After 17 years spent as the former owner of The Barrow Bookstore in Concord, I am truly dismayed to read that a behemoth like Citibank, impersonal in its size and power, plans to displace two creative businesses in the town center. Foot traffic was essential to our store’s success, particularly the casual browser who happened to be out enjoying the variety of other shops.

Ideally the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail will remain a rural trail. It will be a place to destress, not a means to get from one place to another as quickly as possible. It will embrace people of all ages and interests. Speed and sound will be minimal. The terrain will be user friendly to those who travel by foot (walkers, runners, etc.) or wheels.

I would like to commend Lee Ann Kay on her courage in daring to speak what is politically incorrect: the truth about homosexuality. Had Ms. Kay written about the dangers of cigarette smoking by teens, would she be charged with speaking hate? Had she been concerned about drug use by teens would she be charged with speaking hate?

On May 9, the Constitutional Convention will reconvene to consider the ballot question on the definition of marriage. In 2005, more than twice the required number of signatures were collected and verified in an exacting process by cities, towns and the Secretary of State. By law, the state Legislature is now required to vote on whether to allow this ballot petition to go forward to the citizens of Massachusetts for a vote.

At the April 23 Town Meeting, Phoebe Ham presented, in her usual convincing way, a petition (Article 5) “To determine whether the Town will vote to request the Concord-Carlisle Regional School Committee to consider including the administrative costs of the Adult and Community Education Program in their FY’09 operating budget” as it had until four years ago. To my surprise, the only town committee to voice a less than enthusiastic support for the petition was the School Committee, the very organization one would have thought was the most supportive of continuing education.

I read with amusement the letter from Rosemary Shaw regarding her turkey visitor. I have five turkey visitors almost every day, feeding under birdfeeders and scratching the leaves and mulch of forest where I live. The male has now begun gobbling (sounds almost like a dog bark) for the first time this year. Last year there were only three turkeys, one male and two females whom he courted by beautiful displays.

As I near the end of my term as a parent in the Concord Public School system with my youngest child’s graduation from CCHS in June, I am feeling inexpressible gratitude to the teachers in this town who have not only taught my kids a curriculum but who know them as individuals, and who, over the years, have so readily shared their expertise with me whenever I have had concerns. We are fortunate in having schools that operate more like families than factories.

Like Paul Revere, I act to cry the alarm about what I perceive to be a threat to the town. Are Concordians aware that the Concord elementary and middle school teachers have not had a new contract now for more than 290 days and that negotiations have been ongoing for 16 months? Are people aware just how demoralized and disheartened the teachers are, in particular the elementary school teachers? What has happened to the wonderfully supportive and collaborative atmosphere that used to exist?

Recently, First Parish in Concord staged “The Laramie Project,” a drama based on more than 200 interviews conducted with inhabitants of the town where Matthew Shepard — a 21-year-old gay student — was brutally murdered. To further discussion, the First Parish Diversity Committee sponsored an interactive event, “The Concord Project,” on March 27. The committee’s mission is to educate and enlighten ourselves and others on the importance of diversity, understanding, compassion, acceptance and respect.

My friends in Concord have alerted me to a plan to bulldoze a section of Walden Woods to install two playing fields, covered with synthetic turf and illuminated by huge electric lights on tall poles. What on earth are they thinking? My connection to Concord goes back some decades to when I was introduced to all things Thoreau by the late Roland Wells Robbins, the man who discovered the site of Thoreau’s world-famous cabin by the shore of Walden Pond. With Robbie I tramped Walden Woods and gained a deep appreciation of the unique character and natural beauty of Concord.

As many of you are aware, this coming Tuesday, April 24, at Town Meeting, we’ll vote on funding for two new athletic playing fields on the CCHS campus — we urge you to vote yes for both Article 30 and 32. After nine months of open and public discussion at some 30-plus public meetings, many people across town have rallied to support this initiative though a very few have challenged the project on the basis it intrudes into Walden Woods.

The following letters to the editor, published in the April 19 edition of The Concord Journal, take a position on various warrant articles that will come before Town Meeting.

The following letters to the editor, published in the April 19 edition of The Concord Journal, were written in response to the guest commentary "Traditional morals were left out of discussion," written by Lee Ann Kay and published in the April 12 edition of the Journal.