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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 30, 2007

Spirit Of Christmas Lives
On Monday evening, after enjoying a thoroughly entertaining Las Vegas-type variety show by Tony Orlando & Company (including the real Santa Claus) at the Show Palace Dinner Theater in Hudson, I met Betty Batzlaff from Zephyrhills. She was a very pretty lady, attractively dressed, with a delightfully charming personality who lit up the room with her smile and her eyes. I noticed she was almost the last person to leave the theater and offered my assistance with getting up and out of her chair. She graciously accepted and informed me that she was waiting patiently with the hope to meet Tony Orlando. She wanted to tell him all of the happiness he had brought into her life throughout the years with his music and variety shows; and, yes, she had seen his show in Las Vegas years before.

Nick and Sal Sessa, owners of the Show Palace, were informed of her desire and made her wish come true! She was escorted backstage where she was treated like the guest of honor by the entire staff, musicians and, of course, Tony Orlando. He spent so much time with the very lively and engaging 101-year-old lady that he fell in love with her. Tony and Betty danced several dances, talked about life, and she was showered with hugs and kisses. As a final gesture of endearment, he presented her with a beautiful bouquet of roses.

Well known as an international performer, Tony Orlando exemplified what other celebrities should emulate. He unselfishly gave his time and love to this 101-year-old lady and everyone in attendance.

The cost of the ticket to the Tony Orlando Christmas Dinner and Show was $69.95, but the demonstration of this individual's act of kindness, in the true spirit of Christmas, was priceless.

Dr. Robert Blackburn

Spring Hill

Skipping The Brave

New World, Too

I'm with you, Rose. You express my feelings exactly. I don't have a computer either, nor do I want one.

I'm glad you said that; now, I don't feel like I'm alone in this feeling.

Birneta Nibert

Spring Hill

Executive Order: Taxation Without Representation

Florida, wake up! Gov. Charlie Crist is about to increase the cost of new cars and the cost of our energy by executive order.

He bought the United Nations' IPCC line that we are causing global warming and has ordered the Department of Environmental Protection to enact new rules that will dramatically affect each and every one of us. The price of anything requiring energy to be produced or transported will go up, and he has shut out the Florida Legislature by doing this by executive order (07-126, 07-127, 07-128 at http://www.dep.state.fl.us/climatechange/eo.htm).

This is taxation without representation. Every rule the DEP will make will cost us in additional fees, costs and penalties that we didn't vote for. Write or call the governor at Charlie.Crist@myflorida.com or call 850-488-7146.

Whether you believe new rules restricting carbon dioxide are right or not, we shouldn't be "taxed" without being able to vote on it. You should also send notes to our representative, Ray Sansom, at www.myfloridahouse.gov, and our senator, Don Gaetz, at gaetz.don.web@flsenate.gov. The DEP has started rulemaking sessions, but it is still not too late.

Chris Short

Navarre

Press Column

Ignores History

Bill Press, in his haste to denounce Gov. Mike Huckabee's outspoken faith, displays a remarkable lack of understanding of Christian teachings and of American history.

The way he interprets the Scripture passage telling wives to submit to their husbands demonstrates his lack of understanding of the relationship between husband and wife as taught in the Bible. He leaves out entirely the responsibility of the husband to love his wife to the extent that he would sacrifice his life for her and to see that she gets the best that God intends for her.

Most, if not all, of our presidents have been Christians, and many of them openly expressed their faith and reflected it in their actions in office.

In their book "God in the White House," Edmund Fuller and David E. Green note that one president, James Garfield, was a preacher in the Disciples of Christ denomination; another occasionally filled a pulpit; two were colonels in the Army, doubled as chaplains; two others studied for the ministry; the mother of one was a minister; the fathers of three were clergymen; five married parsonage-born women; and a large number served as church officers.

David McCullough's Pulitzer Prize winning biography of John Adams states flatly "as his family and friends knew, Adams was both a devout Christian and an independent thinker, and he saw no conflict in it."

Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to Charles Thomas, wrote that his compilation of the teachings of Jesus "is a document in proof that I am a real Christian, that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus."

Adon Taft

Brooksville

Higher Authority

Will Judge One Day

After reading the Dec. 21 articles - "Fire Boss: 'Report Shoved Under the Rug'" and "Chaplain Lashes Out at Fire Commish," it took me down memory lane.

As an alumnus of your organization, Commissioner Giammarco, I can empathize with your situation. Just remember, you are an outsider and you will never be fully accepted into the "brotherhood." You have been empowered as a commissioner to provide administrative oversight, not to exchange pleasantries at the social venues oftentimes referred to as "meetings."

Spring Hill Fire District commissioners who take their commission seriously ask the difficult questions and demand accountability. For that, you need not apologize. However, no good deed goes unpunished. You can rest assured you will be alienated, berated and your integrity will frequently be called in to question. History repeats itself.

That aside, keep up the good work. The taxpayers of Spring Hill appreciate your efforts. Incidentally, the same characters who were enlisted to heckle, harass and berate me during my tenure seem to have lingered for an encore performance. Don't take this personally; think of it as amateur theater.

In closing, the partisan lashing out from Chaplain Martin (no relationship) is nothing new either. Just remember, it is not our place to judge him, a higher authority reserves that right.

Richard Martin

Spring Hill

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