Forty years ago, in 1968 I was to start a soul-rewarding career as Tioga County Chamber of Commerce's first executive director. Looking back it brought me into association with men of vision. Today I read the Community Press because Fred Brown perceived that the people of Apalachin needed  a voice. It always is a struggle to create a newspaper and he succeeded. In good part his success is he has provided the public with windows of knowledge. Today my eye goes immediately to G.L. Penney's column County Watch.

 In my sphere of interest at that time, this being to regulate inevitable change and yet  provide job security and widen job opportunities while preserving the rural flavor of Tioga County, Lee was among the very first to step up to the plate in behalf of public interest. He served on the Chamber's new board of directors. A quiet man, a dedicated man, today I rank him among the best public servants I have encountered through the years serving six State governors, before and after my stint of six years of chamberism. What more can a man say about another? Today Lee, as one of nine elected officials on the County Legislature, never stops trying to improve its operations, largely in which I concur. I do not know I would have his ‘guts' or could keep my cool, were I in his shoes. His district should be proud to have him in representation, just as much as I am proud we have a journalist-editor in this county who produces a newspaper of the caliber that blesses the Apalachin  community it serves. The taxpayers best two weapons include proper representation and a media that voices public sentiment. 
You have both.

Ray Ward
Waverly, NY