Has Wilton turned into France? It seems nearly everyone must be on vacation this month.
The phone is quiet, the email reduced to a trickle.
This is the first time in years there have been no letters to the editor. Last week was pretty sparse, too.
The Bulletin’s Opinion page belongs to our readers as much as to the paper’s staff. You offer comments on WiltonBulletin.com and our Facebook page, but there is something special about a letter to the editor that sees the printed page. Yes, we know print is “out” and digital is “in.” But, still. Letters have been written to editors for as long as there have been publications like newspapers.
The first letter written to Editor G. Evans Hubbard appeared in the Nov. 15, 1937 issue of The Bulletin — published “fortnightly” in its first year — was from Samuel J. Keeler. It was headlined The Overpass and is about a “proposed over-pass just south of the Wilton Station.” Mr. Keeler goes on to say that, since in all likelihood the overpass would be built, it should be made as attractive as possible with a cut-stone veneer finish.
“In this case, I think the Town of Wilton should appropriate a sufficient amount of money to do this, but I am afraid that unless we take immediate action, we will find ourselves left with an ugly concrete finish that will be very unsightly,” he concludes.
Public projects are popular topics with letter writers, although they have touched on all sorts of subjects like taxes, laws, and the strengths and weaknesses of elected officials. The Miller-Driscoll building project has seen lots of ink, and earlier on numerous words were written regarding the virtues or evils of stadium lights at Middlebrook. In another month or so, candidate endorsement letters will pour in. Some letters are written to encourage people to attend special events. Some are written to motivate people to act a certain way, vote a certain way. You could say, most letters are written to persuade people to a particular point of view. That is the essence of writing an opinion, isn’t it?
So here is The Bulletin’s effort at persuasion. In the next few weeks Wilton will come back to life as school reopens, sports pick up, vacations are over, and we start thinking about the coming autumn and all it brings.
There should be lots to talk about, and thus, lots to write about. So, put your thoughts to paper — should we say, to screen, — and email us a letter. The details are below. We’d love to hear from you!