Sidewalk for Union Street 

The article, Sidewalk for Union Street (Oct. 2), could just as easily could have been named County Taxpayers Foot the Bill for Overlooked Development Costs. The story captures many of the complaints of County residents into one, easy to understand piece. 

At issue is not the need for a sidewalk connecting the Pineridge Drive Subdivision and its 40 or so houses with the town of Picton. The question everyone wants answered is, “Who’s going to pay for it?” The cost of new development should be carried by the developer and then passed on to the people purchasing homes, condos or apartments in the new development. When obvious amenities, such as sidewalks, are overlooked in the planning stage, the cost of the project is passed on to all County taxpayers.

Secondly, how can a project that was a 2023 budget item increase 185% from $152,529 to $441,155 when implemented only one year later?  The budget number  implied an extremely high degree of precision (accurate to six digits!) yet missed the actual mark by a country mile.

When the municipal officials responsible for development miss the mark so badly on such a simple and straightforward project, it undermines their authority regarding much larger projects. No one should be surprised when long-time residents have no faith in the officials touting the necessity of a $192 million regional water project nor in the ability of those officials to implement it within the prescribed time period and budget.

Doug Ostrander, Waupoos

Books on Film and on Stage

I am writing regarding the the ad in the Gazette for Books on Film/Newspapers on Film. I have always maintained that, if you love a book, it’s rare that an adaptation for the screen, large or small, will live up to your expectations. 

With that in mind, I attended the County Roads Theatre Company production of The Year of Magical Thinking. I had read Joan Didion’s bold exploration of loss, mourning and survival years ago. Didion’s honesty and compulsion to write about such difficult moments in her life without any sugar-coating made the book memorable for me.

At Mount Tabor, the masterful performance by Joan McBride, who directed and starred in the one-woman show, did not reach me the way the book had. Didion’s adaptation of her memoir for the stage failed me, not because of the production, which was excellent, but because the adaptation could not replicate the intimacy between the writer and me — a connection I felt while I held the book in my hands and read at my own pace.

Now, I’ll expand upon my original observation. If you love a book, its adaptation may not live up to the original, but by all means see the play or film. And, if that experience were to pique your interest in reading the original, do so. You may come to love it more.

JC Sulzenko, South Marysburgh

A Man for All Seasons

Clifford Foster was “a man  for all seasons.” An editorial like Jason’s, Remembering Mr. Clifford (September 25), helps make what we hope to do this Thanksgiving all the more meaningful. It strikes me that all the time, effort, thought, connections, and perseverances are so worthwhile:  even though they may have come at personal cost. One feels a deep satisfaction despite how spent. A worthy expense.    This celebration is so much more meaningful after reading Jason’s piece.

How Mr. Clifford mentored, and was gentlemanly and welcoming at Belleville Farmers Market, made a huge mark on all of us. Vendors and customers alike. Mr. Clifford’s faithful presence at the market puts me in mind of Theodore Roosevelt’s Man in the Arena: “The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

And not far behind is Dwight Eisenhower, who also embodies Cliff’s influence and teaching: “Always try to associate yourself with and learn as much as you can from those who know more than you do, who do better than you, who see more clearly than you. The association may pay off in time but that is incidental. The important thing is that you yourself will be a better person.”

Carol Lee, Prince Edward County

East Lake Farmers

I am writing in response to your lovely tribute to “Mr. Clifford”— and your eloquent description of what it takes to be a farmer (Always Mr. Clifford, September 25). I realize it’s challenging to capture the history of farming in any region, but I am compelled to mention a few names that were conspicuous by their absence from your list of the long-time neighbouring farmers on East Lake Road.

At the risk of missing a few names myself, there are the Manns, the Youngs and the Marisetts. I’m more acquainted with the Marisetts, who have farmed on East Lake Road for 79 years. Following the passing of Ken Marisett in 2019, his daughter Christine Kosman is the third generation farmer of this family, now farming a total of 339 certified organic acres. Ken’s wife Joan continues to live on the farm. Thank you for celebrating the hard-working farmers of the region.

David Kirkwood, East Lake Farm (formerly The Noble Farm)