Hello, can anybody tell me when Morton Arboretum has free days; seeing how it was a gift from Joy Morton, why the hard-working people of DuPage County can’t get in there because of the prices they charge.

Gina Tedesco, Morton Arboretum public relations manager, explained: “The Morton Arboretum is a private, nonprofit that does not receive tax funding from a dedicated source, as some other museums do. But there’s a discount every week: Our Wednesday general admission is $7/adult, $6/senior (ages 65+) and $5/child age 2-17. Under age 2 is free. This compares with our regular rates of $11, $10 and $8 respectively. The fee provides free access to the Children's Garden, Maze Garden, 16 miles of hiking trails and nine miles of roads to drive or bicycle along, while exploring trees. Parking is free with admission. Additionally, we offer memberships (starting at $65/year for an individual) that provide free admission 365 days a year.” Tedesco also related that “the admission fee covers only 5 percent of our operating expenses to maintain 1,700 acres, including world-class tree collections, roads, trails, our Visitor Center and more. The fee also supports our education program and research in support of our work to save and plant trees.”—JAC

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It’s amazing to see that the spill in the gulf called upon the White House to hold BP responsible, and that the White House would fight for the rights of the people in the gulf. However, we have a natural gas line explosion in San Francisco, destroying homes everywhere and killing people. How come we haven’t heard the same thing from that? This is the kind of discrepancy we see. We went after someone with deep pockets, but we don’t morally go after these people.

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The refrain is coming, and it’s true. Go vote. Vote in November. There are many excuses not to vote. There is one reason to vote. America is your country, and it is your duty and your responsibility.

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This is to the person that is complaining about Cruise Nights, who claims that he or she has done due diligence on Cruise Nights for Saturday night. I live in Lombard. I spend practically every Saturday night at Cruise Nights. Just want to let you know, if it wasn’t for Cruise Nights, downtown Lombard would be dead. On Saturday nights at Cruise Nights, there are hundreds and hundreds of people that are up and down the streets, and if there was a way they could shut down St. Charles Road on Cruise Nights, we would have more people. The restaurants, like Capone’s, Brix Pizza and all the other restaurants, and all the other shops in downtown Lombard are packed. I don’t want to hear you complaining about one night a week from June until the end of August that you have issues with downtown Lombard and Cruise Nights. Cruise Nights is the most fantastic part of downtown Lombard.

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Hello, this is Lombard calling. I am just leaving the Touch A Truck event at Yorktown Mall with my two little kids, and I have to say bravo to everybody involved. What a great event. I will definitely, definitely be bringing my little ones back next year. They really liked it. Again, great job, and thank you so much.

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It’s unfortunate that the recent caller who branded President Obama as the worst president in history doesn’t know much, if anything, about our country’s previous 43 presidents. While the caller is entitled to his or her opinion, one would hope that that opinion would be at least an informed one. It’s premature to label his presidency a failure after less than two years in office, particularly in view of the fact of the mess that he inherited from our 43rd president. For example, a bogus war in Iraq, the record budget deficits, the beginning of a nasty recession. Mr. Bush ranks right along side Herbert Hoover, Calvin Coolidge and Warren Harding—all Republicans—as the worst presidents in the last century. Let us not even discuss Franklin Pierce, Millard Fillmore and John Tyler—our worst presidents in the 19th century. Look it up.

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I want to thank Brust Funeral Home for their professionalism and caring when they took care of our family during a trying time of our son’s amputation surgery. They were excellent with the transportation, preservation and just saving us a lot of grief. Their professionalism was incredible. My complete thanks goes out to John Brust and his funeral staff. They did an excellent job with something they had to actually research to figure out how it needed to be done in the quickest and most efficient manner. Thank you very much. I can’t thank you enough.

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I don’t care whether you’re a Democrat, Republican, Independent, Green or whatever, get these politicians on TV to start talking about what they want to do in the future instead of what happened in the past, as far as tax issues. Just get them talking about what they are going to do, instead of talking about the past.

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Hi, this is Oak Park calling, formerly of Lombard. I work in a Lombard office, and every week, I enjoy reading the Lombardian. I think a lot of people, like I, look forward to the SPEAK OUT section. I’m a true believer in free speech, and I think it’s a great thing to have an outlet for frustrations and joys. That being said, I have to note that what I’ve surmised from this community is that I think people should maybe read a book, the paper, the Internet—anything that gives them a view of the world outside of Lombard and America. The amount of complaints compared to compliments is totally disgusting, considering how great the majority of the Americans have it. I believe that this country needs a major attitude adjustment because, frankly, we are all at fault for our nations problems. Stop complaining about government and work and change it, and please, educate yourselves before you do anything.

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Hi, this is Lombard calling. I read in the paper that Evanston just passed an ordinance letting their residents have small numbers of hens for eggs, and I know some other suburbs do that, too—lots of other very nice communities. Seems like it might be something Lombard should think about, especially with food prices the way they are these days. It seems like it could do a lot of good for a family.

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Yes, this is Lombard calling, and I’m calling in reference to the gentleman who did his due diligence regarding the Cruise Nights car show. I have a car that I put in the show, and I do walk around, and I love every minute of it, and everyone there has been very, very nice. So, really, I think if he doesn’t like it, he should move. However, he didn’t do his due diligence. Elmhurst does have a car show, and it is an exceptional car show. I think he needs to get out and meet more of his neighbors.

