Cheers

July 15, 2008 08:10 am

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o ... To Sgt. Chester A. Scerra of Richfield for receiving the Italian Cross of War Merit at Springfield's Fourth of July parade.

The recognition was due 63 years ago, but never delivered, for his contributions during World War II in helping to liberate Italy.

Scerra was drafted in 1942 and transported to Washington's Office of Strategic Services, after which he was taken to Virginia and Georgia for training. His unit was then sent to Northern Africa to prepare for spying duties.

"Then we went to Corsica and it was terrible," Scerra said. "We hid out in mountains and we were always on the run."

During his time there and on other German-controlled islands, he helped to collect intelligence to be used against the Germans, including troop movements, ammunition dumps and directing planes to targets.

After his return from the war, Scerra lived on Canadarago Lake, built two houses there, raised four children, bought the Herkimer Bus Terminal and worked as a builder.

A few months ago, he ran into Tex Seamon, Otsego County's veterans councilor, who along with Rep. Michael Arcuri, D-Utica, helped Scerra get his due.

We congratulate him on finally getting this very well-deserved honor.

o ... To the Delhi Rotary Club and member Charles Hill of Delhi for combining children's games at the Delhi Fair on the Square with a food drive.

The Rotary is giving each child who brings a food donation a ticket to play a game at the event, which is held Fridays in July, with the drive benefiting the Delaware County Food Bank.

"With the price of oil and the flooding in the Midwest, food prices are going up and people need help," Hill said. "We thought that this would be a good way to teach some citizenship to some of the youngest members of the community."

We applaud the creation of this opportunity to teach children about charity, and perhaps to make them aware of the increasing hardships people are facing with the current state of the economy.

As Delaware Opportunities Food Bank Coordinator Linda Voss pointed out, summer is a time when children are at home and not provided with meals at school, and people generally think less about the hungry than during a holiday season. So the timeliness of this drive is to be commended in the seasonal sense as well.

{"Headline24"/}Jeers

{"Body Text Edit"/} ... To whomever vandalized about 10 planters on Main Street in Oneonta recently.

Sometime between 2:30 and 3 a.m. on Thursday, July 3, someone ripped out plants, including petunias and begonias, along the north side of the street, causing $1,300 in damage, according to Oneonta Federated Club President Fran Blevin, whose group did the planting.

An investigation into this matter is ongoing.

To demolish something that is there simply to improve the quality of the city is a disgustingly juvenile act.