LETTERS from CATHE ELLSWORTH

A Bad Sign I Placed On Pioneer

To the Editor:

Having lived on Upper Pioneer Street for some 36 years, it was indeed distressing to read John Webb’s “Letter to the Editor” in last week’s paper. The very idea of placing a solar-powered speed sign in one of Cooperstown’s residential neighborhoods is beyond the pale.

It is made even more reprehensible given the fact that not only was the sign a gift to the village by one of the street’s residents, but more importantly, the village erected the sign without giving the other residents of the street the opportunity to give any input into having such a sign in their neighborhood. It is indeed sad to think that the village government is doing the bidding of one individual without any seeming concern for the rest of its constituents. Of course, it would seem of late that the village has a bit of a history of accepting a number of things without considering what the final affect might be on village residents.

The move that I made from Cooperstown to Mount Vernon, Ohio in September of 2018 was indeed bittersweet. The Ellsworth family had lived on Upper Pioneer Street for over one hundred years which seemed to me to be a bit of a record. And while I fully understood the need to be closer to my family, I did not want to leave the area, or the neighborhood, in which I had lived for the longest time in my life.

However, given the fact that, as Mr. Webb so clearly put it, the neighborhood has now been “defaced,” something I must admit I am glad I have missed. In fact, it greatly supports the fact that my move to Ohio was indeed the right one. It seems that Cooperstown is increasingly not the place that the Ellsworth family held dear for these many years. And so my distress at having traded my home in Cooperstown for my home in Colonial Woods Village in Mount Vernon is diminished. Here in my new condo neighborhood we have only three traffic signs. There are two stop signs at our only intersection and a sign as one enters the community which reads “Speed Limit 14.” None of our signs are solar-powered and hence, none of them blink. And I am confident that the residents here fully intend to keep them that way.

CATHE ELLSWORTH
Mount Vernon, Ohio