Hi, I’m calling from Lombard about the Memorial Day service. I thought it was a wonderful event and the park district did a great job, but there were two things that were very disturbing to me. One is that we allowed a high school student to get up there and speak, and he kind of made a political speech that I thought took away from what the real intention of the service was. And secondly, we had a man there in the tent wearing his hat throughout the day. If you noticed, the only people who wore hats out of show of respect were those who were in the form of military or veterans who wore their service branch hat. But otherwise, it was a great event and a great job by the park district.

George Miller, commander of the Lombard VFW Post #5815, responded to your comment about the speech. The young man to whom you refer was the winner of the Voice of Democracy contest, the topic of which was, “Does my generation have a place in America’s future?” Miller said he was chosen in a “blind” evaluation of some 15 applicants. Miller also stated, “Who better to answer that question than a young man or woman who is starting out in life?” And, he added, “What better place is there to hear the response than where we have gathered to celebrate our country?” Miller believes that Memorial Day is a time not only to remember the veterans who have sacrificed their lives, but also to exercise the right to free speech for which our troops died. He concluded that through the Voice of Democracy contest “We are trying to encourage democracy and participation in our high school students.”—JAC

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Lombard lost a great resident with the passing of Deacon Tom Bailey, and we should thank him for everything he’s done for the community and everything he’s done for Sacred Heart Parish and wish condolences to his family and wish them all well. Thanks for everything, Deacon Tom.

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Lombard has survived another blast of illegal fireworks celebrating Independence Day. The frightened pets can emerge from the basement, the babies will stop crying and the earplugs can be stored until next year. We’ll all get a full night’s sleep again and it will be safe enough to venture outdoors to clean all the debris from our sidewalks, yards and roads. It seems to me there were more fireworks than ever before; I know a new record was established in our neighborhood for the latest blast on the evening of July 3 when the last rocket was fired at 2:30 a.m. Once again I called the police to register a complaint against the neighbor launching exploding rockets on the Fourth and was informed an officer would respond shortly. But as usual, none ever showed up. The pyromaniacs across the street phrased it poetically by saying, “The cops ain’t going to do nothin’.” I visited the police department the next morning and learned the official excuse for lax enforcement—our police were too busy directing traffic. That’s true around Madison Meadow at 10 p.m., but hardly the case at midnight, and certainly not at 2:30 a.m. I must note that I was told there were a pathetic two fireworks arrests within the village. There could have been four arrests made on my block. Why are law-abiding citizens forced to accept the boorish behavior of relatively few pyromaniacs?

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This is Lombard calling. I have called Rep. Roskam’s office several times, and I have called Rep. Paul Ryan’s office also. They want to make massive cuts to all of us and I have asked Peter Roskam’s office and Paul Ryan’s office, Is Congress willing to take a pay cut also? They are all making $177,000 a year with free medical; everything else is free or paid for. I don’t hear them saying, We’re going to take a massive cut like we want you folks to. And what about the retirement age? Are they going to wait until they’re 75 to get their big, huge pensions? I don’t think so. I can’t get a straight answer from Peter Roskam’s office on anything. And I’ve been trying for two years to find out answers about who’s paying for all the fuel in Afghanistan and Iraq, which we paid millions of dollars a month for. And my answer in response back from the office was, I called Washington and nobody seems to know.

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Lombard calling. Keep “At this Stage” in the paper. Dynako and Fitzpatrick wrote an exceptionally good article about point A,B,C, June 29. For those of you who didn’t catch it, go back. They talked about the bridge for the Great Western Trail over the tracks, and it was much clearer to understand than the Morse Code the village has been dishing out in the past. Thanks for getting the information out.

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Three cheers for the people who work for Chase Bank for moving into Lombard. After watching the June 16 village board meeting, and the gauntlet set up by our community development department and code enforcer, Mr. Heniff, it’s no wonder a business would bypass Lombard. Thanks to Mr. Ware’s and Mr. Wilson’s common-sense approach, accompanied by the rest of the board, all is well that ends well. Thank you, Chase Bank. The citizens look forward to your presence.

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This is Lombard calling. I see that the Lombard Police Department is not going to respond to any anonymous calls, so I’m just curious as to if I witness a drug deal or a beating or a murder and I don’t wish to get involved, should I call the county police or the state police, and how will Lombard return my tax money because they won’t respond to a Lombard resident?

Sorry, we are unable to obtain an answer to your question due to a new village policy, which was approved by Lombard trustees on May 19. It is against village policy to acknowledge or respond to any item that is from an anonymous source. Anyone with questions regarding the village should contact the Lombard Village Hall at 630-620-5700 for assistance.—blm

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Intimidate proud Lombardians? No way. Lombard has an image as created by past and present people who have created a great village. Let us keep it that way and not let the negative influence of people who come and go make us live in their aftermath of bad decisions. Speak up and speak out.

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I am replying to a response about the Lombard pool. First if all, I don’t care for the name Paradise Bay so I don’t use it. I am glad you were able to figure out which pool I was talking about. Next, of course the passes pay for themselves but I think they’re still too expensive. So are the admission charges, considering the amount of taxes we pay to the park district. My complaint was with how often the pool is closed for no sensible reason. It closes on cloudy days with no precipitation, on cloudy days when no one is at the gate right at opening time, when it is misting, when there is severe weather early in the day but the sun comes out later, and unbelievably when a small number of people are swimming. One more thing: Something’s not right when a community pool closes at 8:30 during the week but closes at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

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This regarding the four Lombard Idols who won at the Taste. I think somebody who is not a resident of Lombard should not be eligible for this contest, since it is Lombard money being given to them and that might have edged somebody else out of the contest who otherwise would have qualified. Therefore, I think it should be kept to just Lombard residents.

