sONGs OF suMMEr

Every once in a while, summer comes on a soft and sultry night. Moths beat their wings against the screens fascinated by the light from the small lamp on the porch. A whispered sound of music floats across the lake and you can hear snatches of conversation coming from the kitchen. The children have fallen asleep after a long day of play. It’s only a moment, but, for me, it’s quintessentially summer.

It wasn’t the often-wannabe or “never was” season that iced tea commercials bring to mind. It was the essence of what we hope summer will be and, at least for me, usually never is. It was, strangely enough, a lot like Christmas. There is the mythological Christmas that is full of family, joyous celebration, feasting and gift giving, wrapped up in the weeks and weeks of preparation. Then there is the real holiday. You can fill in the blanks. It’s not that Christmas is lacking in its own unique joy, it’s just that it is far, often very far, from the fantasy which we have in our minds.

And summer? Living where we do, with months of dreary, cold, unrelenting cold weather, gray days and long nights, summer and its pleasures are a dream, another illusion. The days lengthen, the weather warms, the earth gives life again and we are on the march to summer and high expectations. The summer that we long for is an adult version of that long, lazy series of endless days that we conjure from our childhood. There’s a hushed song of summer that sings with the sounds of spring peepers, crickets, katydids and squirrels high in the oak trees. There are remembrances of hours fishing for blue gills, building small castles in sandboxes and bigger forts in the woods and we are seduced into that seasonal magic once again. These less-than-endless adult summer days are artfully reorganized into the planning and execution of what we hope will replicate the affective feel of childhood’s ease. Then there is reality. Add in rainy days, too-hot days and too-hot nights, bugs, poison ivy, more bugs, rashes, bored children and short tempers as we try to cram in as much summer fun as possible. More bugs – tiny, annoying insects that attack as you fill planter boxes or weed the gardens, wasps that hide in the ground, that boldly steal food from your plates, vying with the flies that appear out of nowhere when you bring food outside. You are now planning and cooking three meals for people who don’t eat bread, drink milk, consume meat or vegetables that have been blighted by artificial anything. Peanut allergies are everywhere. When we were children p b & J sandwiches, potato salad, corn and not dogs were gourmet fare.

Today- who knows?

Adult summer has its own playlist, songs of summer that change the rhythm of our days. One begins with “I wonder if it’s time to have the septic pumped out?” Another repeats the refrain, “Where is my swim suit?” with a chorus of “no you can’t go out in the boat alone.” I can hear the youthful outraged chorus of “ You use paper plates?” and

Women front and center

From softball fields of Oklahoma City to tennis courts at Wimbledon, from golf links on California’s Monterey Peninsula to soccer pitches in Australia and New Zealand, one theme is common.

Women are on the grandest stages in sports, and they should command our full attention.

No team, in any sport, may have equaled the domination of Oklahoma softball. On the way to a third consecutive NCAA title, the Sooners won a record 53 games in a row.

What makes it even more remarkable is that it comes at a time when the sport of softball is experiencing exponential growth. There’s more good teams and more talent than ever, yet OU remained in its own category, close to untouchable.

People noticed. ESPN’s broadcast of the Women’s College World Series set new ratings marks, up 7 percent from 2022, building upon the similar huge ratings we got when LSU beat Iowa in the NCAA women’s basketball title game, which was far more compelling, exciting and controversial than the

Americans have drifted away from faith

To the editor:

In my opinion, the overspending by an oversized and underserving government and the overspending of the people (in general) on hugely overpriced and lower quality goods and services has resulted in continuing inflation and debt that cannot be paid back. Both, along with a dwindling work ethic, are leading to the decay of our wonderful country.

It appears more and more Americans are turning materialistic, believing spending on expensive homes and cars and vacations will make themselves happy. Unwaveringly, they have been drifting away from their religious faiths on which our country was wonderfully founded – faiths that put our creator and our spirit first in our actions and faiths that historically resulted in happy, loving and laughing lives for families and friends.

Again, that’s the way I see it.

