So what’s the big deal about parents hosting parties with alcohol for their kids? You know where they are, who they’re with, and what they’re doing. So it’s safe, right? There have been many discussions on the ethics of parents hosting these types of parties.

Another writer writes on the difference between science and belief systems, averring that, “Each maintains a different standard for truth,” and here I thought truth was its own standard; either something is true or it’s not.

Congratulations to Renys. In the true American spirit, the locally based retailer has made a business decision to open a department store in downtown Portland, occupying the former L.L. Bean center-city premises on Congress Street.

You don’t hear it all that often, generally because the people of an age to use it are too polite to do so in public, but on occasion you may come across someone who will say to an antagonist something to the effect of “can’t wait to see the back of you.”

I went fishing with David Rice for a few years, so I know how hard it is lugging traps around. I just can’t believe that he has been fighting to store traps on his new dock for four years. This dock is in Clark’s Cove, on the Damariscotta River, where there are already several lobster boats and an aquaculture site. (South Bristol lobsterman fights state, neighbors to store traps,” LCN, Page 1, 12/23/10)

The premise of “The Polar Express” is to believe in the magic of the season – I believe! I believe!

It is Christmas Day as I write this letter. My family is scattered far and wide and I live alone (by choice) in Jefferson. Last night, by the light of the near full moon and the fresh white snow on the field behind my house, I swear I could see Santa’s sleigh zoom across the sky headed South with a tremendous load of gifts.

If you want a cause to chuckle, and who doesn’t need one these days, try giving some small children a simple cardboard box and watch what they do with it. In short order, they could turn it into a fort, or a plane, a boat or a place to hide.

The Dec. 5 Christmas Town & Craft Fair hosted by Jefferson Fire & Rescue was a great success. A record number of crafters and artisans filled the apparatus bay at the firehouse, as children enjoyed Christmas Town and a visit with Santa.

The patriotism you expressed during and following World War I and II, Vietnam, Korea, Desert Storm, Iraq and Afghanistan has all but disappeared. Parades are but a fleeting display of our patriotism and fife trucks. How soon we forget.

November 11 is Veterans’ Day and this old veteran remembers when it was celebrated with much more splendor and parades, but that was then and this now; now being more or less just a day off.

Tomorrow is Nov. 11, Veterans’ Day. It’s the special day when all Americans honor our brave servicemen and women for their service to our country. If it were not for them, America would not be the wonderful and free country that we live in and enjoy today.

The Great Salt Bay Community School held its annual Harvest Fair last Saturday (Oct. 30), and it seems to have been a wonderful success. As the parent of an eighth grader who directly benefits from this fundraiser, I’d like to thank everyone involved in the process of pulling the Fair together.

This weekend, 10 students from Wiscasset High School are going to make the long journey from home to Pleasant Point in Washington County where they will meet with members of the Passamaquoddy tribe.

We like it. We like it a lot.