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Having read the investigative report in the Tribune, dated July 7, regarding DuPage County Sheriff Zaruba, I urge county board President Dan Cronin, as one of the leaders of the Republican Party, to get rid of Zaruba as a candidate in the next election. It is quite clear from the facts presented in the article that he apparently does not play fair, having his employees contribute to his campaign fund for job security and personal gain. While other sheriffs in neighboring counties do it as well, his percent of donations from his employees far exceeds the norm. He needs to be replaced. This is no way to run a major law enforcement agency.

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Hi, Lombard. I wanted to know, what is the status of the Harmony Fresh Farms store right off the intersection of Roosevelt and Finley roads? I’ve gone there several times and find that the store is closed, sometimes once a week. Now it’s been closed for the last week. Does anyone know the status of this particular store? Thanks.

Sorry, we are unable to obtain an answer to your question from the village due to a new village policy, which was approved by Lombard trustees on May 19. It is against village policy to acknowledge or respond to any item that is from an anonymous source. Anyone with questions regarding the village should contact the Lombard Village Hall at 630-620-5700 for assistance. However, a June 27 village memo from Lombard Village President Bill Mueller, who also serves as the village’s liquor commissioner, states that Harmony Fresh Farms “is no longer conducting business within the Village of Lombard.” Due to this fact, the board moved to decrease the Class “G” liquor license category by one as required by village code at its rescheduled meeting on July 7.—blm

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Hi, this is Lombard calling. Just wondering if Lombard is turning into Nazi Germany or Communist Russia with our manager and board of trustees not answering any questions. I saw in the paper on July 7 someone asking about the tornado sirens and they couldn’t get the village to respond to it. It’s very upsetting—I’ve lived here 30 years and I’ve never seen anything like it. How do we get that person out, is all I want to know.

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This is in response to the person who said that Bush is the reason the economy is the way it is right now. You know, it’s great how liberals will tell you that Clinton is the reason for the surplus during his era, but somehow Bush is still responsible for the downturn during the Obama era. They pick and choose their sides. The bottom line is, if you watch what Obama does and the people he associates with, you know what he’s all about; you know they don’t like capitalism. You can read his book—he tells you in his own words what he believes in and they are not for America’s well-being. Do some research; don’t be brainwashed; open your eyes to the world around you and you’ll see the light.

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Freedom is not free. We all paid for this one way or the other and some of the veterans paid for it with their lives. People come to this country and say it’s a free country. It’s not a free country. You have to pay for everything. If they come in and circumvent the law, everyone who works has to pay for this ridiculous abuse of freedom. Freedom is not free; we have to pay; there is a price for it. But, it is not a free country—get that in your head and never forget it.

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Lombard calling. If we want quality teachers and good schools for our children they have to be paid for. That should be a top priority. I’m not a teacher but a senior citizen whose children are long out of school.

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To the caller who has no use for unions. I’d like to ask a few questions: Do you work a five-day work week? Thank the unions. Do you have vacation leave? Thank the unions. Do you have a medical plan? Thank the unions. Do you have an on-the-job injury plan? Thank the unions. I’m sick and tired of all the union-bashing going on in this country. Do you think these benefits were given out by the employers’ huge heart? No, they were fought and won by brave men and women who stood up to the men in power. Come work with me for a day and I guarantee you, you will not be leaning on any shovel.

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This is Villa Park calling. To all you people who hate Obama and can’t stand his administration, please find a different forum because we want to hear about our towns, not your political views.

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Lombard calling. I noticed all the quotes, “Sorry, we are unable to answer your question” responses last week in SPEAK OUT. So this begs the question, Dave Hulseberg, Is this the same type of response we can expect to receive when we anonymously cast ballots when we vote, too? Or do you and the other village officials expect us to start putting our names on those as well?

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Hey, Lombard. Here’s an idea. Every time the editor has to print the response “the village refuses to respond to anonymous questions” why don’t we call the village and ask that question? Perhaps if enough of us call, they will be so inundated with phone message requests that that they will decide it was less hassle to respond in the paper. Don’t e-mail because they can generate a mass response. Let’s keep the calls coming in and just maybe we can affect the change in this ludicrous policy. We could even call Speak Out with the answers for those who were too timid. Hopefully, a lot of us will take part.

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Hi, Lombard calling. How do I get somebody from the village to politely ask my neighbor to dispose of the 10 bags of brush that have been sitting in their front yard since last October—brush and leaves? I don’t want to leave my name, so they probably won’t respond to it. Anybody got an idea? Thank you.

Sorry, we are unable to obtain an answer to your question from the village due to a new village policy, which was approved by Lombard trustees on May 19. It is against village policy to acknowledge or respond to any item that is from an anonymous source. Anyone with questions regarding the village should contact the Lombard Village Hall at 630-620-5700 for assistance.—blm

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President Obama, I voted for you. I can no longer support you. 9.2 percent unemployment announced today. The economy is terrible. You claimed no unemployment numbers would go above 8 percent. You claimed there would be jobs. There are none. You claimed we would be on our way to prosperity. There isn’t any. The economy is in terrible shape and you play golf every weekend and have done nothing but spend more money than you know what to do with, and instead of two wars, now we’re in three. You haven’t closed Gitmo; what have you done? I cannot support you, President Obama, I just can’t. You had almost three years and have done nothing but make it worse. I’m voting for someone else.

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This to the Obama supporter. You may be right—Bush may have been asleep at the switch; however, Obama’s spending money we don’t have and now we’re in the biggest debt ever. And, there’s no way out of it; he’s messed everything up. I hope you vote for him because if you do, we’ll be Russia.