There’s a lot of hate and discontent floating around in the world of e-mails, and in opinion columns as well. Sometimes as I delete the messages that have been forwarded to 55 others, about the “correctness” of speaking only English and lately, as ads for T-shirts and bumper stickers, I really wonder about my fellow Americans. Did any of the founding fathers say “freedom of speech as long as it’s English?” What language did your ancestors speak when they landed in America?

And speaking of those founding fathers and all they did so we could enjoy democracy and the right to vote, are you planning to vote on June 12 right here in your town?

Some years it is very tempting not to bother to vote. As the years go by there are fewer and fewer candidates to vie for the responsilitiy to ultimately decide the policies under which our town will operate. This year, as in many in the past, there will be contests in which there is only one contestant – guess that negates the contest part. But I will vote, even though the contestants are few in number. And, as for you, are you going to vote? If you don’t, please don’t tell me the reasons for I’ve heard them all before.

Ever been in a situation where you couldn’t vote? Do you have any idea what it’s like to have all the rules made for you without your having any say at all? If you’d lived in America during its first 100 years, you could vote all you wanted as long as you were white, male and a property owner. Otherwise, forget it!

African-Americans received voting rights in 1870. It took the Civil Rights activists and many deaths, to make sure they could actually vote.

In 1920, women received the right to vote. Soon after, in 1924, the original people (Indians) were accepted as citizens, kind of ironic, since Indians have a higher percentage of men and women in military service than any other ethnic group in the country. And finally, in 1965, native Americans got the “right” to vote.

In the late 1960s, I was living in South Dakota and worked in one of the county offices adjacent to the Rosebud Reservation. Making up registration cards took quite a bit of time, because once the word spread that they had the vote, local Indians overwhelmed the office. What did it mean in the big picture? Anyone remember George McGovern? Gov. Tim Johnson?

Being able to vote isn’t something to be taken lightly. The number of natives who vote determines leadership in some of the western states.

Why do you suppose there was so much resistance to allowing minorities to vote, back in the 1960s? The vote meant power. And it still means power.

Voting is one of those love-hate things. Hate to be bothered to take the time to vote, but love to complain about the results. Go vote. Or at least make a phone call to the town clerk and have a ballot mailed to you. Do it in honor of those in the military who are protecting your rights.

This past week, I received three queries about how to clean gravestones. Memorial Day and the care of cemeteries, which always surfaces at this time, no doubt is the generator of the questions. Since I am a member of Maine Old Cemetery Association, I’ll try and get some information together and have some kind of folder available for the next caller. Meanwhile, remember not to use bleach or anything which will scratch the stone (like steel cleaning pads). What is used to clean depends on the type of stone, too. We’ll have more on this later.

See you next week.