CHArlEs MiruCki fayetteville

Distressing to see

To the editor:

Surrounded by thousands of local residents, my family and I attended the Village of Manlius Fourth of July Celebration, something I would expect to be a joyful and welcoming event for all community members. However, I was shocked and disheartened to see the Onondaga County chapter of Moms for Liberty marching behind the local reporter: Jason Klaiber, jklaiber@eaglenewsonline.com sports Editor: Phil blackwell, ext. 348, pblackwell@eaglenewsonline.com Display Ads Eb: linda Jabbour, ext. 304, ljabbour@eaglenewsonline.com just try to find a song that will make the interminable washing up of the non-paper version of plates and such less burdensome. How often do we hear that old favorite, “Do you have a first aid kit?” or the less frightening, “I have a sliver.” Then, of course, we have the old favorite, “He’s looking at me.”

That sweet summer moment passes, daily life returns, but there is always the savoring of special moments which remind you that, like Christmas, summer is about the journey. For both we can conjure gifts for ourselves preparing to savor the small moments rather than the big events. We still clean out the cottage, wash the deck chairs, have the septic tank pumped, plant the annuals, restock the fridge, make the beds, vacuum, dust and prepare, welcome family and friends, knowing, again, that it’s the journey. It’s the journey. Like Christmas, summer is ours to create.

Ann Ferro is a mother, a grandmother and a retired social studies teacher. While still figuring out what she wants to be when she grows up, she lives in Marcellus with lots of books, a spouse and a large orange cat.

Random Thoughts

men’s version.

What was started by the Sooners continues in July.

For the first time, golf’s U.S. Women’s Open took place at Pebble Beach, a landmark in every way.

It was a big enough occasion to bring back dozens of former champions. Big enough to have Michelle Wie West decided to end her unique, star-crossed career.

Big enough to have Annika Sorenstam come out of retirement to play.

Combine all this with the emergence of Rose Zhang, a unique talent who dominated

GOP candidates in the Independence Day parade. I was instantly made to feel uncomfortable and unwelcome in my own community.

Moms for Liberty spreads antiLGBTQ rhetoric and openly harasses transgender and nonbinary young people and their families, advocating and supporting anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and policies. They advocate for the removal of books from schools, stripping history of any mention of slavery, racism, and LGBTQ+ people. Just last month, the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks antigovernment and extremist groups nationwide added Moms for Liberty to its list of anti-government extremist organizations. SPLC states Moms for Liberty is “seeking to undermine public education holistically and to divide communities” by “intimidating and harassing teachers and school officials, battling teachers’ unions, attacking corporations . . . supportive of LGBTQ+ rights” and supporting laws which limit classroom discussion of gender and sexual identity.

According to the Moms for Liberty – Onondaga County, NY Facebook page, the group was invited to march in the parade by the “local GOP” and their Chairperson posed for a photo with several candidates from the Onondaga County GOP. Some of those same GOP candidates came together for the Village of Fayetteville and Town of Manlius’ Pride flag raising ceremonies as well as Manlius Pride at the Seneca Street Brew Pub and now have turned around to provide a platform for this

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Phil blackwell

college golf at Stanford and, in a matter of two months, (1) won the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, (2) claimed the NCAA individual title and (3), turning pro, won her first LPGA start in a playoff. In an era where men’s golf is consumed by the battle over who will control the sport and the vast money at stake, the fact is that sheer excellence remains the most captivating part, as Zhang has demonstrated.

organization which clearly does not support the LGBTQ+ community.

As a Village of Manlius resident and member of the LGBTQ+ community, I had hoped to comfortably enjoy the holiday celebration. Allowing Moms for Liberty a space in the community parade was irresponsible, divisive, and distressing to my family and others who have chosen Manlius as our home.

AliCiA lOOMis manliuS

Concerned about GOP’s ties to Moms for Liberty

To the editor:

There is no bigger gathering of the Manlius community than the annual 4 th of July parade and festival. The Manlius Democratic Committee looks forward each year to seeing so many families and community groups coming together to celebrate our nation.

It concerns us that “Moms for Liberty – Onondaga Chapter ‘’ was invited to participate in the parade by the Manlius GOP. The Southern Poverty Law Center classified the national Moms for Liberty as a far-right extremist organization in 2023. It works to ban books, and against curriculum that even mentions race and ethnicity, LGBTQ+ rights, and discrimination. They strive to advance their agenda at every level of government and whitewash our history books.

