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Democratic Committee
Local Families Contributions
Dear Editor,
I'd like to address probably one of the easiest
questions ever been posed in your letters section. Last week Nancy
McCaffrey asked, "what has happened to the Kings, Vorpahls, Osbornes, Holmses
and other longtime residents?" Besides from the fact that she does
a disservice to every other "longtime" family like Bennett, Duryea, Edwards,
Gosman, Miller, Mott, Lester,
Talmadge, Tilinghast, Tuma, and dozens of
others, she only has to look around. You'll find their families,
and many others, participating in every facet of local government and the
local economy. Whether it's at the IGA, the Gann Road Dock, the Town
Dock at Montauk, off Napeague tending fish traps or with a clam rake, as
a CSEA member, the local police chief, keeping our highways and beaches
beautiful or as Town Trustee or Town Supervisor,
the "longtime residents" are still doing what
they love best: carrying on a multi-generational tradition of caring
and love for our Town like no others can. I am grateful to call some
of them my friend. So Nancy, just look
around. You'll find that in the course
of your day you interact with so many wonderful residents who really do
willingly give their time to serve East Hampton in any way they know how.
My family is only 3 generations in
East Hampton Town. But does it really
matter where you're from, what your birth certificate says, or what ancestor
you can trace your roots back to? The only thing that should matter
is the desire and drive to make a positive contribution, in whatever way,
to our Town. If you're sincere, and your motives are pure, only good
things can happen.
Barry W. Leach