Pertaining to the parental notification bill, who in their right mind would enact legislation that allows teenage girls to undergo a major medical operation without parental involvement?

Are you legislators truly losing your minds? What kind of people are we electing to public office? Idiots. You would want your child to make this decision on her own. Enough is enough.

Does our judiciary committee truly represent the will of the people? They voted 12-5 to take away a parent’s right to guide their own child through a medical decision.

If they’re not in tune with you, let them hear from you.

Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Goodwin
Bow

Attention ­ all Hopkinton families, couples, singles, seniors, teens ­ it is important for you to understand the gravity of an upcoming warrant article to eliminate the recreation department.

Our recreation director, Rob Mattes, was hired to replace two previous directors, who could not seem to effectively reach all ages of our resident population. Many of the programs listed below were developed, improved, or co-sponsored by Rob.

The last couple of years witnessed the defaming of a longtime pioneer of community programs, Nini Allen, and the demeaning of our historic Columbia Hall by some of our town administrators.

Understandably, there remains a great deal of anger toward the injustice created by that publicity.

Rob, however, was placed in the “hot spot” of being asked to move his recreation office into the “practically condemned” Columbia Hall and instructed to carry on “as usual.” With great optimism and diligence, he proceeded to paint (without much help) the inside of Columbia Hall and replace some of its floor.

Moreover, Rob personally invests his time on Wednesdays to cook lunch (which he loves) for all seniors and provides time for games and cards. Nowhere is his philosophy and creativity more at work than on Wednesdays. As he would say, “I love bringing joy into people’s lives. Everyone from kids to adults desire a time without stress, a time to stop and take a breath.”

It must be understood that Rob was once again put in the hot spot by administrators who placed all the costs of maintaining Columbia Hall and all the costs of maintaining the Slusser Center in Rob’s budget proposal. In this, “the year of Avitar,” an inflated budget proposal, Rob will certainly reconsider his request for extra part-time help, even though he averages 55 hours per week.

Therefore, it seems only fair that those who signed the petition to completely eliminate the recreation department from our town’s budget might think about joining the recreation committee, volunteering to help on a program, serving at senior lunches or having direct discussions as a first step. Rob is always open to suggestions of any kind.

I must ask you to consider that a small town like ours is so fortunate to have such a strong deterrent to the seeds of boredom and alienation in all age groups.

The following is a list of all the programs offered by the recreation department:

• Haunted house

• Breakfast with Santa

• Easter egg hunt

• Kayaking

• Camping

• Overnight trips

• Motorcycle trips

• Whale watching

• Ski trips

• Group hikes (winter snowshoe and summer)

• Red Cross babysitting

• Senior crafts

• Beginner tai chi

• Tennis

• Silver Striders walking

• Senior wellness

• Parent nights out

• Dance classes

• Sponsor for Hawks sports camps (baseball, bittyball, basketball, field hockey)

• Boys and Girls Club coffee hour

• Host for yoga, aerobics and theater groups

• Ice skating at Kimball Pond and the fairgrounds

• Hockey lessons

• Summer swim lessons at Kimball Pond and lifesaving

• Summer day camp, K-12, 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

• Archery

• Adult volleyball and basketball

• Pickup soccer

• Boys and girls lacrosse

• Stained-glass

• Candy making

• British soccer camp

Mary Congoran
Hopkinton

Dear Gov. Lynch,

I urge you to support the Fish and Game Department through the State General Fund.

Fish and Game cannot continue to fulfill its responsibilities without additional short- and long-term funding. Fish and Game’s work brings jobs and tourists to New Hampshire. For example, it contributed $579 million to the state’s economy in 2001.

There are already 31 other states whose wildlife agencies receive some funding from their state government. For the short term, we need some general fund support to balance the budget in fiscal year 2008 and fiscal year 2009, $1.6 million each year. This would be a sound investment in the economy of New Hampshire. Depriving N.H. of the educational and many of the other services of our Fish and Game would “kill the goose that laid the golden egg.”

I have been certified by the New Hampshire Fish and Wildlife Education Department in Project WILD, a educational program to bring wildlife lessons to outdoor and indoor classrooms. In November, I completed an intensive 11-week course with New Hampshire Fish and Game in collaboration with UNH Cooperative Extension and other agencies to become a community tree steward. And most recently, in February, I completed another four-week program with Fish and Game called “Wonders of Wildlife,” whose participants go into classrooms all over New Hampshire to teach about wildlife, wetlands, pond ecology and endangered species. I am just one of many volunteers all over New Hampshire who is trained every year by the New Hampshire Fish and Game Education Department to volunteer in our schools and communities. Depriving New Hampshire of the educational services of our Fish and Game Department for this myriad of volunteers would be economically and educationally unsound.

