This is in response to the story "Let the lights shine," printed Nov. 16. I cut the article out and put it in my “I can’t believe this” file.
The city of Auburn went to considerable expense and energy to discuss the fact that it takes $4,000 of the taxpayers' money to direct traffic around Drs. Loggins' and Bang’s hobby, but won't require the doctors to pay for traffic control, so the show will go on.
Fact: Taxpayers don’t have the money to indulge two people’s hobby. Shame on the four councilors without common sense. I will remember them at election.
If those two families wanted to pursue their hobby, they should have purchased homes where they would not inconvenience their neighbors.
They are displaying blatant disregard for the rights of others, and then they have the audacity to suggest that the public should act responsibly.
This is not a gift; it is self-indulgence on the part of two people without regard for their neighborhood safety and enjoyment of holiday time.
June Chartier, Auburn
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your nuts!
My wife just brought the kids over to see the lights and they are not on. Who ever the neighbors are who don't like this should close the blinds and mind their business. As far as $5,000 for police go, that is a drop in the hat compared to the money we spend on other stupid crap. To think that it's ok to give people Free money to come to our state and live, but not let people display lights! All who are against this are messed up in the head. If it were me, I would turn the lights on anyway. What are you going to do?
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armymom, take a ride down Vista Drive (a dead end street) when the lights are up and running. I did. With friends, and everyone in the car said that they would hate to live on that street. We all agreed, we felt sorry for the neighbors.
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But, I bet you and your friends enjoyed the display! This is no different for those who live in the Fryeburg area or have to travel through the Fryeburg area during the fair. And that is 10,000's EVERY day, not just after dark.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.Ben said: "Come on!!!
Ben said: "Come on!!! Inconvenience coming and going from your house!!! WAAA Sob WAAA"
Come on Ben, discuss this in a mature manner. Though your answer does say one thing. You have no regard for the rights of others.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.Come on!!! Inconvenience
Come on!!! Inconvenience coming and going from your house!!! WAAA Sob WAAA! Get over it!! This brings joy to Thousands of Children during the Christmas season 3 whole weeks big deal if it inconveniences half a dozen people!!!
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.Ben said: "The Vista drive
Ben said: "The Vista drive decorations are so good and so well done it attracts people from all over the state to see this magnificent show,"
Ben, exactly. It draws 1000's of cars from all over the state, to a dead end street. What about the rights of the people who live on that dead end street. Their right to come and go as they please. When the sun goes down, they are prisoners in their own homes.
I am all for Christmas decorations and peoples right to celebrate Christmas, but when one persons rights create a public nuisance that infringes on other peoples rights, well, see where I am going here?
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.So your saying he is doing too good of a job?
So your saying if his lights weren't so good that people came to look at them it would be OK? Or that if they were only good enough that 500 people came instead of 1000 it would be OK? Your logic is really messed up. This guy is taking care of his property, obviously not letting it be an eyesore in the neighborhood and for 5 weeks a year people come and see his lights and you complain. Sad, just sad. Maybe Vista Drive can get lucky and be under construction for a year or two or three. Better yet how about the city change it from a dead end to a through street.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.What a concept!
It used to be so central to everything that you almost never heard it said out loud: My rights end when they interfere with yours - and vice versa.
Today it's become: I have my rights and if you don't like it - sue me!
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I remember when I was a kid, the whole family would pile in the car and we would drive around the twin cities looking at all the beautifully decorated house. It was a great tradition we all looked forward to, these days hardly anyone decorates anymore and the few that do have to deal with this crap!!! Real nice society we have evolved onto so self absorbed!!! As for the cost of directing traffic?? How much does the city spend directing traffic for all the holiday shoppers in Auburn?? Or how much do they spend decorating the city for the holiday season!! The Vista drive decorations are so good and so well done it attracts people from all over the state to see this magnificent show, and truly is the sprite of Christmas. June Chartier stop being such a GRINCH!!!
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.Citygirl, so the property
Citygirl, so the property owner has the right to create such a nuisance that infringes on the rights of every other property owner on that dead end street? Imagine, coming home from a hard days work and having to wait a half hour just to get down your street. This is 7 days a week for most of the month where other homeowner are virtually trapped in their homes. On top of that, Auburn taxpayers have to foot the bill for traffic control when we cannot afford to plow our streets at night. Talk about Clark Griswold.
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as i said BWright, i think that he should talk to his neighbors up there, there are only 5 or 6 of them up there, at the end of the day though its his property.
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I see that 6 people disagree with me on my above post. Care to elaborate why you disagree?
