RSS 2.0 FeedThursday, November 3, 2011, Weekly editorial
A Voter's Guide
A Voters Guide
This is the last issue of your community newspaper before the November 8 election. It is also the week we traditionally publish the portion of the League of Women Voters Guide that affects our publication area. It is reprinted with their permission.
The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan group of voters, with membership open to both men and women, but founded by women when they gained the right to vote. In addition to the annual voters’ guide, the league also publishes guides to registering to vote and obtaining an absentee ballot, contact information for elected officials, and various research papers on issues of interest. They train to be moderators in local candidates’ debates. And they host forums on important issues also, all this as unpaid volunteers doing their civic duty.
Years ago the league honored your community newspaper’s publisher along with Joye Brown of Newsday’s editorial board. A dear friend, now gone, came to the luncheon and brought me a T-shirt she had decorated with the image of the Statue of Liberty, whose 125th anniversary we celebrate this week. She had made one minor change. The statue wielded a pen instead of a torch.
Bente Hamann must have loved the Statue of Liberty as much as she loved New York City. She came to this country with her husband when he joined the art department of the fledgling United Nations. Here, she launched a career as a journalist and later book designer and production chief at top New York publishing houses. He rose in the United Nations to become its Postmaster General. He was the artist who designed the “flag” or distinctive nameplate of this newspaper.
Together, they raised a daughter, Kristine, who became a lawyer and has held important posts in the state and city justice system. They helped raise two granddaughters, one a lawyer and the other a designer. You could say all three generations have lived the American Dream, promised by the Statue of Liberty at the entrance to our shores.
Bente Hamann’s artistic rendering of that symbol of our freedom wielding a pen makes me think of many famous journalists who have brought light to important subjects that affect our freedom. But it also makes me think of the League of Women Voters, helping us to make informed decisions on voting day.
Our thanks to them, and to the public spirited sponsors who are helping us bring the voter’s guide to you this week. They are listed below:
The Citizen - Rudy’s A-1 Auto Body; Concord Cleaners; Animal Appetites; Majestic Salon; LaMonica, Herbst & Maniscalco, LLP and Coldwell Banker Manor Gate.
Merrick Life - Coldwell Banker Your Home; Genworth Financial Marge Elias; Merrick Pediatric Dentistry; Piccolo Restaurant; Prudential Douglas Elliman.
Bellmore Life - Genworth Financial Marge Elias; Merrick Pediatric Dentistry; Piccolo Restaurant; MP Family Health and Bellmore Life.
The Leader - Compare Foods; Drs. John Masters and Orkideh Naghavi and the Freeport-Baldwin Leader.
