Thursday, April 4, 1974
Kids Take Concerns to Top Man
Skip Johnson
WASHINGTON, D. C. – Kids say the darndest things. Especially in letters they write to the President.
At least 1,000 letters a day from young people come into the correspondence section of the Old Executive Office Building, adjacent to the White House.
“They cover almost everything imaginable,” said Mrs. Pauline Galford, a resident of Pocahontas County, who has been employed in the correspondence section since November 1972.
“Right now, kids are offering all kinds of suggestions on the energy crisis, such as making electric cars, or giving the President advice on Watergate.
“It runs in cycles. For a while we were bombarded with save the wolf letters from school children.
“The President also receives invitations to dinners and graduations, or perhaps a simple request to ‘come to my house.’”
SOME OF THE letters are sad, Mrs. Galford pointed out. They tell about family hardships or other personal problems.
She recalled a letter from a youngster whose father couldn’t work because of arthritis.
“My mother can’t drive, and she has to wait in the cold for a bus,” the youngster wrote. “What will happen if she gets sick and can’t work?”
Kids send their pictures to the President and ask for his picture in return.
Recently, a group of third graders at Marlinton wrote the President, told him they were very happy with Daylight Saving Time and asked for pictures of the President.
“You can be sure they all got pictures,” Mrs. Galford said.
“A lot of people may think that letters to the President aren’t read,” Mrs. Galford continued. “but every one of them is read and every one is answered.”…
If the President’s answering service feels a genuine personal or family hardship is involved, the letter will be forwarded to the appropriate government agency for further investigation.
It’s also up to the correspondence section to analyze which letters the President should personally sign.
“We’re pretty selective,” she said, “but it still amounts to a lot of letters.”
BIRTHS
Born to Mr. and Mrs. Robert Smith, of Hillsboro, a son named Robert Coe Smith, Jr.
Born to Rev. and Mrs. Benjamin Simmons, of Parsons, a son, named Kevin Eugene. The mother is the former Carolyn Sue Wenger.
Born to Mr. and Mrs. Phillip McCarty, of Marlinton, a son.
DEATHS
James R. “Rube” Cromer, 83, of Durbin, a retired surveyor and farmer. Funeral service was held from the Durbin Church of God with burial in the Bethel Cemetery on Back Mountain.
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James Thurman Barlow, 64, of Marlinton, a son of the late William A. and Mary Joines Barlow; funeral service was held from the Campbelltown Methodist Church with burial in Mountain View Cemetery.
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Cecil B. Shinaberry, 80, of Dunmore, a lifelong resident of the county and a cattleman. Funeral service was held from the New Hope Church near Dunmore with burial in Arbovale Cemetery.
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Mrs. Elva D. Fenstermaker, 76, of Baltimore, Maryland, formerly of Pocahontas County. Funeral service was held from the Bethel United Methodist Church with burial in the Bethel Cemetery.
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Mrs. Lillian Bell Wilson, 84, formerly of Marlinton, a daughter of the late Nathan and Lucy Tyree. Her daughter, Mrs. Leonard Pritt, of Lexington, Virginia, with whom she made her home, died the day after her mother. Funeral service was held from the Marlinton Presbyterian Church with burial in Mountain View Cemetery.