Barbara Diamond enjoys retirement as Lehigh University Director of Foundation Relations by engaging in various activities and organizations hopefully for the betterment of the community. Her particular interests at the moment are preventing gun violence, local government ethics reform, and Bethlehem Democratic Committee work.
Dear Gadfly, I think taking a moment to celebrate our city’s history especially some event of great civic engagement like funding the Hill to Hill Bridge is a splendid idea. As we know, some issues before Council can be quite contentious. Recounting a Bethlehem moment can remind all of us that when we work together on a common goal we can achieve great things. I was recently involved with some of my neighbors in two projects that exposed me to Bethlehem’s history, digitizing Historic Bethlehem Museum & Site’s photo collections and capturing oral histories of long-standing residents of my neighborhood. I am not a native Bethlehemite, but I appreciate this city’s rich history and cultural heritage. I believe a brief Bethlehem moment would be a fitting way to start a City Council meeting by setting a tone of unity of purpose. Despite the great partisan divide out there, we can accomplish great things when we work together on a common goal. BTW one of the captivating stories I learned from doing the oral histories was the citizen brigade that moved the books hand to hand from the old to the new library. Like Peter, I am not a fan of the prayer and pledge but recognize that others do.
