Jack
Deatherage, Jr.'s
I've heard a small number of people
complain about the proposed annexation of land along North
Seton Avenue. Their reasons are simple. They don't want the
added traffic, or the extra burden on the town's obviously
limited water supply and questionable sewer system. Some
people just plain don't want anyone new moving in and changing
Emmitsburg. Of these reasons only the "changing"
bothers me. I recall calves bawling in the backyard of the
last house before the old Highs Store on the West End of town.
There were chickens there too if memory serves. A backyard
along South Alley at Creamery Road also had chickens in it for
many years. Then US 15 began bringing people to town who
thought the little burg was quaint and might well be worth a
few bucks if developed properly.
Away went the chickens and calves. We
can't have livestock in a residential area! (But we can have
dogs barking from 10 PM until 2 AM!) We can have cats, which
apparently belong to no one, crapping in our flowerbeds and
little vegetable gardens. But no one can have a chicken, or
goat, or any other animal not considered by the Town to be a
normal pet. I seem to recall a few people outraged over
learning there were residents who actually kept snakes in
their houses! "How dare they bring those things into
Emmitsburg? There should be a law against this!" I heard
more than one Eburger growl.
One of my neighbors told me about the
horses that used to be stabled just up the street from us. The
owner hauled their manure down the alley and dumped it for my
neighbor to compost for his garden. There were also a few pigs
along the alley that contributed to his garden. The garden fed
his family through the summer, fall and winter. It's strange
how much the town has already changed. And people want to stop
it now?
I want it stopped 20, 30, 40 years
ago! I want the houses built in the last two decades torn
down, covered with dirt and trees, or gardens planted over
them! I want to hear roosters crowing their pride to the dawn!
I want to hear calves bawling for their milk and pigs grunting
as they eat the scraps that get crammed down garbage disposals
nowadays. (Creating a problem at the sewer treatment plant
instead of being put to a good use.) I want to be able to step
out my backdoor and grab a couple of "good" eggs to
make noodles with, or snag a chicken I'm irritated with to
roast in my oven, stuffed with garlic and celery.
I want! I want! I want!
Well, tough! The town has changed, is
changing and ain't gonna stop changing because I want, or
anyone else wants! Everything CHANGES! Either it grows and
changes, or it dies and changes. There is no static state
where reality freezes forever! No matter how bad I want it to
stop- EVERYTHING CHANGES!
I hate, and I mean claw at my guts
hate, what has become of Emmitsburg! That out of the way, I
will vote in favor of annexing the Boyle farm into the town.
Why? Because it's going to have houses built on it whether
it's annexed or not- and it will happen in my lifetime. Maybe
not 100+ houses, but houses none the less. Houses that might
as well be paying taxes to the town. Why should the people
buying the houses enjoy the use of Emmitsburg and not pay for
it? And they will use Emmitsburg. Their kids will attend
Emmitsburg Elementary, play on our ball-fields, in our public
parks and be hauled to the hospitals in our ambulances. Their
homes will be covered by our fire department. So why not annex
and at least collect the taxes? Anything else seems kind of
stupid at this point.
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