveloped beaches in our own township — Higbee Beach'' BY EXTENDING New England Road another 200 yards and installing a new parking lot. we would have easy aci Page 59 Please »

in his attack on Councilwoman M M. "Peggie" Bieberbach and Councilman Joseph Lonergan, whom he claims are anti-Chamber of Commerce and anti-senior citizen because they are not in favor of Thornton's proposal. According to Nevelle, the freeholder proposed to purchase the building from the beleagured Chamber of Commerce and take over all operating costs. As a person who attended the Nov. 18 township meeting. I know that Thornton did not make that proposal. THORNTON PROPOSED to rent the building for a period of 99 years for the sum of one dollar per year Supposedly this would enable senior citizens from the southern part of the township to obtain free meals without going to either the Millman Center or the county airport. No one at the meeting was opposed to making things better or easier for our senior citizens. Especially Councilman Lonergan. who happens to be a senior citizen. However, there are several questions to be answered before it can be said that the Chamber building is the solution to the problem First, the Chamber of Commerce does not own the building. This structure is permanently affixed to township land and, in the opinion of several lawyers, is the property of the township. Second, this building is no closer to the southern part of the township than the county airport Therefore, rather than relieving travel difficulty it would only be duplicating the existing situation. IF THORNTON is really interested in meeting the needs i Page 59 Please)

r-Recruits Lose Valued Exercise CG to End Galley Week

By JOE ZELNIK I'm as shocked as Seashore Food Distributors Inc. to learn that a private firm will take over the food service operation at the Coast Guard Training Center in Cape May. Saga Corp.'s use of it own regional food distribution centers probably will cost local food suppliers, like Seashore, hundreds of thousands of dollars. As for the jobs issue, it could be argued that benefits will equal disadvantages. Thirty Coast Guard cooks will be reassigned to mess halls elsewhere. But 30 full-time and 20 part-time civilians were hired. I'd guess the Coast Guard cooks, who were, after all, permanent residents, made more than the $3.96 to $6.52 range the new civilian employes are receiving. BUT THAT. AFTER ALL. is the main reason the Coast Guard went to civilian help — to save money. Saga, incidentally, filled the 50 jobs in three days, casting suspicion on the perennial point of view that nobody in this county wants a full-time job. And this, mind you, was in an occuj ation — food service — where many insist that people balk at working more than the minimum number of weeks needed to qualify for winter unemployment. I've heard many a restaurateur compAn he can't stay open in October because he can't find help. How did Saga do it? BUT MY MAIN CONCERN is the recruits, young men and women brought here from all over the country. My big worry, to echo base commander Capt. Jon Uitbol, is that recruits now will be deprived of "an exercise in the value of teamwork." That "teamwork" is officially called "Galley Week." The recruits refer to it in terms not permissable in a family newspaper. Galley Week equates to what the army used to call KP (kitchen police). At the Coast Guard center, each recruit company has one Galley Week in which it is responsible for "the lesser" tasks in the food service operation." Real lesser. Call it what you will, a secret source assures me that today's Coast Guard recruits feel about Galley Week exactly the way I felt about KP when I was in the Army, shortly after Custer's demise. They detest it.

EVEN TODAY, my secret source assures me. Galley Week is, as was KP in my day, "a helluva long day." We here at this publishing empire put in a helluva long day every Monday. It averages 15-16 hours. But KP, the way I did it, was closer to 24 hours. I encountered KP at Fort Benning, Ga„ where I had been sent to learn how to kill Communists. I would have liked to learn how to kill fascists, too. but they didn't teach that. KP began at 4 a.m., but it was first-come, first-serve for the various jobs. I used to show up around midnight to assure first choice at a good job. THE "GOOD" JOB was dining room orderly (DRO).That meant you cleaned up the mess hall before and after each meal, but got to stand around with a wet cloth in your hand during mealtime. The "worst" job was "pots and pans." The Army used pots and pans big enough to hold whole bears. And it cooked in those pots aiid pans all sorts of stuff guaranteed to stick forever to their sides. Many a GI was asphyxiated trying to scrape scum off a bottomless pot. Since I couldn't sleep the night before KP anyway, I always managed to avoid pots and pans by arriving first at the mess hall. With that distinction came the honor of entering the place and flicking on the lights. The first thing one always saw was thousands of small and medium-sized roaches scurrying for cover. The bigger ones weren't afraid of people and simply staked out their territory and glared back. It was a scene guaranteed to kill one's appetite for at least 24 hours. DON'T MISTAKE my abhorrence for KP as laziness or distaste for helping in the kitchen. I loved standing on a chair and drying dishes as my mother washed. And I also subscribe to the policy that husbands should clean up when wives cook, and vice-versa. That's as long as one's mate doesn't abuse the arrangement by using an obscene number of pots and pans. Personally, I've never found a meal I couldn't prepare in one deepndish bowl.