Robert Frost’s birthday
Our editorial is dedicated to Robert Frost who was born on March 26, 1874 and apparently is being forgotten. The City of Derry, New Hampshire has had events celebrating the occasion because he owned a farm there and taught at Pinkerton Academy but his early years were spent in Lawrence and he should be remembered for the splendor he brought to this city.
When the Lawrence Teachers Union held its scholarship awards at the end of the school year, President Frank McLaughlin made sure to hold it in the Robert Frost Room at the Lawrence Public Library. It was very inspiring how he took a moment to speak of Frost’s contribution to literature and to Lawrence. They no longer have it there since they have their own space at the Relief’s In.
Whether you enjoy poetry or not this is not about convincing you to start reading or writing poetry. My concern is that even though we dedicated the Frost School and the Frost Fountain across from City Hall in his name, our children are not learning about him and his contributions. That is sinful!
Jose Ayala from WCEC was curious about the honors being bestowed on Frost for his birthday so he went to the Lawrence Public Library only to find that the receptionist had no idea as to who Robert Frost was. Sad!
While Mark Schorr was executive director of the Frost Foundation, he would hold poetry readings and competitions keeping his legacy alive. But Mark died in January of this year and I don’t know what the future of the Foundation will be. So, I contacted the two people who know the most about the city former high school art teacher David Meehan and Jonas Stundzia of the Historical Society. I learned wonderful details about Robert Frost from them. Perhaps for the 125th birthday in three years, something nice could be planned in Lawrence.
One detail I learned was that the house at 175 Haverhill St. should be considered a “historical site” because Frost lived there, his mother had a school and Frost and his wife Elinor both taught at the school. His first son was born at that house, too.
In case you didn’t get it, that is the house next to the Oliver School.
My fear in all of this is that this generation and future ones will not know the history of this city and the legacy these people have left.
Mayor’s clean up
It may sound like a good thing but I think it’s a lousy way to spend 400,000 taxpayers’ dollars. I have suggested in the past the need for launching an educational campaign which is badly needed in this community. That money could be put to better use because we all know that after the temporary workers leave, the streets will be messy just the same.
Establishing heavy fines and enforcing them work best. Making sure that residents recycle will benefit us all. The city can sell the recycling materials thus saving in the cost of paying for trash pickup. Once people start feeling it in their pockets, they’ll learn quickly.
By the way, those people who fill their blue container to the point of not being able to close the cover complain that one is not enough. If they start separating the recyclables, they’ll discover that it could not be filled to the top in one week.
Also, the mayor is hiring 25 workers to remove graffiti. I wonder how they are going to do that, what protection will be worn, what chemicals they will be using and, above all, where is the graffiti truck? I heard a long time ago that they were not using it because it didn’t have the chemicals and they couldn’t afford to buy them. I bet that the money being spent endangering the safety of 25 individuals could be better used buying the necessary materials for the truck. Besides, it will be faster.
Crime rate
I very often talk about the proliferation of crime in Lawrence to the disgust of many people. I have even been accused of fabricating my information even though I try to document my sources. My figures don’t usually match those offered by city officials and at times get angry at me.
On page 5 we are reproducing an article published by Haverhill’s WHAV.net about the increase in the crime rate in Haverhill and Mayor James Fiorentini’s reaction to the news. The stats he is referring to are from NeighborhoodScout.com (one of my sources) and he is very upset about their findings. The best part is that he mentions that Haverhill is not as bad as Lawrence which is listed among the 100 most dangerous cities in the country.
