Remember Deb Aumick, old friends, Earth Day, and honey locusts
A COLUMN By Kathryn Ross
I have been considering three topics for this week’s column, so I’ve decided to do all three, although they are only casually unrelated.
I was surprised to read about the untimely passing of Deb Aumick. She was one of those friends I was always going to call and catch up with. I guess that can’t happen now and I’m sorry about that.
Deb was a fun friend. We met as colleagues and hit it off. She would always sit with the press at events because, “We were the fun table.”
A couple of years ago we drove to Buffalo with two other friends to attend an interactive Van Gogh art exhibition. It was a great learning experience and a lot of fun.
The best was when we attended the Woodstock 50th Celebration reunion weekend with former Patriot reporter Nora Wilson Wheeler and her son Tony. It was a great trip east. We enjoyed the countryside and the county attractions as we got closer to Woodstock. We enjoyed touring the site and the concert with Country Joe and the Fish and Santana. In our hotel room we celebrated Deb’s birthday with one of those cakes in a cup. It was memorable.
In more recent years the three of us have shared lunch at local eateries. I wish we could again.
Earth Day was this week. I remember when it came about in the early 70s. Back then I was all about the environment, at least experiencing it. I gave no voice to preserving the environment. I never did more about it than wearing a green and white patch on my surplus army jacket with its embroidered Monarch butterfly on the back while riding my horse Saracen on the back roads and hillsides.
Recently I met the woman who boarded my horse Saracen in Andover, Deanna Russell. She’s another old friend that inadvertently faded from my life along with my horse-riding days. I’m happy that we had the opportunity to talk again. We had more than a few adventures riding our horses on the forest trails of Davis Hill and drinking tea at her kitchen table.
Which brings to mind another old friend. I need to telephone Cheryl who lives in Michigan now. I’m wondering if she is experiencing some bad winter weather with the storm Accu Weather predicted for the central part of the country. I talked to her a couple of weeks ago, so I do stay in touch with her. Along with Gail and Noreen she is one of my oldest friends.
Noreen is my oldest friend, we met in kindergarten. Gail moved into the neighborhood in fourth or fifth grade and we’re best buddies. We’re meeting next Monday for lunch. I hope we all remember. It’s important to stay in touch especially at our age.
The third topic I want to deal with is offering my two cents on the recent chopping down of the Honey Locust trees on the north end of the business district. Never mind that the slaughter of those four trees is unforgivable for the ease of pouring concrete, they were in their prime and provided shade and comfort for locals and were a tourist attraction.
With a little more effort and forethought, I think they could have been preserved. Honestly, to me it just shows the stupidity of the public works department and the village board or maybe and worse their duplicity. As they say, it is easier to ask forgiveness than permission.
I can’t imagine that they didn’t realize there would be a public outcry. If they didn’t, then we as a village have a greater problem because it shows they just didn’t care. They needed to think twice before making the decision to chop down trees that shaded Main Street and made it picturesque.
To me their reckless disregard for the for public opinion shows the need for a female perspective and presence on the board. While there have been two board seats up for appointment in recent months, men were approved for the positions. I would be surprised that although several women routinely attend board meetings, that any female candidates were even considered, aside from the fact that in recent years we have had two female mayors.
In this day and age that is a travesty and an injustice that needs to be addressed sooner than later. We need to put an end to the Old Men’s Club and women need to step up to do it.
Kathryn Ross is a native Wellsville writer, journalist, former Daily Reporter, and community activist. You can reach her anytime, kathr_2002@yahoo.com
