Unsung heroes

To the editor:

Four hundred seventy-nine thousand dollars, almost a half-million dollars! I was shocked when I read in the April 11 Journal-World that the St. Patrick’s Day parades over the years have contributed this sum of money to benefit the community, particularly in areas where the community hasn’t been able to help itself.

Mind you, this money is raised by individuals who are unpaid. The organization has no paid executives. It has no paid employees. Most of you probably don’t personally know many of those involved.

And, strangely enough, this event was not organized by the so-called movers and shakers of Lawrence. No official “agency” had anything to do with it. As a matter of fact, city officials at one time refused to allow the parade to travel down Massachusetts Street. (Probably they were afraid some rowdy would cause a scene in our pristine downtown).

By coincidence, I was involved in planning that first parade. Since I was a lawyer, my assignment was to stand next to the police chief to remedy a problem if one arose. I donned my green tux and carried out my assignment. There wasn’t a peep of a problem. History shows us the rest of the story.

I ask you these questions:

1. Why aren’t these ordinary citizens of Lawrence, and nameless others, treated as the heroes they are?

2. Where – and why – are the rest of you hiding from comparable efforts?

Ed Collister,

Lawrence