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davidfcooperDear Joshua,
Your father sent to us the petition that you started as part of your Bar Mitzvah project, and he indicated that you had read my "Fighting Katrina Fatigue" email. I am very impressed by what you are doing and am honored to know that my email might have helped to encourage this important project that you have undertaken. Your father has great reason to be proud of it, and of you, and I'm so glad that he shared this with us. By the way, I have a 13-year old son as well, and I know that you guys can get pretty embarrassed and even annoyed at us dads when we express our pride, so in case you didn't want him to send it out to us, give him a break!
That this is part of your Bar Mitzvah has particularly special meaning for us. Believe it or not, our Adam had his Bar Mitzvah on the weekend that Katrina paid us her visit. The service went forward as planned on Saturday morning (Aug. 27), but as it became more clear that Katrina was heading our way, many people left town that afternoon, and we all firmed up plans to leave that day or the next. We still had a party Saturday night, although with about half as many people as planned for, and then we evacuated the City early Sunday a.m. Katrina hit Monday morning and, well you know the rest of the story. Our own house took 6 feet of water, we hope to rebuild it but aren't certain yet (a 2-story house, and the upstairs was fine). Needless to say, we now look back at Adam's Bar Mitzvah as the last happy event prior to everything changing so drastically.
The support of people like you, and the fact that you are encouraging the support of others, is very important, and we thank you for it. It give us hope for many more happy events ahead. You of course are absolutely correct that the hurricane/wind itself did not cause the vast majority of the problem, that instead it was the poorly designed levees that should have but did not hold up in a storm that, by the time it hit New Orleans, was really a Category 3 storm, which supposedly the levees were built to withstand.
Although you and I have never met, I know that you are a thoughtful young man with a commitment to doing the right thing and to doing your part to increase the awareness of others, all of which helps to make this, whether Louisiana, Florida, or somewhere else, better for us all. When I sent my email to a group of friends from outside of Louisiana, I had no idea how many people would eventually read it. I did receive many responses, but I must say that your response is the most meaningful of all.
I have signed the petition and intend to forward it to the list that originally received my "Fighting Katrina Fatigue" email. I expect that you will begin to see many names you do not recognize!
Mazel Tov, and Thank you.
Larry Orlansky
http://www.livejournal.com/users/davidfcooper/150809.html
Your father sent to us the petition that you started as part of your Bar Mitzvah project, and he indicated that you had read my "Fighting Katrina Fatigue" email. I am very impressed by what you are doing and am honored to know that my email might have helped to encourage this important project that you have undertaken. Your father has great reason to be proud of it, and of you, and I'm so glad that he shared this with us. By the way, I have a 13-year old son as well, and I know that you guys can get pretty embarrassed and even annoyed at us dads when we express our pride, so in case you didn't want him to send it out to us, give him a break!
That this is part of your Bar Mitzvah has particularly special meaning for us. Believe it or not, our Adam had his Bar Mitzvah on the weekend that Katrina paid us her visit. The service went forward as planned on Saturday morning (Aug. 27), but as it became more clear that Katrina was heading our way, many people left town that afternoon, and we all firmed up plans to leave that day or the next. We still had a party Saturday night, although with about half as many people as planned for, and then we evacuated the City early Sunday a.m. Katrina hit Monday morning and, well you know the rest of the story. Our own house took 6 feet of water, we hope to rebuild it but aren't certain yet (a 2-story house, and the upstairs was fine). Needless to say, we now look back at Adam's Bar Mitzvah as the last happy event prior to everything changing so drastically.
The support of people like you, and the fact that you are encouraging the support of others, is very important, and we thank you for it. It give us hope for many more happy events ahead. You of course are absolutely correct that the hurricane/wind itself did not cause the vast majority of the problem, that instead it was the poorly designed levees that should have but did not hold up in a storm that, by the time it hit New Orleans, was really a Category 3 storm, which supposedly the levees were built to withstand.
Although you and I have never met, I know that you are a thoughtful young man with a commitment to doing the right thing and to doing your part to increase the awareness of others, all of which helps to make this, whether Louisiana, Florida, or somewhere else, better for us all. When I sent my email to a group of friends from outside of Louisiana, I had no idea how many people would eventually read it. I did receive many responses, but I must say that your response is the most meaningful of all.
I have signed the petition and intend to forward it to the list that originally received my "Fighting Katrina Fatigue" email. I expect that you will begin to see many names you do not recognize!
Mazel Tov, and Thank you.
Larry Orlansky
http://www.livejournal.com/users/davidfcooper/150809.html
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no subject
Date: 2006-01-27 02:51 pm (UTC)I'm pretty sure Everybody's Cafe is not affiliated with any other restaurant. It features "The Largest International Selection of Appetizers,
Salads, Pastas, Meat, Seafood, Vegetarian,
Coffees, Teas & Desserts Available Anywhere in
the Poconos. Open Daily for Lunch, Dinner or
Just Dessert." There's a review on Tripadvisor:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g53776-d522937-r4329481-Everybody_s_Cafe-Stroudsburg_Pennsylvania.html
no subject
Date: 2006-01-28 04:41 am (UTC)I seem to recall that there was a ginormous bear at one of the entrances by Bushkill Falls--my ex- might have some exposures of this, but since we are not in contact, I don't think I'm going to be able to retrieve them anytime soon!
*g* What was that I said about owning my mistakes?
Long Beach Island, for all the unwise development on it, was always a fun place for visiting. I recall even taking a trip down there in late December of 1980, with another couple, because the guys wanted to visit a bar that was in Beach Haven (make a right at the end of the Causeway). It sticks out in my mind because it was really cold out, the seasonal people were mostly gone, but the permanent residents in the community were around--I sort of think they appreciated that people would visit in the off-season, but then again, it could have been my imagination.
It really is a long drive, though.
no subject
Date: 2006-01-28 04:11 pm (UTC)We liked South County, RI because of its relative lack of development. It's what I imagine Cape Cod was like 60 years ago. We saw no national franchise restaurants or hotels; everything was locally owned and operated and unpretentious. From NJ it's a 3-4 hour drive, but you can also get there on Amtrak (Westerly, RI has an Amtrak station as well as a small airport).
no subject
Date: 2006-01-29 10:30 pm (UTC)I like places that have a minimum (or none) of the chains, and that are unpretentious. (I'm also involved (online, at least) with the anti-WalMart groups & am very pro-labor).
Yeah-shocking, I know! :)