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Yes it does become a pain for whoever owns a home and lives on Vista Drive when it comes to the holiday season. As others have stated when the Dr. first put up his display the neighbors probably enjoyed it. They had to expect it to turn into something of a large scale when it came to traffic. Living on a dead end road is definitely not the greatest place to hold a show like this but lets look at the big picture. Where else in the city do you find large scale homes with that much property to have a display like that? No matter where the Dr. chose to live when he first moved here from Wisconsin someone would have put up a fuss about his light display regardless of the layout of the street. It's pretty sad that no body has anything better to do with their lives then complain about a holiday. Department stores and other corporate chain businesses used to be able to have signs saying Merry Christmas and put up Christmas trees. Now they are not allowed because somebody is worried about offending someone of a different religion. If we were all created equal then why should it matter what your religious beliefs are? You may be asking what this has to do with the Dr. am I right? Well as he stated before it's his constitutional right to burn the American Flag. Just because you or someone else may not like that he's doing that doesn't impede his right to burn the flag. With that being said it's his right as a property owner to decorate his house how he feels fit. Just because his neighbors don't like it doesn't mean he isn't allowed to do so. He could leave his lights on steady and not time them to music and because of the scale of the display it's still going to attract a large flow of traffic to the street. No matter what someone is not going to be happy. What floors me about the whole situation is how upset everyone is getting. This is a display that the Dr. runs for approximately 4 weeks out of a year. 4 WEEKS! that is 11 months out of a year that the neighbors don't have anything bad to say or worry about when they come home. When a neighbor decides to bring some Christmas cheer to the neighborhood in a positive way everyone in the neighborhood gets upset instead of looking at the big picture. These neighbors may feel that because they paid a vast amount of money for there larger home that they have special rights. All it means is you pay more taxes every year then I do. You are still a human being and have to live by the every day rules as everyone else does. Making the Dr. pay for a police officer to control traffic is absurd. Saying we don't have the money to put an officer there is bogus. Whether the officer was driving around in his cruiser looking for someone who is speeding or controlling traffic for 4 hours either way he is doing his job and I doubt that because ONE officer is controlling the flow of traffic on Vista Drive that the crime rate is going to sky rocket. Lets be real people and realize that no matter what anybody does or says that the right to put up his Christmas lights will NEVER be stopped. It's called freedom and that's what this country is about is it not. Well it seems to be that as the days and years go on that we lose more and more freedoms because ignorant angry people want it "their way". Well life isn't always the easiest thing sometimes and there are certain things that we as humans just have to deal with. Yes I agree it's a pain to any of the neighbors trying to come to and from their homes on any given evening that this show is running. I would love to live on Vista Dive and be able to see the lights every night during the holiday season. I would get irritated with the traffic but realize that it's only a few weeks out of the year. Unfortunately to many others cannot see things that way.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.If I put up a large above
If I put up a large above ground swimming pool with 10s of thousands of gallons of water in it and it breaks and the great wall of water rushes off my property and knocks you home off it's foundation or does other significant damage I am libel having created a nusaince. My actions damaged your property. If I begin collecting junk; old refrigerators, junk cars, motors all leaking hazardous materials which contaminate the ground water and your property, I have created a nusaince. In both cases, what I did on my property damaged your property and decreased its value.
Beautifying my property, keeping it well maintained, putting up Christmas lights, playing Christmas music, bringing joy and happiness to members of the community who pass by my home does not damage your property or reduce its value and therefore does not constitute a nusaince. Sorry BWright can't agree with you on this one. Hey, have you ever thought, "If you can't beat them, join them." Maybe instead of being a Scrooge, you might be a Santa; your heart just might grow and like it.
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i disagree, its the property owers right to put up as many xmas decorations as he wants. i think though that he should talk with the vista neighbors and come up with an agreeable plan and the town should not be invitied to pay for anything and that is how the town should present it to him.
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Though June Chartier probably should have used a little more diplomacy in her letter, I have to agree with her. Vista Drive is a dead end street. Cars coming to see this light show, refuse to keep moving. They want to stop and watch and listen to the synced music. It must be a true nightmare for the people who live further down in the Cul-de-sac. If I was a councilor, I would have voted to end this nightmare. There is a time and place for everything, and Vista Drive is not the place for this. The councilors should have at least made the Dr. pay for traffic control.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.The neighbors need to be
The neighbors need to be creative. (example's) Should a vehicle break down at the entrance of Vista Drive just prior to the flow of traffic. Or what if somthing jammed the frequency the music is broadcast on? etc.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond."If those two families wanted
"If those two families wanted to pursue their hobby, they should have purchased homes where they would not inconvenience their neighbors."
Uh, in all probability, when they began this "hobby" the neighbors weren't inconvenienced and it wasn't intended to become the distraction that it has. My guess is that the neighborhood actually enjoy(ed) it. Too bad some old Scrooge has to come along and make so much noise about it. Why not get in the spirit of the season and organize a volunteer traffice patrol to keep costs down.
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I finally agree with you on something Cranky.
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