opinion

Our Readers Write * Beach Drive Uglies ' Can Go To The Editor: This is in response to comments by George Wilson, member of the Cape May Traffic and Transportation Advisory Committee, reported in your newspaper June 4. If Congress Hall, and perhaps a few other historic buildings were torn down, he won't need to find parking for cars, because the tourists won't bother to come and visit this unique Victorian city. If he wants to tear down something, try two or three of the "Beach Drive uglies" most recently approved by the "guardians" of our cultural heritage as aesthetically pleasing, harmonious with the scale of surrounding architecture and constructed of materials sympathetic with the great and unique building traditions of Cape May. I FAIL TO COMPREHEND the need for this expensive traffic study now. when it could be far more effective after the present administration builds the needed parking area, or better still, move the tour buses to the recentlyacquired Elmira Street property and put a well-planned, well-lighted, well-landscaped, secure lot within easy reach of the historic part of the city, that lot being the present Bank Street lot, which is not properly used. It would also remove the stench of the tour buses "warming up or cooling up" from the homes of the Bank Street residents. I think most buisness people would be agreeable to leasing spaces for employes or guests. Then take all metered 'parking off the downtown streets in the primary district, restore short-term loading zones for downtown businesses, guest houses and small hotels. Many parking authorities in this country find a parking facility such as described to be a profit-making industry. It seems to me that the traffic problem is more political than planning-oriented. HERBERT KRAMER Cape May Barry Isn 't Trash Spot To The Editor: In response to reporter Jack Smyth's June 4 column, in which Mayor Arthur Blomkvest is quoted as citing "behind Barry Clothes" as one of the worst trash spots in the city of Cape May, please be advised that we do not now. nor have we ever, placed trash behind the store. We very greatly object to being singled out in this respect, since we have never had a dumpster or anything resembling same. We would expect a response from the mayor. PHYLLIS ARON President, Barry Clothes Ltd. Cape May (ED. NOTE. Aron received a letter from City Clerk Virginia E. Peterson, which said the mayor only used Barry Clothes' name to designate the area to which he was referring. "Sorry for the confusion; we are well aware that Barry's has never caused a trash problem," the letter said. " The Mayor's statement was in reference to the trash dumpster situation at the Merry Widow.") i I

(f H eralii/ ElBTEBll Petodwi Ewy Wtfanfay Lower TewnsUp By The Scalane Coryoratiea EdkJoa of the P.O. Bm 430 Cum May Cent Cape May Canty Herald Hanc, NJ. <Bll ■ Joseph R. Zelnik Editor Bonnie Reina General Manager Gary L. Rudy Advertising Director John Dunwoody Special Promotions Director Parrel! Kopp Publisher WnmCwp AM r.gK»» '•«««. ad AM propmfy fiqAfi (o# foMtMi el p«fci«a»oA >A°« bm *• pfepwir o ' *• Smo~o*m Cexp No pan Iwmf moj bm 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, S20 Call 465-5055 For News, Advertising or Subscription Information p»l>u.fcrw .( tW HlJUUt AND LAVTMI* BC APE MAY A* -Dtspatrii Cape May City EdMon of the Cape May Co«rty Herald rnll-if-Tir Evary We*w*#r fa TW Ummvm Corpw Wto*

Berry's World v 0<Wbr«< M«*,4 "I'm moving out because I can't live under your rules and values, Mom and Dad. "

Prisoners Are Threat to Kids To The Editor: I am writing in response to your June 11 article about prisoners working in our community. I live next to the Eagle Linen Supply Co. in North Wildwood and there are prisoners (from Lees burg) working there. I have called the police a few times because of their foul language. They yell out the back door to young girls (ages 10 to 14) to take their clothes off and part with them. I also had to call the police because they had a girl come and park her car next to my garage. The prisoners took turns having sex with her in the car. THE ARTICLE ALSO stated that they were not sex offenders. But. "not getting any" as often as they would like to can turn them into one. Eagle Linen Supply also has abandoned vans, which are unlocked, on their lot. It's too easy for one of the prisoners, or anyone else, to pull a young child into one of the vans. I have four children and I never would have bought this house if I had known then what I know now. This is a residential neighborhood full of children of all ages and I'm sure their parents are as concerned as I am. JOE AND CLARA HUNTER North Wildwood

A Losing Battle To The Editor: During the 14th century, the Japanese poet Bashu said it best: you only live twice; once when you are born and once when you face death. For the last two months, my family has certainly lived. My mother was diagnosed as having renal cell carcinoma (kidney cancer) about two months ago. She died in morbid fashion June 7. The disease brought a strong, healthy and vivacious woman down to an almost infantile stage. She cried and moaned and begged for relief. She screamed out for mercy, for Jesus to take her. There was no answer for her, nor for my family. My family's soul rattled in mental anguish. A loving, beautiful woman was murdered by a deadly disease. MY BATTLE AGAINST CANCER is so far a losing one. i The millions of dollars spent on research have produced [ little. The professionals in Cape May County offered little, i The diagnosis was late. The early signs of this type of cancer were overlooked. The only statement I heard was. "...we'll try and make it as comfortable as we can. (Page 75 Please)

