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Help us with Toys for Tots this year To the Editor: The Toys for Tots program is 75-years-old this year. This is the first year this program has ever distributed toys to the Fairmont area. The Fairmont VFW, American Legion and Martin County Veterans Memorial Committee are sponsoring this Marine Corps Reserve endeavor. When I volunteered to help coordinate this project, I did not realize how great the need is in our community. To date we have 275 children signed up but have only collected 264 toys and $1,125.24. All monies collected will be spent on the children. Time is of the ...

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Letters to the Editor

Close-mindedness creates division To the Editor: Opportunities for progress and moving forward could have taken place a long time ago if proponents of a recreation center would have come alongside Martin County. Instead, the Fairmont Area Community Center Foundation (FACCF), the Community Center Advisory Board (CCAB), 1590 organizers, and Mayo Clinic have stubbornly dug in their heels creating division when the majority of citizens would much rather have found a way to compromise. Consider this: City council members in favor of this huge expense were voted off, during two different ...

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Local Editorials

Fairmont Schools honors teacher Congratulations to Fairmont High School’s Spanish teacher, Melinda Stewart, who has been named this school year’s teacher of the year. Thank you, Melinda, for your continued efforts in educating and empowering our young people and showing them the value of different views and diversity. Program adds childcare providers The Prosper Project, a program funded by the Schmeeckle Foundation, has added three new in-home childcare providers over the past few months. The program also launched a substitute program to help existing providers when they need a ...

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Letters to the Editor

This is all common sense To the Editor: The Sentinel printed several letters to the editor in the last few days, some written by former residents now attending college, who are in support of the proposed community center. They have fond memories of growing up in Fairmont and are deciding whether they want to return. Fairmont is a wonderful city with its lakes, trails, organizations, and churches. The city leaders need to focus on new businesses to bring higher paying jobs and to create more housing. This will be a reason for people to return and raise their families. Fairmont also ...

Readers' Views

Letters to the Editor

Fellow citizens of Fairmont To the Editor: I had the opportunity to speak at the Fairmont City Council meeting on Monday, Nov. 14th regarding my position on the community center. I contemplated on republishing the entirety of that speech but I have decided to give highlights as I feel some of the pointed words at the city council were heard by who needed to hear them and to continue the use of disparaging words only takes me down to that level where so many people are trying to fight this project. The time to start healing is now. Here are three points made in opposition of the ...

Readers' Views

Letters to the Editor

Smoking off the property at HRA To the Editor: If you drive around the perimeter of Friendship Village (500 Home Street) in Fairmont, day or night, you might be surprised to see people standing out in the parking lot or in the street itself. Some of these people might be in wheelchairs. Some might be with walkers or using a cane. Some are over eighty years old. The reason they stand outside, summer and winter, is because they want to smoke. Up until one year ago, residents of Friendship Village could not smoke in their apartment (a HUD rule) but were allowed to smoke on the ...