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Letters: Nov. 13

Letters to the editor have Woodstock locals firmly against the anti-lockdown protest planned in the city this weekend.

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Stop protestors from coming here

I think all the roads to Woodstock should be closed so the anti-lockdown protestors can’t come to Woodstock and potentially bring more cases of COVID-19 to the community.

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Everyone in Woodstock has been wearing masks, following public-health guidelines and we’ve largely kept COVID-19 numbers down.

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Let them walk up and down Highway 401 and, if we’re lucky, we won’t have to see them again.

I’m a senior, and I sure don’t want more cases that can harm people.

Donna Bell

Woodstock

These are not freedom rallies

I was saddened to read about the proposed anti-lockdown rally set to take place in Woodstock. These foolish, misguided individuals seem impervious to the deadly repercussions of their foolhardy actions such as condemning the wearing of masks and flaunting social distancing.

I was outraged when I read the anti-maskers call these events “Freedom Rallies.”

This term aptly describes the James Connolly-organized events preceding Ireland’s 1916 Easter Rising. The term also applies to the numerous marches and rallies of the Southern Christian Leadership Committee headed by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

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Those events pertained to human rights violations, odious statutes and practices such as subjugation and segregation, not issues of science denial and inconvenience

Marianne Park-Ruffin

Woodstock

How did boomers become haters?

I am solidly a baby boomer. We went to Woodstock, marched with Rev. Martin Luther King, shut down the Vietnam War and ran Richard Nixon out of office.

Now I see us gathering in stone-faced solidarity with the growing madness of extremist politics and, I wonder, how on Earth did we get here from there? How did hippies become haters? When did headbands become MAGA hats? It is beyond my grasp.

Robert Kent

Ingersoll

Anti-mask rally not wanted

As a downtown business owner, I’m wondering why this Sunday’s anti-mask rally is being allowed. This group encourages its followers to flood local businesses and the community without masks.

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Why are we being subjected to this?

John Jansen

Woodstock

Lack of safe speeds on city streets

I am quite concerned about speeding in the city.

I have voiced my concerns to the Woodstock police on numerous visits, to council members and directly to the mayor. Years ago, electronic speed signs were erected to warn drivers of the speed limit. The electronic sign installed on Lansdowne Avenue has never operated properly since it was installed. It either activates after the vehicle has passed or it activates when the traffic is not speeding. The end result is no one pays any attention to it.

I asked if it could be replaced with one that shows the speed the vehicle is doing, but was told the only way to slow speeders is with tickets. If that is the case, why are we not enforcing the law with more radar enforcement?

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I see more running of red lights, loud mufflers and careless driving habits than I have seen in the past. On Lansdowne Avenue, the majority of cyclists ride on the sidewalks because the speed the vehicles are traveling make it to dangerous to ride in the bike lane.

Ken Park

Woodstock

Keep French immersion in Woodstock

I agree with Mary Holmes concerning her statements about the St. Mary’s French immersion students being bused to Mother Teresa in London.

My wife Theresa and I were the school trustees for the French program at Ste Marie high school. On a Saturday night while at a curling bonspiel in Norwich, we were called by the director of the Woodstock Catholic school board to come immediately to a meeting at the board office. There was someone there from Toronto wanting to speak to us about an urgent matter.

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I was president of the French board and, after being introduced to this person, we found that l’A.C.F.O., a French association located in London, had approached the Ontario government school system about one of our students. She had complained she was not pleased with the courses we offered at our school. That person requested we provide transportation for her to attend another high school in London. At the time, we were sharing classrooms with the English high school St. Mary;s.

We did not agree. We felt this would damage our changes of getting our own French high school in Woodstock. We were told we had to carry out this request. I then asked if I could make a phone call to one of our Toronto contacts. our contact asked to speak to this person and, after their discussion, we did not have to send this student to London.

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Had we agreed to send this student, we feel we never would have had our own French high school Notre Dame.

Nous félicitons Mary Holmes and all others concerned who are trying to keep French immersion students in Woodstock.

Gaston and Thérèse DeSerres

Woodstock

COVID-19

Here’s a rundown of our daily coverage on the Woodstock-area fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic from March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October and November.

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