The Lilac bush giveaway for Lombard residents was a total farce. It was supposed to start at 9 a.m. and I got there about 8:45. There were barely any lilac bushes left, so evidently somebody else got all the bushes before the 9 a.m. start. It was a waste of time; there wasn’t much left to choose from. I was told that in some areas it was advertised at starting before 9 a.m., but in the Lombardian, along with the coupon in the Lombard Pride, it was clearly stated 9 a.m.

Joelyn Kott, communications and marketing coordinator for the Village of Lombard, addressed your comment: “The free lilac bush sale is a popular event that the residents of Lombard enjoy. It is a joint project of the Village of Lombard in cooperation with the Lombard Garden Club. I spoke with our contact from the Garden Club who said that they did begin the giveaway earlier than 9 a.m. but there were enough free lilac bushes for everyone who waited in line. The bushes were all given away by 9:45 a.m.”—JAC

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I’m calling from Villa Park and I’m so sorry about all the destruction there is in my neighborhood around Jackson Middle School, with misguided children doing things like tipping over the porta-lets and one evening I actually caught some children taking a shopping cart they found out of the pond. If they were finding it and taking it out of the pond, why weren’t they taking it back to the shopping district? No, instead, they were going north on Harvard Avenue and thought this was a fun thing. When I called them on it, the two boys who were with the girls left, and eventually a mom came. I was really disappointed that these children were even thinking this was a fun thing to do. Parents, teach your children to do better things than taking things where they don’t belong and if they find something, put it back where it does.

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This is to all the residents in any towns with downed lines roped off. All you people who walked or drove through, you were asking to be killed. Think sensibly; what was your rush? What was so important that you needed to get so close to downed power lines, to take pictures of it with your video cameras and camera phones? You have to treat it as a live wire and you might die.

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Lombard here. I see that your president has decided to finish killing off our economy by stopping the drilling and shoving cap and trade down our throats. I hope something happens to stop this.

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I’m calling from Lombard and wanted to say that I attended the Summerfest in Villa Park on the 19th and there was an announcement that everything was volunteer—the bands did not get paid, the police or anybody did not get paid. I was just thinking of the sharper contrast to Lombard who had one firefighter volunteer for the Lilac Parade.

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To the person who is worried about the fire truck parked in the fire lane at Jewel. It’s not for you to worry about it.—I’m sure this ruined your day. Just be concerned what you do in life.They take the fire truck in case there is a call. People in this town need to stop worrying about what everyone else is doing. Everyone needs to focus on themselves and not everyone else. Stop being so petty.

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I glanced at the June 16 Lombardian with the village president saying bike to work. Where are the bike lanes on Finley? Where are the bikeways specified to get through the village north and south? They talk about the Prairie Path but if you’re really going to bike to work, there should be some designated roads that cars can understand, hey, this is special for bicycles. Finley would be great to have bike lanes on both ways. I don’t see that, so this is kind of a joke.

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I can guess what people are thinking about Com Ed and the time it took some residents to get their power back after the storm on June 18, but I will say that I saw public works on my block as soon as the heavy winds and rain subsided. They were there because of downed trees and began assessing the damage. Just wanted them to know someone was grateful to have them come out so fast after the winds blew down so many trees and branches.

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Lombard calling on June 24. Last night around 5 p.m. when the storm hit, the whole street flooded up my house, filled up with water like a giant lake. I’ve been telling the Village of Lombard about this problem for years. Guess what? The house is in foreclosure; I’m only going to be here two to six more months before they kick me out and I’m glad. I want to get out of here and let the bank deal with this mess.

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Lombard calling to comment on two calls to SPEAK OUT. First, to the person who called and said that fireworks are environmentally unsafe and that people should not use them at home but instead go to public displays; does that mean those don’t contain bad chemicals and I will be safer breathing in the residue of those fireworks? Think of all that stuff raining down and the foggy aftermath. And, to the person who is mad at the gas station person for not opening his drawer so you could borrow three quarters, I have asked just for change at times in stores and was told by a cashier that the drawer cannot be opened unless there is a transaction taking place. So, if I want change, I have to wait for someone else to buy something. Before you take it to the extreme and stop being a customer, maybe step back and consider that he couldn’t open the drawer for that reason—or even to avoid an upcoming drawer count shortage. Just a thought.

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I’m a Lombard dog walker who would ask that after the Lombard Common grass is sprayed with chemicals, signs would be there so dog walkers would know. I was there one day and a man on a trailer spraying the lawn with chemicals had a mask on. That makes sense. I didn’t know that until after the dog was in the grass. It’s a little thing but lawn companies do it. Just little signs—at least until it dries—so dog walkers, kids and walkers in general would know that we’re being exposed to chemicals. There was no notification and there were kids playing in the park after I left the park. I am suggesting and requesting that there would be notification when they spray.

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This is Lombard calling. Well, the oil is still leaking into the gulf, and our president and big government has still done nothing to stop it. Barack Obama promised us that if we elected him, that big government would solve all of our problems, including national health care. Well, what did he do when the oil started leaking? Nothing. He waited several days and then all he did was blame people. And even to this point, he’s still sitting there saying this isn’t our problem, it’s BP’s problem. That’s what you get with big government, folks—a lot of taxes and no action. Do you really want this man in charge of your health care? Gosh, I just hope things change in November, and can you say, “one term?” I sure hope so.