Hi,
Skip and I toured Garret this afternoon, took a drive through Paterson and tonight we went to the 101st, annual, Greater Paterson Chamber of Commerce Dinner Dance where I met and spoke with Freeholder Terry Duffy.
So, I got to shake his hand. I introduced myself as a spokesperson, actually I said, "spokesman," I think, for Friends of Garret Mountain Reservation. I told him that our organization, FOGMR, (I know Skip tells me it is an association, but Freeholder Duffy doesn't care what its called), has over 100 paid members (hopefully again this year, 2010) and a mailing list of 250 people, wholeheartedly supports the deer hunt and his decision to vote in favor of it. I also mentioned that New Jersey Audubon, an organization with many thousands of members, supports the deer hunt at Garret and Rifle Camp Parks.
He told me, "It was a very difficult decision, but it has to be done."
I congratulated him for making the decision. I told him that environmentalists, of which there are many thousand in the state of NJ, support his decision to have a controlled deer hunt. He handed me his card. Thanked me for our support. I told him again how happy we "all" are that he made the difficult decision. He shook my hand and told me that it meant a lot to him to hear me tell him that he has our support.
Blah, Blah, Blah. He seems like a nice (tall) guy - fairly young, maybe thirties, forties, balding, but very pleasant, nice to me, etc. Skip reminded me, "Have you ever met a politician who isn't a "nice guy?" Well, I got his point, but Freeholder Duffy seemed so sincere.......(I guess that is what makes a politician successful. He probably seems sincere to everyone, but, to me, he seemed genuinely touched that I/we made the effort to tell him I/we support him. So, I'm taking him, as I saw him - at face value, until he does something to dissuade me - as a nice guy, who made a difficult decision, for him, hoping that he will stand by his conviction that, "it needed/needs to be done." I hope he will get re-elected and he will continue to vote for a controlled deer hunt as long as he is in office. I'll remind him, nicely, about the conversation we had this evening when I write or call him on the phone, next Fall.
I stood and talked with him and Bill Pascrell, congressman from NJ, who I sat next to at the last Chamber of Commerce dinner Skip and I attended, a couple of years ago.
Bill Pascrell has nothing to do with the deer hunt. He has other fish to fry in Washington, D.C. I talked with him, 2 years ago, about many things, including what life was like for him as a politician - busy attending many events in one evening, my hope for Peace and my hope that he would vote to Bring Home The Troops by not funding the military/get the troops out of Iraq, which I believe he did vote for, although he was as spineless as the rest of the Democrats in Congress and the Senate, except Ted Kennedy and (Were there any other dissenters?), voted to go into Iraq after 911, when Bush, who was obviously told what to do by Cheney, Rumsfeld and Ashcroft, decided to send troops into Iraq
He certainly showed his father that he, "W," could order troops into War. He didn't show his father or the country that he knew what to do after that when it was obvious, to me and many of my friends, that: Al Queda was not in Iraq, There were no weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq and if there were they were no threat to the US of A.
Skip and Bill grew up in Paterson, but not together. Bill is younger.
Terry Duffy grew up in Ridgewood, but Pascrell helped him anyway, they told me. I guessed that Bill Pascrell didn't hold the fact of being born in Ridgewood against Terry Duffy and Duffy laughed and told me I was correct. :-)
Freeholder Duffy is the owner of Duffy's Tavern in Paterson which I promised Freeholder Duffy Skip and I would visit. I suggested it would be nice if he had a little Rhythm and Blues in the Duffy Tavern, the way the Fireside, or whatever that great place in Paterson is called, has great, live Blues and R&B. Freeholder Duffy told me Duffy's Tavern was more a sports bar or place to drink rather than listen to music. So, I guess Skip and I will have to try it out and see for ourselves what it is like.
The bottom line is: Duffy is committed to the hunt. He thinks it is necessary. Yeah! I've got his card with his phone, fax, e-mail, snail mail address. And I wonder if he may be on the Public Works department that oversees the Parks? Got to check out the Passaic County web site and see. Because, if he is, he might be helpful with other FOGMR projects in the Park.
It was a great event held at the Whateverthe nameofitis, Country Club. West Wood??
Great food and a passable dance band. The music improved after I asked if they could play some Rock and Roll. At least they knew some Rolling Stones stuff we could all dance to. Skip was up and dancing until after 11:00 p.m. when we called it a night.
Duffy and Pascrell had left and Skip and I were dancing with a lot of single women, another couple from Skip's office and a handful of diehard dancers from Paterson at the end of the evening. Earlier the dance floor, great big space, was full, but there was room for everyone who wanted to dance, which was great.
All in All, today was a great day for the Friends of Garret and for Skip and I and I hope for all of you. Hope to do some birding this coming week if there are any birds within driving distance of Montclair and the sun comes out.
FAN signing off.
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