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I go to Cruise Nights every Saturday night during the summer. It’s a wonderful event. You get to sit out at Café 101, have ice cream, all the restaurants are full, there are people walking up and down, the cars are parked. Most people are sitting on the sidewalk with their cars. The amount of pollution certainly can’t be that much, because those cars aren’t running. I think it’s a marvelous event, and so sorry that this person is so against it, but then again, maybe he should just board up his windows and not even look at it, because it’s a great event. Keep it going, Lombard.

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This is Lombard calling. To Mr. and Mrs. Tea Party, who don’t think I can look in the mirror, due to Obama being our president,. I can look at the mirror just fine, but what I see is what it would have been like in this country if McCain and Palin were in office instead—much worse than now. Let us not forget that Obama and Biden inherited eight years of the worst administration this country has ever seen, a war that should never have been fought, which drove this country into a deficit, from a surplus established by the Clinton Administration, and the Republicans allowing Wall Street to run amok. Were the Democrats also culpable in this? You bet they were. What I also see is you talking out of both sides of your mouth, complaining about Obama and his administration, but also driving on the new roads and doing business at banks all saved by TARP funds, which the Obama Administration brought about, and saved us in part from an even worse situation. I’ll bet you spent your TARP money that every taxpayer got, and cashed that check. You didn’t return it to the government.

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We are proud Lombardians. It’s a lovely village. My husband and I attended the senior fair at the community center on Oct. 6, and had the nicest time meeting Lombard President Mueller, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and the devoted, hard-working photographer Steve Spoden of the Lombardian newspaper, who even took our picture as attendees of the fair. It was a great event, and so informative. Thanks to the vendors, medical people and organizers of the event.

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Lombard calling. Well, I can understand the frustration I hear from the callers in SPEAK OUT, and the people in general conversation, about our downtown, or now referred to as our Lombard Town Centre. I wish they would look at some of the positive things going on. There is a new director by the name of Karen who is very qualified, and is working with Dan and his enthusiastic committee and the village to get things going. Then there is Marcy, who is relocating her store in Lombard to South Park, with a thrift store just off St. Charles Road. Maybe with a little more positive input, things could move faster. Be part of the solution. There are some people out there who are really trying.

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In this economic climate, we need to bond even more. Pay it forward. In case you didn’t know, it is a system that is contagious. What did you do today to make a stranger happy?

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I just got done reading the notification that they had, which is public knowledge as far as what employees are getting paid. And I just noticed that they had Villa Park in the newspaper. I can see why the village is going broke. I mean, how many employees over there are making over $75,000 a year? Some of them are making under $170,000 a year. That would be interesting to find out, if you broke it down, and I can see why the villages are going broke.

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Lombard here. In fact, Lombard for over 30 years. Yes, our family did choose to live near the downtown area of Lombard and our house is located near the tracks, but unlike those individuals who choose to move away from an issue that is degrading the quality of life, we choose to change the status quo for ourselves and our neighborhood. I had the opportunity to speak with a manager of the Union Pacific Railroad. He shared that, during times of track work, trains need to blow their whistles, but they should be using two short blasts, not the long, blaring blasts that these engineers choose to use all day long and into the evening. He had determined the necessity of reporting this situation for review. I also had the opportunity to speak with our village president and Sen. Richard Durbin. Yes, it does make a difference to speak with the representatives we placed in office to monitor and assist their constituents when situations get out of hand in our communities. Communication between parties is key to solving problems, not putting your head in the sand.

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President Obama is an amazing person. He’s not amazing because of what he’s accomplished, but what he’s failed to accomplish. I don’t understand how the president, who’s got both houses of Congress under his control—he has all the tools, he has the Federal Reserve—cannot create jobs, and cannot solve this economic problem. It’s only getting worse. He doesn’t understand government. He had no experience, and everyone voted for him because of change. Well, the change they got was nothing. We need someone who’s very skilled at it, and President Obama and the Democrats certainly are not the people to help us out of this mess. Please vote for someone who has some skills.

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Did you get Columbus Day off? The answer depends on whether you work for the government. If you work for the government, you got a day off. If you have a real job, you had to get up and go to work to support the people who work for the government, and other people who don’t work.

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Hi, I live at Lewis and Maple in Lombard, and I would like to understand why the increase in freight trains going through here, especially during the middle of the night. And why is it that some trains are blowing their horns at 1 o’clock, 2 o’clock, 3 o’clock in the morning and others are not? There just seems to be a significant increase in the train activity over here, and I just want to understand why that is going on. If you could respond, we would appreciate it.

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I don’t care if you’re Democrat or Republican. Listen at the ads. Does anybody have any solutions to the problems? No, all they’re doing is blasting their past history. This is ridiculous, and I’ve got two more weeks that I have to listen to these ads, and I’m getting sick of it. Come up with solutions.

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Thanks to the Lombardian photographer Steve Spoden, who took our picture at the Senior Fair, which landed us on the front page of the Oct. 13 Lombardian newspaper. We had a great time at the event.

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This is to the parent who was upset with parents who kept their children home from school when we were notified of a possible shooting threat. I apologize that I love my children and kept them home, safe from a possible harm’s way. Please forgive me for caring about my children’s safety.

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Hi Lombard. Household incomes have dropped. The amount of people who are in the poverty level has risen. Unemployment is 9.6 percent. Spending is out of control. This is the change we voted for. Thank you. Thank you for this wonderful change. I’m just so glad that everybody is better off now than they were a year ago. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

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Over a half a million dollars—for street lights on Main Street in Lombard? What else is being perpetrated upon the taxpayers of Lombard? We need change we can believe in.