Eyesore on Highway To The Editor: We have a burned-out structure on Route 47 in Dennisville that has been standing in need of repairs or removal due to a fire a couple of years ago. Dennis Township Mayor John Champion has been asked to do something about this eyesore. On Feb. 5. he issued a legal document to be enforced after 14 days, which would have been Feb. 19. I HAVE ASKED the mayor at all township meetings why this was not enforced, and have always received a different excuse. This mayor is very indecisive when it comes to making final decisions. The mayor says he is running on his record ( I think he is more concerned with political favors). It is time to act on this issue. This is an historic township and the residents deserve better than to have to put up with this eyesore on our main highway. ELMER DOYLE Eldora

|-90 and Nuts Every Night a Surprise

By JOE ZELNIK It's nice to be a father again. ( Actually, I've been a father since the afternoon of Nov. 25, 1958, when Amy was born. I was a weekly newspaper editor (see how little I've advanced?) and it was a Tuesday, my deadline day. I worked at a borrowed typewriter in the hospital office as Amy arrived. ^ Lisa, my second, was more considerate. She was born on a Friday, May 29, 1964. No deadline pressure for a ,'t weekly editor. Now they are young adults, both out of college, and I guess I am supposed to be sitting back, feet up, falling asleep to baseball on television. INSTEAD. I AM trying to watch "Swan Lake" while a g 41-pound prima donna does her own ballet between me and the screen. I don't know the exact day I first laid eyes on Danielle, but it was late in May, two years ago. She was not quite four, and she couldn't stop moving. Now she is not quite six, and she still can't stop moving. I remember a well-meaning acquaintance told me I was nuts to consider becoming a father again — at my age. She pointed out that when Danielle was 16 and asking for the keys to the car, I'd be 112 or something and totally lacking in tolerance and patience. Heck, how could I be any less tolerant or any more impatient at 112 or something than I am now? MY OTHER DAUGHTERS usually criticize my clothes. Danielle thinks anything I wear is neat. That's because my other daughters think I'm 90 and Danielle thinks I'm 29. Danielle has brought a new excitement to my life. She can destroy the quiet calm of a restaurant in 40 seconds. She also keeps my creative juices flowing. The things I have to dream up, for example, to get her to eat. Would you believe "Crispy Wheats in Raisins" are crying inside their box (you can almost hear them) because Danielle would prefer some p re-sweetened junk? EVERY NIGHT when I come home from work, she V screams, "Surprise!" I'm not sure whether that means she's surprised I'm there, or I should be surprised she's there. Better not to think about it. " At any rate, that won't last indefinitely. Soon she'll be

older and jaded and won't even look up from the television when I come in the door. I know that, you see, because I've read Santayana: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." The best proof of that is me sitting at the playground watching Danielle climb up a slide, come down, go back up, come down, go back up, come down. What perseverance. I remember Lisa doing the same thing at the same age. ON THE OTHER HAND. I'd forgotten how thrilled a child is to find she can read. And Danielle already shows signs of topping my ability with words. She looked up the other night and observed that the moon "looks like a banana." It did. For not quite six, Danielle has some surprisingly serious worries. She's concerned, for example, about the effect of acid rain on the Statue of Liberty. I worry more about what it will do to my '76 Olds. At church Sunday, I felt that Father's Day was dragged into the sermon, almost reluctantly. There was the acknowledgement that almost nothing is known of Joseph, father of Jesus. It is simply assumed that, like mo6t fathers, he worked hard to support his family and didn't get in his wife's way too often. I can remember down times in my life when I felt a father was primarily a person who wrote checks to females. Of course there were no checks in Jesus' day. MY OLDER DAUGHTERS called me for Father s Day, a "present" I value because we see each other so seldom. Danielle, on the other hand, sees me all the time. So she came up with a package that she insisted I open the F"aday before the Big Day. In fact, she was so excited, she opened it for me. Inside was a coffee cup, mass-produced in Kindergarten, with a permanent, hand-decorated greeting between layers of plastic. It read: 'To Dad Love Danielle." Next time, she told me, she won't forget the comma. Apparently she knows I'm an editor. So far, I have found that this cup makes orange juice fresher and my coffee more aromatic. In coming days, I'm sure I will learn that it makes tea more brisk, milk creamier, beer frothier, wine more full-bodied, etc., etc.