The holiday tree lights are still on the trees on St. Charles Road and well lit. Time to purchase some ComEd stock.

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SPEAK OUT—on Sunday, Jan. 27, I fell on my patio and couldn’t get up. I want to thank the young man on the bicycle who came to my rescue and helped me get up and took my garbage can out for me. I cannot express enough my appreciation for his thoughtfulness and help.Thank you.

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In response to the persons calling in to SPEAK OUT complaining that Peter Breen held a private event on taxpayer dollars for the BCS game, that is simply not true. The event was a downtown event sponsored by Lombard Town Centre “LTC”.  LTC worked with the village, the park district and the surrounding downtown businesses to host a great event which showed the BCS game on a big screen on South Park Avenue and the entire community was invited. No taxpayer dollars were used to fund this great event. Many of our downtown businesses benefited from this event and we saw many new faces in downtown that evening. Thank you Peter Breen for your input and your continued support of downtown Lombard.  You are greatly appreciated.

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To the parent who wants to know where you can pick up your children safely, it’s very simple. You park in the parking lot to the east of the library, get out of your vehicle and you walk half a block to the library and pick them up. I think that little half-block walk would do you some good, so that’s your solution. Park in the parking lot, walk half a block to the library to get them.

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To the caller who thinks that President Obama should stay in D.C. and not travel around, last time I checked, there were 50 states. He represents all of those states, both domestically and abroad. You say he should lock himself in Washington and govern by remote. Could it be that you are going to complain no matter what the man does? He was elected to govern our nation and represent all of our interests all over the world. Open your eyes. That’s what he is doing.

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I just want you to know that I took a skeet as a pet also, and I really love him as a pet. I have named him Clay.

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Lombard calling. Where is it written that I can only have my pretty lights on just at Christmastime? There must be a law against such a criminal act because of all the people who complain about it. Maybe I use the lights as a guide to friends so they can find my home in the dark. It’s my electric bill so unless my lights are shining into your house and blinding you, why do you care?

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This is Lombard calling. Recently in SPEAK OUT someone said it makes sense that a senior trustee be appointed or elected village president for multiple reasons. You know, folks, there are people in all kinds of occupations, in particular politics—look at how bad people are stinking it up right now. Just because you’ve been there for a long time does not mean you’re good. You could have been bad at something for a long time. You said it makes common sense? I’m here to say it doesn’t even make “non-sense.” Here’s what I think we should do to make our town better: You should be there only one term. Get rid of that person, get new blood. I want new, fresh ideas. Get rid of the old.

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Hello, this is Lombard calling in response to the person who came out from under that proverbial rock to complain about the post office raising its rates. It’s because of you and other self-proclaimed techies paying your bills online that the post office had to do so. This person will be the first to complain when the post office closes its doors due to lack of use.

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OK, it’s now February and I see a certain business still has its Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays stuff up in the windows or painted on the windows. It’s done. Stop it. Tacky, tacky, tacky.

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Hi, this is Lombard calling. I’m calling to agree with the caller who questions, isn’t there an ethical code among artists not to touch a painting that you did not paint originally? I was not pleased to see our village trustee painting, or trying to add to another painting. I do believe she’s an artist and I don’t know how she would feel if someone said, “Oh, your painting wasn’t finished,” and started adding to hers. I was not pleased to see this.

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For the caller asking about my adopted skeet, they are naturally calm, great with dogs, kids of all ages and the elderly. Skeet are very easy to house train. Mine are content to sit in their litter box almost all day. There are no village license fees for them—yet.

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Lombard isn’t the only place that has power outages. The Super Bowl falls victim to a power surge. I’m sure George W. Bush gets blamed for this too.

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To the person complaining about the increase in postal rates, if there’s one service the government offers that gives you real value for your money, it’s the postal service. For the price of a postage stamp you can send a letter anywhere. Think about the sheer volume of mail the post office handles every day, and think about how many pieces of your mail have not reached their destination. Your mail is not delivered to the end of your driveway like some newspapers. Rain or shine, a person delivers your mail by hand to your mailbox. Pay your bills online? “Saving a stamp” will cost you. There are a lot of things we are compelled to complain about with the U.S. government. The postal service isn’t one of them.

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Hi, this is Lombard calling. Is all this Peter Breen bashing just a ploy to make Keith Giagnorio look better? Both of them were elected at the same time two years ago. In that time, Peter put through the strongest transparency policy in the state, improved our downtown and even eliminated our village vehicle sticker. Keith has done what exactly? Quit attacking people who aren’t even running for office right now. Mr. Giagnorio, maybe you shouldn’t have walked out on a village meeting when you were supposed to be representing your constituents.

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Hello, this is Lombard calling. I wanted to agree with the person about the Code Red phone call that we had received warning us that it was cold outside. I found it unnecessary and I felt the same way. How much did it cost our village to call everyone and tell them that it’s cold outside?

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Hello, Lombard. I have supported you, Laura Fitzpatrick, for all the things that you supported for cultural arts, the theater and your art shows, but I can’t support you going in and trying to change an artist’s piece without any type of permission. I think you’ve overstepped your bounds, as a supporter of arts and also as an elected official, one of our trustees.

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Hi, this is Lombard calling and I live down the street from Hammerschmidt School. The problem is not that the school should provide a parking lot for parents to pick up their children, the problem is parents shouldn’t all be picking up their children. On a day like below zero I can understand, but if the children are appropriately dressed, I’m sure they can walk a block to meet their parent, unless maybe they are a kindergartner. Also, the cars sit there and wait. They get there way before the bell and they are polluting the area and taking up the parking. There is a sign, no idling. You’re not supposed to be idling in Lombard. So, it’s the parents who have got to let their children walk. Some of them need the exercise, they need the fresh air. Let them walk a little bit. That’s the way it’s always been.

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To the person who is so worried about Christmas decorations still on, did you ever think it’s for a child in the armed forces coming home? Or someone coming home from the hospital? Or just some special reason to that person to keep the lights on? If you don’t like looking at them, just don’t drive down that street anymore.

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Lombard calling. That nasty comment about Peter Breen was uncalled for. Yes, he has a law degree from Notre Dame, and he uses that law degree to help our village. Don’t we want our kids to grow up and earn law degrees from great universities and then use those degrees to serve the public? The Notre Dame-Alabama game watch wasn’t a private party but it was a huge success for Punky’s, Shannon’s and Lombard Town Centre.