Moms for Liberty creates divisiveness between parents and harms students. In the record turnout for Fayetteville Manlius School Board in Letters l Page 5

We are also in the middle of the Wimbledon fortnight. Long the most prestigious of tennis tournaments, it was transformed by the Williams sisters, for different reasons.

Serena is done, but Venus Williams made one more appearance and, while it was brief, it was a poignant reminder that it was Venus who pushed, successfully, to have Wimbledon pay equal prize money for women and men, something the other Grand Slams had long done.

And just as Wimbledon concludes, there’s the biggest event in all of women’s sports, ready to take off.

Never before has soccer’s Women’s World Cup featured 32 teams. With each renewal, the event is more of a global celebration, with countries finally giving the kind of resources and attention to the women’s game that they once reserved for men.

Of course, they all chase the U.S. Women’s National Team – USWNT for short – who have won this thing four times, including the last two, and will not accept anything less than total victory this time around, either.

But if you’re a real fan, you should tune in to the whole tournament, even with the crazy hours of time difference since they’re being played in Australia and New Zealand.

2022, our community made it crystal clear that those who planned to take over our school board to promote farright extremism and divisiveness have no place here.

The “Moms for Liberty - Onondaga Chapter” marched with the Manlius GOP. Tim Kelly, Chair of the Manlius GOP and the Republican candidate for Town of Manlius Supervisor, welcomed this extremist hate group and went so far as to include the chair of the local chapter in their candidate photos posted on social media, all but endorsing their divisive rhetoric.

The Manlius Democratic Committee believes that the values that the “Moms for Liberty” group espouses don’t fit in our community. The Manlius Democratic Committee, its candidates, and elected officials stand on the right side of history and work to move us forward, not backwards.

PrernA Deer CHAir, MAnlius DeMoCrAtiC CoMMittee

Outraged at aquarium deal

To the editor:

I’m sending this note as a point of disbelief and quite frankly, outrage, that we are continuing to go down a road of cronyism and corrupt dealings here in Onondaga County.

We have big issues - violence, infrastructure, and now it seems, overdevelopment. We are allowing greed from increased land values and quick turns in profit to cloud a clear vision for improvement for all citizens in this area with so much beauty and potential.

As we saw with softball, even though there’s a dominant team, there’s also more good teams than ever. What’s more, the inherently random nature of soccer allows any contender to dream that they can take the USWNT down once they reach the elimination rounds.

Still, whatever happens in this World Cup, the USWNT are already giants in sports history. Even with all they had done, they still didn’t receive the same pay that the U.S. men (who had accomplished far less) did, and had to fight for years to make it happen.

All the while, they received plenty of criticism for not conforming to the perfectly patriotic stereotype expected of American athletes. To them, having values and standards meant more than mindless flag-waving.

Combine all this with the other women’s golf majors, the Solheim Cup, U.S. Open and a great WNBA season unfolding, women’s sports continues to demonstrate growth and excitement, with a chance to achieve so much more.

Half a century ago, just getting into the game was enough for female athletes. Now, they might be the most compelling figures of all.

Phil Blackwell is sports editor at Eagle News. He can be reached at pblackwell@ eaglenewsonline.com.

The “Aquarium” and Cor are two glaring examples. Just how did the city and the county get enmeshed with a developer like this? Oh yes, the State Supreme Court vacated their conviction; one on faulty jury instruction, the others, which they plead guilty to at one point, on an interpretation of the law, not that they hadn’t committed the action leading to their conviction. That action clearly was to obtain development rights in a preferential way. Yet they get a sweetheart deal in land that was given to them and our legislature voted to “buy” land for developing the aquarium for 1.7 million dollars?

Our County Executive Mr. McMahon and our legislators like Mr. Olson of my district, know full well the sentiment is overwhelmingly against this project and its price tag. That price tag is clearly undervalued and will cost more than $85 million. That is a staggering figure that could be put to much better long lasting use for citizens of Onondaga County.

Cor should be extricated from any contracts with local government due to their historical lack of good faith approaches. The aquarium should be put to a public vote vs a deal making legislature led by an executive who feels entitled to push the limits of conduct and self dealing.

We will make our voices heard at the ballot yet that does not give this legislature the right to practice this kind of malfeasance that will have a lasting impact on our community. They hope we are too busy with our daily lives to forget or not notice. We noticed and won’t forget.

BoB Wheeler MAnlius