Support New Hampshire Fish and Game in its educational, economic, environmental stewardship of our beautiful state of New Hampshire by supporting its short- and long-term budgets.

Sue Moore
Environmental educator
Bow

There has been a lot of misinformation about how much the recreation department budget is actually costing the residents of Hopkinton and where that money is going.

The grand total for the operating expenses, which the recreation department proposed and the selectmen agreed to, is $123,364. The budget committee voted to remove an additional $13,480, which includes $1,000 for telephone and Internet expenses for the Slusser Senior Center and $12,480 for a part-time program coordinator (for all age groups).

The recreation department would like to ask the residents to vote the program coordinator position funds back into the recreation department budget at Town Meeting so the current quality and level of programming can continue.

This entire proposal ($13,364) will cost no more than $9 for every $100,000 value on your property. This means if you have a $300,000 house, you will be contributing $26 for the year to operate the entire recreation department.

The recreation department is not asking for money to operate most programs (the exception being the summer day camp staff). Program money comes from the participants of the programs themselves.

Last year, the recreation department brought in $58,684.01 in programming fees, which is up 24 percent from 2005, and estimates for 2007 show similar growth. Total programming costs for the recreation department totaled $57,526.48.

Again, none of these programming costs were paid for from tax dollars but were paid for by the program participants.

Program participation is also up more than 20 percent, which means that more people are taking advantage of the recreation department than ever before. This participation increase does not even include the programs that have no registration forms, such as the haunted house, senior lunch, Easter egg hunt and breakfast with Santa. Many of these events are either new and growing or are established programs, which are also seeing increased participation levels.

Now, what exactly does the before mentioned $9 for every $100,000 give you? There are obvious things such as staff needed to run the programs throughout the year for all ages, a safe beach for families to gather and swim, and facilities to run the programs. There are also some things that may be overlooked such as restrooms at the bandstand and Kimball Pond, lighting for the ice rink at Kimball Lake and at the fairgrounds, lighting the sports fields so teams can play in the evening, management of the sports fields so teams and interested residents have time to play and practice their team sports without scheduling conflicts, and even the behind-the-scene items such as office supplies and criminal record checks for staff members and volunteers working with the youth of this community.

The money that you are spending on the recreation department goes to benefit the entire community, whether the money goes to help pay for the lifeguards that keep your swimming area safe, to light the sports fields for an evening game, or to a criminal record check, you are contributing to keeping this community healthy and safe.

There are a few in town who do not feel that a recreation department is necessary and who are trying to eliminate the department at Town Meeting. They have petitioned a warrant article to close the recreation department completely.

I urge you to think about what this community would be missing if there was no recreation department to provide recreational opportunities for the youth, adults and seniors within this community.

I urge you to get out to Town Meeting and vote to keep the recreation department alive and active. I also urge you to get more involved with the recreation department by offering suggestions and volunteering to assist in a program or two throughout the year.

The mission of the recreation department is to enhance the quality of life for all citizens in our community, by providing a variety of recreational activities, special events and service that encourage lifelong learning, fitness and fun. A recreation department in any community offers opportunities to help give balance to a life full of work, family, school and schedules by offering programs to relieve stress, have fun, learn new skills and challenge you physically and mentally.

Let us not remove a thriving department that helps to balance a great community, but instead let us all stand behind it and get even more involved!

Rob Mattes
Hopkinton recreation director

Monday evening the Hopkinton PTA sponsored a forum for the school board candidates. About 50 people attended to meet the three candidates: David Lunea, Peter Yunich and myself, Marion Paxton.

The questions asked by the audience were very helpful to me as I continue to learn about the concerns and needs of the people of Hopkinton.

I hope that the answers from the candidates were equally helpful to the audience, as they decide who they want to represent them on the school board for the next three years.

The Hopkinton PTA has my thanks for planning this event. As more people in town communicate with the elected officials and each other, we can better work together to move Hopkinton forward in a positive fashion.

I wish good luck to the candidates running for all of the offices in Hopkinton this year, and encourage every registered voter to get to the polls on March 13 to determine who will represent them.

Marion L. Paxton
Hopkinton